The Noble Cause Corruption In The Criminal Justice System

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Ethics relates to doing what is right and how people should act in a professional atmosphere. Ethical standards also determine behavior when the rule of law and precedents are lacking, which requires criminal justice staff to choose to do the right thing when making discretional decisions even when the ends do not always justify the means (Ortmieir & Meese, 2010). Therefore, based on my research, corruption is the biggest ethical concern within the criminal justice system today. Corruption encompasses many different types of illegal and unethical behaviors that violate agency policies and procedures and the constitutional rights of the people.
However, I would to focus on noble cause corruption for the mere fact that the word corruption automatically
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While the noble cause concept may sound good, it has grave consequences on individual liberties, individual and agency liability, and public trust. That said, I would like to begin with a story about the implications of the noble cause concept that took place in my rural jurisdiction to provide a greater understand of its background. Some time ago, there was allegations that one of our officers was planting evidence to get convictions. At first, no one paid attention because those convicted were known for antisocial behavior. Of course, this changed when law abiding citizens with no prior convictions found themselves proclaiming their innocents in court. What seemed to start out as a noble cause manifested into fear and the lack of trust in the criminal justice system by every law abiding and non-law abiding citizen. It took some time, but eventually he found himself being held accountable for his unethical and unlawful behavior. In the meantime, many innocent people were punished and publicly humiliated by his …show more content…
gangs, drug dealers, substance abusers, rapists, murders, etc.). Therefore, criminologist study the societal acceptance of vigilantism by studying the portrayal of these types of behavior in popular media outlets. Studies indicate that media is a reflection of the American publics’ perception that reinforces negative stereotypes, fear of rising crime, and the acceptance of vigilantism to combat crime when the legal system is ineffective to protect the innocent in pursuit of justice (Halevy & Cooper, 2016, p.