Writing Homework Help

1) Consider the police detention. How long can a suspect be held before the police have an ethical duty to release that suspect? What constitutional rights or rights can be triggered from police detention?

***Use the GCU Library for sources (https://library.gcu.edu/ )

The DQ response must be at least 200 words and should have at least one reference in APA format

2) Write a 100-word response to each student in first person as if you were writing it to the students. Talk about how you agree with their ideas and add your own thoughts. Make sure it’s respectful.

Student 1) Depending on the seriousness of the offense, suspected offenders can be held in detention without trial until the police can get a hold of the events that happened at the time. However, police is aware how long they can hold a suspect in custody without trial. For instance, police can hold a suspect up to24 hours before they have to charge you with a crime or release you, now if it is a serious crime like murder or something of that sort, then they keep you in custody up to 96 hours or the suspect can be held in detention for up to 14 days if they are suspected of terrorism, (GOV.UK, 2011). Formal arrests are generally required to inform the individual why they are being hold against their will.

Although the police is able to release the suspect without reasonable doubt, they can still investigate if they feel something is missing and require the suspect to return to the station for further questioning. The police cannot hold someone in custody for a long period of time without having charges because it also violates a citizen’s rights. A person being accused should not be made to look like a guilty person by being caged or shackled in the courtroom, if possible the accused should be allowed to dress in civilian clothes for the duration of the trial; further, the presumption of innocence shall not be violated where the accused person needs to be handcuffed or contained to prevent his/her escape to maintain the general security of the courtroom, (USIP, n.d).

Reference

Being arrested: Your rights. (2011, December 15). GOV.UK. Retrieved from: https://www.gov.uk/arrested-your-rights/how-long-y…

Article 54: Right to Equality Before the Law and the Courts. (n.d). United States Institute of Peace (USIP). Retrieved from: https://www.usip.org/sites/default/files/MC2/MC2-7…

Student 2) According to the article Arrest vs. Detention: How to Tell Whether You’ve Been Arrested or Detained, An officer’s “brief and cursory” holding and questioning someone is a detention. An example is a cop stopping someone who is behaving suspiciously in order to ask a few questions. The suspect isn’t free to leave, but he also isn’t under arrest, at least until the officer develops probable cause. Another common example is an officer pulling over a driver for some kind of traffic or equipment violation. An arrest, on the other hand, involves the police taking someone into custody through a more significant restraint on movement. The quintessential example involves the use of handcuffs and an advisement that the suspect is under arrest. The law imposes restrictions on granting bonds by imposing what is termed “mandatory detention” for categories of persons who the law stipulates “shall be taken into custody.” While ICE interprets “custody” as meaning “detention,” many scholars argue that it could encompass other forms of custody, such as house arrest and electronic monitoring (Marouf 2017: 2146). “Before February 2018, two court circuits required that persons subject to mandatory detention be granted a bond hearing after 180 days in detention, whereas other circuits had adopted a case-by-case approach for establishing when a detention had become unreasonably prolonged (Banks, C. 2020).”

Unlawful police detention is when law enforcement, without legal justification, restricts a person’s freedom to leave. Doing so constitutes a civil rights violation based in the Fourth Amendment. That amendment to the U.S. Constitution prohibits officers from conducting unreasonable searches or seizures. According to the article Unlawful Police Retentions and Remedies for Victims, Law enforcement can make an unlawful detention whenever they violate the suspect’s Fourth Amendment rights. This can happen if officers:

• lie to a judge to get a search warrant or an arrest warrant,
• excessive use of force during an arrest,
• do not have a reasonable belief it is necessary to detain someone,
• do not have probable cause to make an arrest, or
• detain someone for an excessively long period of time.

In April 2014, Miranda Olivares found that detaining individuals based on ICE holds is unconstitutional because they do not provide probable cause. Thus, a locality can be found legally liable if they detain someone based simply on an ICE hold. As a result, many localities have changed their policy to limit or altogether eliminate, compliance with ICE holds.

References:

Banks, C. (2018). Criminal justice ethics (5th ed.). SAGE Publications.

M., D. (2020, October 22). Unlawful Detention – Legal Definition & Victim Remedies. Shouse Law Group. https://www.shouselaw.com/ca/civil-rights/unlawful-detention/.

Schwartzbach, M. (2019, June 20). Arrest vs. Detention: How to Tell Whether You’ve Been Arrested or Detained. www.nolo.com. https://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/arrest-vs-detention-how-tell-whether-you-ve-been-arrested-simply-detained.html.

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