...man has been put on trial for a murder that he did not commit. He stands before a jury of 12 women and men, complete strangers to him and his case. These jurors have the man’s life in their hands, and none of them have any experience with the law. The man is charged guilty without any discourse. He will spend the rest of his life in an overcrowded, poorly funded prison with no chance of rehabilitation or parole. This man is just one of thousands that are wrongfully convicted during jury trials every year. Would his fate have differed if the judge, who had been through law school and had plentiful knowledge about how the laws work, had made the decision instead of the strangers? The jury system in America is outdated, causes...
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...As Alan Dershowitz once said, “Juries are not computers. They are composed of human beings who evaluate evidence differently.” As shown in this quote, Dershowitz means that juries are composed of different people who have different opinions on certain things. The subject regarding the fairness of jury’s is a very debatable topic. In the book, “The Twelve Angry Men”, the details of the book shows how jurors are just, by having a set rule to have a true unanimous vote. However, some people may think that jury’s are unfair due to different juror’s being biased. Despite the facts that some jurors may be biased, jury’s have a positive impact because of the personal opinion of someone. In America’s jury system there are many opportunities and factors...
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...American judicial system. As the twelve jurors deliberate to reach a verdict, the film epitomizes the validation and condemnation of the American justice system. There are many responsibilities of a jury: to achieve fair and impartial decision, determine guilt or not guilt, give people voice in the government, and to protect the rights of the accused. In other words, the main point of the jury system is not to provide innocence but eradicating or sustaining reasonable doubt. The presumption of innocence is a key theme in the narrative that reflects one of the distinct characteristics of the American justice system. As much as this film is about lessons of discrimination, fate, and impartiality, it is also a lesson of the American justice system. Although this film demonstrates many imperfections in the court system, as imperfect human beings, perhaps it is necessary that justice call upon such a system. As shown in Twelve Angry Men, the American justice system, although seemingly flawed, works for us imperfect human beings Aside from the opening courtroom scene where the audience is introduced to the judge and defendant, the film mostly takes place in a room with the twelve jurors. The names of each juror are not revealed but addressed in the order in which they are seated around the table. The lack of names reflects the anonymity of the justice system that calls upon citizens of all backgrounds to serve as a juror. Because the film moves right into the jury...
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...to a Trial by Jury: The Threat of Extinction, Limited Availability & Reduced Effectiveness Contrary to what may be a common public perception, jury trials are a dying breed in America. Jury trials have been declining steadily for the past thirty years. “If the trend continues, within the foreseeable future, civil jury trials in America may eventually become…extinct.” This may seem surprising because the U.S. Constitution ensures the right to a jury trial in criminal trials under the 6th Amendment and in civil trials through the 7th Amendment. The reality, however, is that parties are finding more effective, faster, and more cost-effective means of adjudicating legal disputes through alternative dispute resolution (ADR) forums that are evolving to an ever-increasing degree. The American Jury Project (AJP) of 2005, a national symposium of the American Bar Association, was held to establish the standards and principles for juries and jury trials. Principle 1 states that “the right to a jury trial should be preserved; however, the lack of available jurors and the rules and procedures used in the jury selection process have reduced its effectiveness and have made this means of seeking justice a slow, unpredictable, and expensive gamble that is driving parties to seek ADR through other forums. One author described a powerful contradiction in the jury system that confronts people in America: “We love the idea of the jury but hate the way it works. We celebrate...
