In the criminal justice arena, the concept of exercising discretion is of great importance. There is a lot of room for discretion in the criminal justice system since every party is legally required to uphold the law, but each has the legal right to do it in their unique ways (Wakefield &Fleming, 2018). When law enforcement officials investigate, detain, arrest, surveil, search and seize, and use force, they must make relevant decisions. The “rule of law” governs how judges use their discretion in court. The role of discretion is to provide the capacity to make official judgments based on logic and judgment in the criminal justice system. This gives the option of selecting from a variety of suitable options. Legally, each individual has the authority to make their judgments, and this has an impact on the discretion that they employ.
All members of law enforcement and the criminal justice system should strive to use authority, integrity, and discretionary power in harmony. Integrity entails honesty, morality, and the ability to be relied upon (Discretion in Decision Making (n.d.)). One with authority has control over others. Authority entails being able to give commands and make decisions about what has to be done. Discretionary power is the capacity to choose what and how much power to utilize in a given scenario. Abuse of power is when a law enforcement personnel allows another person to inflict harm on another person just out of selfish gain.
An important distinction between ethics and morals is that ethics are concerned with defining good and bad, whereas morals are concerned with what is morally right and wrong (Pollock 2020). Decision-making is influenced by one’s ethics and morality by how one uses discretionary authority. When deciding whether to issue a warning, make an arrest, file charges, or impose a punishment, a criminal justice professional may consider a person’s appearance and socioeconomic background.
In my discretion decision, I opted to give a warning to the male driver and summon medical attention for the female passenger. Despite the male driver’s speeding, running a red light, and involvement in a traffic chase that culminated in the emergency room ambulance bay at 1:45 a.m. he must have had a legitimate rationale for his behavior (Pollock, 2021). I learned that the passenger who is a female pregnant, her water had broken, and was in active labor. I realize the male driver was not intentionally breaking the law, but he wanted to get the female to the hospital before she gave birth outside of a medical environment, which is why he drove her there.
Integrity, authority, and the ability to make discretionary decisions were all factors in my decision to listen to the male driver and female passenger. I used my position as a law enforcement officer and my integrity to do the right thing in every case. I was able to put myself in the shoes of the male driver because of my strong ethical and moral principles. Taking the male driver’s place allowed me to imagine how I would have transported the female passenger to the hospital after her water broke and she was in active labor at 1:45 am.
Decisions taken by courts and correctional facilities may be affected if I had issued a summons or arrested the male driver. The courts may have a positive or negative reaction. This might be because of the different discretionary judgments, from the prosecutor to the judge, that are made (Discretion in Decision Making (n.d.)). The prosecutor has complete discretion over whether or not to file charges against the male driver. The judge has wide latitude in their judgments, so they can either dismiss all charges or inflict jail time or a fine on the accused. If the male driver is sentenced to jail, the corrections system will be burdened by his continued presence, which might have a negative impact if the courts impose a jail term.
References
Discretion in Decision Making (n.d.).
Pollock, J. M. (2021). Ethical dilemmas and decisions in criminal justice. Cengage Learning. Web.
Wakefield, A., & Fleming, J. (Eds.). (2018). The Sage dictionary of policing. SAGE Publications Ltd. Web.