examples of discretion in the criminal justice system

The choice to engage in a high-speed chase or not attempts to balance the need to capture a suspect against the potential for an injury because of pursuit activities. 1-45). It is prevalent within the courts, corrections, diversionary programs such as mental health organizations and jobs programs, the judiciary and beyond. Perhaps the easiest to understand and most apparent reason is the inherently diffuse nature of the criminal justice system. The initial stage in which discretion is applied in the system of criminal justice is where police officers make a decision on whether a suspect should be arrested for a particular offense or not. 3132), which draws on principles and is invoked under a duty that transcends normally applicable technical rules, relating to an ultimate social rule or set of social rules (p. 69). Why is discretion found in the criminal courts? For example, while judges can exercise discretion only in cases involving arrested offenders that prosecutors charge with crimes, sentencing policies and practices influence the actions of police and prosecutors. Pg. Three major studies were commissioned to examine police practices in detail and to update the 1931 Wickersham commission report (National Commission on Law Observance and Enforcement, 1971). Don't use plagiarized sources. How rules, regulations, and the law are implemented is determined by the role perception of the implementers, their ideological orientation, and demographic characteristics. Prosecutorial discretion is one of the most important aspects of our criminal justice system. Each of the decisions made in this area can have a significant impact on the safety of the public. EMMY NOMINATIONS 2022: Outstanding Limited Or Anthology Series, EMMY NOMINATIONS 2022: Outstanding Lead Actress In A Comedy Series, EMMY NOMINATIONS 2022: Outstanding Supporting Actor In A Comedy Series, EMMY NOMINATIONS 2022: Outstanding Lead Actress In A Limited Or Anthology Series Or Movie, EMMY NOMINATIONS 2022: Outstanding Lead Actor In A Limited Or Anthology Series Or Movie. There are some departments that give their officers . They describe the CJS as a complicated set of interdependent actors who act on cases involving individuals accused of crimes. The rules themselves are usually the result of discretion by other actors in the criminal justice system, such as the legislature, which has created the criminal code for the jurisdiction. If an official goes beyond this level, then it can lead to problems with excessive force being applied in a specific situation. Official websites use .gov The daily operations of a Police Department would not be as efficient if this approach was not taken regularly. Supplemental understanding of the topic including revealing main issues described in the particular theme; Again, we can look to Prottas (1978) for illumination here. in which they use their own individual judgment, to decide the best course of action. Credit card fraud, identity theft, and other types of financial theft are examples of this. Five of the most common issues are: determining an appropriate amount of force to use during arrests. Psychiatry, Psychology, and Crime: Historical and Current Public Social Control and Neighborhood Crime, Race and Sentencing Research Advancements, Social and Intellectual Context of Criminology, The. To begin this piece, Rosett quotes: If every policeman, every prosecutor, every court, and every post-sentence agency performed his or its responsibility in strict accordance with rules of law, precisely and narrowly laid down, the criminal law would be ordered but intolerable. Or should situation be accounted for? of New York Press. Even when a contact does occur, it still isnt necessary to search every vehicle to see if contraband is present in that situation. The police, however, screen juveniles at the intake stage, combining legal and extralegal . 4 : the result of separating or distinguishing. Whether for good or bad; laws shape citizens views of beliefs, actions and character. 3. Discretion refers to an official action that is taken by a criminal justice official i.e. "In the Criminal justice system the police, the prosecutors and corrections are afforded discretion with regard to enforcing and interpreting the law. Rhizman is absolutely amazing at what he does . Warranted disparity is the variation in outcomes due to legally relevant factors such as criminal history, crime type, and crime severity, which are correlated with race. Prosecutorial discretion is one of the most important aspects of our criminal justice system. While capital punishment is quite a step separate from punishments handed out for theft of a loaf of bread, that these two examples help to illuminate how discretion can be used in a way that improves society, as well as acts as a detriment. Washington, DC: Government Printing Office. But too much discretion can be dangerous it can promote discrimination, unpredictability and, most fatally, injustice. It is the judges role to take all relevant factors into account and give a right and just sentence for the offender, the victim, and the community, Discretionary decision means a decision requiring the exercise of judgment, with or without deliberation, on the part of the decision-making authority in the process of approving or disapproving a particular activity, as distinguished from situations where the decision-making authority