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...where the first left off – there is no change in chronology. • With no scene divisions, the progress of the play can be measured by the votes which take place, functioning as a kind of pulse, reminding the audience where the jury’s opinion stands on the defendant’s conviction. These moments serve as markers for the audience on the journey through the play, helping to structure the action. • The play follows the three classical unities of theatre derived from Aristotle: - Unity of action: there should be only one central plot (the jury’s deliberations and decisions). - Unity of time: In real and continuous time where there are no shifts in chronology (no breaks in play). - Unity of place: Action occurs in only one single location (the jury room). • Allows the audience to feel very close to characters, their relationships and the conflict and challenges with which they are faced in deciding the defendant’s fate. • Intensifies sense of realism and is particularly effective because of the claustrophobic nature of the setting. Language • Rose’s characters use naturalistic, everyday language appropriate to the times and for the audience. • Heightened poetic or symbolic language is rarely used, instead speaking in concrete terms about the details at hand. • They are generally differentiated by the content of their speech rather than style. For example, 8th sometimes pauses while he speaks, demonstrating his calm, reasoned nature as well as the fact that he is uncertain about...
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...Insanity Defense Donita Estes, Patrick Fostso, Jennia McCray, Yasmine McGee, Inga Payne CJA/354 October 22, 2012 Samara Belgarde, J.D. Insanity Defense The criminal justice system in America is one of the fair systems in the world where anyone will be innocent until proven of guilt. The whole concept of the court system emphasizes how our laws work regardless where we come from and how we look like or healthy or not anyone is entitles of due process. The idea that our justice and court system are fair to anyone on trial due to an arrest by probable cause and sentencing by a verdict guilty and not guilty of the jury. In the case or State v. Stu Dents, where the defendant was accused of killing his former girlfriend. We are going to elaborate how the charge of insanity can be plead in the defense case and in the other hand give some understanding how this plead play a role in the defendant case during the trial and after the trial in some states and particular California. Does your team feel this defendant is competent to stand trial? Why or why not? We believe that the defendant may not be competent to stand trial, due to the fact that he had has emotionally and mental issues. The defendant has no knowledge of the crime or its consequences, if put on the stand he may revert back to that emotional state of mind and will not be able to give and accurate statement and will not be able to understand charges and sentencing. What is required in your state for an insanity...
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...Joshua Goode: 21148871 Question 1 All legal systems are conceived with the idea of providing a body of laws that are to be adhered to by nations and the individuals residing in them so that a sense of social order and growth can be achieved in a way that may ultimately lead to prosperity for the nation (Kritzer 2003) . Different countries employ many varied legal systems in an effort to ensure this stability and growth. Two such legal systems used by a great number of countries today are the Common Law and Civil law systems (DFAT 2012) . The origins of Common Law extend back almost a thousand years to the Middle Ages in England, and has slowly developed to become a widely used legal system all over the world, implemented in first world western nations such as Australia, America and Canada as well as developing economic powerhouses such as India (Kritzer 2003). The roots of Civil Law can be traced back even further to the accumulation of Roman law in the 6 th century CE. Much of Europe still uses the Civil law system as it has for hundreds of years. (Dainow 1996 ). As with all legal systems both Civil and Common law systems have their differences, which in turn makes up what you could call their strengths and weaknesses. The main difference between the two is how cases are decided within the system. The use of Common law sees cases decided mainly on the precedent of cases that have come before as will further be demonstrated whereas Civil law relies on the use...
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...Connection between Trayvon Martin's Death and Racial Profiling in America Racial profiling is the use of ethnicity or race as the grounds for suspecting that an individual has committed an offense. Rather, it is a discriminatory practice whereby persons, mostly law enforcement, use an individual’s cultural background, religion, or race as the reason to speculate that one has broken the law. Ideally, Trayvon Martin’s death and his killer’s acquittal reflect the extent of racial profiling in America. In spite of the rulings of the judge in the case, the views of the defense of George Zimmerman and other people’s opinion especially the white, race not only matters but also overruns the judgments on social conditions and politics. In the book...
