Charged Study Guide

What did the Vera Institute of Justice focus group find out about the experiences of some young men of color when they return to their communities after a period of incarceration?

after incarceration, young men would associate themselves with others for protection or initiate retaliatory violence

Who is Kalief Browder and how is his story relevant here?

It reminded him of how Mason also was not a fighter, and would be subject to violence. He most likely wouldn’t last incarcerated just like Kalief .

What are examples of American prosecutors’ “immense power” in the criminal legal system and how has this power grown over the last 40 years? What is the “outdated” notion many people have about the relationship between prosecution, defense, and the judge?

Contributing to mass incarceration, racial bias in prosecution, lack of accountability in convicting an innocent person. Prosecutors have the most power in decision-making, such as the choosing the charge, making the bail demand, determining plea bargain.

What would be needed to reduce the prison population by 50%? What is the estimate of the dollar amount costs of prisons?

Equal treatment for offenders after they are released (no more civil disabilities), and aren’t prone to recidivism. 43 million per year

What is confirmation bias? What is hindsight bias?

confirmation bias: the tendency to interpret new information of an individual’s existing beliefs 

hindsight bias: where people perceive past events as having been more preventable/predictable than they were when they occured (knew-it-all-along)

What is “conviction psychology”? What influences conviction psychology in DAs’ offices? How does Keith Findley say DA offices could push back against tunnel vision?

The mindset of a prosecutor who reasons that an innocent person would not be admitted into the system. A work culture that encourages guilty verdicts, which narrows the tunnel vision and prosecutors will convince themselves they’re unable to prosecute an innocent person. He believes that there should be someone who has experience to talk through contrary evidence and would play devil’s advocate.

Who is Lee Coffee and why is his recollections of the case important here?

Lee Coffee was a judge and supervising prosecutor in one end of the courthouse, he mentioned the manila folder was thin, and did not think there was enough evidence to find Noura guilty

What was Mapp v. Ohio about? What was Miranda v. Arizona about?

Mapp v. Ohio: evidence seized unlawfully, without a search warrant, could not be used in criminal prosecutions in state courts.

Miranda v. Arizona: criminal suspects must be informed of their constitutional rights before police questioning

Why are these important cases and relevant to Kevin’s case? How have these decisions been weakened, or
remained durable, in court hearings since the 1960s?

The gun was seized without a search warrant, and Kevin and his friends were not told their Miranda rights, so his statements should not be used against him. It’s a mix of both, sometimes law enforcement would create loopholes to get around bc of good faith, but they became more prevalent to law enforcement culture later on.

Who is William Stuntz and what was his view of the major court decisions of the 1960s?

A law professor that believed that Miranda and Mapp released too many guilty people, and didn’t protect innocent people

What were the findings of the 2018 study on “holistic defense”?

the lawyer and social worker teams greatly reduced the likelihood of a prison sentence by 16%, and length of sentence by 24%

What is bail and why is getting and making bail so important for defendants?

bail is a form of payment that the defense pays the court to be released from custody while awaiting trial. defendants that can’t provide bail can be held in custody for months-years until their case is heard.

Where does the presence of bail in the US criminal legal system come from? What was Stack v. Boyle about? What happened with the Bail Reform Act? How was the Bail Reform Act amended in 1984? What was the outcome of The United States v. Salerno case?

the US constitution stating the protection against excessive bail. a case where the supreme court stated that the bail should be reasonable to ensure appearance in court. the bail reform act was made to ensure that people weren’t needlessly jailed regardless of their financial status. it amended to consider dangerousness in bail. its unconstitutional to detain someone based on future risk of danger

In states that have high defendant release rates before trial (or no $ bail) what is generally the return to court rate? What is the rearrest rate while out on bail?

95%, 9%

What were the findings of the 2016 bail study (Quattrone Center for the Fair Administration of Justice)?

misdemeanor offenders who were detained pretrial were 30% more likely to commit a new felony within 18 months after bail hearing. and 20% more likely to commit a new misdemeanor

Bazelon discusses money bail reform in 3 states (Wisconsin, California, and New Jersey): Be familiar with what happened in these three states (the reform initiated and its relative
success or failure)

wisconsin: they did not support the resurrection of commercial

california: there was a reform to eliminate money bail to be passed, but the bail industry fired back, so california settled for prosecutors to just ask for preventive detention

new jersey: ended money bail, replaces bail agents with state employees, used a risk assessment, drops violent crime offenses and jail population significantly

What ultimately happened with Noura’s bail? How long has she been detained at this point?
How much is the bond? Given she can’t pay it, why is she still happy to finally have bail set?

two and a half years. 500,000. she’s glad she might have the chance to work in the laundry room

in the new gun court that is being proposed, what would be the highest charge prosecutors could bring? Why did New York even have such strict rules (comparative to other states)
about unlicensed gun possession?

possession of a gun without a license. bloomberg wanted to shut down loopholes where people would purchase rifles without background checks, and gun laws were up to the states

When NY enacts stricter gun licensing controls after Bloomberg leaves office, why doesn’t the National Rifle Association (NRA) protest or spotlight this?

they wanted to cast gun owners as model citizens, which is the opposite of what law enforcement was trying to impose. also racial and regional support were opposites of eahc other

How do the young men in gun court and community leaders like Anthony Newerls, explain why these young men are carrying guns?

