One of the Most Widespread Self-Reported Surveys in the United

question 27

Essay

one of the most widespread self-reported surveys in the United States, "The Drug Use Forecasting Program", collects information on narcotics use from arrestees whohave been brought intobooking facilities. Since there is nopenalty for admitting tocriminal activity in a self-reported survey when administered by a researcher, subjects tend tobe more forthcoming in discussing their behavior. As a result, this has led researchers toa striking conclusion: the dark figure of crime, known as the actual amount of crime that takes place, appears tobe much larger than the UCR or NCVS would suggest. However, as Sheriff of your county and overseer of the jail, you have been asked by the researcher tohave your deputies collect the survey instruments. Knowing that your deputies will now be seeing suspect's information regarding their actual criminal activity, doyou decline the request of the researcher, or doyou have your deputies follow through by collecting the data? Please fully explain your plan.

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Definitions:

Legal Precedents

Past court decisions that are used as a guide in interpreting and applying the law in future cases.

Judicial Precedents

Decisions from previous court cases which are used as a guide for judging similar future cases, establishing consistency in legal reasoning.

Legal Merits

The inherent rights and wrongs of a legal case, as distinct from extraneous or technical aspects, used in determining the justice of the case.

Stare Decisis

A legal principle that obliges courts to follow the rulings of higher courts in similar cases to ensure consistency and predictability in the law.