Criminal Justice FInal

1st Amendment

• Freedom of speech, religion, press, assembly, and petition

• Protects protest and political speech; limits restrictions on inmate correspondence

• relevant to police accountability journalism (We Own This City)

2nd Amendment

• right to bear arms

• central to gun policy debates; relevant to gun trace units like the GTTF

• District of Columbia v. Heller (2008) confirmed the individual right

4th amendment

• protection from unreasonable searches and seizures; requires probable cause for warrants

• stop and frisk (Terry v. Ohio 1968); exclusionary rule (Mapp v. Ohio 1961); critical to GTTF abuses in We Own This City

5th Amendment

• due process; protection from self incrimination; double jeopardy; right to grand jury in federal cases

• Miranda v. Arizona (1966) right to remain silent; government cannot compel self-incrimination

• Takings Clause for Property

6th Amendment

• Right to speedy and public trial, an impartial jury, to confront witnesses, and to have counsel

• Gideon v. Wainwright (1963) - right to appointed counsel

• Brady v. Maryland (1963) - prosecution must disclose exculpatory evidence

8th Amendment

• Protection from excessive bail, excessive fines, and cruel and unusual punishment

• Furman v. Georgia (1972) and Gregg v. Georgia (1976) - death penalty limits

• Atkins v Virginia (2002) - no execution of intellectually disabled; solitary confinement challenges

13th Amendment

• abolished slavery and involuntary servitude, except as punishment for crime

• The ‘except as punishment’ clause has been used to justify prison labor; it is foundational to understanding mass incarceration and the legacy of slavery in policing

14th Amendment

• equal protection and due process under the law; citizenship rights

• McCleskey v. Kemp (1987) - racial disparities in the death penalty

• Brown v. Board (1954); central to civil rights claims against police misconduct

• protects parental rights in foster care

Slave patrol

• first organized police force (1704, Carolina)

• direct institutional ancestor of Southern policing

• founded on racial control

Docile Bodies (Foucault)

The carceral system’s goal of making incarcerated people compliant and submissive through punishment and surveillance

SHU Syndrome

• Cluster of psychiatric symptoms caused by prolonged solitary confinement; paranoia, hallucinations, depression

Bifurcated Trial

• Post Furman reform

• separate proceedings for guilt and sentencing in capital cases

Transformative Efficacy

• Addressing harm by transforming relationships and root conditions rather than solely punishing the individual

Collective Efficacy

A community’s shared belief in its ability to act together to solve problems and reduce violence

Foster Care Efficacy

The pathway from child welfare system involvement to juvenile justice and adult incarceration

Absurdism (Camus)

• The philosophical position that life has no inherent meaning, the basis for Meursault’s indifference in The Stranger

Community Policing

Reform model emphasizing close police-community relations; latest in a cycle of reforms that have not addressed root causes

placement Instability

Multiple foster care placements; 90% of youth with 5+ placements enter the juvenile justice system

Disciplinary segregation 

• Sanction for serious violations of DOC rules. Imposed by a disciplinary hearing officer 

Administrative detention 

• The continued presence of an individual in GP is considered a threat to the institution's security. This is a non-punitive status imposed by the segregation review officer 

Protective Custody 

Separation from GP aims to protect inmates due to status or history (prison assault, informants, previous law enforcement)

The experience of Isolation 

• Permanent confinement (24-24 hrs/day)

Suicides occur disproportionately more often in segregation cells than elsewhere in the prison 

The moment you are put there, you are 2-5 times more likely to commit suicide 

The Death Penalty 

• Capital punishment, the highest form of Punishment the US can give: putting the offender to death 

• End of journey through correctional process; no true rehabilitative orientation 

The debate over capital punishment 

• Not all justifications for punishment may apply to the death penalty (retribution, deterrence, incapacitation vs. rehabilitation)

• Utilitarian argument: Death penalty and murder 

Supporters of Death Penalty

• It deters criminals and prevents others from committing new crimes 

• Payback for horrendous crimes reasserts social values 

• Less expensive than life incarceration 

Opponents of Death Penalty

• No evidence of a deterrence effect 

• State-sponsored killings are wrong 

• Discrimination, wrongful convictions 

3 fluids

1 - puts to sleep

1- turns off the nervous system 

1 - stops the heart

Formal executions have declined since the 1930s

For 9 years, executions were stopped pending a Supreme Court Decision (1967-1976)

• Public opinion largely favors the death penalty, although events have generated important shifts (1960’s, 1990s)

• Subject is hard to examine: confusion over what part of DP is ok, different forms of the Death Penalty (from not in the constitution to many executions)

  • The cost of DP is very high due to the fluids used, which can be more expensive than life in prison 

Execution of the Mentally Ill (competency coercion)

if you are classified as mentally ill you cannot be put to death 

Death row statistics 

• 56% executed are white, 35% black 

  • The percentage of black Americans on death row is disproportionately high 

  • The percentage of whites is also disproportionately low

• Race of victims matters

• Execution is more likely if the victim is white 

• Prosectorial death discretion outcome 

• 3-5 times more likely to be put to death if it is a white female compared to other female races  

Extreme isolation has negative consequences for inmates (mental health, violence, and long-term recidivism). Segregation is also tough on staff

Legal challenges (domestic and abroad) and responses

The number of people in segregation beds increased 40% nationally between 1995 and 2000 

• Evidence suggests that conditions of confinement in segregation units have become increasingly severe, with longer stays 

• Segregation is expensive. Operating cells in supermax facilities is about 50% more expensive than regular cells 

The american exception: The supermax prison 

The US holds 25% of the world's prison population 

Segregation, solitary confinement, and isolation 

• All mean the same thing 

Rules to get around isolation cells 

• Some cells are outside, meaning that there is no ceiling, so it isn't classified as one 

Police Professionalism

1. O.W. Wilson's Police Administration became the blueprint 

2. Centralization, military-style discipline, motorized patrol

3. Resulted in community alienation and increased tensions with minorities 

Community Policing

1. Response to riots, civil rights abuse, and Vietnam-era protest suppression

2. Emphasized close working relations with the community 

3. Latest iteration in ongoing efforts to decentralize and improve pol

Vice protection

• Systematically took payoffs to allow illegal drinking, gambling, and prostitution 

Strike-breaking

Used force to dispel striking workers; 80% of all arrests were for public order offenses 

Election fraud 

Organized vote-buying, ballot box stuffing, and imitated opposition voters 

Organized crime 

• By the end of prohibition, police acted as watchmen and enforcers for criminal syndicates

Watch System

• Community volunteers warned of impending danger; Boston created the first night watch (1636)

Constable System

• official officers paid by fee; served warrants, supervised night watches

Early Colonial Policing

By 1838, Boston had established the first formal municipal police force; all major cities had forces by the 1880s