“…And Justice for All”
Lady Justice has been raped Truth assassin Rolls of red tape seal your lips Now you’re done in Their money tips the scale Make your deal Just what is truth? I cannot tell Cannot feel--James Hetfield, songwriter and lead singer of the band Metallica, sheds light on the dysfunctional criminal justice system with this song. Over fifty years ago the Supreme Court decided in the Gideon vs Wainwright case that anyone, rich or poor, accused of a crime should be represented by an attorney--that every defendant stands equal before the law. Erwin Chemerinsky, a prominent scholar in United States constitutional law at the University of California, Irvine School of Law, states, “Indigent defense in the United States remains in a
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“The quality of representation often matters in criminal cases, and money often is crucial in determining the quality of representation” (Chemerinsky 2680). Money does matter in criminal cases; specifically when, the public defender’s office gets less than half the yearly budget of what the district attorney’s office gets (Houppert 156). This huge discrepancy in pay is a big problem when it comes to providing a pertinent investigation: research, paying investigators, DNA testing, fingerprint samples, and spending time with clients. In Chasing Gideon, author Karen Houppert writes about Douglas Anderson, a public defender, who admitted that he did not have enough funds to hire an investigator in over 240 cases in one year (19). Furthermore, Travis Williams in the award-winning documentary Gideon’s Army, tricks the district attorney’s office in to paying for a finger print test in one of his cases because his office could not afford one. Remember-- less money equals fewer public defenders, fewer public defenders equal huge caseloads, huge caseloads equal unjust trails, unjust trials equal more constitutional violations; furthermore, a job with low pay and heavy workloads would attract incompetent people to fill those positions, because not very many other people would want the job (Chemerinsky 2683). It is easy to understand why the public defender office is working at such a disadvantage compared to the district attorney office—profit from
Authors Barry Scheck and Peter Neufeld founded the innocence project at a law school in New York City, which has assisted in the exoneration of an astonishing number of innocent individuals. As legal aid lawyers, they blithely engaged in conflicts that implicated
A study found that public defenders have an “average sentence … [that] was almost three years longer than the average for clients of private lawyers” (Hoffman). In addition, the same study found that most criminal defendants are “marginally indigent,” or afford to hire a private lawyer with their friends and family pitching in to pay the costs (Hoffman). As a result, the accused opt for hiring a private lawyer to represent them in court. This doesn’t mean that a private lawyer could secure a win for the defendant, with more time and resources dedicated, a stronger argument could be made to prove the defendant’s
During the late nineteenth-century, women went to court to continue to secure their rights to participate in public life: to vote, to be a justice of the peace, to be a notary public, to serve as school district directors, school committee officers, school officers, and prosecuting attorneys, an of course to practice law (Drachman, 1998).
Many inequalities exist within the justice system that need to be brought to light and addressed. Statistics show that African American men are arrested more often than females and people of other races. There are some measures that can and need to be taken to reduce the racial disparity in the justice system.
Civil rights are the rights to not be discriminated against by race, gender, disability, or any other important characteristic. Women cannot be denied a promotion based on the fact that she is a woman. Civil rights protect its people from unfair and biased treatment.
Streib, Victor. "Death Penalty for Female Offenders." March 1, 2002. Ohio Northern University. April 15, 2002. <http://www.law.onu.edu/faculty/streib/femdeath.htm>.
For the course of weeks spent in social issues I have decided to choose my topic on Portraits of Girls in the Criminal Justice System. I believe it’s important to acknowledge that the variety of murders and crimes committed is not only done by men but woman as well commit these crimes. As generations have passed by it has been seen that gender roles have changed woman are now more involved with crimes.
people in these 21st century society wonder, “When is Justice to be done?” For district attorneys,
This research essay discusses racial disparities in the sentencing policies and process, which is one of the major factors contributing to the current overrepresentation of minorities in the judicial system, further threatening the African American and Latino communities. This is also evident from the fact that Blacks are almost 7 times more likely to be incarcerated than are Whites (Kartz, 2000). The argument presented in the essay is that how the laws that have been established for sentencing tend to target the people of color more and therefore their chances of ending up on prison are higher than the whites. The essay further goes on to talk about the judges and the prosecutors who due to different factors, tend to make their decisions
.... J., & Langton, L. (2010, Sep/Oct). A national assessment of public defender office caseloads []. Judicature, 94(2), 87-91. Retrieved from
The relationship between law enforcement and prosecutors, which goes hand-in-hand, can’t be overlooked. Evidence of a crime that detectives and law enforcement discover is as equally important as a good trial on part of the prosecution. If detectives aren’t able to find good solid evidence – that case usually isn’t bothered in being pursued. Several years ago, in the late 80’s, there was a murder case in Southeastern Oklahoma which now serves as a tragic example to the need for honest, constitutional work in the criminal justice system. Disreputable investigative procedures, fraudulent sources, and bad evidence were the foundation of this case that shattered innocent lives.
The ideal society we would all be considered equal, but reality often defies this idealism. When we think of police officers, we think of people working hard to keep us all safe, but this may not always be the case in today 's society. This is demonstrated in an opinion piece published in the Miami Herald, entitled “Need a ‘big, bad dude’? White criminals need not apply” by Leonard Pitts Jr. The article opens by discussing the shooting of African-American man Terence Crutcher, where the police officer who shot him stated it was due to him not obeying her orders and reaching inside his SUV for a weapon. However, the video of the shooting shows that this did not happen. The article also goes on to discuss other African-Americans shot in recent
The United States criminal justice system is an ever-changing system that is based on the opinions and ideas of the public. Many of the policies today were established in direct response to polarizing events and generational shifts in ideology. In order to maintain public safety and punish those who break these laws, law enforcement officers arrest offenders and a judge or a group of the law offender’s peers judge their innocence. If found guilty, these individuals are sentenced for a predetermined amount of time in prison and are eventually, evaluated for early release through probation. While on probation, the individual is reintegrated into their community, with restrict limitations that are established for safety. In theory, this system
Feminism as a Theory of Law As a concept, feminism is very much a modern notion within legal circles, which aims to eradicate any prejudice against women’s rights. This in a society strongly founded upon a male-orientated legal system, which historically fails to recognise the social and legal rights of women, and instead focuses upon “male-orientated theories and ideologies. ”[1] It is this patriarchy that feminists thrive to eliminate.
Another important theme in the story are justice. It's important in the story because if the crime is solved and justice is being served, the society can feel more secure and safe. Crime fiction is created with the purpose to make the audience to feel protected in the society. Christopher father who killed Wellington got punished and justice is served. Even though it's not punish by the law, the audience is still satisfied with the punishment that Christopher's father received.