A Tainted Justice System: Corruption in Social and Criminal Justice Divisions - Research Paper Example

? A Tainted Justice System: Corruption in Social and Criminal Justice Divisions al Affiliation INTRODUCTION Froman administrative point of view, it can be clarified that a state is composed of three major parts. These organs include the Legislative, the Executive, and the Judiciary. These three are considered to be the most important parts that govern a state and together their job is to make sure a region remains organized. Various duties have been divided amongst these authorities of a state. The job of the legislative authority is to perform all sorts of legislation, i.e. the law making processes and formulations. The obligation of the executive authority is to make sure that these structured laws are implemented and regulated in such a way that the required purposes are served. Thirdly, the responsibility of the judicial authority is to execute sanctions regarding various provisions of law following or violation. Through these various steps, these managements make sure that the state remains in such an order where people can live their lives in peace and organization. Thus, the idea of such a state is presented by Stein (1977) when he describes a state which is controlled is as certain and prevailing like the current science. An ideal state or territory is considered to be where people live an organized life; violence is avoided; the environment remains subtle and calm; people are at peace; and the crime rate hardly even affects the society. In a realistic perspective, such a state is nearly impossible to structure, because the fact that every state faces various challenges related to all aspects of the community cannot be left un-noticed. It is true that perfection can be gained, but only after the negative factors are either eliminated or reduced, and this is not because they don’t exist from the beginning. Gargan (2005) believes that a well-established state can cope with both existing and emerging problems, thus, it is a fact that all the authorities of a state have to face a large number of problems. These problems are a part of the process of establishment and shall be worked out in time. 1.1. Verification of the Problem In the current state of affairs, it has come to notice of various researchers that a large number of problems are originating in all three above mentioned working authorities. As the authority under discussion and study in this paper is the ‘justice system’ hence, problems which are being faced in the criminal and social justice system need to be studied and analyzed. In this study the research problems which are to be evaluated are specifically related to the social and criminal justice system. Many people in the United States consider the functioning of judiciary and the decisions it makes a very sensitive subject. This is due to the fact that, many people die because others either drink drive or kill for money, and when it comes to justice, the death of the loved ones is considered nothing in facade of the inducement the authority receives. It is believed that if this problem of corruption from judiciary is not eliminated from this system, it can lead the entire region towards havoc. Hence, there is a need to diversify this fast paced chaos, and it is necessary to understand what the criminal and social justice system actually is and how a corrupt judiciary is influencing it. In many different manners the judiciary is influencing the criminal and social justice system, which is more negative and less positive. The major factors that have been found reasonable for this negative influence are biases and lack of vigilance due to bribery. In this paper, the focal center for understanding and analysis will begin from case plummeting, to bribery seizure, ethical and cultural preferences, political pressurization, and biases and nepotism. Furthermore, theories with reference to practice of judiciary in this regard will be applied to find the relation of these practices with their influence on the criminal and social justice system. With the help of statistics, this paper will put forth the patterns of issues for which, resolution measures will be provided to solve this issue. 1.2. Thesis Statement As it has been mentioned above that the criminal justice system has now been targeted by many problems; we can’t really walk alone in the streets when we are late from office, or school or any other task. Why is this so? This is due to the problem that has increased so much in the state that people have started to back down from routine chores and duties. Due to the corrupt state of judiciary people feel insecure mentally as well as physically; their rights are not being safeguarded and they don’t even bother going to the courts anymore to beg for righteousness. What is the reason behind such a dreadful condition? Is it because of the lethargy of the judiciary in the justice system? The answer is in affirmative. The seed of corruption in the role of judiciary in the criminal justice system is what shall be blamed; according to Transparency International (2007) citizens do not get their rights to equity due to the corruption in the social and criminal justice systems. Hence, this problem, its effectiveness and its causes are under assessment with the help of a literature review and a detailed critical analysis. This prime and most pondered upon issue is being spread like fire all around the researches in contemporary literature with relation to the justice system. This is why a basis of corruption in the judiciary with reference to its illustration through literature review, analysis, and measures for its cure will be provided in this paper. Hence, the question that will be addressed and delved into is “What factors are responsible for corruption in the judiciary? Can they be cured? If yes, then what measures are necessary for their formulation?” Different beliefs are held by different people; similarly various researches show various results. Hence, for the clarification of the causes and measures for a solution to this issue all sides have been provided and presented objectively for the verification of a critical analysis. 