...by a Texas federal district court of conspiracy, securities fraud, making false representations to auditors, and insider trading. Mr. Skilling had been the C.E.O. of Enron Corp. Mr. Skilling appealed, he argued he was prosecuted by the government under an invalid legal theory and that the jury he had was biased. II. Defenses claimed by the defense Criminal trials are normally held where the crime was committed, however, the defendant may request a change of venue if they believe that bias where the crime was committed would prevent them from receiving a fair trial. Mr. Skilling argued that the court should have never tried him in Houston. Mr. Skilling pointed out prior cases where the Court decided that due to extreme media coverage there was a possibility of juror prejudice that required the courts to change the venue. However, I believe that Mr. Skilling’s case differs from these prior cases which were all in small communities, had media coverage that showed the defendant confessions, and trials that occurred right after the crime and media coverage. I also believe that Skilling’s jury acquitted him of several charges, due to this face I believe that it is very unlikely that there was any juror prejudice. Even though the media coverage of Skilling seems to all be positive, I do not believe that it was not to the necessary level to show that there would be juror prejudice. Due to all of these reasons, I do not believe that the district court made any errors by denying Skilling’s...
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...The Media vs The World My face is glued to the television as I await the verdict that I had so anxiously wanted to hear for years. To no surprise, it was not a verdict we had all hoped for, partially due to the media. The Casey Anthony trial, is just one of the many that have fallen into the classification of a “media trial,” a loose term that describes the profound impact media coverage has on a person’s reputation by creating a pre-assumed perception of guilt or innocence, before, or after a case goes to court. This pre-assumed perception gives the general public, potential jury members, an impartial view on a court case, overall, influencing the system of American justice. This injustice, especially in high profile cases, happens when jury members, sometimes court officials, simply want to gain their “five seconds of fame.” Now an additional problem lies within the simple, yet complex, fight between the right of free press and the right to an impartial jury. Let’s face it, there is no such concept as an impartial jury, simply due to the media attention that trials receive these days. Within this main problem, lies many problems that interfere with the American idea of justice. Are we craving, and striving to find entertainment, or justice? One problem that stems from media that could possibly add to jury bias and court outcomes, it is what lawyers refer to as the “CSI Effect.” Named after the hit television show, this phenomenon describes the distorted view crime investigation...
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...The right to “trial by jury” is a longstanding tradition of the American people protected under the US Constitution. By its standards, a jury is composed of 12 citizens picked at random from the local community, and then screened by the attorneys handling the case. Each of these men then bears witness to the trial, and after hearing the case is sequestered to make private deliberations which must result in a unanimous verdict. The original intention of the Framer’s was to institute a system that protected the accused from unfair bias by distributing the power to decide the verdict among multiple assumedly unbiased citizens. Nonetheless, this system faces constant scrutiny due to the influence of public opinion on members of the jury, the prejudiced...
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...[pic] The Bra Boys are a gang of young blokes who enjoy their surf amongst the beaches of Maroubra on New South Wales who occasionally get made out to be something they are not by the media. Main gang members Sunny and Koby Abberton have made a documentary to tell their side of the story and prove their innocence. Today I will be discussing and reviewing whether or not it is true that the "Bra Boys" are depicted by the media as being maligned. Within the Bra Boys documentary they are stating themselves not to be a gang, but a brotherhood. What kind of brotherhood walks around the streets late night getting into lights supposedly "protecting" their place in town and the beach? I personally think that the gang have done immature things in the past which media have taken too far to make them look bad but in saying that 1 also believe that they are a great bunch of blokes who deep down just want to enjoy the surf Media obligations such as a murder within the bra boys got fully blown out of proportion and the media made false accusations to the public. I am supporting the case that the bra boys are not as bad as made out to be. December 24th 2002 On this night in December an alleged brawl between the notorious surf gang the bra boys and many of the local off duty police. It started out as a normal night with a few of he boys together all having fun, having a few drinks celebrating a fellow bra boy and close friends birthday. The bra boys party consisting of approximately...
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...Detecting Media Bias Teresa Liles HUM/114 December 10, 2012 Christopher Page Detecting Media Bias Same-sex marriage has been an on-going battle for many years. California’s opposition to same-sex marriage, Proposition 8, barely passed in the 2008 election. Same-sex marriage has been a news-worthy topic since 1997 when Hawaii passed a Domestic Partnership policy which triggered other states to change policies as well. This issue started a state-to-state debate of whether same-sex couples should have the same rights that heterosexual, married couples have. This debate between states has reached a Congressional level. The Supreme Court has agreed to hear two cases surrounding this on-going debate. The cases the Court will hear are related to allowable benefits for same-sex partners, and California’s ban on gay marriage. The New York Times’ article about the Supreme Court taking up the same-sex marriage issue was clear and accurate. There were good statistics about states’ involvements in the on-going debate. There were hyper-links to other topics related to this article such as Social Security benefits, estate taxes, Proposition 8, and domestic partnerships in specific states. The facts that were reported in this New York Times’ article were specific and detailed enough to gather the message of the topic being presented. Other facts that support the topic, although not detailed in this report, allow for readers to research further at their own will, using the provided links...
