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Effectiveness of the criminal trial process
Historical developments of prison in the us essay
Effectiveness of the criminal trial process
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All of the following court cases were utilized by criminals to put society itself on trial. Darrow’s closing argument focused on the plight of wealthy teenagers, the reading materials introduced in the educational system, the historical progress made regarding the death penalty, and the impact that Leopold and Loeb’s murders would have on society (especially boys like them). Manson’s testimony focused on the jail system, President Nixon’s role in the Vietnam war and society’s outsiders. Bukharin’s last plea primarily focused on how the trial will look to future generations and future societies. The first trial happened in 1920s during the time of prohibition. In 1924, Nathan Leopold and Richard Loeb killed a 14-year-old kid while trying to …show more content…
On August 9th and 10th, 1969, two murders were committed in Los Angeles. On August 9th, the first murder was committed by four people and the victims were Sharon Tate, Tate’s unborn baby, four of her friends and the son of Tate’s gardener. Her blood was used to write the word “pig” on the front door. On August 10th, Leno LaBianca and his wife were also murdered and a fork was used to carve the word “war” into LaBianca’s belly. Manson wasn’t involved in the first murder but he was present at the second murder. After five months, the authorities connected the Manson “family” to these two murders. The first motif behind the murder was Manson’s failed murder career. He chose the first murder house because the previous owner of the house was a producer that passed on Manson’s album/music. The second motif was Helter Skelter, a race war that Manson believed was hinted at in a Beatles’ song. He thought that eventually African-Americans would gain control over White Americans but the African-Americans would be unable to lead so that’s when the Manson Family would step in and lead the new America. They intended for these murders to look as though the victims were killed by black nationalists which is why they painted the word pig on the front door and why they carved the word war into LaBianca’s corpse. They wanted to show that society would automatically assume that it was a case caused by racial tensions. On November 11th, 1970, Charles Manson gave his testimony for the Tate-LaBianca Murder Trial. It was completely centered around the idea that society made him and his family into a murderers. He states that he never went to school so he’s unable to read and write well. Within his speech, Manson said that “My father is the jailhouse. My father is your system…. I am only what you made me. I am only a reflection of you.” (Manson, 1) In jail, he continued to stay unintelligent so he claims that the world grew up without him and
In July of 2008, one of the biggest crime cases devastated the United States nation-wide. The death of Caylee Anthony, a two year old baby, became the most popular topic in a brief amount of time. Caylee’s mother, Casey Anthony, became the main suspect after the child supposedly was kidnapped and went missing. To this day, the Casey Anthony case shocks me because justice, in my opinion, wasn’t served. I feel as if the criminal conviction system became somewhat corrupted in this case. The entire nation, including the court system, knew that Casey Anthony was behind this criminal act, but yet she escaped all charges. I chose this case not only because it’s debatable, but also to help state the obvious, this case was handled the wrong way. Clearly the legal system was biased, which worked in Casey Anthony’s favor, freeing a murderer.
One of the most intense group task experiences in the United States is that of serving on the jury of a death penalty case. This forces a group of complete strangers to come together and determine the fate of another’s human beings life. The court case of the State of Ohio v Mark Ducic, was of no exception. Ducic a 47 year old drug addict white male, was accused of committing a double homicide. In accordance with Ohio state law, murdering more than one individual is considered a mass murder and therefore the accused is subject to the possibility of the death penalty. Ducic’s victims included Barbara Davis, his domestic partner and drug addict, as well as a drug user that Ducic was an acquaintance with. The death of Davis was at first believed to be due to an overdose, but police informants identified Ducic’s voice on a recording claiming that he killed her. The other victim, the drug addict, was thought to be eliminated by Ducic for fear that he would inform the police that he killed Davis. Investigators believed that Ducic gave both victims a deathly amount of drugs that would make it appear as though they both simply overdosed. Ducic was found guilty on both occasions, yet a second trial in regards to his sentencing had to occur and another hearing had to be conducted on whether or not to remove the death penalty.
The New York Times bestseller book titled Reasonable Doubts: The Criminal Justice System and the O.J. Simpson Case examines the O.J. Simpson criminal trial of the mid-1990s. The author, Alan M. Dershowitz, relates the Simpson case to the broad functions and perspectives of the American criminal justice system as a whole. A Harvard law school teacher at the time and one of the most renowned legal minds in the country, Dershowitz served as one of O.J. Simpson’s twelve defense lawyers during the trial. Dershowitz utilizes the Simpson case to illustrate how today’s criminal justice system operates and relates it to the misperceptions of the public. Many outside spectators of the case firmly believed that Simpson committed the crimes for which he was charged for. Therefore, much of the public was simply dumbfounded when Simpson was acquitted. Dershowitz attempts to explain why the jury acquitted Simpson by examining the entire American criminal justice system as a whole.
Civilrights.org. (2002, April 13). Justice on trial. Washington, DC: Leadership Conference on Civil Rights/Leadership Conference on Civil RightsEducation Fund. Retrieved April 12, 2005, from Civilrights.org Web site: http://www.civilrights.org/publications/reports/cj/
Steve Bogira, a prizewinning writer, spent a year observing Chicago's Cook County Criminal Courthouse. The author focuses on two main issues, the death penalty and innocent defendants who are getting convicted by the pressure of plea bargains, which will be the focus of this review. The book tells many different stories that are told by defendants, prosecutors, a judge, clerks, and jurors; all the people who are being affected and contributing to the miscarriage of justice in today’s courtrooms.
