Ethics in the Criminal Justice System

My site is the State Attorney’s Office (4th Judicial Office)

• Describe your sites code of ethics.

• What ethical challenges have you discovered that your agency faces?

• What does current field research suggest for improving the ethical behaviors of the personal of your agency?

• What have other agencies tried? Did it work? Why or why not?

Composition of Paper #2

The paper should have the following section titles clearly labeled with supporting documentation.

1. Title page

2. Introduction/Abstract

3. Agency’s ethical code.

4. Ethical challenges discovered (problem areas).

5. Current research suggestions for improvement.

6. Results of proposed solution(s) at other agencies.

7. Identify limitations of your proposed solution(s).

8. Conclusions

9. Reference page

10. Appendices (if necessary)

The approximate length of the paper should be 5-7 pages (double spaced, does not include references or appendices). Paper length does not include title page, references, and any appendices.

ANSWER

Ethics in the Criminal Justice System

Introduction

Ethics is the general foundation of the criminal justice system. Through ethics, the criminal justice system and society come up with the moral reasoning that they use, the definition of criminal activity, and what is acceptable as a punishment (Pollock, 2014). In the CJS, the codes of ethics are applicable to help people uphold the principles and values of the law. As they do so, it presents them with a chance to provide the people they serve with justice guidelines. If a person works in the criminal justice system, it is the ethical codes that guide their conduct as a law officer. Without ethics in the system, the law would not mean much as citizens would not depend on its application. Depending on a person’s occupation and position in the CJS, ethics influence their decision-making process. It governs their interactions with law-breakers, affecting how they interpret the law.

Agency’s ethical code

In every agency, the code of ethics outlines how the agency’s employees should act and behave. Since Melissa Nelson took over the State Attorney’s Office (4th Judicial Office), she and her team have been working hard to make various changes in the system and to ensure they provide justice to every person who comes to them. When she got to the office, her main aim was to restore the community’s faith and to instill fairness and uniformity in the decisions. Since she took over, she has stressed to her team the importance of professionalism, communication and the fulfillment of every person’s specific purpose and responsibility. The main ethical codes of the State Attorney’s Office (4th Judicial Office) are professionalism, communication and professional competence (Marbut, 2018). In addition to this, the agency has an ethical code that focuses on and promotes confidentiality between the attorneys and their clients. Communication includes transparency between the clients and their attorneys. It entails telling accurate facts and openly communicating about what the case is about and how it progresses. Secondly, the confidentiality code protects the communicated information between an attorney and their client. An attorney should never disclose any information about their client unless there is permission to do so. Professionalism and professional competence is an employee’s commitment to fulfilling their professional skills and knowledge. In addition to this, those working under one’s authority must also have the necessary training and supervision.

Ethical challenges discovered (problem areas)

Every law firm spends its days helping different people sort out their problems. While some lawyers handle cases of illegal or misconduct actions, some handle cases where they seek to assist clients in compiling their ideas in different ways to avoid getting in trouble. Despite their hard work, they face various ethical challenges from their work as layers to dealing with their clients. I have noticed various ethical challenges that the law firm faces for the time I have been in this agency. For example, the most common challenges I have noticed may include conflict of interest, client advocacy and professional responsibility (Bradley et al., 2012). The most common and occurring ethical problem often faced by this agency is conflicts of interest. In that, most cases there comes to the law firm two clients with opposing interests. In this case, they want to face each other in court with lawyers from the same agency.

Secondly, the agency faces an ethical challenge every time because sometimes, it is hard to determine how best they can advocate for the clients. For example, sometimes, a lawyer can represent a guilty client, but they cannot encourage the client to commit perjury on the stand. In addition to this, lawyers taking part in cases like child custody cases, which are very emotional, have to come up with the best way possible to advocate for their clients. Professional responsibility is fulfilling every person’s specific purpose and responsibility in the law firm (Gillers, 2012). These may include rules that an agency sets for its lawyers, associates and partners. The professional responsibility code requires lawyers to effectively communicate with their clients and avoid at all costs criminal behaviors. It has been a problem for this agency because some lawyers defraud others.