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...Detecting Media Bias By Jason Knowles 11/15/2012 When it come detecting media bias, media have the advantage of using their power to shape any topic to make it one way, when it may not be the case. In order to identify and recognize bias in media news, you need to have documentation showing the bias to have the evidence to back up your argument. There are some questions that you need to ask about the source. For example, who are the sources? Is there a lack of diversity? Are there any double standards? I would like to focus back on the shooting of Trayvon Martin, who was shot and killed by a neighborhood watch George Zimmerman in Florida. I remember when the incident happened. The news media made a assumption that George Zimmerman acted in self-defense, killing a 17 year old boy. It appeared to be the neighborhood has had several houses that were broken in due to illegal activities in that particular neighborhood that volunteer captain neighborhood watch man George Zimmerman lived in. Police told the media that they had no reason to suspect George Zimmerman for any foul play in the self-defense. The Martin family were outrage of the incident and because Zimmerman wasn’t arrested for the shooting. The Martin family and some civil rights leaders believes that it was a racist issue, because Zimmerman who is white and had been profiling because of Martin was black. Due to several interviews with friends and family member’s, they ruled out Zimmerman...
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...Bias in Our Court System….is it fair or unfair justice??? America was built on the premise of everyone having equal rights. After years of British tyranny our forefathers felt they wanted a system where they will not be improperly punished without facts. In fact the framers of the Constitution felt they needed a system where everyone gets a fair shot. In America everyone who is accused of a crime is supposed to have a fair trial and is assumed innocent until proven guilty. Sadly, however, some would argue America’s criminal justice system has become more twisted and unfair than ever and that the rule of law has basically been vanquished in America’s criminal justice system. Outcomes of cases are generally decided now by the prosecutors and more plea bargaining is the norm over trial by jury. Yet so many people in our society today feels that people in the system gets equal opportunities. Although some people end up with different sentences and punishments people say that the American court system is a fair system. America has slowly turned into a system where justice and fairness is overruled by money and power. In the media today many people are committing crimes and walking away with a slap on the wrist. Many social media and news shows the bias in court systems through their broadcasts of issues. The American justice system is biased in their convictions and sentencing through racial disproportion, social structure, and economic standing. Our criminal justice...
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...Jury Trial Analysis CJA/364 Jury Trial Analysis In the United States citizens are given certain rights when they are accused of a crime and are facing a trial. They have the right to a speedy trial, this it to avoid a person being charged with a crime them spending a prolonged period incarcerated prior to conviction. They have the right to an impartial jury. Jurors are interviewed by both the prosecution and the defense to endure that the defendant is not known to them and that if the potential jurors do have any knowledge of the crime, gained via the media or sources other than personal knowledge. Defendants are also entitled to an impartial judge. Judges are held to a higher standard that than of people in other jobs. They are required to put aside personal opinions and make decisions based solely on the facts as they are presented in court. The Right to a Speedy Trial The Sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution guarantees a person accused of a crime the right to a speedy trial. The Founding Father of the United States added this amendment to the Constitution for two reasons, ("The Free Dictionary", 2014). First they wanted to prevent those accused but not yet convicted of crimes from spending a long period of time incarcerated when they have not been found guilty of it yet. The second reason was the fear that if the trial was delayed the memories of witness could fade, witnesses themselves could disappear, and evidence could be lost. While both...
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...popular belief, racism is still very prominent in America, especially within the media. The media has the power to influence the minds of many unsuspecting viewers. In recent years, the media has used its control over the American mentality to diminish the black culture by portraying African Americans on the news or on general television as various forms of degenerates such as thugs and criminals. This negative image of minorities created within production has...
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...programming revolve around courtroom proceedings. An overzealous prosecutor asking tough and often damning questions to a pitiful guilty looking defendant is the main focus for the audience. The part that is often unseen and overlooked is ethnicity and the role it plays in the criminal justice system when it comes to courtroom proceedings and judicial practices. When it comes to these situations, there appears to be a certain amount of bias or indifference to minority citizens (The Criminology and Criminal Justice Collective of Northern Arizona University, 2009). Because of these biases, many minorities have little to no confidence in the court systems and subsequently are less likely to bring his or her case to court. For a further look into how ethnicity influences courtroom proceedings and judicial practices, one can analyze arguments for and against ethnicity based jury nullification and contemporary examples of jury nullification. Jury nullification is defined as the process that allows juries to acquit when the facts of the case suggest a conviction. This allows citizens to play a larger role in deciding guilt and who is punished (Mcnamara & Burns, 2009, Chapter 11). Ethnicity based jury nullification occurs when a defendant is found not guilty based on his race and not the facts (Mcnamara & Burns, 2009, Chapter 11). In the past ethnicity based jury nullification was used by African Americans and other minorities in order to correct the injustices that were commonplace...
