Ethics and Leadership in Criminal Justice - Essay Example

The prisoners may be offered three choices, the first being to confess to the charges and be jailed for five years. The second choice would be to have one of them confess and be freed while the other who does not confess would be jailed for ten years. Finally, the third choice would be to have neither of them confess, and both be jailed for a term of one year. If both are not selfish and take interest collectively, both will not confess and will be jailed for one year. Otherwise, having one, confess, will have them serve longer jail terms.

This paradox shows two possible outcomes, to deny or to admit guilt which depends on the decisions of the two culprits. The doctrine of contractarianism was initially applied by such philosophers as Thomas Hobbes and John Locke to address the legitimacy revolving around political authority. When people are, considered agreeing in an attempt of entering into social contracts as to establish a form of government; the formed government is not considered oppressive or tyrannical.Bill Lawson in "Crime, Minorities, and the Social Contract.

" Bill Lawson raises concerns regarding the applicability of social inequalities to the guilt of the crime. The doctrine of Social Contract, minorities, and crime, particularly concentrates at the obligations of minorities in abiding by the stipulated set of laws; citizens are failed by the state in executing the required obligation of protecting its citizens from crimes occurring in the urban setup. A contractarian approach of legal mandate tends to treat it like a debt owed by each citizen to each other with benefits as the expected return (including peace, security, and predictability) that is realized when the greatest number of citizens obey the law, as well as the state, guards its citizens against lawbreakers.

According to Lawson, important attributes of the described two-way bargain should not be reserved for the inner section of the city whose residents are poor. Lawson’s reading concerning social contract lands him to a conclusion that spells unsettlement; fear of falling a criminal over many residents of the urban area sets them free from the obligation of obeying dictates of the government and eventually from any legal or moral obligation of abiding by the law. The constitution provides the basis upon which citizens can raise their voice contesting against the breach of the social-contractual terms by the state.

The strategy for achieving liberty in a just approach would be through voting as a functional equivalent regarding “consent and appointment.” Continual violation of contractual terms may lead to a state of law – citizens perceiving as if the state has made new laws for citizens without their consent.