Current research suggestions for improvement

Any firm or business that has strong and good work ethics grows faster. It is so because most employees, if not all, often want to work for an organization that they can be proud of, and they would prefer to work with colleagues who are aware of work with integrity. In addition to this, potential customers or clients are likely to select an organization that can show them their ethical behaviors. According to current research, here are some improvement suggestions that can help improve workplace ethics.

Training Employees

There is no need for an organization to have an ethical code of conduct in its system if they do not understand why it is essential to the organization. Therefore, an organization needs to emphasize and train employees on the potential consequences and risks resulting from breaching (Downe Cowell & Morgan, 2016). An organization should have regular training sessions and workshops to ensure their employees understand how ethics is essential to the team. These may include various examples of how they can uphold the firm’s integrity in every situation that presents itself.

Reward Ethical Behavior

Employees are likely to act with integrity and honesty if they are appreciated their deeds held with high esteem. The best way an organization can promote those who value its code of ethics is through rewarding them. It does not have to be something big, but an organization can opt to provide its employees with monthly awards like cards or introducing little bonuses for those who uphold the codes. Doing so definitely helps in motivating every employee to work hard towards achieving the reward.

Engage with Customers and Employees

People will likely invest in a code of ethics if they participate in its development. Therefore, before changing or adjusting their codes, an organization can involve some colleagues so that they can feel like a part of the change. The same applies to the customers as well. Asking them what improvements an organization can make to see to it they are ethically served. Doing so may be very helpful for the firm.

Results of the proposed solution(s) at other agencies

The proposed solutions are quite productive, and they have worked for those agencies that implemented them. For example, training new and old employees on the importance of ethics codes opens their eyes to the bigger picture. It makes them aware of what might go wrong if the ethics codes are not met and what the consequences and organization may face are. Therefore, they do what it takes to save the organization from facing the risks they might have faced if they did not obey the code of ethics. Rewarding employees on ethical matters may motivate others to work hard and aim at getting the reward next. It keeps them on toes and motivates them to practice every code of ethics to get the reward. Lastly, engaging customers and employees make an organization grow and expand. For example, consulting clients on how they would like an organization to treat them or improve their ethics codes makes them feel like they are part of the firm’s family. Therefore, they will recommend the firm to their friends and families who may need similar services.

Identify the limitations of your proposed solution(s)

The most obvious limitation of these solutions may include time, and it may be financially costly. For instance, training employees on the importance of a code of ethics may be time-consuming and costly. It might be costly because an organization might have to employ skilled professionals to teach their teams its importance and risks. Rewarding ethical behaviors may be costly to an organization, more so the small organizations on their growing stages. They may not have the funds to reward any slight ethical behavior.

Conclusion

In the criminal justice system, codes of ethics are essential in guiding the workers on the law’s various ways. The codes of ethics are vital in guiding many businesses in their daily operations. However, there are ethical challenges that organizations may often face from time to time. However, one should notice that every ethical challenge that an organization or employee faces may have a different impact or solution from what the previous company did. Therefore, it is the responsibility of every lawyer or employee to think in every given situation to ensure there is integrity in their decision-making critically. Employers and managers should see to it that before they employ anybody in their firm, they undergo the necessary training and education on the consequences and the importance of codes of ethics.

References

Bradley, J. M., Werth Jr, J. L., & Hastings, S. L. (2012). Social justice advocacy in rural communities: Practical issues and implications. The Counseling Psychologist, 40(3), 363-384.

Downe, J., Cowell, R., & Morgan, K. (2016). What determines ethical behavior in public organizations: Is it rules or leadership?. Public Administration Review, 76(6), 898-909.

Gillers, S. (2012). How to Make Rules for Lawyers: The Professional Responsibility of the Legal Profession. Pepp. L. Rev., 40, 365.

Marbut, M. (2018). A year of Change and Adjustment. Daily Records. Retrieved 9 November 2020, from https://www.jaxdailyrecord.com/article/a-year-of-change-and-adjustment.

Pollock, J. M. (2014). Ethical dilemmas and decisions in criminal justice. Nelson Education.

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