merely has to determine whether , 2022 - 2023 Times Mojo - All Rights Reserved Police officers and other representatives of the criminal justice system face many different ethical issues in the course of their service. They can decide to pursue less serious charges. However, their impact has fallen only on adjudicatory stages of processing. Discretion has been instrumental in delivering policing and is integral to policework and police identity. CQ Library American political resources opens in new tab; Data Planet A universe of data opens in new tab; SAGE Business Cases Real-world cases at your fingertips opens in new tab; SAGE Campus Online skills and methods courses opens in new tab; SAGE Knowledge The ultimate social science library opens in new tab; SAGE Research Methods The ultimate methods library . Thats why issues of force are often justified, even if it doesnt seem that way at the time. Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in: You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. Discretion is the latitude granted officials to act under a formal set of rules and in a public capacity. 2. We will write a custom Essay on Pros and Cons of Using Discretion in System of Criminal Justice specifically for you. Article 136, 139A & 142 of the Indian Constitution defines the discretionary powers which are conferred on the judges of the Supreme Court. The following sections will discuss the above mentioned issues in deep insight in a bid to set forth recommendations for the continued use, modification, or discontinuation of these issues through the various governmental programs and policy and more so within the police force. And, today, there are tens of thousands of innocent people behind bars. Police discretion in the context of decision making is critical as police officers are given the legitimate authority to act as gatekeepers to the criminal justice system both for victims of crime and offenders. Based on the landmark 1957 American Bar Foundation survey, this anthology gives a systemic view of the criminal justice system, in terms of the decisions made by police, prosecutors, judges, and corrections officials: practitioners prefer flexibility to rules; discretion is exercised mostly at the lowest levels of the organization (especially in policing and prosecution) and with limited transparency; and attempts to control decisions at one stage affect decisions made by agents at other stages of the process, in a hydraulic manner. Every person, no matter how minor their offense might be, would get arrested and taken to court to face charges without this presence of this principle. Within the criminal justice system, street level bureaucrats possess a high amount of discretion. That means police discretion does an excellent job of streamlining our criminal justice system when it is correctly applied. To install StudyMoose App tap Legal Definition of abuse of discretion : an error of judgment by a trial court in making a ruling that is clearly unreasonable, erroneous, or arbitrary and not justified by the facts or the law applicable in the case compare clearly erroneous. Copyright 2023 service.graduateway.com. Is discretion by criminal justice practitioners a good thing? Students looking for free, top-notch essay and term paper samples on various topics. No one would argue that point. The discretion they use when interacting with young criminal offenders gives them the option to handle delinquencies and minor offenses in a constructive way. It is not unusual for an official to be performing their work alone, so situations can arise when this topic can come into play. Your current browser may not support copying via this button. The Prosecutorial Performance Indicators (PPI), developed by Florida International University and Loyola University Chicago, is an example of an effort to address this. An example of discretion is the ability of a juror to determine a verdict. In my opinion, judges should have more discretion in sentencing. Just talk to our smart assistant Amy and she'll connect you with the best It is up to each official to balance the rights of individual suspects with the needs of the overall community. for only $11.00 $9.35/page. The police are typically the first contact that young victims and delinquents have with the juvenile justice system. Gottfredson, Michael R., and Don M. Gottfredson. While using prudence, the individuals who work in the criminal equity framework regularly result in the casual equity process. In the case of sentencing, disparity involves the application of different punishments to cases that appear to be identical on the merits, or alternatively, the application of same punishment to cases that appear different. Proper supervision from individuals in the higher ranks can reduce this problem, but the individualized nature of the job can make it challenging to have eyes on people at all times of the day. submit it as your own as it will be considered plagiarism. an academic expert within 3 minutes. If discretion here was restricted to the utmost possible level, these two individuals would receive the same punishment, although the outcomes of these same punishments would vary wildly. For individuals within the criminal justice system who are often outside of a traditional office, such as police or mental health case workers, supervision on a regular basis is next to impossible. Discretion is available for offenders of all ages. Discretion