Discretion in the Criminal Justice System

fashioning executive decisions in the criminal justice system is the underlying force play of legal authority. jurisprudence, correctional officers, judges and so on hold the power to make discernmentary decisions based on the situation they are mixed in. There are a variety of ways that authority employment goody but it may be different when involving different situations or even different people, i. e. , recents or adults. I strongly believe that the discretion utilize in todays society is distributed in an catch manner.Shifting the amount of discretion within our justice system could be for mitigate or worse, but why fix something thats not broken? Although almost jurisprudence officers use discretion, Many practice of law officers (and whole departments) prefer to management on the justice aspects of police work getting offenders off the streets, responding to emergencies, rack up big drug busts, and generally catching the bad guys. (Fuller, J. R. Pg. 6. ) No pr oposition how much discretion you give an officer, its ultimately their choice to use it.Although it is usual throughout the criminal justice system, some authoritative figures dont use discretion in a way to guide punishments they stay in accordance with established guidelines. In my opinion, depending on the severity of the criminal offense discretion should or should not be used. For example, discretion should be used for a first time offender for speeding but should not be used for a first time offender of rape. The police are typically the first contact that young victims and delinquents have with the juvenile justice system. As with adults, law enforcement serves as the gatekeeper to the justice system. (Fuller, J.R. Pg 17. ) It is exceedingly important for a police officer to make the decision of introducing a juvenile to the justice system. The responsibility for authorities to use discretion is signifi sternt for a juveniles future. With adults, less discretion could be used because they have a greater sense of morals. In todays society I have in person seen adults expect leniency just because, for example, they have a police governing body bumper sticker. Enforcing the law for adults who are habitual offenders is necessary to uphold order. One can only push society and the law so far at some point you must face the consequences.As we talked about in class, the 3-strike prevail is a fair method of deciding who should be held accountable. Three major(ip) studies were counselinged to examine police practices in detail and to update the 1931 Wickersham commission tale (National Commission on Law Observance and Enforcement, 1971). These embarrass the report of the Presidents Commission on Law Enforcement and Administration of rightness (1967) entitled The Challenge of Crime in a Free baseball club (1967), a report of the National Advisory Commission on genteel Disorders (1968), and a report of the National Advisory Commission on nefarious J ustice Standards and Goals (1973).Each of these commissions was a major undertaking by a grownup number of scholars and practitioners who focused on solving some of the problems in both policing and the criminal justice system as a whole. The commission reports include multiple proposals to tighten the controls over police discretion, including the use and abuse of force. (Alpert, Dunham. Pg. 11. ) Whether for satisfactory or bad laws shape citizens views of beliefs, actions and character.Unfortunately not all systems of morality and discretion are used properly. Discretion should be used in ministration and to preserve order in society, not used in uppity amounts to threaten the laws purpose. In summary, I feel discretion is a necessity. With our overcrowded jails, police and judges need to use their training, insight and experience to keep the exoteric safe from individuals that have no regard for the law. Bibliography * Alpert, Geoffrey P. Dunham, Roger GUnderstanding Poli ce Use of Force Officers, Suspects, and Reciprocity. West Nyack, NY, USA Cambridge University Press, 2004. p 11. * Hagan, F. (2011). Ch 1. Essentials of Research Methods in Criminal Justice and Criminology (pp. 1-45). New York, New York Prentice Hall, 3rd Edition. * Fuller, J. R. (2008). new Delinquency Mainstream and Crosscurrents. New York, New York Prentice Hall, 1st edition. * Owen, S. S. (2012). Foundations of criminal justice. Oxford Oxford University Press.