Discretion Authority And Power In Criminal Justice

Like virtue ethics, care ethics places a strong emphasis on acting morally and with integrity which is vitally important for probation and parole officers to behave. Even though the duties of professionals within the criminal justice system differ greatly they are all given “varying degrees of discretion, authority, and power” according to Joycelyn M. Pollock in Ethical Dilemmas and Decisions in Criminal Justice. This is why it is pertinent that these professionals have strong ethical systems. The more discretion, authority, and power criminal justice professionals are given the more they can use these to harm others instead of do good and fight for justice. John Locke, Thomas Hobbes, and Jean-jacques Rousseau termed the phrase “social contract”

They have the power and discretion to hand out tickets or warnings, arrest people and deprive them of their liberty, and decide when lethal force is necessary. They enforce the laws and have restrictions placed on them by the constitution which grants citizens protections against the police having too much power. This is because they are defenders if such power is exercised fairly, lawfully, and morally. They become oppressors if such power is exercised in an abusive, arbitrary, and/or corrupt manner. Elsa Rina Maya Toule states that “Ethics cannot be separated from law” in Rule of Law and Rule of Ethic in Law Enforcement in Indonesia (Toule, 2022, p. 56). For law enforcement, the two work together to create legal ideals. In order to ensure the proper and suitable behavior of law enforcement, ethics serves as a crucial guidance. Law enforcement officers have lots of influence and if they possess strong ethical foundational beliefs, the law can be applied

At the time of sentencing, probation officers have discretion over whether to recommend to a judge to sentence an offender to prison or probation and how many years they should spend. During supervision, probation officers have the discretion about when to file violation reports, what suggestions to offer to the judge during revocation hearings, and when to file violation reports. In managing their caseload, parole officers are given the same discretion as probation officers. However there are some differences. For instance, parolees are viewed as more of a threat to the community which places a considerably more emphasis on the function of parole officers as watchdogs. Some parole officers feel that by informing a parolee of the restrictions placed on them and then apprehending them if they mess up they have fulfilled their ethical obligation. Others regard parole officers jobs as being more expansive, including some responsibility for aiding the offender's reintegration into