Prisons midterm

Brady v. Maryland

exculpatory evidence

Boykin v. Alabama

voluntary plea bargaining

NC v. Alford

no contest

Santobello v. NY

plea bargains are binding

Bordenkircher v. Hayes

prosecutor can threaten a harsher charge during plea bargaining

McKlesky v. Kemp

racial bias inadmissable

Gideon v. Wainwright

states provide attorneys to defendants with serious charges

Powell v. AL

attorney in capital cases

Betts v. Brady

provide an attorney in special circumstances: penalty is severe and defendant inexperienced

Griffin v. Crenshaw

poor get free trial transcripts of their appeals

Johnson v. Zerbst

right to counsel in federal cases

Agersinger v. Hamlin

lawyer provided for crimes with jail time

Strickland v. Washington 

ineffective assistance of counsel

Ineffective assistance of counsel

when the defense is ineffective due to deficient performance and errors that would deprive the defendant of a fair trial, the defendant can request a new trial — difficult to prove

panopticon

Jeremy Bentham and Michel Foucault, prison design with guard tower in the middle, cells in a circle: psychological control

Stanford Prison experiment

Stanley Milgrim 1971, university students divided into guards and prisoners, shows obedience and human nature

Learned helplessness

psychological idea that you learn not to fight back/escape when conditioned- applies to prisoners

Convict leasing

practice of forced labor of prisoners post-civil war, prisoners leased to private companies, farms, mines

The war on drugs

campaign to reduce illegal drugs- began in 1971 by Nixon, created heavier policing on black communities and high drug encarceration

Discretion

the allowance given to attorneys and people working within the justice system to use their own judgement in making decisions about a case

Adversarial legal model

2 sides make a case, impartial judge

Inquisitorial legal system

civil law, judge investigates and decides

legal burden of proof

reasonable suspicion, probable cause, preponderance of evidence, clear and convincing evidence, and beyond reasonable doubt

preponderance of the evidence

standard that evidence must suggested a greater than 50% chance that the claim is accurate

Plea bargaining

in theory an efficient compromise between prosecution and defense with approval from a judge, but really prosecution has more power - 98% of cases end in plea bargains

prosecutor ethical duties

pursue justice not convictions, refrain from extrajudicial comments, and disclose exculpatory evidence

prosecutor decisions

type of crime to pursue, resource allocation, undercover crews, bringing charges, adult v. juvenile, penalties, immunity, plea bargains, discretion

absolute immunity

prosecutors cannot be sued even if they violate their ethical duties

Willie Horton Ad

an ad run in 1988 presidential campaign for George HW Bush, encouraging racial fear and hard on crime attitudes

grand jury

determines if the evidence is sufficient, leading to an indictment: proceedings meant to be secret, intended to prevent false accusations

Ethical duties of defense

client confidentiality, avoid conflicts of interest, and provide zealous representation

assignment of a defense attorney

public defender, assigned counsel programs, or contract systems

Judge duties

interpret laws, establish rules, determine trial outcomes and sentences, symbolize justice

judge ethical duties

impartiality, lack of prejudice, fairness, avoid conflicts of interest

judge selection

appointment, partisan elections, nonpartisan elections, merit

jury duties

decide only based on facts of the case, don’t interpret law, remain impartial, independent, keep conversations confidential

venire

the entire panel from which a jury is drawn

voir dire

the process by which attorneys select/reject jurors

peremptory challenge

right for attorneys to reject potential jurors without stating a reason

batson challenge

attorneys must give a race neutral reason for removing jurors

death qualification

it’s ok to reject jurors based on opposition to death penalty

On crimes & punishments

Cesare Beccaria 1764

on crime and punishments ideas

condemns torture and dp, punishment should be proportional to the crime, outrage at human suffering, idea of jurisprudence and judicial discretion

The new Jim Crow

Michelle Alexander 2010

the new jim crow ideas

systems of oppressing black americans have evolved, slavery > convict leasing > jim crow > mass incarceration, Jarvious Cotton example

Unusually Cruel

Marc Howard 2017

unusually cruel ideas

America’s prison system is much larger than other comparable countries, far more black/hispanic people incarcerated- incarceration rate of nearly 700/100,000

Hidden biases study

2013 by Banaji and Greenwald, shows overt racism has declined but implicit increases, laws and institutions are equal in name, IAT test finds 75% of Americans have implicit preference for whites, explains police behavior

Worse than slavery

Oshinsky 1996

worse than slavery ideas

Convict leasing- people started accusing people of fake crimes & making sentences longer

Parchman farm

now the Mississippi state penitentiary, established in late 19th century for convict leasing and farm labor for black inmates under black codes

Black codes

laws in southern states after civil war to control labor of freed african americans 

Ordinary Injustice

Amy Bach, ordinary injustice results when a community of legal professionals becomes so accustomed to a pattern of lapses that they can no longer see their role in them

Miss Wigg’s list

list of cases that the prosecutor wouldn’t take because of fear of being lost

Life cycle of a case

Crime occurs, arrest, arraignment, preliminary hearing, grand jury, trial, sentencing, appeal, jail/prison

arraignment

initial appearance before a judge where where the defendant pleas, given bail or release

Preliminary hearing

evidence is presented to determine probable cause

a life and death decision

Sundby, 2005- goes through decision making of a jury

a life and death decision ideas

highlights social pressures of jury, shows how little jury members might know about rules, uses Peggy as example of a holdhout 

Brady v Maryland

1963

Boykin v Alabama

1969

NC v. Alford

1970

Santobello v. NY

1971

Bordenkircher v. Hayes

1978

McKlesky v. Kemp

1987

Gideon v. Wainwright

1963

Powell v. AL

1932

Betts v. Brady

1942

Griffin v. Crenshaw

1956

Johnson v. Zerbst

1938

Agersinger v. Hamlin

1972

Strickland v. Washington

1984