2. LITERATURE REVIEW In accordance with Morris (2010), it has been stated that the political structure has been labeled as corrupt, mostly due to the fact that its judiciary is head first on this issue. This corrupt judiciary has led the political system of not only Mexico, but the entire Untied States towards having an enormous changed pattern for procedures. The stability of the political system has been labeled in this study as disturbed and unequaled due to a corrupt judiciary. It has been further stated in the study that issues in electoral and other political processes have also increased, because offenders are now well aware that chances are, they won’t be questioned, or if they are rich, they can be easily released. In this study, the fact that has been put in light is that in the recent years, structured pressures from political systems have mounted over judicial aspects, which in many countries, have made them corrupt. Hence, it can be evaluated that both theoretical and historical foundations can be held responsible for a corrupt judiciary in any state or region. With the help of this study it can be stated that trends in corruption of judiciary are mostly linked to vigilance. It has also been framed by many other studies that a small amount of efforts are being made to eliminate this problem which is giving it a wider chance to expand. What needs to be evaluated is that there is no doubt a great deal of issues have to be faced when it comes to eliminating corruption; those regions that have struggled to extract this problem have also led themselves to a better criminal and social justice system. In a study conducted by Goel and Nelson (1998), the adequacy of people who were appointed at the posts of criminal and social justice system was analyzed. It was established from this study that they believed a larger amount of people from the 19th century, who were appointed at these posts, were ineligible, but were still processing. The demand and supply aspect of this issue was verified and it came forth that officials at higher posts only appointed people who they thought satisfied their demands on corrupt basis, and rejected honest and qualified personnel. This, once again, can be taken as a factor which has strongly influenced the judicial sector of justice system. The questions which inquired why no one was held accountable, have been answered in this study, as the authors state that government officials have always been linked to these corrupt authoritative members of the judiciary. Hence, what can be gained from this study is that a large number of activities play a vital role in affecting public views regarding judicial workers. It was due to the use of Becker’s crime and punishment model that this study proved to evaluate the fact that the above mentioned factors play an important role in increasing and expanding corruption to more than one institution of the government. Cordis (2009) presented in a study that legislative and executive powers can be checked and controlled by the oversight, which is provided by an effective judiciary. Along with this, it has been stated that with the help of a spontaneous constitutional review and update by the representatives, the judicial authorities can be kept on track without any predicaments. Hence, it has been believed by Cordis that it is in the hands of the people to make sure that they are provided with the right amount of justice, and that the recitals of judicial authorities are kept away from corruption. Hence, in accordance to this study, what can be evaluated is that social issues like cultural or relational biases shall be eliminated, and strongly addressed, so that the judiciary makes sure they don’t bring such aspects to the court. Hence, with the help of this study it has been found that people can keep the judiciary as rigid and accurate as they want with cooperative measures from the government. The aspect of judicial corruption has been clarified by Buscaglia (2001) in reference to its design in the economic structuring. In the study, an analysis of the economic system under the vigilance of judiciary was verified and it was stated that a large number of corrupt practices can be seen. It was further stated that these practices of corruption have not emerged in this era; in fact they have been present in the preserved literature for over the past few years. The basic aim of this study was to understand the system of judiciary that started this economic destruction and continues to do so. It was learnt that it was due to the lack of vigilance and other government factors that resulted in such corrupt practices. Hence, from this study it can be said that judicial corruption is not only affecting its own surrounding departments, but other institutions of the society as well, emerging from the very roots of a political system. It is further stated that it is important for the people to realize the impact this issue is causing, and more importantly, with the help of a scientific approach it needs to be addressed. With reference to centralization, it has been framed by Fisman and Gatti (2002) that if corruption is reduced in a system of politics, the percentage of decentralization will increase as suggested by evidence in their study. Even though they have not recommended