Crime, Justice, And Ethics

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Instructions

 

The United States judicial systems are based on the Constitution of the United States guaranteeing due process of the law. All court officers, prosecutors, defense attorneys, public defenders, and judges are bound to an oath of office and the code of ethics to obey to the law. Everybody is equal in front of the law. Is this statement still valid?  Create a critical analysis based on the following statements:  The prosecutor evaluates the evidence and facts of a case and decides to prosecute or to nolle prosequi the criminal cases. Explain how the “the desire to win” can lead a prosecutor to pursue a case that should be dropped? Provide an example to strengthen your argument.  Most minority offenders are indigent and can’t afford a private defense attorney. Therefore, the court will assign a public defender to represent the defendant. The public defender maintains a heavy workload with minimum budgets. Does the public defender behave ethically when he or she is pushing plea bargains in most cases or is plea bargaining a violation of a defendant’s rights to due process? In the prisons and jails, minorities represent most of the population. Determine if sentencing decisions discriminate against certain groups. Determine if more whites are sentenced to probation versus minorities, even when they commit the same crime. Support your answer with statistical information. Indicate if those sentences are unethical, and then determine what can be done to minimize discrimination. Most of the sentences are retributive, resulting in incarceration. Consider the three ethical frameworks for punishment: 1) utilitarianism, 2) deontology, and 3) peacemaking. Which framework should serve as the ethical framework for punishment today? Support your decision with an example.

 

Length: 6 pages

References: Include a minimum of five scholarly resources.   Your essay should demonstrate thoughtful consideration of the ideas and concepts that are presented in the course and provide new thoughts and insights relating directly to this topic. Your response should reflect graduate-level writing and APA standards.

Topic: Using Official Crime Data

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After reading Chapter 3 of the Mosher textbook, “An Arresting Experiment: Domestic Violence Victim and Perceptions” by Miller, and “Controlling a Jail Population by Partially Closing the Front Door” by Baumer and Adams, discuss the following prompts:

  • How important is it to use official crime data?
  • What are some issues with using official crime data?
  • What public policy changes could be made by relying upon the 2 articles?After reading Chapter 3 of the Mosher textbook, “An Arresting Experiment: Domestic Violence Victim and Perceptions” by Miller, and “Controlling a Jail Population by Partially Closing the Front Door” by Baumer and Adams, discuss the following prompts:

    · How Important is it to use official crime data?

    · What are some issues with using official crime data?

    · What public policy changes could be made by relying upon the 2 articles?

     

    According to the assigned textbook, official crime data within the criminal justice systems is those that derive from the normal function therein and official counts of crime data include that of police reports of offences and arrests, chargers filed by prosecutors, criminal complaints and indictments, imprisonment data and prison releases (Mosher, Miethe, & Hart, 2011). Official crime data such as the Uniform Crime Reports (UCR) in which gathers data for agencies such as the FBI is extremely important because it complies data from different sources to be used by many different law enforcement agencies. It can be used to analyze different trends in crimes. Having all data complied can not only help law enforcement with research, it also saves time when needing time sensitive information and it helps with budget due to not having to use different resources to gather information.

    Just like any other source and technology, official crime data systems are not perfect and have been criticized for underestimation of less serious crimes (Steiner & Wooldredge, 2014). Some research argues that self-reporting data is more accurate than official crime data (Steiner & Wooldredge, 2014). Regardless of some criticism, official crime data does provide helpful information to agencies such as where crimes can be increasing, decreasing and what steps to take and programs to implement in order to see what is working for the community. Official crime data can also be used to understand what changes need to be made to current policies. Society and communities are always changing and having a resource such as official crime data can help policy makes understand what in current policies are working for the community and what changes in policies and programs need to be made in order to better serve the community.

    Being able to do research will allow policy makers within the criminal justice system to better understanding where there could be any gaps and discrepancies that may exist within the system and help come up with ways to improve that system. Both articles, “An Arresting Experiment: Domestic Violence Victim and Perceptions” by Miller, and “Controlling a Jail Population by Partially Closing the Front Door” by Baumer and Adams discusses research conducted and its limitations. It is very important to understand the limitations that a study have in order to be able to duplicate the study with better outcomes and results. Both studies showed that there was a changes in criminal behavior when it resulted in immediate arrest, however, that does not help the overcrowded situations in many jail and prison. Regardless of arrests neither articles really stressed the use of a program introduced to the community in order to help lower criminal behavior, rather treatment is mandatory in the community or while incarcerated. Public policy changes would strong depend on the needs of the community based on the information gathered in the field by the law enforcement agencies. For example, in order to truly address the issue of domestic violence, policies need to be in place not only for the abuser but also for the victims and children present.

