Legal Aspects of Law Enforcement

Ethical issues exist in all areas of the criminal justice system (from passage of laws to punishment).  This course will provide critical insight into learning how to determine the “right thing to do”, that criminal justice professionals have varying degrees of discretion, authority, and power and encounter a multitude of situations in which they must make choices that affect people’s lives.  Provide explanations of the difference between ethical issues and ethical dilemmas.  Provide examples of how discretion permeates every phase of the criminal justice system and creates ethical dilemmas for criminal justice professionals.  Provide understanding of ethics and the importance of certain terms, such as, morals, ethics, duties, supererogatories, and values.  Provide descriptions of behaviors that might be subject to moral/ethical judgments. Developing a good understanding of discretion, the authority to make a choice between two or more choices and how this relates to all areas of the criminal justice system; Legislators in making laws and determining punishment; Police: in enforcing laws; Attorneys and Judges: affecting the justice process; Correctional Professionals: affecting offenders’ lives; Provide understanding of the commonalities within criminal justice professionals, power to make decisions, duty to enforce the law, obligation to provide “due process” and “equal protection” for all and commitment to “public service.