Importance of Ethics within the Criminal Justice

Introduction
Without any set moral guidelines and stipulations, a country’s criminal justice system is not capable of accurately meeting the needs of its people. The role of the system is to penalize poor conduct and make sure that victims of crime are well compensated for any of their losses (Braswell, McCarthy & McCarthy, 2017; Souryal & Whitehead, 2019). Ethics are valuable in such systems because they offer both the victim and the accused fair justice application (Kramer, 2018). In this essay, the significance of ethics within the criminal justice system is discussed. Also, instances of unethical behavior, as well as the legal responsibilities suffered by the doers of such action, are presented.
Importance of ethics within the criminal justice
Ethics offers answers to several questions within the system. What is considered bad behavior or conduct? What is the most suitable compensation for victims of crime, and what is the befitting punishment for lawbreakers? These are few of the complex questions that the criminal justice system attempts to answer as it slowly but gradually evolves to match the changing needs of society. This evolution is guided by ethics, which is simply the moral guidelines by which communities live by (Braswell et al., 2017). Based on this context, ethics and justice cannot be distinctively separated within the system because it is through ethics that the lawbreaker will accept the kind of punishment passed to them, and the victim will consider the criminal justice system to have served its purpose.
Ethics within the justice system is essential to the system’s effectiveness in benefitting society. When the citizens feel that their government is acting in its peoples’ best interest, they will strive to become better citizens. On the contrary, citizens who know that their government, together with its representatives, like judges and the police, cannot indeed be trust to act in the best interest of its people will less likely cooperate during criminal investigations or even report a crime (Souryal & Whitehead, 2019).
The code of ethics forbids police officers from threatening crime suspects or even applying physical force to obtain information regarding alleged crimes. Police officers must inform those they arrest of their Miranda rights: their right t stay silent during their dealings with officers as well as their right to be represented by a lawyer. Informing the arrested individuals of their civil rights allows them to act in their very own best interest (Kramer, 2018). Lawyers are expected to stick to the guidelines of professional behavior in all criminal cases; the jury should fairly take into consideration all of the provided facts to establish if the defendant of innocent or guilty, and following the verdict of the jury, the judge should come up with a just ruling that’s based on the applicable laws, presented facts, and circumstances that surround the case at hand (Kramer, 2018; Souryal & Whitehead, 2019).
What may happen when ethics are not observed?
Order cannot be maintained in a society if ethics are not observed. Different people and cultures have different behaviors, and this is exactly why society members should agree on whatever is suitable for the whole group to establish order and structure. Achieving a positive outcome provides society with something that is known as the terminal value. Practitioners and agencies of criminal justice should reinforce the particular values that have been agreed upon by society. Also, the criminal justice system needs to be committed to moral or ethical standards that exceed those of the ordinary citizen. Theorists, like Plato, felt that the notion of ethics might need someone to evaluate their decision making from a wide perspective. Ethics could hypothetically be regarded as postulates, which are particularly founded on the investigation of the right of conduct as well as good life (Sahkian & Sahkian, 1996: 31). When the good life is attained, people realize that ethics is a counter-response to immoral conduct.
Without ethics, the operations of police officers would be seriously restricted. There are numerous ways of evaluating how ethics affects police conduct, including how communities interact with the police and vice versa. When officers are thought to be unethically operating, the community will most probably avoid interacting with them (Kramer, 2018). Without ethics, the behavior of attorneys will be all about winning a particular case. Rules and regulations have been set in a particular manner, and without ethics, lawyers do not abide by the spirit of the law, but instead, come up with their interpretations to win their cases. Self-involvement by citizens is an important portion of the system. Nonetheless, without ethics, individuals will not be willing to participate in the system. Generally, unethical conduct within the criminal justice system is simply precipitation of turmoil within a community, with the outcome being crumbling.
Cases of ethical misconduct in criminal justice
1. Police false arrest, forceful questioning, and malicious trial
Here, the first case concerns Rachelle Jackson, and it involves unethical conduct by police officers via false arrest, forceful questioning, followed by a malicious trial. Rachelle Jackson was witness to a ghastly car accident that involved Chicago police (News Services, 2008). She immediately ran to the involved vehicle and managed to pull out one officer. When other police officers arrived at the scene, she was immediately arrested and accused of stealing the police’s weapon. She remained in jail for ten months, awaiting her trial after being threatened to forcefully asked to sign a statement made for her by the other officers. The case was, however, dismissed in court, and Jackson later sued the police officers, the officers that were involved in her arrest, forceful questioning, as well as malicious trial.