Centuries : Notorious Crimes, Criminals, and Criminal Trials in American History: H-R, 2016. EBSCOhost, proxygsu-afpl.galileo.usg.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=edsgvr&AN=edsgcl.6482900301&site=eds-live&scope=site.
On September 24, 1924 Clarence Darrow delivered a speech before Judge John Coverly. In this speech Darrow implies that the two boys, Nathan Leopold,19 and Richard Loeb,18 shouldn’t get the death penalty for murder of Bobby Franks. Although Darrow cleverly argues his point that the boys were taught that human life was cheap and even argues against inhuman methods and punishments of the American justice system. Though the boys are guilty of the crime that they committed, Darrow believes that their lives can still be saved, he weakens his argument by using insufficient and irrelevant examples. Examples such as the Civil War, what relevance does this support have and how does it relate to the trial of Leopold and Loeb? Both are way too young to experience war since they’re both still boys. What this results in is unclear reasoning and makes it difficult to understand his position on the subject of Leopold and Loeb’s punishment for the murder of Bobby Franks. It's already been established that in the speech it’s heavily implied by Darrow that the two boys shouldn’t die because,of being taught that human life was cheap, but the two even
The verdict of the trial forces Jem to think about how justice in the society of Maycomb is linked to social inequalities. When the children leave the courthouse after the trial, Scout reflects on Jem’s reaction to the outcome of the trial. Scout narrates, “It was Jem's turn to cry. His face was streaked with angry tears as we made our way through the cheerful crowd. 'It ain't right,' he muttered, all the way to the corner of the square where we found Atticus waiting” (212). The author specifically uses the words “streaked with tears” to show how devastated Jem is about the verdict of the trial. He doesn’t understand why Tom is convicted even though he is innocent which shows that Jem is exposed for the first time to the injustice of the society
Robinson trial; (2) prejustice and its effects on the processes of the law and society; (3)
The first American jury system began with the Pilgrims as early as 1620. In fact, the first jury trial was held in Massachusetts in 1630 (History of the Jury System in Massachusetts 1). In this trial, John Billington was on trial for the murder of John Newcomin. John Billington was found guilty and sent to the gallows. In 1641, Massachusetts determined that all “free men could serve on two juries in a year” (History of the Jury System in Massachusetts 2).
One of the longest most expensive trials in American history was a very disturbing one and it's called the McMartin Preeschool trial. The Preschool was located in Manhattan Beach, California. This trial was based on accusations of over 360 acts of sexual assault, satanic acts, and killing animals. More than half of the faculty sodomized the young children that attended McMartin. Ray Buckey was one of the first ones convicted and later on more and more of the faculty were discovered in taking part in this. In the McMartin Preschool trial justice was not served because most of the workers at the preschool got convicted of their crime, but not all of them.
In Truman Capote’s famous non-fiction novel, In Cold Blood, there is evidence that supports the injustices of the trial: death penalty. The final outcome of the trail was never to be any different than death. “Of all the people in all the world, the Clutters were the least likely to be murdered” (Capote 85). We know the two men who killed the Clutter family, Perry Smith and Bill Hickock, preplanned the crime with malice and forethought. Although the actions were crul and grusome, does Death Row fit what they did if their pasts, childhood environments and situation, are bad. Capote shows the effect of childhood on the killers and if the death penalty is fair. Capote gives the killers a voice to show their humanity by giving childhood accounts of their lives. He questions the justice of is the death penalty fair, and if inherent evil is a product of childhood or society. Is it nature or nurture? Capote gives a look into the minds of the killers and the nature vs. nurture theory. The detailed account the killers’ childhoods makes the reader sympathize with the Clutter family’s killers Smith and Hickock. Should they reserve the death penalty? Did Truman Capote take a stand on the death penalty? By giving the readers a detailed accounting of Perry Smith’s and Dick Hickock’s childhood, Capote sets up the reader for nurture vs. nature debate on the death penalty. The question then becomes, do the effects (if any) caused by environment in childhood make for a trained killer or a natural born one?
The judge and committee presiding over the case had to be careful, as “In its eagerness to send Leopold and Loeb to the hangman, the press was not the least interested in uncovering the conditions that had led two extremely promising scholars to commit murder. To do so would have pointed to some rather unpleasant truths about American society. In addition, a show of mercy toward Leopold and Loeb risked the danger of encouraging demands by less privileged defendants for similar consideration. (WSWS)” Because of this, the court had two choices, oust the American elite as less than perfect, or risk the lower and middle classes pushing for similar rights, comparable to those of the wealthy elite. Both of these choices were not ideal choices, but in the case of the courts, they took the lesser of two evils, and chose to take a less harsh stance on the two teenagers. Instead of the death penalty, they were sentenced to life, and 99 years, with possibility of
The breakthrough came when a young woman confessed to the crime. Susan Atkins was arrested for car theft and admitted to being a part of the group also known as “The Family”. She explained their theory that the murders were to be the first step in a global race war, which the group called HelterSkelter. It would cause the end of the world, with the Manson family emerging as leaders to the survivors. Atkins implicated several others, including, Linda Kasabian, Patricia Krenwinkel, and Tex Watson. They were all white, middle class youths living like hippies in a desert near LA. They came from average American homes, and had no prior history of violence, which made the police conclude that someone else had to be in charge. Atkins told them about their leader, who they followed with unwavering devotion, and that he was the only one who knew the truth, Charles Manson who has now come to represent true evil in most people eyes.
trial has been turned into an entertainment special. There are certain moments in American life that have certain dignity" (38). The judicial system is a very complex system and deserves the respect and dignity that is required. It needs to be taken seriously. The public has no right to make it into a game. This is a serious process of bringing criminals to justice.