Research, select, and describe an incident involving a real ethical concern or event related to criminal justice (e.g., corruption in a police department, judicial bribery, smuggling contraband into prisons by correctional officers, etc.). Students must utilize the Library Subject Guide for Criminal Justice (See Content) to conduct independent and unique research.
Organization:
Part One: An opening paragraph describing your topic and ultimate conclusion
Part Two: Brief description of the selected event and the ethical issues involved you choose to write about
Part Three: Conclusions based on your research and class readings as to the consequences of unethical behavior to the system, the society, and the individual. The following issues must be covered within the report:
Cultural issues, (may include all areas of diversity including race, gender, sexual orientation and occupational culture)
Historical context, include your theories on why the situation occurred
Moral courage, (For example, – was there a particularly courageous individual involved?)
Politics (Note, in this context "politics" referrers to the personal and/or group dynamics within a particular organization, community or similar setting. It does NOT relate to political parties or affiliation with any political party.)
Sample Answer
Framing the InvestigationI'm starting the research process for a detailed report on a significant ethical failure within the criminal justice system. I've broken down the user's requirements into three main parts: establishing a central conclusion, describing the event, and conducting a deep analysis covering cultural, historical, moral courage, and organizational politics aspects. Since the research needs to be independent and utilize academic sources, I am prioritizing searches that include terms like 'scholarly,' 'academic,' or 'legal review' to find well-documented cases.Targeting Deep Analytical RequirementsTo ensure I select an incident that allows for a thorough analysis of all required sub-points, I am launching parallel investigations into the four complex analytical areas. This means looking specifically for literature on organizational politics (internal power dynamics, not party politics), the role of occupational culture in misconduct, historical theories explaining corruption, and documented instances of moral courage or whistleblowing in justice-related scandals. This concurrent approach helps me identify the most information-rich case.
Next StepsMy immediate action involves executing a broad set of initial searches aimed at selecting the specific incident and gathering foundational material on the analytical requirements. I am searching for systemic corruption cases like police or judicial scandals to find an incident that has extensive coverage across all the required academic and legal dimensions.
Researching websitesusccr.govChapter 5 - U.S. Commission on Civil Rightsjustice.govAppellate Section - Police Misconduct (Civil Cases) - Department of Justicecorruptionreview.orgJournal of Law and Corruption Reviewnij.ojp.govA Handful of Unlawful Behaviors, Led by Fraud and Bribery, Account for Nearly All Public Corruption Convictions Since 1985 | National Institute of Justicefbi.govPrison Corruption - FBIoig.justice.govChallenge 1: The Ongoing Crisis Facing the Federal Corrections SystemInitial Incident SelectionMy initial broad searches yielded several promising areas of ethical concern, including systemic police misconduct, judicial bribery, and extensive correctional officer contraband smuggling. Synthesizing the results, I've concluded that the **Rampart Scandal** involving the Los Angeles Police Department's (LAPD) CRASH unit is the best case study. This incident promises the deepest information density necessary to address all required analytical aspects of the report: cultural issues, historical context, moral courage, and organizational politics.Defining Ethical FailuresThe initial findings on police misconduct confirm the availability of information regarding severe ethical issues such as perjury, planting evidence, false arrests, and the abuse of civil liberties, particularly highlighted by the DOJ's authority to address patterns of misconduct. Furthermore, other search threads quantified that fraud and bribery dominate public corruption convictions in federal courts, which helps frame the types of unlawful behaviors that frequently challenge the justice system