any sorts of scientific research to verify this statement, but in their study, it has been specified that sociological factors play an important role in affecting judicial corruption. What has been assessed through this research is the fact that judicial corruption is affected by various decentralization factors in a variety of manners. It is the spontaneous and effective role of local government that, the authors believe, needs to be accommodated as they decide whether or not decentralization is verified to be affective or non affective. Hence, from this study an important factor that is advanced in light is that devolution of powers affects, not only judicial corruption, but other aspects that are facing corruption as well. In accordance to the provisions of the above studies, an overall analysis can be provided by containing the evaluations put forth by Langseth (2000). It can be analyzed that a large number of elements exist in a society that are related to judicial corruption and are mostly caused due to its functioning. Some of the major elements that Langseth (2000) believes exist due to judicial corruption include issues like; lack of fair and predictable decision making, which results in a lack of vigilance in implementing law and its regulations. With the help of the provided study, issue of judicial corruption has been analyzed on global basis, and it has been stated that no specified country or nation is standing in this issue alone. But what needs to be revealed is that where judicial corruption was specified to be limited in developing or underdeveloped countries, in the past few years it has been seen to have emerged in the USA. Hence, with the help of the above studies what needs to be articulated is that there are many causes that underline judicial corruption and they need to be eliminated cooperatively. Not only the US constitution stands responsible alone for the eradication of these issues, but the population of the entire state shall stand collectively. The administrative nature of the role of the judges is considered to be the most important factor that affects corruption in the judicial system. It is the nature of discretionary powers that determine the seriousness of this issue in the judicial system, and also verifies how strong the efforts need to be made to solve it. It also mainly due to the fact that there is no check over the use of powers by higher government officials that is further increasing the issue of judicial corruption in the USA. This can be supported by another study by Johnstone and Brown (2004) who stated that a large number of researches have been carried out in the USA and UK to fight against crime; it has been found that every time a study is carried out, more and more influential causes come forth, elaborating the nature of this fast paced chaos. In the views of these scholars, the major reasons that are breaking down the system of judiciary and causing deviation in the society are issues like bribery, biases, and preferential treatment. It was learnt from this study that if aspects of US legislation against corruption and other acts are verified, it can be seen that many issues commencing in the USA are majorly due to judicial corruption. Hence, they believe that solutions for problems like money laundering shall be provided to stop crime and corruption even at the basic levels of judicial performance. 3. DISCUSSION What needs to be validated is that due to the corruption in the judiciary, this authority is unable to work properly, and help the society remain organized. Corruption is also why the judiciary can no more stop the society from moving towards deviancy and social breakdown. To understand how the problem of corruption is affecting our criminal justice system, it is necessary for us to understand what is causing this issue in the judiciary. Therefore, given below are the causes of corruption in our criminal justice system, which have been gathered from the above literature review and the detailed discussion of how they have spread deep in the roots of the judiciary. Treisman (2000) has questioned the causes of corruption and its aspiration as they are usually linked to powers and their misuse for gains that are more private. It is believed that corruption is spread mostly in the backward countries that are either underdeveloped or developing as mentioned before, but is USA a country of such nature? The answer is an obvious negative, which is why it is now more important to understand the reasons it is emerging in the USA and to eliminate them. Mostly particular traditions and historical verifications link the emergence of corruption in such a manner to several theories, which have been mentioned further in this paper. What needs to be understood is that this issue is not only affecting the political institutions, but also disturbing various levels of economic development, educational and humanizing institutions, and policies with respect to other parts of a community. As believed by many scholars, it is a fact that there are many indexes of corruption which need to be evaluated, due to which the major causes of this issue have been verified below. 