The Collapse of American Criminal Justice

The Collapse of American Criminal Justice PDF

Author: William J. Stuntz

Publisher: Harvard University Press

Published: 2011-09-30

Total Pages: 425

ISBN-13: 0674051750

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Rule of law has vanished in America’s criminal justice system. Prosecutors decide whom to punish; most accused never face a jury; policing is inconsistent; plea bargaining is rampant; and draconian sentencing fills prisons with mostly minority defendants. A leading criminal law scholar looks to history for the roots of these problems—and solutions.

The American Criminal Justice System

The American Criminal Justice System PDF

Author: Gerhard Falk

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA

Published: 2010-03-11

Total Pages: 260

ISBN-13: 0313383480

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This critical yet honest appraisal of our criminal justice system addresses its strengths and its flaws—and makes recommendations for improvement. The American Criminal Justice System: How It Works, How It Doesn't, and How to Fix It calls attention to a criminal justice system that needs improvement. Author Gerhard Falk shows that the police themselves often violate the law; that prosecutors send innocent citizens to prison and even to death row; that defense attorneys take on cases they are not prepared to handle; that juries vote guilt or innocence on the basis of emotion, not facts; that judges are often failed attorneys or unscrupulous politicians; and that jails and prisons are too frequently warehouses of the poor. As background for his analysis, Falk discusses the history of the police, prosecutors, defense attorneys, and judges, as well as the history of prisons and "the prison industrial complex." He also offers a devastating analysis of the death penalty and its practitioners. The book ends with recommendations for the improvement of our criminal justice system so that America can truly be, as our Supreme Court proclaims, a land of "Equal Justice under Law."

America's Courts and the Criminal Justice System

America's Courts and the Criminal Justice System PDF

Author: David Neubauer

Publisher: Wadsworth Publishing Company

Published: 2013-01-01

Total Pages: 672

ISBN-13: 9781285062242

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The premier choice for Courts courses for decades, this popular text offers a comprehensive explanation of the courts and the criminal justice system, presented in a streamlined, straightforward manner that appeals to instructors and students alike. Neubauer and Fradella's crisp and clear writing, characterized by the organization of material into brief sections within chapters, ensures that readers gain a firm handle on the material. At the same time, the text's innovative "courtroom workhouse" model, which focuses on the interrelationships among the judge, prosecutor, and defense attorney, brings the courtroom to life. AMERICA'S COURTS AND THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM, 11E, International Edition has long been known for the way it gives students a true glimpse what it is like to work within the American criminal justice system.

The U.S. Justice System

The U.S. Justice System PDF

Author: Steven Harmon Wilson

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA

Published: 2011-12-06

Total Pages: 1307

ISBN-13: 1598843052

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A comprehensive, three-volume set that provides detailed background essays, short topical entries, and primary document excerpts to explain the organization, history, and functioning of the U.S. justice system. The U.S. Justice System: An Encyclopedia is a one-stop resource, uniquely structured to include both introductory information as well as more in-depth and detailed resources. It explains not only how the American civil and criminal justice system affects the parties to a particular case or other legal action, but also how the rights, benefits, and legal protections of our country impact virtually all people in America. The set comprises three volumes. The first volume provides chapter-length essays explaining the organization and functioning of federal, state, and local government, as well as the working of federal and state judiciaries, regulatory bodies, and penal systems. The second volume contains shorter, alphabetically arranged entries on hundreds of law-related topics, including case descriptions and biographies of major figures, federal and state court organizational charts, legal statistics, and other background information. The third volume contains original documents, statutes, and texts of important cases relevant to the functioning of the American justice system. Readers will understand the structures, concepts, and vocabulary of American law and legal institutions, and grasp how the U.S. legal system has evolved to meet the complex changing needs of the nation.

Usual Cruelty

Usual Cruelty PDF

Author: Alec Karakatsanis

Publisher: The New Press

Published: 2019-10-29

Total Pages: 130

ISBN-13: 1620975289

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From an award-winning civil rights lawyer, a profound challenge to our society's normalization of the caging of human beings, and the role of the legal profession in perpetuating it Alec Karakatsanis is interested in what we choose to punish. For example, it is a crime in most of America for poor people to wager in the streets over dice; dice-wagerers can be seized, searched, have their assets forfeited, and be locked in cages. It's perfectly fine, by contrast, for people to wager over international currencies, mortgages, or the global supply of wheat; wheat-wagerers become names on the wings of hospitals and museums. He is also troubled by how the legal system works when it is trying to punish people. The bail system, for example, is meant to ensure that people return for court dates. But it has morphed into a way to lock up poor people who have not been convicted of anything. He's so concerned about this that he has personally sued court systems across the country, resulting in literally tens of thousands of people being released from jail when their money bail was found to be unconstitutional. Karakatsanis doesn't think people who have gone to law school, passed the bar, and sworn to uphold the Constitution should be complicit in the mass caging of human beings—an everyday brutality inflicted disproportionately on the bodies and minds of poor people and people of color and for which the legal system has never offered sufficient justification. Usual Cruelty is a profoundly radical reconsideration of the American "injustice system" by someone who is actively, wildly successfully, challenging it.

America's Courts & the Criminal Justice System

America's Courts & the Criminal Justice System PDF

Author: David W. Neubauer

Publisher: Thomson Brooks/Cole

Published: 1988

Total Pages: 488

ISBN-13:

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Open this book and step into America's court system! What's it like to be a judge? A prosecutor? A defense attorney? With Neubauer's best-selling book, you'll find out! This fascinating and well-researched text gives you the sense of being in the courthouse-of what it is like to work in and be a part of the system. This concept of the courthouse "players" illustrates each person's important role in bringing a case through the court process. Throughout the text, Neubauer highlights not only the pivotal role of the criminal courts within the criminal justice system but also the court's importance and impact on society as a whole.