Utilitarianism In Criminal Justice

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Application of the utilitarianism concept or the implementation of actions that are deemed as right as long as the consequences are good or bad consequences are minimal (Williams & Arrigo, 2012) in the given scenario for the officer due to retire soon would be in line morally with Utilitarianism. In his case, having on many occasions apprehended such suspects, processed evidence and arrest tickets only to go to court and have the charges reduced, dropped or the defendants charged with what amounts to a slap in the face conviction by the courts and prosecutor, the decision not to pursue in his eyes would seem the to create the greatest good or happiness. Additionally, the officer may consider the amount of marijuana likely to be in the possession and give consideration to the fact that they are smoking and not attempting to sell the marijuana. …show more content…

Eager to enforce every law and ordinance to the letter, the rookie officer may feel that the veteran officer is lax in his judgment and views the potential actions of the suspect as a threat to society, justifying and encouraging their behavior and therefore, action should be taken to thwart any future crimes that might be committed as a result of. Additionally, assuming the rookie officer hasn’t had the opportunity to appear in court in such cases, his perception of the justice system is of a grand and noble machine, exacting due justice to everyone equally. In this instance, utilitarianism is not considered morally acceptable as the negative consequences far outweigh the

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