3.1. Causes of Corruption in Judiciary The most important cause of corruption in judiciary, if gathered from the literature review, is the issue of moral deceit amongst various working leaders and employees of this sector. These people who are running the judicial system do not pay heed to structuring or functioning according to ethics and law. Due to readiness of these corrupt leaders to fraud and deceive others any time at any moment, the criminal justice system is stuck in the state of delusion. The second significant factor which determines that the judiciary is corrupt is the presence of biases and nepotism amongst its management. The judges of higher ranks and posts are in favor to provide justice to those to whom they are related. They support those judges and officers who follow this pattern, and if they don’t, they are fired or transferred. For personal gains and greed to access money as many times as they can, the authoritative people of the judiciary are ready to fight cases and defend criminals who are guilty and blameworthy for the acts of violation of law. According to Burke and Cooper (2009) the ravenousness of an individual stimulates the need for monetary gain. Hence, the need to gain as much money as possible compels these people towards illegal acts, which they themselves commit and scam others. Thus, it makes them incapable of providing criminal justice to the state and the people to whom they do not feel accountable. Other major causes of corruption in judiciary are the ethical, cultural, and religious prejudices. People belonging to certain castes, religion, or creed are not provided the facilities which are provided to those belonging to others. Hence, this cause is the major source of unrest in the working of judiciary which influences the criminal and social justice system. If aspects of judiciary that rule over judgments of crime scene investigations, security, and techniques for case analysis, collection, and preservation of data from these scenes, decisions in relation to institutions of correction, and incarceration are viewed, it can be revealed that all of the above provided causes could be easily highlighted, but not easily eliminated. This does not mean that in a corrupt judicial system a bunch of thieves are operating the entire system. As it is a well known fact that many political leaders have full or less control of the judicial systems, and due to this, they pressurize these systems to make decisions according to what they want and how they prefer. Hence, many a times it happens that the wrong doings happen in the criminal justice system as the juries are pressurized by the government. Another reason behind the major problem of corruption in this sector is the inadequacy of education of the judicial members. Due to a heavy consistency of nepotism in this sector, ineligible workers are hired and are posted at jobs, which is why they are unable to perform well and cannot prioritize properly. 4. THEORIES ON SOLVING THIS ISSUE With reference to corruption in judiciary, it has been advanced that it is not only found on domestic levels in the USA, but its linkage has been verified on international levels as well. Amongst various beliefs on corrupt judiciary performances mostly, it has been stated that it is very dangerous for travelers or other visitors if they get caught in the mesh of corrupt lawyers. Other statements have linked the idea to corrupt judiciary that briberies are paid off to lawyers for releasing criminals, and this is covered up by expanding payments and financial extractions on offenders with less crime tempo. In accordance to a specified theory with regard to judicial corruption, it is stated that failure in the organizational functioning of the judiciary is the responsible factor. The major results of such failures include political breakdown, social disorganization, social and political deviance, unrest in the justice system, and demoralized work force environment. The theory that puts forth this verification is the ‘broken window theory’ of corruption, as it expounds the fact that when broken windows (aspects of the judiciary with issues) are left unnoticed or are not repaired, they become a target of environmental pollutants (dissatisfaction, corruption and incompetency). Hence, with reference to this theory it is important to appoint people in the judicial system that take care of these windows; they should know when there is an issue and how it shall be addressed. Therefore, this theory is important to highlight in the elimination of this issue as it puts forth that adequate and literate people need to be appointed in the judicial workforce. It needs to be made sure that the criminal justice system, which is currently facing a large number of problems due to the factor of corruption, will be improved if people who are after its betterment and not the money are advanced, as Sahebu (2009) verified that “corruption is there in almost every country. Only some are less corrupt and some are knee deep and some are neck deep.” When Benson (1978) presented various theories on judicial and other aspects of political corruption, the verification which was provided specified that these theories could be used for elimination of issues which continue to increase. With the help of these theories, corruption was defined in a new manner and its methods were provided in detail with reference to how they affected the community and a political set up. These theories were accumulated with the help of various social and educational workers and analysts. With the help of these theories, the targeted aspect of their implication was recorded to be the municipal, state and federal workers. It needs to be kept in mind that corruption is not a new elaborative issue; it has existed since the colonial era, through the commencement of civil war and past the WWI epoch. Shockingly, it has now started to accumulate in regions that even though are well developed and established, still remain uncertain as to how to confront this problem. In accordance to one of the theories presented, it has been specified that judicial corruption emerges from the electoral progressions of the past and continue to emerge in areas with lack of development and corruption checking programs in electoral systems. Hence, this theory specifies that it is the administration