Compare and Contrast Various Ethical and Leadership Theories Essay

Compare and Contrast Various Ethical and Leadership Theories - Essay Example Merrian-Webster, defined crime behaviour as â€Å"an act that is forbidden or omission of a duty that is commanded by public law and that makes the offender liable to punishment by that law.† This indicates that when the police, courts and corrections all work together the system itself works well. The main element of the criminal justice system in the U.S is that of the jury system which is seen to be unique compared to other jury systems. Originally the jury system was made that the result of the verdict being guilty or not guilty would fall on one person’s shoulders but on a group of people. However, this did not occur. The system works that ten people have to agree or disagree if a person is guilty or not guilty. The job of the courts is to show the jury a satisfactory amount of evidence, this is to try and make sure that no-one is wrongly sentenced. The selection of the jury is acquired so strictly it is deemed to show that no-one would favour anyone that is being trialled. In the American criminal justice system today there is an emphasize on equal rights, this is seen to be because a procedure has been put in place. This procedure is meant to be impartial and equal for every person. However a number of statistical reports show that there are still a number of concerns related to discrimination and disparity. Both discrimination and disparity have different meanings and the best way to understand and define them is categorizing them separately. The meaning of Discrimination is described by Microsoft Encarta Dictionary (2007) as â€Å"treating people different through prejudice: unfair treatment of one person or group, usually because of prejudice about race, ethnicity, age, religion, or gender.† Disparity is described by Microsoft Encarta Dictionary (2007) as â€Å"a lack of equality between people or things.† Disparity in the criminal justice system is usually related to ethnicity or race. The issue that arises when it comes t o a race related problem because it can also be seen as discrimination. David Cole wrote, "our criminal justice system affirmatively depends on inequality." Cole made this vital statement due to the fact, class and race has been causing a concern in the criminal system for a number of years. American criminal justice is said to be blind. However over a long period of time there has been a large amount of inequalities this is because of social class, racial and economic differences. "Absent race and class disparities, the privileged among us could not enjoy as much constitutional protection of our liberties" The case of Gideon v. Wainwright can be used to illustrate this point. This case showed that justice is not evenly awarded if the conditions in which it follows are not reasonable to begin with. In the case Gideon could not afford a lawyer after he was charged with a crime, because this would have been Gideon’s fifth offence the punishment was severe. Gideon requested to t he courts for a lawyer however the request was denied. After Gideon was sentenced to five years imprisonment, he appealed to the Supreme Court against the State of Florida pointing out that during the case he was not given the correct rights and the Constitution’s sixth amendment was not followed correctly. Gideon v. Wainwright case was a breakthrough because it gave defendants more rights and it increased the services and time that that was