In criminal justice, process and procedure are important. If proper discretion is not used, lives are affected and departments within criminal justice, such as the police, are affected as well. If improper discretion is used at any point during the process, there are consequences, and one of those consequences is the use of a federal consent decree to hold those in criminal justice accountable.

It requires departments to reform for the good of the department and the communities they serve. These decrees require all individuals in a given department to examine themselves, particularly their processes, procedures, and, in many cases, ethical standards. Examples provided in Ethical Dilemmas and Decisions in Criminal Justice illustrate the importance you must place on procedural justice as an employee in criminal justice.

Watch the video “Federal Consent Decrees,” located in the Wk 3 Activities folder.

Assume you are the lead criminal legal analyst for a major broadcast news network. The network has asked you to produce an in-depth opinion segment on the use of federal consent decrees in policing across America during these turbulent times.