The Court

The Courtroom Workgroup

• People from all sides work together

• Who is the most powerful person in the Criminal Justice System?

The Prosecutor

• Prosecutorial Discretion (Charging Decision)

• Stepping Stone to political career

The Defense

• Beholden only to defendant

• Must provide a zealous defense (differs between public or private, pro bono work, everyone is entitled to effective counsel, 6th amendment (speedy and public trial and right to counsel))

• How can they justify defending the guilty?

• Affirmed in Gideon v. Wainwright

Adversarial Justice

• Two sides “fight it out”

• Prosecution and Defense

• Judge: Finder of law

• Jury: Finder of fact

• Legal protections account for power imbalance

• Burden of Proof

• Brady Rule: Exculpatory evidence (evidence makes defendant look good); Adam Syed

Protection from Self-Incrimination

• 5th Amendment

• Due Process

• Read Rights

• Affirmed in Miranda v. Arizona

Plea Bargains

• Make our system possible

• Put pressure on defendants

• When do cases go to trial?: Private attorneys, defendant wants to

• What type of cases cannot be plea bargains?: Capital cases

Survey Research

• Recruiting women and officers of color

• Federal oversight

• Civil Lawsuits: Qualified Immunity

• Challenges: DA’s hesitant to file charges against, juries often unwilling to convict, police unions

The Courts

• Court Process: U.S. System of guilt and innocence 

• Trial Process: Pretrial, trial, post trial

Purpose of the Trial

• Epistemological Function

• Guilt of defendant

• Adversarial Process

• Symbolic Function

• Courts Respected

• Lady Justice

• State Power

Deterrence

• Rewards are not worth the suffering

• Specific Deterrence: “Are punishments harsh enough?”

• General Deterrence: Public punishments?

Incapacitation

• What is the goal of incapacitation?: Isolate offenders to protect the public from future wrongdoings

Rehabilitation

• Treat through education, job training, drug/alcohol treatment, psychological counseling to reduce future criminality

• What is the goal of rehabilitation?

• Therapeutic approach to punishment

• Historical Context

• Ditched after the Martinson Report (“Nothing Works”)

For These 3

• Punishments do not need to “fit” the crime

• Aimed at producing the greatest good

• Which of these works the best?

Retributivism

• Sentence is deserved, justified, and necessary

• Golden Rule: An eye for an eye

History of Punishment

• What is the most frequent form of punishment?

• Why is incarceration not ideal?: Costly, rehabilitation is something new, less violent (better?)

Premodern Punishments

• Execution

• Pre-modern societies: what was the worst punishment?; exile, Kilmar Abrego Garcia

• Humiliation

• Corporal Punishment

Rise of the Prison:

• Reasons for early punishments; Combined different

• Narrowed down to incarceration

• Context: Prisoners should live worse than least desirable conditions of free society

• Past 100 years significant change

Philadelphia

• First modern penitentiary

• Solitary confinement

• Costly and cruel

Auburn

• Congregate and silent system

• Prison location: Rural communities is where most prisons are built

Late 20th Century

• Critics: Indeterminate sentences too lenient (truth in sentencing laws)

• Parole

• Probation

• Parole and probation: More control over people

Mass Incarceration

• Crime Decline: Causes of decline include demographics, economy, incarceration(?), more police(?), policing strategies

• Causes: War on drugs, reduction of mental health services, “getting tough”