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...August 19, 2013 Plea Bargaining The right to a trial by jury was considered a central part of the justice system in the early days of the United States. The Seventh Amendment of the Bill of Rights codified it as an essential part of Americans' civil liberties. When criminals were caught and charged, the government went through a trial and verdict. But in the 1800s, a trend toward plea-bargaining began. In Alameda County, from 1880 to 1910, nearly 10 percent of all defendants changed their "not guilty" pleas to "guilty of lesser charges" or pled guilty to reduced charges (Fisher, 2003). A plea bargain is an agreement between a defendant and a prosecutor, in which the defendant agrees to plead guilty or no contest (nolo contendere) in exchange for an agreement by the prosecutor to drop one or more charges, reduce a charge to a less serious offense, or recommend to the judge a specific sentence acceptable to the defense. As criminal courts become ever more crowded, prosecutors and judges alike feel increased pressure to move cases quickly through the system. Criminal trials can take days, weeks, or sometimes months, while guilty pleas can often be arranged in minutes. Also, the outcome of any given trial is usually unpredictable, whereas a plea bargain provides both prosecution and defense with some control over the result. Today, the plea bargain is an essential part of the criminal justice system. More than 90% of convictions come from negotiated pleas, which means...
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...Name Customer Inserts Tutor’s Name Customer Inserts Grade Course (06, 07, 2012) Racism in criminal justice system Introduction Justice is a term that we hear a lot in our everyday life and also accept it although many of us might have a doubt as to what it truly means. Justice is the phenomenon through which we could achieve righteousness and equality. But unfortunately racism has been a common practice in the criminal justice system. Racism is actually discrimination against a group or individual based on color, social and financial status. It is something that occurs more than we notice. Many scholars believe that racism play a more important role in targeting and sentencing process in the criminal justice system and this is something which should not happen in any country no matter what. In order to understand the role that racism plays in the criminal justice system we must, first, look at the role that it plays before the criminal reaches the day of sentencing in the court. There are various publications that speak on profiling and actuarial methods which unwillingly get people into the system. Though these are two major components of the discriminatory acts that exist within the criminal justice system, it does not actually begin with these institutionalized methods. It is the laws and crime control policies that create discrimination in the system. It has been witnessed that in some instances these laws and policies are set in favor of the white people and in...
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...The Influence of Media in Judicial System The Influence of Media in Judicial System How many times has there been an innocent person released after more than a decade of serving in prison? Does media frenzy have an effective role in matters like this? Does everybody believe in the saying “innocent until proven guilty?” With much variety of media’s entertainments, public interest, as expected, has been increased, and it is still increasing. Despite the fact that it is good for people to be aware of what is going on around them, there has to be a line to how much media can interfere into life of others. The presence of media in the courtroom assures that people would be informed of how the legal system works besides of being an observer of a fair and unbiased trail. But their presence in the courtroom with cameras, tapes, and other especial equipments would cause more harm than benefit. Freedom of speech in addition to people’s interest in drama of the courtroom stimulates media’s curiosity in legal matters, and sometimes this curiosity will defy the privacy of others. Media’s influence on public and especially on jury repeatedly has caused the change of the verdict, an example of this influence is a case from Capital Defense Network; “Conviction for murders, armed robbery and attempted rape with a punishment of death was reversed and remanded for retrial because juror read news accounts detailing defendant's prior assault of a woman with a hammer...
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...Death Penalty Debate Why is the death penalty still allowed throughout much of the U.S.? The process of prosecuting and convicting an individual is astronomical, and there is great debate as to whether the death penalty actually works as a deterrent. Retribution and biasness have contributed too many that have received this sentence, considering all this, life imprisonment is best for all, realistically, and most effective. The advantages of life imprisonment far more outweigh the death sentence Death Penalty America has always had a history of using the death penalty, but no subject has received greater debate. There are many reasons why the death penalty should not be used in America, first there is not data that shows that the death penalty acts as deterrence, second the costs of imposing the death penalty is astronomical, third, many see the death penalty as a form of retribution, and finally, the extensive appeals through the court. Although, it has since been reversed, Furman v. Georgia has shown that there are many cases in which there is a question as to how the death penalty is imposed, and can be considered Cruel and Unusual. (NAKELL, 1978) Many believe that the death penalty is a deterrence, however many studies on deterrence and the death penalty do not support this idea, in fact the murder rates in states that do not have the death penalty is consistently lower than in the states with the death penalty. Studies have also shown that of the 16,503 homicides...
