Transcript cheeseman ppt sample - Carolina Academic Press

EVERYDAY ETHICS FOR THE
CRIMINAL JUSTICE
PROFESSIONAL
Second Edition
Kelly Cheeseman
Claudia San Miguel
Durant Frantzen
Lisa Nored
Copyright © 2016, Carolina Academic Press. All Rights Reserved.
CHAPTER 1
An Introduction to Everyday Ethics in Criminal Justice
Copyright © 2016, Carolina Academic Press. All Rights Reserved.
Chapter Objectives
 The student will understand the meaning of ethics.
 The student will understand how ethics relates to the criminal
justice system.
 The student will learn to define the word ethics.
 The student will differentiate between the words ethics and
morality.
 The student will understand the importance of ethics for criminal
justice professionals.
Copyright © 2016, Carolina Academic Press. All Rights Reserved.
Introduction
Five goals that should be included in examining crime, justice and ethics:
1. Become aware of and open to ethical issues in their entirety, both the small and
the grandiose.
2. Begin developing analytical skills that will help to critically examine the why and
how of what we do in the criminal justice system.
3. Grow in our ability to become more personally responsible.
4. Appreciate the coercive nature of the criminal justice system.
5. Develop wholesight. This means exploring things from both a mind and heart
perspective, appreciating all the costs involved in the criminal justice system.
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Ethics
 Ethics in criminal justice is ever-present.
 It is simply overlooked as an integral element that preserves fundamental rights outlined by our
forefathers in the constitution.
 It is at times overlooked as the driving force that guides policies, practices, operations, and
procedures of the criminal justice system.
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Ethics in the Workplace
 All components of the Criminal Justice system are susceptible to the
hazards of unethical decision making; ethics does not only apply to police.
 Police: Ethics filters through the most mundane and routine activities of the police to the
most dangerous and life-threatening situations that require the use of deadly force.
 Courts: Ethics permeates the courtroom environment during arraignments, grand juries,
and trials.
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Ethics in the Workplace, cont.
Corrections: Ethics seeps into the everyday operations of jails and prisons whose staff is
charged with safeguarding the due process rights of those convicted of crimes while also
having discretion to use reasonable force to maintain order.
Research: Ethics ensures that empirical investigators do not violate the basic rights of
human subjects as they search for answers to society’s crime problems.
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Supreme Court Cases
Wilkins v. Gaddy
Corrections officer Gaddy was accused by state prisoner Wilkins of excessive
force, violating the 8th amendment’s provision against cruel and unusual
punishment.
Wilkins argues he was slammed against the floor, punched, kicked, kneed and
choked until another officer stopped the incident.
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Discretion
 An argument for the ethically-dangerous environment that seemingly characterizes the criminal
justice system is the ability of its employees to use discretion.

Discretion allows actors of the system to be swayed by circumstances and/or situations
outside the realm of the law.

It also allows actors to weigh factors not necessarily relevant to fulfilling their duty as ethical
public servants.

Spirit of the law vs. letter of the law
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What is Ethics?
Ethics
1. A set of moral principles that guides human behavior (Close & Meier, 1995).
2. The science of moral conduct, duty, and the responsibility to do the right thing (Braswell et al., 2008).
The terms ethics and morality share the same root meaning
 The Greek word ethos means character or conduct. (Close & Meier, 1995).
 The Latin word moralis pertains to custom or character (Close & Meier, 1995).
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General Ethical Principles
• Compassion: concern for the well-being of others.
• Nonmaleficense: avoiding inflicting suffering and hardship on others.
• Beneficence: preventing and alleviating others’ suffering; meeting the needs of
the most vulnerable; promoting others’ happiness.
• Fairness: treating people the way they deserve to be treated; as having equal
rights unless merit or need justifies special treatment.
• Courage: in opposing injustice.
• Respect: for the Constitution and other laws enacted by legitimate governing
bodies.
• Honesty: not deceiving anyone who deserves to know the truth.
• Not making promises that we don’t intend to keep.
• Keeping promises that we made freely.
• Integrity: upholding our obligations in spite of personal inconvenience.
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General Ethical Principles, cont.
 Courage: in opposing injustice.
 Respect: for the Constitution and other laws enacted by legitimate governing
bodies.
 Honesty: not deceiving anyone who deserves to know the truth.
 Not making promises that we don’t intend to keep.
 Keeping promises that we made freely.
 Integrity: upholding our obligations in spite of personal inconvenience.
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Specific Obligations of Public
Officials
 Use impartial judgment in the service of all constituents.
 Avoid conflicts of interest that could undermine your objective judgment.
 Don’t show favoritism towards family and friends in hiring.
 Don’t solicit or accept bribes from people seeking to influence your official
decisions.
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Where Do Ethics Come From?
Ethics are influenced by:

