Black migration to Chicago in the 1960s resulted in a young uneducated population that worked
minimum-wage jobs and lived in poverty. These social factors resulted in an increase in criminal activity.
In order to eliminate the conditions in which crime grew the government attempted to eliminate slums and
ghettoes. The conflict in Vietnam resulted in an allocation of resources towards the war against
communism. Without government funding to improve living conditions major cities increased the
incarceration of drug and gun crimes as a temporary fix (54-56). The influx of these cases resulted in
dropped charges because courts could not process them in the required amount of time.
Cook County established drug courts in 1992. This was a designated night of the week which
allowed courts to deal with petty cases which otherwise would have been tossed out. As a result more
police officers were more willing to arrest and charge minor drug offenders (117-118). Prior to this police
discretion would have called for not charging such offenses because the resources to process these cases
were insufficient.
Other factors may speed up or slow the judicial process. The bench trial is a process where the
defendant waived his right to a jury trial. It speeds up the legal process allowing the Judge to decide the
case. A court does not need to go through the process of selecting the jury then conducting the trial (126-
127). Legal rights such as pro se where a defendant represents themselves are not encouraged. Normal
people have lack of legal knowledge and experience for an adequate defense. To keep this from dragging
the legal process Judges try to persuade defendants to not choose this option (146-147).
The case of Dan Young Jr. a mentally retarded man convicted of murder and sexual assault is an
example of legal reality does not complying with the empirical reality. Harold Hill, the man convicted
along with Young in this crime, confessed to the murder when being questioned by police for a robbery.
He named Young, and a man named Peter Williams as his two accomplices. All three men confessed to
the crime, however in reality Williams could not have committed this crime. He was in jail from
September 26 to October 25; the crime was committed on October 14th 1990. The charges against
Williams were dropped. The three men claimed to have confessed to the crime due to the method of
police interrogation. While he was interrogated Young waived his Miranda rights (201-203).
Young's mental retardation did not prevent him from standing trial. He was evaluated by two
The first suspect is Edward “Bennie” Bedwell. Bedwell was a local dishwasher who was questioned at a local motel for three days (Sigona). What supported Bedwell as a suspect is that he actually confessed to the murder (Sigona). There were multiple problems with Bedwell’s confession, however. The first problem with his confession is, “Bedwell couldn’t read or write, so it would be nearly impossible for him to understand what he was confessing to” (Sigona). The second problem with his confession is “After a time, everyone realized Bedwell’s story didn’t add up. There were inconsistencies, including the fact that Bedwell said he was with the girls for a month before they died” (Sigona). Finally, the main problem with his confession is that the girls were dead within four hours of leaving home (Sigona). The other suspect in the case of the murder of Barbara and Patricia Grimes is Max Fleig. Max Fleig was a young man in his teens when the Grimes sisters were murdered (MacGowan). Max offered to take a lie detector test, which he failed (MacGowan). The reason Fleig was released even after failing the test is “The police began to focus on him as a prime suspect until they were told that it was illegal to polygraph someone underage. The police released him, many of the authorities thinking he was their man” (MacGowan). Another example that supports Fleig as a suspect is that he was imprisoned later in his life
In the United States, jury trials are an important part of our court system. We rely heavily on the jury to decide the fate of the accused. We don’t give a second thought to having a jury trial now, but they were not always the ‘norm’.
The evidence discovered during the investigation suggested to the police that OJ Simpson may have had something to do with this murder and they obtained an arrest warrant. The investigators believed that they “knew” OJ Simpson committed the murders. His lawyers and him were informed of the arrest warrant and agreed to a specified time when OJ would turn himself into authorities. Investigators are later admonished, by the defense, on how they handled the crime scene.