It’s mainly for protection, not for inflicting violence onto others

When Bazelon reviews case files of defendants in gun court, what does she find?

80% of them didn’t have any prior felony convictions

When Bazelon wrote this book, what percentage of DAs nationally were white? What percentage were white men?

95% were white, 79% were white men

What is the proposed strategy to reduce
the population of Riker’s and what part does Eric Gonzalez play?

if they could sperad out to smaller jails/close it, eric was asked by the former cheif of justice to close rikers island

Who is Akai Gurley? Why is this case significant to Eric Gonzalez’s run for DA?

Akai gurley was murdered by a police officer, who recklessly misfired a bullet and was killed by its ricochet. it shows gonzalez’s progressive perspective as he ran for DA

What is the “trial by ambush” model that characterized the courts systems up until the 1950s? What changes were brought by the Warren Court and what is the “Brady Rule” (and the case it is named after)? What were the limitations of the Brady Rule?

"Trial by ambush" is a tactic where one party in a trial surprises the other by suddenly introducing new and unexpected evidence or witnesses. The Brady Rule is a legal principle that requires prosecutors to disclose any evidence that is favorable to the defendant. it’s hard to prove what was favorable, or if the brady rule was being broken or not

There is a moment during closing statements where Corder suggests there should be a call for a mistrial – what happens here? What ultimately is the verdict in the case?

corder tried to appeal to emotion, demading that if noura was free, ther would be no justice. noura was convicted of second-degree murder

What evidence is shared after the verdict and how does this ultimately affect the case?

What were some of the changes in the criminal legal system in the 1980s/1990s that significantly limited the authority of judges and parole boards?

Why might plea bargains have an appeal for defense attorneys and judges? What is the “trial penalty”?

What was the case Bordenkircher v. Hayes and how did this further secure prosecutorial power?

What is a conviction review unit? What other reforms are “high on the list” for these new DAs?

What did Kim Foxx do in Chicago to reduce felony convictions for theft? Why might a DAs office have to think about budgetary concerns when looking about how to reform the DAs office?

What was the case Miller v. Alabama about?

What is the ruling in Noura’s first appeal? What is the next step?

What happens at Noura’s final appeal before the Tennessee Supreme Court? What forms the basis of the judges’ decision?

What is the AEDPA and how has it impacted appeals cases?

What were the findings of sociologist Robert Sampson’s 1990 study in Chicago? What were later findings (2016/2017) in relation to police “solve rates”?

What did sociologist Patrick Sharkey’s work on the presence of non-profits discover?

19th century thinkers Bentham and Beccaria get a shout out here (we watched a video about them earlier in our class). How does Bazelon say Beccaria’s ideas were corrupted during
mass incarceration?

What explains the phenomenon of guilty people pleading innocent to crimes they didn’t commit? What happened in the case of Joseph Buffey?

Does the Brady Rule apply to plea bargains? Why is this a concern?

What is an Alford plea? Why do Alford pleas appeal to defendants? Why might an Alford plea appeal to a prosecutor?

How many people are living under some form of court supervision? What can lead to having
probation or parole revoked?

While we don’t have official or authorized debtors’ prisons anymore, how do we have “de facto” (as if legal) debtors’ prisons?

What is rule 3.8 that is at the center of Stephen Jones’ ethics trial?

What is the difference between the immunity that police officers enjoy and the immunity that prosecutors enjoy?

What was the case of Imbler v. Pachtman and what were the findings? What is Connick v. Thompson about?

What is the expressed concern of prosecutors in states that don’t have “open file” laws about changing to be an open-file state?

What is established in New York in June of 2018 and why is this a major change from
“business as usual”?

What is the case of Utah v. Strieff and what was the ruling?

How can big data be used for good?

Demographers and scientists can use large sets of data to measure and check the health of the society they’re studying

What was an early use of big data in the US and which groups were targeted? How was this use of this data based in bias?

It was previously used to separate and rank racial groups based on their economic participation. They were also used to determine how much of a threat they would be to society.

How then is the collection and distribution of data a form of social control?

