Ethics in Criminal Justice

Ethics are a major part of any role; however, within the criminal justice system ethics play a large part in how we address all sides of justice. In this country, we refer to "under God" in almost every major position and currency, I feel that a code of ethics should effectively separate from those religious ideals added in the 1950's. Given that this country was founded on the following principles, it is only fair to either include all religions active in the United States or none of them when referring to our Justice System. According to the Bill of Rights, we see the following...

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

Many laws have been upheld and formulated around this amendment; however, the basic right of religious choice is and should be upheld, as long as that freedom does not negatively affect the lives and well-being of others directly. So placing under God in our money and other government regulated and promoted things is wrong. Ethically I feel that religion and justice must remain separate.

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

Ethically the United States criminal justice system has strayed much farther from this amendment than any other. With the implementation of the Patriot Act, we see that our right to due process is reduced to a simple moral decision by one person versus pursuit of evidence, and trial by jury. I feel very strongly that an ethical system must not allow a government or government agency to have virtually free reign as this "act" does.

In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial...

Understanding the jury trial and the process implemented is highly important. Ethically allowing a jury trial and the surrounding accruements is important. It helps to assure the fairness of the system.

The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.

In our criminal justice system, it is most important to remember that our individual rights must be held in the highest of respect as citizens.

Obviously, I did not include in detail all ten of the original Amendments to our Constitution, or those Amendments commonly known as the Bill of Rights. However, I firmly believe that any trustworthy ethical and moral compass must be grounded in these ten original principles. Therefore, my code of ethics is grounded in the greater good, versus a religious morals base. The greater good is seeing the whole of society versus your favorite part; personally, we may not agree with religious or non- religious decisions by many of our peers and fellow citizens however, it is their right in this country. In basing an ethical system on the greater good principle, one must take into account the varying societal, religious, moral, and ethical views. A good ethical system must be set up to protect those that cannot protect themselves as well as allowing for certain unalienable rights as prescribed by the Bill Of Rights.

Therefore, my code of ethics would begin with the following statement.

1. Always maintain the highest integrity, honesty, and impartiality.

2. All current laws, be they federal, state, or local jurisdiction must be maintained and upheld.

3. Be of equal mind when dealing with all of my duties whether enforcing the law, or teaching the application.

4. Will not discriminate against a person based on their, gender, race, religious credo, social background, or disabled status.

5. Will maintain confidentiality within the boundaries of the law.

6. Never use my position to garner favors, nor imply that favors could be gained.

7. Will support and follow the Bill of Rights and our constitutional rights as outlined by our founders.

8. Understand and recognize that this code of ethics is a guide to be able to create and maintain an atmosphere of safety for those involved in the Criminal Justice system.

This is my code of ethics; while the basic framework is similar to any one of a hundred other individual department codes, it varies in one small area. Included is a section I have never seen regarding the Constitution. While most military agencies do mention it, I have noticed that Criminal Justice programs do not. My ethical guidelines exist in support of the originator of law in these United States, our Bill of Rights.

Some simple comparisons of various Justice Systems ethical codes will show the similarities however again you will see that many of them do not even mention our Bill of Rights. The Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences has a Code of Ethics that is quite extensive; however, per the professional side we see the following "In their roles as practitioners, researchers, teachers, and administrators, members of the Academy have an important social responsibility because their recommendations, decisions, and actions may alter the lives of others. They should be aware of the situations and pressures that might lead to the misuse of their influence and authority. Members of the Academy should take steps to ensure that these situations do not produce deleterious results for clients, research participants, colleagues, students, and employees." This would be most applicable to me as my intended goal is to teach and or provide research to learning centers and law enforcement agencies. My particular code of ethics allows me to bypass potential issues by placing the brunt of the code on an established document of justice, I am able to circumnavigate religious, racial, and social issues and directly address the potential client, defendant, plaintiff, or other person involved. Understanding that these potential pitfalls of the justice system today and in antiquity are no longer as relevant today, nor should they be. I feel that the largest amount of Justice System deviance is based primarily in religious, racial, and social differences. I truly feel that by weighing the fact, and the individual case as such we can avoid these pitfalls. After all everyone is human and while we seem different, this is no reason to neglect the proper application of the law.

What are the pitfalls of the "unwritten" code in the Justice System and the application of the knowledge taught, or attained? If we look to historical precedents and modern dilemmas that have occurred, we see that in the Justice System supporting your colleagues sometimes comes at the price of true justice. While I truly feel that supporting colleagues is important this should never be done at the cost of our rights as citizens, nor our ability to receive true justice. In many law enforcement agencies, and other justice-centered agencies we see a "fraternity" of law enforcement officers, a so-called "brotherhood." While this has its good points, it can also lead to severe abuse of the legal system and the rights of those civilians that encounter the system. We saw during the Rampart crisis in Los Angeles what could happen if law enforcement personnel were allowed to deviate from proper procedure, we saw what happened because of bad leadership, and no procedural follow up with these officers. While the original intentions of these men were good, the unfortunate side effect was the disallowing of this program to continue as it had been. According to Sergeant Brian Liddy (an Officer in this unit at the time of the scandal) the officers had free reign. "We got to pick and choose what we wanted to do, to a certain extent. Do we want to go to that call or not?" By allowing the officers to live above the rules, the commanders should have been held to account. Unfortunately, this did not go the way many may have wished it too, however the fact remains that the unwritten (Brothers in Blue) code is different from my code, simply because with my code you must place the constitutional rights of the accused, or involved first. Obviously this will not always occur, however if one stays the course and follows through from a supervisory position it may keep trouble away.

I do feel however that the code of ethics I have written while brief is to the point; my personal opinion is less is more. While certain areas could be interpreted differently, the idea is to provide a firm base to work. An ethical code by definition provides a quandary at times. Ethics are given to individual interpretation simply because everyone has different opinions, views, and moral codes. The idea is that an ethical code should be a guide for someone coming into this field. It was interesting that ethical codes did not seem to be standard and while there were some larger organizations like the American Correctional Association that had standard ethical codes, it seemed that the codes did indeed vary from state to state. However a mainline that was seen was the following statement "The American correctional Association expects of its members unfailing honesty, respect for the dignity and individuality of human beings and a commitment to professional and compassionate service." Treat others with dignity and respect; respect the individual as a human being. I truly feel that if more Justice Professionals did this we would see a better "face" in the public eye.

Ethics, an interesting and sometimes-confusing side of the Justice System; While my views may not be agreed on, I think we can all agree that every case approached, every person involved in the system should be treated as an individual no matter how similar the case to another. To raise the public opinion of the Justice System and law enforcement in particular we need to begin changing our fundamental approach. If we do this, I feel our system will be sound for many years to come.

Citations

Congress of the United States (1789) Charters of Freedom-Bill of Rights. Retrieved September 25, 2008, from Archives.Gov, http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/charters/bill_of_rights_transcript.html

Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences (2000) ACJS Code of Ethics. Retrieved September 25, 2008, from E. Members of the Academy as Experts http://www.acjs.org/pubs/167_671_2922.cfm

Liddy, Brian (2008) Crash Culture. Retrieved September 25, 2008, from PBS home http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/lapd/scandal/crashculture.html

Board of Governors and Delegate Assembly (1994) code of ethics. Retrieved September 25, 2008 from American Correctional Association.Org http://www.aca.org/pastpresentfuture/ethics.asp