Therefore, under these ethical standards, prosecutors cannot file charges if there is not enough evidence to support a conviction, they also do not file if it is not in the public interest to do so. This is what makes the possibilities limitless; however, three key factors also play a part in determining which cases to prosecute. If prosecutors follow these three factors in determining cases then the contradiction of limitless discretion and high ethical standards should be remedied for others. These are factors that should be followed are as followed: the seriousness and nature of the offense, the offender’s culpability, and the likelihood of being able to obtain a conviction at a trial. “Ethical conduct, then, must be the core of the prosecutor’s role in the criminal justice system” (Hemmens, Brody, & Spohn, 2013). Therefore, even though prosecutors have almost limitless discretion in their decisions, they still must
After the hungry 40’s, in the 19th century when the benefits of the industrial revolution began to appear, crime rates went down because food prices were more stable and sometimes decreasing and there was a higher amount of exports of industrial goods leading to more money. (Clive Emsley, Crime Reasoning Notecard, 41.) The police played a very small role in the decrease in crime but the years of carefully thought out policing systems ..
By creating the ghettos, African Americans were residential separated from other races. These ghettos were created to keep the African American race down. When it comes to income, most black families who lived in these certain areas were unemployed and very poor (William, 1980). Most of the jobs that were available, were far away from the ghetto, and the blacks didn’t have the requirements that were needed for that particular job. When blacks were to look for a job, it wasn’t easy because they would have to deal with racial discrimination, which was another reason why they continued to be
...e to high incarceration rate and perception of high crime rate, public and private institutions that help establish positive social control outside of the home no longer exist. In addition, the mass incarceration leaves a lot of single parent homes where the working parent have no time to enforce social control. Furthermore, the war on drug creates a path dependency through economic interests. The policies allow the government to seize users and dealers property. In addition, some states sale bonds to build prisons and the state have deals with the companies that provide services to the inmates.
Citizens of the United States are given the right to a fair trial. Over the course of the development of the American jury system, citizens are allowed to the right to meet one’s accuser, be represented by his/her peers and protection from being tried more than once on any convicted crime. The jury system has evolved from a representation of all white men to both men and women from very diverse backgrounds. This is important if one is going to be tried in his/her community of peers.
Firstly, the accused person has a right to a speedy trial. This provision protects accused persons from unnecessary delays. In essence, it seeks to curb delayed commencement of the trial against the accused person after his or her indictment. This clause sets the time limits within which the prosecution should be ready to commence the charging of the accused, a time limit which if by any reason whatsoever is violated, the case is dismissed in totality and the accused released to freedom. For instance, within six months, the prosecution is required to be ready for the trial in all felonies apart from murder charges. This right is observed relatively and circumstances of each specific cases may be the limiting factor to this right.
While doing research on this subject, I found a large amount of factual data and differing opinions on the subject of capital punishment for the mentally retarded. An issue with most of the research is whether or not mentally retarded suspects really committed the murders of which they are accused or whether they confessed to them in order to please the police who are questioning them. Two articles that address this issue are "Untrue Confessions" by Jill Smolowe, and "Movement to F...
The criminal trial process is able to reflect the moral and ethical standards of society to a great extent. For the law to be effective, the criminal trial process must reflect what is accepted by society to be a breach of moral and ethical conduct and the extent to which protections are granted to the victims, the offenders and the community. For these reasons, the criminal trial process is effectively able to achieve this in the areas of the adversary system, the system of appeals, legal aid and the jury system.
The right to a trial by jury is one of the most fundamental concepts on which the American justice system rests. It had been in the English common law practice for several centuries and the American founders deemed in necessary to continue the practice and draft it into the United States Constitution. Prior to the Sixth Amendment, the Constitution guaranteed trial by jury for all crimes except impeachment. In 1968 the Supreme Court solidified this right in Duncan v. Louisiana stating that juries are a necessary check to g...
This is the sixth amendment and this tells you about what juries can do in cases of law. “In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the Assistance of Counsel for his defense.” What all of this means is that everyone that gets convicted of a crime gets all of the same benefits weather its a misdemeanor, felony, or capital crime. Everyone get the rights to a speedy trial and an impartial jury.
he wouldn't have even been in the options. Not only in the case was the person committing the
...e is not served. Also, the family of the victim must be taken into consideration. The family has suffered greatly and deserves to see justice served.