CJ 230 3-2 assignment
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School
Southern New Hampshire University *
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Course
230
Subject
Philosophy
Date
Feb 20, 2024
Type
docx
Pages
2
Uploaded by DeanSardineMaster1036
Samantha Talley
CJ 230: Discretion in Criminal Justice Southern New Hampshire University
“Discretion begins with the decision to label certain acts as criminal and is followed by a series of subsequent decisions made by police officers, judges, prosecutors, and others.” (Discretion and the Criminal Justice Process | Office of Justice Programs, n.d.) Discretion is the way you choose to speak, act, and behave when dealing with people within the criminal justice system such as coworkers, superiors, victims, and offenders. People within the criminal justice system such as law enforcement, use discretion to not cause escalation of the situation as well as offend the people they are interacting with. In Module One, I mentioned in my discussion that the police often do not notify the family of a deceased person before the media releases the information. The police often do not show discretion for the family by allowing them to be notified before any information is found out by the media. The lack of discretion that the police have for the deceased’s family can cause an escalation in the investigation as the family was not provided with any information and were not properly notified. This can also cause serious repercussions on the police department because
they are now perceived as people who do not have any empathy or remorse for the family of the deceased because they failed to notify the family before the media broadcasted the incident and the loved ones' name. In the discretionary decision-making process, I feel that the most important element that should be used is morality. By using morals, it allows the discretion of a member of the criminal justice
system to use what they feel is right when making decisions based on a court case and the offender in question. For example, if the offender is on trial for a murder case and the family of the victim is present in the courtroom, discretion is vital as well as morality and empathy. You want to use morals to help determine the outcome of the case but also use discretion when deciding the outcome, so you do not cause an escalation of the situation and show a lack of empathy towards the family of the victim. In the case of a deceased person's family not being notified by police before the media, morality should be the top priority in this situation when they are using discretion. Not only should the police use discretion when notifying the police, but they should also show morality and empathy when they give the family the information. Morality in this scenario is important because when looking at the situation and putting it in your own shoes, you would want to know the information as soon as information can be given, and you want to do the right thing for the deceased and the family. Morality in this situation should be the most important in the discretionary decision-making process in this scenario.
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