On Monday, August 1, I spend a majority of my day organizing various documents using “City Law.” First, I went through the animal litigation files and changed the status of the closed cases from “open” to “closed.” Most animal litigation files can be closed out once the owner of the animal receives a notice stating that their animal has been involved in an attack. After this, I spent some time filing witness subpoenas. I went through a list of witnesses who were called to court to testify and filed their information into “City Law.” This will then notify the finance department to pay these witnesses for their time. When a witness is called to court, they are provided with five dollars for their appearance as well as twenty cents per mile that …show more content…
Today, I received files of witnesses who appeared in court and I requested the finance department to set up a vendor number for them so that they can receive their pay. I then calculated the witnesses’ milage from their home address to city hall. I then provided all of this information to office paralegal, Jane, so that she can process the payments and send the witnesses their checks. After this, I went to the weekly pre-trial meetings with Liz. On Monday, I did not have the opportunity to read the cases in advance, however, it was easy to pick up on the case details during the meetings. The violations this week include: operating while suspended, operating without insurance, operating without a license, speeding, retail theft, and violated child safety restraint (no car seat). This week many of the defendants were new in town from other cities, states, and even countries, and the violations were a result of a misunderstanding of Manitowoc laws. For example, in the case of the violated child safety restraint, the defendant has only lived in America for one year, and did not understand that it is required that small children be in a car seat while riding in a car. Liz was very patient with these people and did the best that she could help them understand Manitowoc law, and what steps they should take to avoid future violations. Although she is not their lawyer, and does not have any reason to help …show more content…
This section asks various questions relating to the treatment of criminals, most notably, “are those who violate such norms automatically dealt with as enemies within?” (220). Rather than attempting to answer the question, the author explains that in the United States, many people feel little to no empathy for criminals, and therefore, little desire to show criminals any mercy. While the city attorney's office handles only civil crimes, I often see this societal attitude towards criminals during the weekly pre-trial meetings. Many defendants with otherwise clean records often worry that their offense will appear on their criminal record, and that they are in for further punishments. For example, this week a defendant who was caught operating while suspended came to the pre-trial meeting very worked up about this going on his record. He feared that he might not be able to obtain a new license due to this violation. I think it is great that many people have a fear of breaking the law, and take it seriously when they do violate the law, however, it once again goes to show the lack of education about the law when defendants guilty of a speeding ticket react as though they are guilty of murder. Along with enhanced legal education, I believe that society needs to develop a greater sense of morality. While
Crime and deviant behavior surprisingly helps increase “social activity” among various different people within a society. Therefore, crime and deviant behavior brings “people together in a common posture of anger and indignation…when these people come together to express their outrage over the offense…they develop a tighter sense of solidarity than existed earlier” (Erikson 4). For example, in the Steven Avery case, the people of Manitowoc, Wisconsin, all had very strong feelings of Steven Avery and his family, and as a result they were seen as deviant people in their own hometown. Those feelings towards him, and his family, would be a critical factor when he was accused of the horrendous crime (Making). Based on their feelings towards the Avery family, the society in which he lived developed the overall concept of us versus them (Erikson 11). Therefore, another concept that arises as a result of crime and deviant behavior is public temper, which is described as a “mutual group feeling” (Erikson
It is more difficult for governments to provide adequate salaries to public defense lawyers and the result is that these lawyers are often more inexperienced (Fairfax, 2013). Since the amount of defendants who are unable to afford private counsel has increased, public defense lawyers are also overworked. It is not uncommon for public defense lawyers to juggle hundreds of cases simultaneously (Fairfax, 2013). In other words, the system is unable to handle the volume and has therefore resorted to avoiding the trial process whenever
The collateral consequences of criminal convictions rather than the direct result are known as “invisible punishments”. In his article “Invisible Punishment”, Travis discusses the unintended consequences that punishes an individual beyond the formal sentence. Criminals are not only punished once for their crimes, they are punished twice, and these invisible punishments follow them throughout their lifetime. Travis explains that these punishments are a form of “Social exclusion”, not purposely designed but merely due to operation of law.
At one point in history punishment and incapacitation were seen as the only logical ways to respond to crime (Pollock, 2010: 318). The majority of people used a religious perspective when viewing criminals. Criminals were believed to be sinners with no ability to change their behavior (Pollock, 2010: 318). From early on punishment was a topic that demanded an intellectual understanding. Two major criminologists from the Classical School were Jeremy...
