your decision

Final Project: Case Study

Ethical dilemmas permeate the criminal justice. At every level, in each segment of the system, people are exercising discretion that will impact on the fate of an individual and/or the security of the community. Incongruous laws, regulations, policies and practices create conflicts and distort the basis upon which judgments are made. Very often these conflicts result in an ethical dilemma. Which is the appropriate course of action? What is the moral/ethical rational for the decisions that were made? What purposes or principles are served? This project will ask you to consider a sequence of decisions (do, or not do) all of which contribute, directly or indirectly the final scene. For each of the four (4) scenarios, your assignment is to:

 

  1. Examine each situation and describe the ethical and/or moral question,
  2. Describe what you believe to be the motivation of the actor and the potential consequences of BOTH options,
  3. Identify the decision you believe the actor SHOULD make, and
  4. Provide the ethical basis for your decision.
  5. NOTE: The scenarios are sequential. However, each decision must be considered separately and not be influenced by earlier decisions and/or actions. For instance, the decision to fund/not fund a new prison does not impact on a later decision to sentence a convicted felon to incarceration. The sentencing dilemma is independent.

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1. The Parole Board

As the chair of the parole board, Robert knows the state prisons are critically overcrowded. Advocates are threatening the corrections system with Federal suits. One alternative is to broaden the parole eligibility criteria to allow more inmates to be released to community-based supervision. However, reviewing the current “risk assessment” results, Robert is concerned that any further relaxation of standards may result in the release of inmates more likely to re-offend than he considers “safe”. Robert just received a call from the Governor asking him what the parole board can do to ease the overcrowding that will be the basis of the federal law suits. The Governor reminds Robert that if these suits are successful, inmates will be released under a federal process outside the parole board’s control. What does Robert, as chair of the parole board, tell the Governor?