Analyzing "Due Process" and "Street Justice" In Ethical Issues Essay

Analyzing "Due Process" and "Street Justice" In Ethical Issues Essay

“Due process” is the most important principle of fairness in any legal matter whether criminal or civil, especially in a court of law. It ensures that all legal procedures formulated by the statute and court practice such as notice of rights are followed to ensure there is no unfair or prejudicial treatment when it comes to legal matters.On the other hand, “street justice” is the punishment that is given by the members of the society to the individuals regarded as wrongdoers or criminals. For the police institutions to decide whether to apply “due process” or “street justice” police officers ought to consider the ethics behind every method to determine to what extent is one greater over the other one.

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“Street justice” policing has increased its applications in the U.S. as the authorities try to come up with community-based decentralized institutions to manage social regulations within the communities that hardly deal with keeping norms as urbanization become more dominant in today's world. This is true especially during the past period when the responsible justice institutions did not deliver adequate service to the society, and the police had to be questioned over the available alternative means that could provide justice. In such cases, the society was allowed to conduct informal procedures on peacekeeping and settling minor disputes in the community (Curriden, 2014). The local authority agrees that the task of peacekeeping is challenging to them, due to lack of adequate resources especially human capital since most of them are not trained to handle such cases. When handling complex cases, their service is imperfect and inefficient or neglects certain aspects that should be not avoided sometimes if justice has to be attained hence police officers have to intervene and apply their flexible authority when the situation warrants.

The American policepersons recognize the importance of the traditional justice which involves “street justice” since it readily yields results that the law enforcers expects from them by giving broader options of performing the duties that are given to them. The police officers are more versatile when they believe that their duties are in line with what the judiciary system expects them to do. Being responsible or given an opportunity to work with the community-based policing comes as a privilege, and this gives the police officers a platform to execute their duties exceptionally good. For an officer to be given an opportunity to work with the community, he/she must have done a tremendous job, in the field of due process. Some officers have abused their positions or profession with the aim of gaining credit to obtain such privilege for their personal gain. The police officers should interact with the society in a fair manner and be violence free to ensure that the community can interact with them freely and give them necessary information in the process of justice (Weech & Sawyer, n.d). The disadvantage of such practice is that the primary objective of policing is not met. The main reasons for having a body that deals with criminal suspects are ensuring that justice is arrived at in a fair manner and the welfare of the innocent person is protected. In the case of a “street justice,” such outcomes might not be possible when people with their greed and vested interest are presiding over the whole process of acquiring justice in the community-based policing.

Moral Standards Under the “Rule Of Law”

On the hand, subjecting the moral standards under the “rule of law” is one of the primary goals and is organized and evaluated in a professional manner to come with an official verdict. The process is tedious since it involves holding court proceedings but the positions and appeals of the every person involved are thoroughly examined by professionals with the scientific investigation in the process. The suspects are judged according to the scientific findings to assure everyone that there is fair and equal treatment during prosecution. The court system is administered by highly educated individuals who search for adequate evidence and consequently comes up with fair justice. The process of getting the right judgment is unquestionable since the process is objective by nature and rigid to ensure that the punishments given are just. The attorneys should represent their clients based on the fact and information that is represented to them and not regarding the money awarded to them as a way of ensuring justice is found (Gruber, 2017). The consequence also gives the culprit chances of transforming and changing and be an entirely renewed person to have moral characters that are acceptable in the society.

The “due process” in the court of the law ensures that laws are followed accordingly, and a rational decision is made. Hence, one can predict the outcomes since the rules are applied to every person regardless of whom the offender or the victim is and irrespective of the circumstance under scrutiny. For instance, traffic tickets will be given to anyone who violates the traffic rules of any form although observing such rules do not bear any positive outcomes in some situations which require ease of serious application especially when the traffic offense is mild and happens with proper consent. An individual who is found to have violated a traffic rule unintentionally as a result of mental or physical health problems can be treated with a slight and sensitive reprimand and warning instead of employing sanction directly. But, since the law must be followed according to the formulated policies, anybody found having violated the policies is held accountable as the law stipulates.

The two processes of acquiring justices “due process” and street justice” can be evaluated through use of ethical consideration regarding the generous nature of human beings. A compact representation should show how the decision of victim should be guided by a subjective rationalization to facilitate the wronged individual figure out with his/her heart more than his mind whether unjust action possesses ground that warrants forgiveness after a fair review. In both cases, if the concerned person comes up with a change of mind and chooses to decline the charges against the offender, the decision could be heartwarming for the wrong-doer, and he is relieved the burden of dealing with a painful punishment, and the rule of law have to consider and respect such decisions.

References

Curriden, M. (2014). Ethical Issues under the Rubric of Due Process. Retrieved from http://www.americanbar.org/content/dam/aba/administrative/litigation/materials/2014_sac/2014_sac/ethical_issues.authcheckdam.pdf

Gruber, C. (2017). Ways Ethics Influences Criminal Justice. Retrieved from http://www.cps.neu.edu/prospective-students/tips-for-success/ways-ethics-influence-criminal-justice.php

Weech, C. & Sawyer, S. (n.d). Ethical Issues & Dilemmas in Problem-Solving Courts. Retrieved from http://www.ilapsc.org/pdfs/EthicalDilemmasInProblem-SolvingCourts.pdf