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Senior Public Figure Offenders and the Criminal Justice System: The Public's Perception

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 July 2014

Simha F. Landau ,
Leslie Sebba  and
David L. Weisbu
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Extract

Public attention is increasingly being focused on law enforcement practices with regard to senior public figures suspected of committing crimes. Indeed, it is only natural for special sensitivity to be shown in relation to the behavior of public figures in general, and senior public figures in particular. Their authority, social connections, and access to material and other state or public resources, locating them with the “power elite” — or at least the “sub-elites”1 — provide them with unusual power in modern society. It could even be argued that their position contains a “constant structural temptation” for misuse or abuse of this power. Even if public figures are believed to be honest and of impeccable character, it is clear that they have opportunities for abuse of their authority that must be taken into account by law enforcement agencies. Moreover, public trust is an important asset on the part of public figures and civil servants. Accordingly, it might be argued that the criminal justice system should perceive breaches of this trust as more severe than similar offenses committed by private citizens.

Type
Applications of Social Science in the Law
Information
Israel Law Review , Volume 35 , Issue 2-3 , Summer-Autumn 2001 , pp. 354 - 379
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press and The Faculty of Law, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem 2001

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