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...Courts are set up to provide every individual a fair trial. Consequently, they have rules to only allow admissible evidence into the courtroom. This means that trial court judges decide what evidence is fair to admit into a case. In published research, such as “Can the Jury Disregard That Information? The Use of Suspicion to Reduce the Prejudicial Effects of Pretrial Publicity and Inadmissible Testimony” by Fein and Tomlinson, “When Instructions to Forget Become Instructions to Remember” by Golding and Jerry, and “Inadmissible Testimony, Instructions to Disregard, and the Jury: Substantive Versus Procedural Considerations” by Kassin and Sommers, the experiments performed all support that inadmissible evidence can bias and impact jurors’ verdicts....
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...Running Head: SOCIOLOGY IN CRIMINAL SYSTEM Abstract Sociology in the criminal justice system s both interest but very complicating. There are some many different aspects on what can be touched upon. The criminal justice system is known to be very biased. In specific terms the system is racial bias and unfair. The America uses a formal social control, to deal with crimes. Statistics show a fair difference and connection between race and the percentage of people convicted of crimes. Other components influence these percentages but always seem to come back to race. The racial unfairness has taken a toll on the American people and contrasts the idea that America was originally built on Incredible as it is America is one of the most tolerant nations in the world. America is a country that was built on freedom, pride, happiness, and equality. Though this is common knowledge and an allusion of the American people, the country has some faults. Equality is a major moral in America that was fought for in history and even in today's society. Throughout our history minority groups have fought hard for there rights and we have accepted the fact that its wrong to discriminate. It is agreed that racial discrimination is wrong as well (Banks, 2009, p 79). Racism has been a problem in America seen the country was founded. Slavery was a form of racism in the early centuries of America. Our judicial system has...
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...(Slip Opinion) OCTOBER TERM, 2009 1 Syllabus NOTE: Where it is feasible, a syllabus (headnote) will be released, as is being done in connection with this case, at the time the opinion is issued. The syllabus constitutes no part of the opinion of the Court but has been prepared by the Reporter of Decisions for the convenience of the reader. See United States v. Detroit Timber & Lumber Co., 200 U. S. 321, 337. SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES Syllabus SKILLING v. UNITED STATES CERTIORARI TO THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT No. 08–1394. Argued March 1, 2010—Decided June 24, 2010 Founded in 1985, Enron Corporation grew from its headquarters in Houston, Texas, into the seventh highest-revenue-grossing company in America. Petitioner Jeffrey Skilling, a longtime Enron officer, was Enron’s chief executive officer from February until August 2001, when he resigned. Less than four months later, Enron crashed into bankruptcy, and its stock plummeted in value. After an investigation uncovered an elaborate conspiracy to prop up Enron’s stock prices by overstating the company’s financial well-being, the Government prosecuted dozens of Enron employees who participated in the scheme. In time, the Government worked its way up the chain of command, indicting Skilling and two other top Enron executives. These three defendants, the indictment charged, engaged in a scheme to deceive investors about Enron’s true financial performance by...
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...Social Media and the Courts All a man's ways seem innocent to him, but motives are weighed by the LORD." -Proverbs 16:2 Social media refers to the means of interactions among people in which they create, share, and exchange information and ideas in virtual communities and networks. Andreas Kaplan and Michael Haenlein define social media as "a group of Internet-based applications that build on the ideological and technological foundations of Web 2.0, and that allow the creation and exchange of user-generated content. Furthermore, social media depend on mobile and web-based technologies to create highly interactive platforms through which individuals and communities share, co-create , discuss, and modify user-generated content. It introduces substantial and pervasive changes to communication between organizations, communities and individuals. Social networking rapidly has become a valuable intelligence-gathering tool for law enforcement agencies, as well as a source of evidence for defense and prosecution personnel who search Facebook pages, Twitter feeds or YouTube videos seeking to discredit witnesses, establish law enforcement bias, track down evidence or establish associations between gang members. Often, perpetrators brag about their crimes on social networks, and child pornographers and sexual predators have been located and apprehended...
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...Definition A rape shield law is a law that denies a defendant the ability to a cross-examine rape complainant or evidence about their conduct in sexual behavior in the past (Portlock, 2007). It may also be used to refer to a law that prohibits media sources from publishing the identity of an individual who is accused of rape. This law was established so that it could eliminate cases whereby an individual is tried using their clothing, sexual behavior or attitude showed in the past. However, the application of this law varies from one state to another. There some states that require that the rape complaint to have taken place with a specified time (Spohn & Horney, 2013). This difference results from the fact that states apply the ‘fresh complaint’ doctrine in different ways. A fresh complain is one in which the complainant reasonably, promptly and voluntarily makes the complaint once the sexual abuse has taken place. Why States have Enacted Rape Shield Laws Rape shield laws have been passed in most of the states so as to ensure that rape victims are protected from psychological and emotional trauma that could result from their narration of their sexual history while in the witness stand. There are several cases where rape victims have failed to report and pursue such charges due to their fear of humiliation. The rape shield laws enacted in these states serve three principal purposes. First, they prohibit the release of evidence on the sexual reputation...
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