It is used to determine how much control should be administered to make sure the “dangerous” groups would not inflict harm in society

What is the lesson students in the social sciences should  take away from this piece? (and it is not that data is "bad")

recognize the info we collect and analyze, and how we interpret meanings from them are a reflection of our history and political choices

How "organized retail crime" is defined as different from shoplifting

People who organize together to steal items for personal profitt

How "boosters" are defined

A professional shoplifter that steals for their own profit rather than personal use

The relationship between people who work for the corporations in "loss prevention" and law enforcement

loss prevention staff can collaborate with law enforcement in an investigation and evidence collection

The relationship between organized retail crime and other legal businesses

People who steal can resell stolen goods and it can become difficult to track down through ecommerce

What are the three general categories of crime introduced here?

crimes against the person, crimes against property, victimless crimes

Who is the "average arrestee"? Why might we want to be cautious of this data?

young males, this does not account for racial disparities and policing practices

What is overcriminalization?

when someone is easily assumed to be a criminal and is treated as such my law enforcement and the general public

What are the three elements of the criminal justice system?

the police, courts, system of punishment and corrections

What criteria, as applied by the police, make an arrest more likely?

severity of situation, suspect’s level of cooperativeness, suspect’s criminal history, suspect’s wishes, and race

What are some of the economics of the criminal justice system?

Those that cant afford bail would have to wait in jail until their court date, which can take months to years until they are heard. They can have inadequate representation from public defenders due to higher work load

How does plea bargaining work? What is the appeal of plea bargaining? What are the concerns?

plea bargaining is a negotiation where a defendant can plead guilty in exchange for concessions from the prosecutor. This would be beneficial for simple cases and relieving heavy caseloads, but it’s likely that the parties aren’t on equal footing

What is the definition of mass incarceration? What is the evidence that the US as a nation practices mass incarceration?

The increasing population and the social, political and economic causes that reinforce it. The US has 5 times the highest rate of incarceration than the rest of the world and has a limited relationship to crime fighting

What are four "purposes" of punishment? What are concerns with each of these?

retribution, deterrence, societal protection, rehabilitation rehabilitation can be difficult due to the limited resources the prison system has and integration to society

What is recidivism and what are the rates in the US (at the time of this video)?

Recidivism is the act of reoffense of a crime that leads to incarceration. Within three years of release, two-thirds of offenders were released.

When does participation in crime "peak" in terms of age of perpetrators?

Teen ages around 17-18

What is the "inexplicability hypothesis"?

age effects crime directly, there are no sociological or psychological tendencies that are correlated

What theories covered in this class to date were tested in this study?

social control theory, RAT theory,

What percentage of the drop in crime by age could they not explain with the theories they tested? 

2/3

Which theory took the "lion's share" of explanatory power in this study?

social learning perspective

What was a common "pathway to violence" among the life histories of 180 perpetrators of public mass violence studied by these researchers?

trauma and violence in early childhood, and pent up isolation and depression that is turned outward

What is a typical mindset that perpetrators take into these acts of mass violence?

they want to spread a message of their own or from other perpetrators they were inspired by

Why is suicide brought up in this conversation?

Some will use it as their final act, whether they had previous suicidal attempts or intend to die after their act. We can apply methods of suicide prevention to prevent them from going that route.

What is a recommendation for how we should be reporting on these incidents of violence in the media?

The media should have protocols with reporting on mass shootings in order to prevent copycats and providing resources for those who may be struggling

What are recommendations for how we should be approaching interventions for these incidents?

Rather than pushing struggling people out, there should be a more open and caring approach for those that need help, and providing resources

What do the researchers say are "red flags" that people are missing before these incidents happen?

People would communicate that harm in advance and brushed aside, posts on social media, not communicating with those that are making statements inciting violence

What are some of the predictive programs mentioned in this video and how do they work?

predpol, public safety assessment, compass risk assessment

Other than policing, what other spaces of the criminal legal system are using predictive algorithm-based programs? 

bail and sentencing predictions

What are some of the variables that these risk assessment tools use?

background and probability or likelihood to commit a crime again

What the concerns are from public interest groups about the use of predictive policing

because the algorithms and standards are private, people aren’t able to determine what personal factors are at risk and are used 

How are these violations the result of the constraints of the socio-economic status of the people receiving them?

These violations can be difficult to pay off for low-income communities because every individual’s financial situation can’t guarantee that they can’t pay off these violations

How do the people interviewed in this video describe their views of, and relationship to, law enforcement within their communities? 

they state that law enforcement doesn’t care about their personal obligations and have discriminated against them, making their chances of escaping the system less likely

How the two women interviewed feel about the class action lawsuit they were a part of against the municipality of Jennings

They’re grateful for the recognition of the illegal treatment they’ve faced, but it would have been more impactful if the municipality of Jennings took accountability and admitted their wrongdoing