1.1. What happened and the liabilities that the police suffered
This case’s ethical issues are around Jackson’s treatment. When she was requested to proceed to the station for a bit of questioning, she presumed that she was just a witness (News Services, 2008). She was instead accused of stealing an officer’s gun. She was later driven by the Squad car to Area 1 Headquarters at 1819 West 39th Street at Chicago for additional questioning about the stolen weapon (Jackson v. City of Chicago, 2006). According to the Plaintiff, she was held in a tiny investigation room for about two and a half days by the police. She adds that during that detention duration, she was threatened with physical violence, interrogated, deprived of water, food, and sleep until she signed a statement made for her by the police that she had stolen the gun. She was later charged with battering a police officer, theft, as well a disarming an officer, and she stayed in state custody for approximately eleven months, awaiting her trial.
Jackson was later charged, and she spent over ten months at the Cook County Jail awaiting her hearing. Her case was, however, dismissed by a Circuit Court judge and the plaintiff sued the two interrogation police officers, Brogan, and the city in 2003. A federal jury made a ruling against several Chicago officers and the city. It awarded Jackson 7.7 million dollars for false arrest, forceful questioning, and malicious trial as well as emotional stress.
2. Failure of an attorney to offer adequate representation and keep their clients informed
The second case is about attorney ethical misconduct via failure to offer ample representation as well as keep their clients informed. On Indianapolis lawyer was stopped from practicing law for at least a year because of a pattern of offering her clients insufficient representation. The lawyer continually failed to respond to motions that were filed by the opposing parties and paid no attention to her client’s requests for certain information regarding their cases. Because of her poor conduct, one of her clients lost his child support case. At the same time, another one had their case entirely dismissed (Indiana Supreme Court Disciplinary Commission vs. Dan E. F. Daniels, 2015).
2.1. What happened and the liabilities the lawyer suffered
The trial officer discovered the following facts: (1) The respondent had faced prior punishment for such misconduct; (2) the respondent’s negligence was inspired by selfish interest; (3) the respondent has a habit of neglecting her client’s cases; (4) the respondent was not cooperating with officers during the investigation; and (5) the respondent refused to accept their misconduct (Indiana Supreme Court v DANIELS, 2015). The trial officer did not find any facts in mitigation.
Violations: The court found that the respondent breached the Indiana Conduct Rules that prohibit the following transgression: 1.3: Not acting reasonable promptness and diligence. 1.4(a)(3) Not keeping the client informed about their case. 1.4. (a)(4) Not promptly complying with a client’s request about information regarding their case. 1.4(b): Not explaining an issue to the extent that allows a client to make informed choices. 1.16(d): Not taking the necessary steps to protect the interests of a client upon case dismissal (Indiana Supreme Court v DANIELS, 2015).
Discipline: The court suspended the respondent from practicing the law for a minimum of a year (Indiana Supreme Court v DANIELS, 2015). The respondent will not be involved in any legal matters and concerns between the service of this particular order and the effective suspension date. She will also fulfill all the set duties of a suspended lawyer under the Admission and Discipline Rule 23(6).
References
Braswell, M. C., McCarthy, B. R., & McCarthy, B. J. (2017). Justice, crime, and ethics. Taylor & Francis.
Kramer, L. (2018). Why Is Ethics Important in Criminal Justice? Legal Beagle. Retrieved from https://legalbeagle.com/6386561-ethics-important-criminal-justice.html
News Services (2008, June 13). Woman gets $7.7M in false arrest case, Chicago Tribune. Retrieved from https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-2008-06-13-0806130382-story.html
Sahakian, W. S., & Sahakian, M. L. (1966). Ideas of the great philosophers (No. 218). Barnes & Noble Publishing.
Souryal, S. S., & Whitehead, J. T. (2019). Ethics in criminal justice: In search of the truth. Routledge. Case law
Indiana Supreme Court Disciplinary Commission vs. Dana E. F. DANIELS, Supreme Court Cause No. 49S00-1402-DI-133, (2015).
Jackson v. City of Chicago, No. 03 C 8289, (July 31, 2006).