Criminal Justice Ethics is currently a semi-annual journal designed to focus greater attention on ethical issues in criminal justice by and for philosophers, criminal justice professionals, lawyers and judges, and other contributors to an informed social discourse. Its editorial scope includes topics relating to the police, the courts, corrections, and broader issues in legal philosophy that bear on criminal justice and its processes.

All agents of the criminal justice system face difficult problems involving moral choice, whether they concern the use of deadly force, conformity to the rules of office, decisions to prosecute, participation in plea bargaining, representation of the guilty, the imposition of punishment, or recourse to alternative sanctions. Even the concept of criminal justice itself is rooted in our concern for the proper treatment of those accused of wrongdoing. Yet, though these subjects have provoked widespread interest among the public, their systematic analysis from a normative perspective is often neglected or discussed at a level that is detached from the institutional embodiments of such issues. Criminal Justice Ethics seeks to provide this grounded perspective, resulting in the generation of a much-needed literature. The journal serves as a forum for diverse viewpoints, and the opinions expressed in articles and reviews are not necessarily those of the editors.