Reply to both post with 150 words for each post. Four scholarly sources two for each question ,site words do count in word count.

1) The term ethics is a Greek word that means belief or character (Belshaw & Johnstone, 2016). Ethics plays a significant role in everyday life of someone working in the criminal justice field. Whether you are a police officer or a judge, the public relies on you to make the correct moral decisions that some people could not make. Judges have a difficult task when it comes to making the right decisions and pleasing the public. A judge will naturally have people who disagree with a ruling made, but for the most part, the public wants to see their judges take the moral high ground when they are in and outside of the courtroom.

Like most professions, United States judges have a Code of Conduct that they must follow. In general, these codes of conduct require judges to maintain a good character while in the courtroom and in the public eye. One of the rules talks about judges engaging in extrajudicial activities, such as social, religious, and educational activities (Codes of Conduct for United States Judges, 2019). This section continues to talk about conduct while participating in different public activities such as charity events or fundraising. It could be beneficial if a section was added to this rule about a judge going to a bar or a night club. Binge drinking is becoming a growing problem all over the world, which leads to more alcohol-related arrests (Devilly, 2019). If a judge is at a bar drinking, he could be sitting next to someone who will later be arrested for DUI. This same judge could be the one presiding over the offender’s case. There is a possibility that the offender would remember the judge from the bar. This doesn’t demonstrate good moral character for the judge.

Another change that could be considered is adding consequences for judges who have multiple search warrants suppressed in a higher court. A judge’s job is to be impartial and remain neutral in a case. This can be a difficult task when it comes to some types of cases being presented. A judge’s personal feelings can sometimes get in the way, and it can result in a warrant being signed when there wasn’t enough probable cause to obtain the warrant. This can result in a warrant being suppressed in a higher court, such as federal court. If this happens multiple times with a particular judge, then consequences or a form of investigation should be considered. 

The United States Courts ask for the public’s opinion on the codes due to the public receiving the most benefit. Ultimately the judges are appointed to help better the community by making proper decisions and rulings. This is not only for the people outside of the courtroom, but the ones that have to go through the criminal justice system due to being charged with a crime. A person accused of a crime would certainly hope that the judge presiding over the case is fair and impartial.  

                                                                                                                                                                 References

             Belshaw, S. H. & Johnstone, P. (2016). Ethics in the criminal justice system. Kendal Hunt Publishing Company. 

             Code of Conduct for United States Judges. (2019). https://www.uscourts.gov/judges-judgeships/code-conduct-united-states-judges

             Devilly GJ, Hides L, Kavanagh DJ (2019) A big night out getting bigger: Alcohol consumption, arrests and crowd numbers, before and after legislative change. PLoS ONE 14(6): e0218161. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0218161

2) The criminal justice is an ever evolving system. Situations, crimes, and punishments can be unique in every call and case. The criminal justice system must evolve to match the crimes and actions being prosecuted. Understandably, to evolve means to bring new ideas and beliefs about the law and how laws, and the consequences for breaking those laws, should be handled. Challenging the system should be encouraged to ensure the system does not fall behind the times (Belshaw & Johnstone, 2016). 

With that being stated, those in the criminal justice system are held to a higher standard than the rest of society. The ethical code judges, attorneys, officers, etc, have sworn to abide by means remembering they are to continually uphold the law. US judges have a code of conduct that allows the public to suggest changes in order to better fit the evolving world. However, people should suggest these changes without prejudice, or based on past rulings that a judge has ruled since that is often not considered ethical misconduct (Greenstein, 2017). This type of input really reassures that judges are not above the law, and that people have the ability to make positive change.

After reading the code of conduct that is expected from United States judges, I would start to question Canon 3C(1)(d)(ii) (United States Courts, 2019). While that canon does not disqualify a judge who has links to a law firm, it would disqualify a judge if the firm would suffer due to a potential outcome. According to the canon, as long as impartiality is still maintained, a judge can still rule, even with judge being affiliated to the firm. While it states that impartiality must be kept, it would be nearly impossible to prove that a ruling was made without thinking of the judge’s interest. I feel that if a judge was not allowed to rule at all where there may be conflict of interest, impartiality would be maintained without possible backlash.  

Belshaw, S. H. & Johnstone, P. (2016). Ethics in the criminal justice system. Kendal Hunt Publishing Company.

Greenstein, M. N. (2017). A Day in the Life of a judicial ethics counsel. Judges’ Journal, 56(2), 40.

United States Courts. (2019). Code of conduct for United States judges.