The governance of our present day public and social order co-exist within the present day individual. Attempts to recognize the essentiality of equality in hopes of achieving an imaginable notion of structure and order, has led evidence based practitioners such as Herbert Packer to approach crime and the criminal justice system through due process and crime control. A system where packer believed in which ones rights are not to be infringed defrauded or abused was to be considered to be the ideal for procedural fairness. “I would rather be exposed to the inconveniences attending too much liberty than to those attending too small a degree of it.” Thomas Jefferson pg 9 cjt To convict an individual because proper consideration was not taken will stir up social unrest rather then it’s initial intent, when he or she who has committed the crime is not punished for their doings can cause for a repetition and even collaboration with other’s for a similar or greater crime.
The basis of criminal justice in the United States is one founded on both the rights of the individual and the democratic order of the people. Evinced through the myriad forms whereby liberty and equity marry into the mores of society to form the ethos of a people. However, these two systems of justice are rife with conflicts too. With the challenges of determining prevailing worth in public order and individual rights coming down to the best service of justice for society. Bearing a perpetual eye to their manifestations by the truth of how "the trade-off between freedom and security, so often proposed so seductively, very often leads to the loss of both" (Hitchens, 2003, para. 5).
Stienstra, Donna, Jared Batallion and Jared A. Catone. "Assistance to Pro Se Litigants in U.S. District Courts: A Report on Surveyrs of Clerks of Court and Chief Judges." 2011. fjc.gov. Web Document. 9 September 2013.
In history, crimes have been dealt with by the justice system according to its severity as well as the offender: if the crime committed was not very serious and the offender was deemed “non-delinquent”, or “free of any real criminal disposition”, they would be cautioned or fined. However, were the crime a more serious one and the offender appeared to have a “criminal character”, they would receive more severe and more deterrent punishment (Garland, 2001: 42).
people in these 21st century society wonder, “When is Justice to be done?” For district attorneys,
.... J., & Langton, L. (2010, Sep/Oct). A national assessment of public defender office caseloads []. Judicature, 94(2), 87-91. Retrieved from
To begin with, as I entered the court room I observed seven long rows of benches, a table at the front with chairs, the judge’s bench and two televisions beside it and a substantial table in front of the judge with microphones. Also, I detected matters which I wasn’t aware of, such as a sheriff being there, sitting at a table with a computer and telephone, and beside the sheriff a small room that was transparent containing a mic instead. After the judge’s arrival, the hearings began, the lawyer for the first case was not present therefore, the Crown inquired the sheriff regarding what to do. At this moment I was surprised as I wasn’t familiar with the Crown discussing issues with the sheriff. The sheriff affirmed that the subsequent case be called up, however at that moment the lawyer had made an entrance and the judge allowed the lawyer to commence the hearing. This startled me as well since I anticipated lawyers being late as unacceptable. As it was my first time visiting the court, I began to realize that the court proceedings were dissimilar to what I had assumed it to be.
I arrived at the Arapahoe County Justice Center parking lot at 9:00 A.M. in order to find cases on the docket that were being heard. When I arrived, I noticed how busy the justice center was as there were a...
At 1:30 p.m. on a Monday afternoon, I entered the San Bernardino Justice Center in Downtown San Bernardino for my first court visit. After passing through the metal screen detectors and making my way up to courtroom number 19, I opened the courtroom doors plated “Judge Harold Wilson” and nervously checked in with the bailiff and the court clerk. The judge, judicial clerk and two attorneys were already in the room chatting. I was surprised to hear the friendliness in their tone and conversation they all were having regarding their personal lives. The attorneys from opposing sides were chatting like they were best friends. I asked the bailiff, “If this is normal?”, he said, “Yes it is! and whatever they show on TV is not reality.” Soon after our conversation, the bailiff brought in the defendant. He was well dressed, black male, probably around the age of 35. He sat down next to the defense lawyer and the chit-chatting resumed. After 20 minutes of laughter and constant bantering, the judge asked the bailiff to bring the jury inside. As the bailiff walked outside to call the jury in, the judge went to his chambers.
In the spirit of civic duty, I thought I'd inform you, the responsible citizen of Mount Vernon, of some of the important laws that we live by. Combining my copious amounts of free time with my love of the mundane, I dug through our city's ordinance code as well as state law to unearth some rules we all need to know about.
The Classical School of Criminology generally refers to the work of social contract and utilitarian philosophers Cesare Beccaria and Jeremy Bentham during the enlightenment in the 18th century. The contributions of these philosophers regarding punishment still influence modern corrections today. The Classical School of Criminology advocated for better methods of punishment and the reform of criminal behaviour. The belief was that for a criminal justice system to be effective, punishment must be certain, swift and in proportion to the crime committed. The focus was on the crime itself and not the individual criminal (Cullen & Wilcox, 2010). This essay will look at the key principles of the Classical School of Criminology, in particular