    References Mosher, C. J., Miethe, T. D., & Hart, T. C. (2011). The Mismeasure of Crime (2nd ed.). Los Angeles, CA: Sage Publications, Inc. doi:ISBN: 9781412981811 Steiner, B., & Wooldredge, J. (2014). Comparing Self-Report to Official Measures of Inmate Misconduct. Justice Quaterly, 31(6), 1074-1101. doi:10.1080/07418825.2012.723031

Approaches To Psychological Profiling

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For the Unit 4 Assignment, write a 4–5 page informative essay on the approaches to psychological profiling. In your essay, include the following.

  • Identify and describe four or more types of profiles. Different profiles might include the following; however, they do not need to be limited to the list below.

Types of Profiles

  • Offender profiling
  • Victim profiling
  • Equivocal death profiling
  • DNA profiling
  • Crime scene profiling
  • Geographical profiling
  • Paraphilia profiling
  • Describe how a thorough psychological profile can be created. For example, Offender Profiling is a collection of information by law enforcement agencies, which in turn is translated into a general description of a specific type of person that might commit a certain crime. Combining Offender Profiling with Victim Profiling, personality and behavioral characteristics of the victim can be tied to a certain type of offender. When you combine both strategies, you will produce a stronger profile.
  • Provide an example of each profile used and show how they can be combined, using inductive reasoning, to produce a psychological profile. Inductive reasoning will take multiple thoughts to combine a specific conclusion.

NOTE: This Assignment will require outside research. Use at least two credible sources beyond the text material and discuss how you evaluated the credibility of the resources used. You may consult the Library, the internet, the textbook, other course material, and any other outside resources in supporting your task, using proper citations in APA style.

In addition to fulfilling the specifics of the Assignment, a successful paper must also meet the following criteria.

  • Length should be 4 to 5 pages, excluding cover page and references page.
  • Include a title page with full name, class name, section number, and date.
  • Viewpoint and purpose should be clearly established and sustained.
  • Assignment should follow the conventions of Standard American English (correct grammar, punctuation, etc.).
  • Writing should be well ordered , logical and unified , as well as original and insightful.
  • Your work should display superior content, organization, style, and mechanics.
  • Use double-space and Arial or Times New Roman in 12 point font size.
  • Use examples to support your discussion.
  • Cite all sources on a separate reference page at the end of your paper and cited within the body of your paper using APA format and citation style. For more information on APA guidelines, go to APA Style Central located in Academic Tools.

. When is a stop valid?

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Chapter 5

1. When is a stop valid? What is its purpose?

2. When is a frisk valid? What is its purpose?

3. “An officer who makes a valid stop can automatically conduct a valid frisk.” Is this statement true or false? Explain your answer.

4. What is reasonable suspicion? How does it differ from probable cause?

Chapter 6

1. Are the terms seizure and arrest similar or different? Justify your answer and give examples.

2. What is the proper legal test to determine whether a person has been seized under the Fourth Amendment and therefore is entitled to constitutional protection?

3. Assume you are a police officer who is detaining a suspect. What standard will you use to determine if the detention is still a valid detention or if it has turned into an arrest?

4. Identify the four elements of an arrest, and then give an example of each element.

Knock-and-announce vs. No-Knock Search Warrants

Debate the police use of force in executing search warrants coming down to an analysis of two classifications of entry into a residence or building. Follow the links below and discuss the following questions.

Legal Information Institute: Knock and Announce Rule

Legal Information Institute: No-Knock Warrant

Legal Information Institute: United States v. Banks

1. Based on the definition of “No-Knock” warrants and “Knock-and-announce” warrants, explain the pros and cons of each type of entry.

2. Which type of entry allows force to be used? “No-Knock” or” Knock-and-announce”?

3. In the case of United States v. Banks, how much time was Banks given to come to the door?

4. What was the Supreme Court’s ruling on the amount of time given by police for Banks to come to the door?

5. Based on what you have learned about search warrant entries, what is the fundamental difference between a “No-Knock” warrant and a “Knock-and-announce” warrant?