The Criminal Justice System of the United States is composed of attorneys and police officers. Both aid in keeping the system running and morally stable, but they face several ethical dilemmas both politically and socially. The first essential element of the Criminal Justice system is law enforcement. In our democratic era, police officers are considered a walking symbol of safety and protection. They need to protect our communities and civil liberties, as well as integrate values of the system of justice. As a second element, attorneys, generally specialize in areas of the law to defend clients in Courts. These two main elements are perceived through the lense of the philosophy of law and the ethics of their professions. However, the intensity of their occupations leads to many ethical dilemmas that affect not only their line of work, but also societal’s perception of their duties. In order to understand the ethical obstacles faced by police officers and attorneys, first, we must know what ethics means.
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Ethics is the “Study of right and wrong, good and evil.” It constitutes the ideology of the morality of an action and the different points of views of certain actions. Many of us don’t stop and realize that our views regarding the ethics of justice are intertwined within three contexts; Our personal views, social influences, and our perspective of the Criminal Justice System itself. Police officers face several ethical dilemmas while on their line of work. Police subculture dwells on the concepts of its culture and the value of being an officer, as they have the ultimate power to prevent crimes, the power to arrest, and the power to use force. They all have a police personality that characterises their views on laws, morals, beliefs, and behaviors. Many ethical dilemmas arise when it comes to “police corruption, the use of coercive force, loyalty, discretion, duty, whistle blowing, misconduct, gratuities, and honesty” (Chapter 4 & 6, ppt. 2). I personally grew up surrounded by law enforcement and FBIs, and they always seemed to be in a guarded and kind of close, small circle with each other. I think this is one of the main causes of why there is a societal mentality of the police subculture as being an “us against them,” when it comes to combatting crime and judging criminal conduct. Police officers face the main ethical dilemma which is corruption. Corruption is linked to police discretion. Police discretion is what you decide to do in a situation and either turn your cheek, or proceed. Compare to the discretion of attorneys, attorneys are not allowed to use too much discretion. Another example of an ethical dilemma is whistle blowing. Imagine your partner, Cary, always uses excessive force when arresting delinquents to the point that one of them was really beaten up. But it was not the first time you’ve seen this kind of behavior, even when the arrestee is complying with the officer. What do you do? Do you report it or stay quiet? In contrast, attorneys face ethical challenges when it comes to the legal system and client’s case. Attorneys and their clients have to support their relationship throughout their case in order to have a smooth case. Attorneys can be described as legal advocates, defense and prosecutors, who must follow the American Bar Association guidelines or the Cohen’s principles ideals. Attorneys
Ethics is the “Study of right and wrong, good and evil.” It constitutes the ideology of the morality of an action and the different points of views of certain actions. Many of us don’t stop and realize that our views regarding the ethics of justice are intertwined within three contexts; Our personal views, social influences, and our perspective of the Criminal Justice System itself. Police officers face several ethical dilemmas while on their line of work. Police subculture dwells on the concepts of its culture and the value of being an officer, as they have the ultimate power to prevent crimes, the power to arrest, and the power to use force. They all have a police personality that characterises their views on laws, morals, beliefs, and behaviors. Many ethical dilemmas arise when it comes to “police corruption, the use of coercive force, loyalty, discretion, duty, whistle blowing, misconduct, gratuities, and honesty” (Chapter 4 & 6, ppt. 2). I personally grew up surrounded by law enforcement and FBIs, and they always seemed to be in a guarded and kind of close, small circle with each other. I think this is one of the main causes of why there is a societal mentality of the police subculture as being an “us against them,” when it comes to combatting crime and judging criminal conduct. Police officers face the main ethical dilemma which is corruption. Corruption is linked to police discretion. Police discretion is what you decide to do in a situation and either turn your cheek, or proceed. Compare to the discretion of attorneys, attorneys are not allowed to use too much discretion. Another example of an ethical dilemma is whistle blowing. Imagine your partner, Cary, always uses excessive force when arresting delinquents to the point that one of them was really beaten up. But it was not the first time you’ve seen this kind of behavior, even when the arrestee is complying with the officer. What do you do? Do you report it or stay quiet? In contrast, attorneys face ethical challenges when it comes to the legal system and client’s case. Attorneys and their clients have to support their relationship throughout their case in order to have a smooth case. Attorneys can be described as legal advocates, defense and prosecutors, who must follow the American Bar Association guidelines or the Cohen’s principles ideals. Attorneys