of elections that should be held responsible for the emergence of corruption in the entire political setup. This theory specifies that the judiciary’s functioning and its vigilance in the fund transition and other such authoritative decisions was weakened in the past and was never repaired which resulted in an increased state of corrupt division. Even though this theory is questioned many times by scholars as they believe it lacks intellectual argument and evaluates a totally irrelevant side of corruption, but in fact this theory underlines the feature of judicial corruption that has always been left behind and overlooked. Another important theory of judicial corruption, according to Benson (1978), includes the benevolence of machine politics. This theory, along with the theory of sociological coverage, verifies the stance in which judicial personnel puts forth their ‘nice’ side and testify that nothing wrong is being carried around in the work atmosphere. Basically this theory evaluates that the members of the judiciary hide their ‘performances’ which are corrupt by pleasing the people through various considerations. Hence, wherever they see unrest arising, they shut it down by facilitating these people and by never letting the word out from the box. Contrary to this, the theory of modernization states that the above two theories are no more under utilization as they question political and judicial corruption on every level. What can be learnt from this is that no matter what the theories hold, it is a fact that corruption continues to exist in the judicial set up of the USA and many other countries. None of the above theories have been evaluated in eliminating this issue, rather more and more areas and regions are being infested with the disease of corruption. Despite these expansions, some of the aspects which are not yet affected by this disease can be protected through preventative measures, and those that are affected less can be cured. But this does not prove that the areas that are affected largely cannot be improved; in fact these crises need to be evaluated first and can be bettered by cooperative measures; however, it will take time. Whereas, with reference to the analysis of criminal and social justice theories in relation to the US constitution, it is important to put forth that the aim of its advancement is to supply justice. This is the exact reason for which criminology was born and assessed. It is the use of criminology that the constitutional measures are assessed and investigated for the testifying victims, offenders, and workers in the judicial system. 5. PREVENTIVE AND REMEDIAL MEASURES After the provision of the above theories, we can validate that these problems, as mentioned before, are temporary. This means that it is not impossible to eliminate them from the state. In any democratic state where the people have a say, any problem can be easily eliminated and any change can be effortlessly brought. Therefore, being part of the state, it is the responsibility of the people to eliminate such problems so they can live in a society which is trouble free and organized. Hence, in my perspective, some of the steps which can be taken in order to eliminate these problems, calculated from the theories, are provided below. It is necessary for the management authorities to keep a vigilant check on the processes of the selection of various employees of the criminal justice organizations, and to make sure that eligible people are selected. Rewards shall be provided to those workers who work honestly and hardly instead to those who work by defrauding others. Through this, a sense of motivation will be produced in them. Probation centers shall be established in order to make sure that the people who are already in the police or court custody are improving rather than continuously falling deep into the ocean of trouble. The criminal justice system can be improved from the core by making sure that it is doing what its job is, and not wasting its time favoring others and using people for personal biases. This can be done when people make sure that the judicial authority is working on improving the criminal records of the state instead of working for personal gains. Also, when this is done, the offenders will automatically be corrected due to the fear of getting into the hands of the criminal justice providers and workers. Any sorts of political pressures shall be eliminated and the judiciary shall be established as a free and independent organization to make sure that the state is functioning properly, without any law violation. Awareness shall be created amongst the people of the society and they should be let known of the importance of the working of the criminal justice system. Through this, when the people are well aware of their duties, they would also play a vital role in eliminating corruption. Equal rights to the services provided to the minorities in the criminal justice system shall be maintained. This refers to the fact that the people belonging to other cultures or religions should be provided equal treatments in the court of law. Hobbs (2001) has stated that it is important to eliminate preferential treatment on the basis of culture or religion and people should know that this happens in almost all courts. This is due to the fact that socio economic and cultural diversity play a vital role in impacting this issue. It is stated that there is a strong relation between criminal culture and political aspect of a region. Specifically when it comes to the USA and its existing cultural diversity, the seriousness of crime networks needs to be evaluated. This can be reflected through the tendencies towards corrupt functioning of judiciaries when it comes to preferences and