should be used in moderation and to preserve order in society, not used in excessive amounts to threaten the laws purpose. On one hand, it allows for flexibility and the consideration of unique circumstances, which can lead to more fair and just outcomes. Graduateway.com is owned and operated by Radioplus Experts Ltd The use of discretion in the criminal justice system can be a double-edged sword. That means fewer kids get charged with a crime because of this principle. At last, this does not take into consideration close supervision of junior officers who are compelled to practice their circumspection frequently without the advantage of the shrewdness of experienced chiefs. In many ways, discretion cannot be restricted due to the excessively diffuse nature of the criminal justice system in America, and even when it can be restricted, it very often should not be. Although most police officers use discretion, Many police officers (and whole departments) prefer to focus on the justice aspects of police work: getting offenders off the streets, responding to emergencies, scoring big drug busts, and generally catching the bad guys. New York: Russel Sage. match. They can either simply submit to the law and rebuff the individuals who break it in what is viewed as high contrast, or the individual upholding the law can utilize carefulness. Performance & security by Cloudflare. 1988. 11. ) For example the evidence presented in trial must be approved by the Judge or Magistrate in case the evidence used in court appears inadmissible or prejudicial. Contingencies, shifting expectations and changing environments are all challenging interactions that are often unable to be properly attended to if one was to rely completely on institutional mandates and official rules. The requirement for a high level of control through supervision is basic in enabling prudence to be powerful; without such control, officers will settle on choices that are self-elevating and contrary to authoritative objectives. The use of police discretion provides officers with the flexibility they require to perform their job adequately. Indeterminate sentencing is a system of sentencing in which a legislature establishes maximum and minimum terms for each crime and a judge makes a discretionary decision as to what the maximum and minimum sentences should be for each convicted offender. Studies in this literature generally hypothesize that discretion plays one of two roles: either it serves as the means by which changing broad social norms against crime cause changes in sentencing patterns (with concurrent changes in formal laws reflecting broad social norms but not causing criminal justice outcomes), . But it also raises the specter of too much deference to the rules, especially in cases where the rules themselves have the potential to create disparity, as in the case of federal rules that call for tougher sanctions for dealing in crack cocaine rather than powder cocaine. When police discretion gets abused at local precincts, it can result in softer law enforcement mechanisms. The Evidence Act . Oxford Bibliographies Online is available by subscription and perpetual access to institutions. Judicial discretion refers to a judges power to make a decision based on his or her individualized evaluation, guided by the principles of law. Police officers can use discretion to determine what charges get filed against a suspect. Although this advantage places limits on how individuals can use their experience and training to benefit others, it also creates more communication lines between them and the public. While do further reading, I had reasons do doubt why discretion may become problematic in some cases. The Department awards $6000 annually, up to a lifetime maximum of $60,000. Les Misrables. Bibliography * Alpert, Geoffrey P. ; Dunham, Roger G. When police officers perform their official duties, then there is a particular level of discretion they must use when interacting with the public. Prottas, J. The research articles affect the development of criminal justice public policy by influencing the political ideology interests that, in the long run, result in the formation of systems within the criminal justice jurisdiction agencies for planning. Although most law-enforcement officials are highly ethical and excellent with what they do on the job, a handful of bad apples can interfere with community relations or encourage corruption within the ranks. The link was not copied. An excellent book-length treatment of the decisions that create the flowchart in Presidents Commission on Law Enforcement and Administration of Justice and Katzenbach 1967, including the decision by the victim to report the crime, an often overlooked part of the process. Several different decisions may require the use of police discretion simultaneously. Performance & security by Cloudflare. In another context, say that of a courtroom, some of these issues preventing a curbing of discretion would be immediately pushed aside, as they are no longer a concern; specifically, cost effectiveness and practicality. Perhaps the easiest to understand and most apparent examples of discretion in the criminal justice system is the ability of a police would!: determining an appropriate amount of force to use during arrests a formal of... More fair and just outcomes flexibility and the consideration of unique circumstances which... 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