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...Street Law for Youth Courts © 2006 A JURY OF YOUR PEERS: WHAT IS THE ROLE OF DIVERSITY IN JURIES? OUTCOMES As a result of this lesson, students will be able to: Identify the skills, experiences and values essential for ideal jurors Explain the popular concept of “a jury of your peers” and describe its application in youth courts and adult courts Define diversity and discuss the benefits of a diverse jury Define terms such as: grand jury, petit jury, summons, jury pool, jury venire, voir dire, removal for cause, peremptory challenge Describe the right to a jury given by the United States Constitution Explain why the jury system is important in a democracy, especially in a pluralistic society MATERIALS NEEDED Chalkboard and chalk or flipchart paper and markers (Optional) Several samples of help wanted advertisements. The ads should describe the type of candidate the employer is seeking. The particular job does not matter. HANDOUTS 1 Help Wanted (enough for each student) 2 The Rights to Juries According to the U.S. Constitution (enough for each student) 3 How Are Petit Juries Selected? (enough for each student, plus an extra copy) 4 Options for More Diverse Juries (enough for each student) 5 News Flash! (enough for each student) A Jury Of Your Peers 91 Street Law for Youth Courts ©2006 TRANSPARENCY OR POSTER (Optional) Strauder v. West Virginia PREPARING TO TEACH THIS LESSON Prepare the materials listed above. Write up and post the outcomes of the lesson. Write...
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...Is the U.S. Criminal Justice System a true system? William H. Watson IV University of Maryland University College Is the U.S. Criminal Justice System a true system? The criminal justice system in the United States (U.S.) is not a true system; or at least not a true functioning system. A true system is a fine tuned process, where all participants involved work towards a common goal. Every transition in a true system, is a smooth change, where no participants in the system will do anything to jeopardize the proper functionality of the next process in that system. This is not the case of the U.S. criminal justice system. The U.S. criminal justice system is comprised of numerous individuals, groups, organizations, and agencies funded by both government and non-government sources. Because, the U.S. criminal justice system is funded from different entities, there are several different agendas being carried out. There are three major components to the administration of the U.S. criminal justice system: the police, the courts, and corrections. In a perfect criminal justice system the police would arrest violators of the law, the courts would prosecute all law violators, and corrections would punish and rehabilitate violators, to integrate them back into society. While this is the formula the U.S. criminal justice system governs itself by, reality shows us that this quite often this is not the case. Only ten percent of court cases ever go to trial, with almost...
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...Courtroom work group Ronald A. Tonelli University of Phoenix The Criminal Justice System CJA/204 JEROME SIMPSON JR. Courtroom work group Across The United States of America and in every State, County and City criminal justice system, a Courtroom Workgroup has a familiar understanding between the prosecutor, defense attorney, and the judge. This concept of criminal justice describes the seemingly confrontational courtroom participants as colleagues serving within the criminal justice system. Eisenstein and Jacob in 1977 studied the interactions of court members at all levels they came up with the courtroom work group. The three individuals have totally different jobs and responsibilities than the other two, they work separately from one another toward their personal goal but work together for a common goal “justice”. The biggest change I would make in the system would be to add more judges and courts on all levels of the criminal justice system to help with the overload of today's society. With more courts, we would be able to ensure quicker court dates for the accused. This change would free up a lot of money due to people not sitting in jails, and the cost per day per person is around $234.00. Think of how much we could put into programs to help prevent crime with that amount of money saved. The judge ensures all follows the laws of the court and its procedures in the courtroom. He will address all objections place before the court either overruling or sustaining...
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