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Journal: Ideals
The judicial system is large, complex, slow to change, influenced by politics, and daunting. You may have direct experience with the systemic issues and problems inherent in the system. By virtue of enrolling in a criminal justice degree, you have learned about the issues confronting criminal justice professionals in this field—contemporary research and learning in the discipline are focused on improving systems to balance safety and rights for all citizens. Given that the system is slow to change, expecting immediate results may foster more frustration than inspiration. In this Journal, you reflect on how you maintain the ideals that prompted you to pursue a criminal justice degree.
Write a 300-word journal response to the following prompts:
Consider the ideals inherent in the positions of defense, prosecution, or judge.
Within these roles, how would you maintain a sense of idealism or purpose in the face of systemic social and institutional problems?
Journal: Ideals
The defense role is there to protect the rights of a defendant where they would provide
the accuse counsel and advocate for them, disclosing things that could impact them that was not
disclose by the prosecutor. My degree will be in Human services and how this ties into that is
that advocating for my client and making sure that they do receive the available resources that is
needed for them that are not familiar what is available.
For the role of the prosecution the role is one that is there for conviction of the guilty but
on the other hand it is one that is there to like the defense protect the innocent too. The role has
been known to upgrade charges as a way of getting someone to plea to a lesser charge in order to
secure a conviction rather if the person. As a prosecutor the person in this role should seek out
and make sure that they are governing the role ethically.
In the role of the judge this is where a person in this role is expected to be one of a bias
role making sure that both the defense and the prosecutor are following the law while protecting
the rights of the defendant. The judge is more like the overseer of the court case being able to
apply the law with courtesy and compassion without outside influence. The role is one where
you will need to be sharp and knowledgeable of applicable laws to quickly perceive and
understand new concepts having showed above ethical behavior.
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STUDENT & PROFESSOR REPLIES
BELOW YOU WILL FIND 2 STUDENT REPLIES PLEASE ANSWER EACH ONE THAT IS HIGHLIGHTED ALSO KEEP THEM SEPERATED ON THERE OWN SHEET OF PAPER AND PUT THERE FIRST AND LAST NAME WITH YOUR ANSWER SO I WILL KNOW THEM APART. EACH STUDENT REPLIES HAS TO HAVE REFERENCES AND MUST BE EXLEAST 150 T0 200 WORD COUNT. SO PLEASE READ EACH ONE AND REPLY BACK TO EACH ONE THANK YOU…
Student #1 Kurtis Corbett
Judges have extraordinary power and responsibility because they determine matters that affect the future of the parties involved in a case. Therefore, a judge must follow the law and conduct judicial duties freely and autonomously to make correct decisions. He should resist external influences, such as political pressure or threats that might lead him to make an unethical decision. (Kelly, 2016)
Judges, elected or appointed, have the judiciary responsibility to provide equal treatment and offer unbiased rulings during their assignment. Every person that appears in the courtroom expects to be treated fairly and equally. A judge must decide a matter before him impartially by allowing all the parties to be heard and treating them fairly. If he has personal knowledge of the disputed facts, connections to either of the parties, or an interest in the outcome, a judge should refrain from determining matters. The ethical judge will withdraw from the case in any of these instances.
Citizen participation in the judicial system can take many forms. As a juror, witness, or crime victim, you have specific responsibilities to the court. As a witness, the citizen needs to be prepared to answer questions, be familiar with the case, and recall the events they observed. If you are selected as a juror, listen carefully and be alert to everything during the trial. Do not discuss the case with anyone, including fellow jurors, and avoid outside influences such as television or social media. As a crime victim, listen to the questions carefully and think before answering during your testimony. Remember you are under oath and must tell the truth. The court only wants the truth and facts in the case, so avoid exaggeration or opinions.
References
Kelly, B. (2016, November 9). The Importance of Professional Ethics for a Judge. Chron.Com. https://work.chron.com/importance-professional-ethics-judge-21068.html
The Mississippi Bar: A Citizen’s Role in the Courts. (n.d.). MSBAR.ORG. https://www.msbar.org/for-the-public/consumer-information/a-citizens-role-in-the-courts/
Student #2 Paige Lyons
The Judicial system is structured with the ideal of fairness, objectivity, truth, and accuracy. There are many moving parts in the judicial systems, many with opposing roles, many working together, and structured for checks and balances. However, there is room for biases, driven by personal goals versus constitutional goals and power with any role. Checks and balances are to ensure that no one role has a significantly higher level of power than the rest. However, this can be argued that the District Attorneys or Prosecutors have the most significant powers within the judicial system. It is likely to argue those who have the greatest power when it comes to ethical conduct and who should have the most significant responsibility for ethical conduct. However, I would argue that each role has a great responsibility for ethical conduct as fairness will not be found if ethical conduct is not displayed in the judicial system.
The D.A. must uphold their ethical conduct to provide the people with security and trust and avoid another situation such as that of D.A. Larry Krasner made the people and police force feel fearful and, in turn, refused to speak up and come forward as witnesses, doing less on the streets for lack of support and fear for their jobs (Austen, 2018). The judge must uphold ethical conduct by considering when search warrants are granted, how the court is run during a hearing, and giving an appropriate sentence for the crimes. The Jury must be objective and attentive during the trial while considering the evidence presented and not doing external research that may cause biases (Hemmens et al., 2017). The defense attorney has to be ethical in ensuring that the defendant is receiving a fair trial and whose rights are not being taken away by anyone and make the defendant feel the trial is fair and honest (Hemmens et al., 2017).
Another critical role in the judicial system includes the citizens. Citizens play a more significant role than they may believe. A citizen needs to report crimes when a witness and assists the cops as much as needed. The citizens also need to understand whom they vote for when filling out ballots; it is common for citizens to pick a president and a party but not pay much attention to those lower ranked roles that play a critical part in communities. Citizens also need to be diligent when called for jury duty, be objective and honest, and take pride in their duty and right as American citizens to be a part of the justice system.
References
Hemmens, C., Brody, D. C., & Spohn, C. (2017). Criminal courts: A contemporary perspective (3rd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications.
Austen, B. (2018, November 4). On the inside. New York Times Magazine, 42–47, 64–65.