cultural or regional biases. Even though high profile corruption cases have been taken by the Supreme Court, yet many more steps have to be taken to solve this issue. But analysts have verified that with the help of such small steps, this issue can be provided the attention it needs. What also needs to be done is that more focus shall be provided to the anti-corruption aspects of the judicial sector for reviewing how it is being affected or could be affected by the diseased sectors, and what can be done to prevent anything of this nature from happening. Hence, it is necessary to take actions with relation to law, policies, and institutional development in order to make sure that corruption is eliminated not only from the judicial sector, but also from other sectors. What needs to be done is that the equilibrium of corruption shall be disturbed so that the practices which are being executed in the judiciary system shall be de-cluttered. With the help of this, patterns of such practices would be impacted and no strong progressions can be made. Hence, an unsettling shock needs to be sent through the system of corrupt judiciary if improvement is wanted. Another important step that needs to be taken is to make sure that the power abusers are identified and called upon as many times as possible, so that other working forces shall know they are being watched upon and that their performance are being analyzed. As mentioned before, it is not only the members of judiciary that can handle this issue and its elimination, but it is important for other governmental authorities to make sure that this problem is worked upon by providing an adequate law regulation and vigilance. For all of these steps, a legislation which is anti-corrupt shall be structured and established. 6. CONCLUSION It is not easy to gain success in solving judicial corruption. What needs to be kept in mind is that there is a need of higher vigilance from the authoritative members of the judiciary. The most important role that can be played is by court administrators and other such officials of the court and the Bar. This is important to state because with the help of their cooperativeness, legality can be framed and the criminal and social justice system can be improved and made corruption free. It is a fact that the graph and proportion of corruption through power abuse has reached its climax in the USA and needs to be brought down as soon as possible. There is a need of cooperative measures by the three pillars of the state, which include the executive, parliament, and the judiciary. Hence, not only is judiciary alone responsible for fighting this issue for elimination, but with the help of other two pillars it can be fought with great force. What could be proven as a plus point is the idea of the involvement of people through awareness and adequacy in this matter. Thus, it was important to structure an assessment of the current issue which needed to be valid as it could have fallen apart if any of the above analytical evaluations were missing or lacked certain accuracy. For this reason, with the help of various key literatures and the explanation of the context through their methodology, this paper can be proven successful in providing the facts that relate to the notion of this study. In accordance to the ambiguities that might arise, or the limitations that might devise in accordance to the discussed points, they have already been viewed critically and provided. Thus, this paper has been associated with the approved knowledge of sociologists that relate to the above mentioned findings. Along with the various key understandings, other sides of this paper have helped in filling out the gaps that were left behind in various previous researches. References: Benson, G.C.S. (1978). Political corruption in America. New York, NY: Lexington. Burke, R.J. & Cooper, C. (2009). Research companion to corruption in organizations. Massachusetts, MA: Edward Elgar. Buscaglia, E. (2001). An analysis of judicial corruption and its causes: An objective governing-based approach. International Review of Law and Economics, 21(2), 233–249. Cordis, A.S. (2009). Judicial checks on corruption in the United States. Economics of Governance, 10(4), 375-401. Fisman, R. and Gatti, R. Decentralization and corruption: Evidence from U.S. federal transfer programs. Public Choice, 113(1-2), 25-35. Gargan, J.J. (2005). Handbook of state government administration. New York, NY: Marcel Decker. Goel, R.K. and Nelson, M.A. (1998). Corruption and government size: A disaggregated analysis. Public Choice, 97(1-2), 107-120. Hobbs, D. (2001). The firm: Organizational Logic and criminal culture on a shifting terrain. British Journal of Criminology, 41(4), 549-560. Johnstone, P. and Brown, G. (2004). International controls of corruption: recent responses from the USA and the UK. Journal of Financial Crime, 11(3), 217 – 248. Langseth, P. (2000). Strengthening Judicial Integrity against Corruption. New York, NY: United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. Morris, S.D. (2010). Corruption and the Mexican political system: Continuity and change. Third World Quarterly, 20(3), 623-643. Sahebu. K.M. (2009). Our journey to knowledge society. Banglore, IN: Shri Shri. Sherman, L.W. (2006). Reason for emotion: Reinventing justice with theories, innovations, and research—the American society of criminology 2002 presidential address. Criminology, 41(1), 1–38. Stein, L. (1977). Work or labor. Ney York, NY: Arno Press. Transparency International. (2007). Global corruption report 2007: Corruption in judicial systems. Cambridge, MA: Cambridge University Press Treisman, D. (2000). The causes of corruption: A cross-national study. Journal of Public Economics, 76, 399–457. Read More