Discretion Within the Criminal Justice System

Discretion Within the Criminal Justice System
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Discretion Within the Criminal Justice System
A significant body of research opines that the discretion of actors, which refers to the power of officials to act based on their own judgment and conscience in the criminal justice system is important. According to these researchers, discretion is essential as it serves as a means by which the unfavorable social virtues associated with a crime can be changed through sentencing patterns. Consequently, the laws can also be changed to reflect the broad social norms for the benefit of society. However, opponents of this perception argue that discretion should not be allowed as it may serve as an impediment to the implementation of formal changes in the law. Based on an assessment of the arguments by both sides, this paper posits that less discretion should be allowed especially regarding policies, courts, and corrections.
Some court decisions play an essential role in policy development. According to Laws (2016), legislation is necessary for providing effect to policies for change. Courts serve as the mediating body between the government and its people. Whenever governments want to pass unfavorable policies, the people can rush to the courts to halt such oppressive decisions. Since most governments are operated by some faceless interest groups, such groups often propose policies that are favorable to them. A legal process that allows more discretion could facilitate the passing of these laws because the government can lure a judge in such dispute cases, who can then make a favorable decision to the government at his discretion.
While discretion mainly helps to protect vulnerable groups in court procedures, there is a higher likelihood of it being abused to protect criminals as well. According to Gill et al. (2018), vulnerability-neutral, vulnerability-amplifying...