Consider each of the following scenarios. Offer an opinion as to whether the actions are legal, and support your answer. Offer an opinion as to whether the actions are ethical, and support your answer.

Question 1

You are a prosecutor assigned to a District Attorney’s office in a major urban area. You have a very full case load. You specialize in drug and violent crime investigations.

Consider each of the following scenarios. Offer an opinion as to whether the actions are legal, and support your answer. Offer an opinion as to whether the actions are ethical, and support your answer.

• Leaking the identity of a seventeen-year-old gang member who you are fairly certain committed a drive-by shooting to the media knowing full well he was in danger from rival gang members, and then offering protective custody only if he would plead guilty.
• Authorizing the arrest of a fourteen-year-old boy who confessed to a crime, even though there was no serious possibility that he was guilty, in order to pressure a guilty relative to confess to murder.
• Authorizing the arrest of one brother for possession of a very small amount of marijuana, even though you know the charge would ultimately be thrown out by the judge (but the young man would probably lose a scholarship to college) in order to have leverage so that he would testify against his brother, who is a known drug smuggler. The drug smuggler’s activities have resulted in the deaths of numerous teenagers.

Remember to cite your supportive resources.

Question 2

Management by objectives (MBO) has been a management principle applied in the criminal justice profession for quite some time. (It has been used throughout most if not all management fields.) MBO fits well in criminal justice because this profession lends itself to addressing emerging problems on a systemic level. For example, the current increase in heroin and pharmaceutical opioid overdoses is a newly identified problem that has objectives to address.

The criminal justice system will seek to increase efforts identifying, investigative, dismantling and destroying heroin and pharmaceutical distribution organizations while public health will work on treatment programs. Collaboration across fields will help increase the effectiveness of both plans.

Read and study the Fulk, Bell & Bodie article included in the learning resources for this week and answer the below questions.

1. What is your understanding of the concept of management by objectives (MBO).
2. Read the description of the group problem GROUP PROJECT – The Virtual Criminal Justice Alliance. Select three areas where you feel MBO would be a useful management tool to utilize. Explain why you believe using MBO could help overcome obstacles and lead to a more effective result.

Question 3

Do you support the notion that there are disproportionate punishments in school settings (K12) as it relates to race?

If school punishments contribute to the school to prison pipeline, how do we address the underlying factors that contribute to continued high referrals to juvenile court from school systems?

If the Gun Free Schools Act of 1994 was enacted to address mass school shootings, why is it that most of the discipline results in higher numbers from inner city schools as opposed to suburban schools where mass shootings historically occur?

Do you purport that the Project Save Act (Monell article) or similar legislation is beneficial and working to keep our schools safer?