Prisons and Punishments (Court Cases)

Stack v. Boyle

Bail can’t be set higher than an amount reasonably calculated to ensure the defendant’s presence at trial

Batson v. Kentucky

Must give race and gender neutral reasons for rejecting someone from a jury

• Using peremptory challenges to exclude potential jurors based on their race is a violation of the Fourteenth Amendment's Equal Protection Clause

• Batson, an African American man, was on trial for burglary → the prosecutor used peremptory challenges to remove all African American potential jurors, resulting in an all-white jury

Strickland v. Washington

Two steps to show deficiency of counsel that warrants a new trial:

• Counsel’s performance was deficient

• Errors were so serious as to deprive the defendant of a fair trail

• Almost impossible to prove

Argersinger v. Hamlin

lawyer must be provided for all crimes with jail as a possible sentence

Gideon v. Wainwright

States must provide defense attorneys to criminal defendants charged with serious offenses who cannot afford lawyers themselves

• Gideon was charged with a felony and denied a court-appointed attorney, forcing him to represent himself and leading to his conviction

• Gideon was granted a new trial, where he was acquitted

Johnson v. Zerbst

Establishes right to counsel for federal cases

Griffin v. Crenshaw

poor can receive free trial transcripts for their appeals

Betts v. Brady

no right to counsel unless penalty was severe, the issues difficult, and the defendant inexperienced (went backwards from Powell)

Powell v. AL

Established right to an attorney

• Ruled that nine impoverished, illiterate Black youths (the Scottsboro boys) were denied due process and a fair trial because the state of Alabama failed to provide them with effective legal counsel. The Court held that the Fourteenth Amendment requires states to provide effective legal representation in capital cases for indigent defendants, establishing that a fair trial necessitates competent, not just nominal, assistance of counse

Brady v. Maryland

Prosecutors must disclose exculpatory evidence

• The prosecution must turn over to a criminal defendant any significant evidence in its possession that suggests the defendant is not guilty

• The prosecution had withheld a written statement by Brady’s accomplice confessing that he had committed the act of killing by himself

Bordenkircher v. Hayes

Threatening longer sentences is acceptable

• The Court reasoned that plea bargaining is an essential part of the criminal justice system and that while threats might discourage defendants from exercising their trial rights, this is an inherent aspect of negotiating pleas

Santobello v. NY

Plea bargaining is an essential component of the justice system

• Also ruled that prosecutors must uphold plea bargains, establishing that when a defendant pleads guilty based on a prosecutor's promise, that promise must be kept

NC v. Alford

Established alford plea or no contest

• A defendant can plead guilty to a reduced charge, like Henry Alford did in a murder case, to avoid the death penalty, even while still proclaiming their innocence

• Deemed rational to avoid dying

Boykin v. Alabama

Establishes a voluntariness standard

• The court record must affirmatively show that the plea was made intelligently and voluntarily to satisfy the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment

• State courts must ensure defendants understand their rights and the consequences of a guilty plea before accepting one

Gates v. Collier

A federal lawsuit that struck down numerous abuses at Parchman and outlawed the trusty system and racial segregation in prisons under the Eighth Amendment

• Under court supervision, many of Parchman’s most brutal practices were reformed or abolished (public whipping, armed trusties, total segregation)