our upbringing

personal and work experiences

religious beliefs and moral philosophy

friends and co-workers

the U.S. Constitution

laws that exist at the state and federal level
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Where Do Ethics Come From?
cont.
 Four common ethical elements that each criminal justice professional encounters:

Discretion: The power to make a decision or act in a manner that the individual feels is right or correct.

The duty to enforce the law : Service to the law is part of every criminal justice career and is also
expected even if the individual disagrees with the law itself.

They are public servants: The job of those in criminal justice is to serve the best interest of the
citizens and they must hold themselves accountable to the public.

The duty to uphold constitutional protections: Fundamental to the Constitution are the concepts of
due process and equal protection.
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The Constitution
Constitutional Amendments which directly impact criminal justice
professionals:
 4th Amendment: No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime,
unless on a presentment or indictment of a grand jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval
forces, or in the militia, when in actual service in time of war or public danger; nor shall any person be
subject for the same offense to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any
criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due
process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.
 6th amendment: In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and
public trial, by an impartial jury of the state and district wherein the crime shall have been committed,
which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and
cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory
process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the assistance of counsel for his defense.
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The Constitution, cont.
 8th amendment: Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel
and unusual punishments inflicted.
 14th Amendment: All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the
jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State
shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United
States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law;
nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.
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Supreme Court Cases
Atwater v. City of Lago Vista
Gail Atwater was arrested for failing to place seatbelts on her small children, and
herself as she drove through the city of Lago Vista. Officer Turek, who performed
the arrest, yelled at Atwater for not caring about the welfare of her children. After
repeated pleas to lower his voice because it was frightening her children and pleas
to allow her to take her children to a friends house before going to the police
station, Turek continued his verbal tirade and rejected her idea for childcare.
Atwater filed a suit saying her fourth amendment rights to “be secure from
unreasonable searches and seizures” was violated when Turek arrested her for a
crime whose punishment should have only been a fine.
The Supreme Court ruled that Turek acted within the scope of the framers of the
Constitution when arresting Atwater.
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Reducing Unethical Behavior
 Steps that can be taken when determining what course of action someone should
take when faced with an ethical dilemma:
1.
Examine all possible resolutions to the situation and examine all the possible costs and effects of each
possibility.
2.
Determine if any of the possible results of the situation would be viewed as unreasonable if other people
were made aware of the situation or if it were to be made public.
3.
A criminal justice professional must be able to justify the decision based on his or her own set of values
and beliefs.
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Thinking Questions
1. What are some of the ethical decisions you make on a daily basis?
2. What is the most common way to define the term ethics?
3. What are Braswell et al.’s (2008) 5 goals in understanding ethics in criminal justice?
4. Describe what you believe to be the biggest ethical concern in criminal justice today.
5. What was the ethical dilemma in the case of Wilkins v. Gaddy (2010)?
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Thinking Questions
6. How is discretion an ethical issue within the criminal justice system?
7. What steps can be taken when determining what course of action someone should
take when faced with an ethical dilemma?
8. List and explain the four common ethical elements that criminal justice professionals
encounter?
9. Describe ethical dilemmas encountered by members of the following criminal justice
profession: law enforcement, lawyers, judges, correctional officers, community
supervision officers, private security personnel, criminal justice researchers.
10. How can one become a moral and ethical criminal justice professional?
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