This year has been a difficult year for the criminal justice system of Texas. From the multiple police brutality incidents to people dying police custody that shouldn’t. With the one of the highest percentage of its citizens incarcerated, we can start to see why people feel like the Texas Criminal Justice system has failed them. The plea bargain is just one example that the people feel like the justice system has failed them. I personally feel that even with all of Texas Criminal Justice system’s faults, I feel like Texans can come together to make the necessary changes to make better adapted to the newer generations morals. If not, then people are going to completely lose trust our justice system
The goal of plea bargaining is to resolve a
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In many cases, the interests of the victim or his/her family mirror the state’s interests. But in other cases, those interests will diverge. For example, the family of a murder victim may understandably seek revenge in the form of the stiffest sentence possible, such as the death penalty. However, the prosecutor may opt to resolve the case expeditiously with, say, a life sentence. The fact that prosecutors represent the state doesn’t necessarily mean they can do whatever they want with a case and ignore the victim or his/her family. In fact, many states give crime victims specific legal rights, typically including the right to give a victim impact statement at a defendant’s sentencing. That said, it’s true that the prosecution doesn’t always honor victims’ rights. An article in the Houston Press suggests that, at least in one county in Texas, prosecutors are running roughshod over victims’ rights. The article quotes Susan Howley, director of public policy at the National Center for Victims of Crime, recommending safeguards such as requiring the judge to ask prosecutors whether the victim has been informed of a pending plea, or asking a victim to sign a form acknowledging that he/she has been informed of a plea deal.
Though the prosecution also closes the deal by agreeing to a plea deal which results in not be able to charge the criminal with several
David Feige’s Indefensible: One Lawyer’s Journey nto the Inferno of American Justice invites people from all walks of life to a second hand experience of the criminal justice system hard at work. What is most interesting about Feige’s work is its distinct presentation of the life of a public defender in the South Bronx. Instead of simply detailing out his experiences as a public defender, Feige takes it a step further and includes the experiences of his clients. Without the personal relationships that he carefully constructs with each of his defendants, Feige would not be able to argue that the criminal justice system is flimsy at best, decisions always riding on either the judge’s personal attitudes or the clients propensity towards plea bargaining.
Marcus J. Paulus 2/14/2018 Plea Paper Plea Paper The plea bargain is necessary part of our justice system. This is because of the vast number of cases our justice system has to deal with each year it would be almost impossible to take all these cases to court each year. Plea bargains give people the chance to reduced there sentence by admitting they committed the crime or a less crime in order for the prosecutor to get a guilty verdict. The plea bargain process is supposed to be introduced to the discussion but they prosecutor and not the defendant.
Plea-bargaining dominates the American criminal justice system by offering a reduced sentence to those who stand accused of a crime in exchange for the accused pleading guilty or to a lesser charge and waiving the right to trial. The problem with plea-bargaining is that it lays a heavy burden on the accused while theoretically reducing the burden carried by prosecutors and the court system. Plea-bargaining has trickled its way into the American criminal justice system disguised as a win-win for accused criminals and prosecutors but has weakened the justice system by allowing prosecutors to score guilty pleas from vulnerable individuals and allowing serious criminal offenders walk on lesser charges. Plea-bargaining severely undermines the criminal
In the United States court system, many criminal cases are not resolved in a timely manner. One of the more common ways in which many cases are resolved quickly is through plea bargaining. Plea bargaining is defined as an agreement between defense attorneys and prosecutors. (Spohn & Hemmens, 2012) Alschuler (1979) describes plea bargaining as the self-conviction act of a defendant. Today, approximately ninety percent of defendants plead guilty because of plea bargaining.
The duty of any criminal prosecutor is to seek justice. A conviction is the end of justice being served prior to sentencing; however justice cannot be served if an innocent person is found guilty. Even though the prosecutor(s) are there to represent the public and has the duty to aggressively pursue offenders for violations of state and federal laws, they shall never lose sight or their own moral compass of their main purpose is to find the truth. In the pursuit of truth, the United States Supreme Court has developed or made rulings in reference to several principles of conduct which have to be followed by all prosecutors to assure that the accused person(s) are allowed the proper procedures and due process of the law granted by the 14th Amendment.
Famous American cereal killer, John Wayne Gacy, had murdered and raped 33 adolescents, many of whom were teenagers, the justice system made sure this man could never do this again. The public is turning a blind eye to the many contributions the justice system makes, we should look at not only how we can reform, but how it contributes to society The justice system creates many contributions to society, such as the safety it provides for children and their chances of exploitation, the many instances where they convict dangerous individuals therefore creating a safer environment for the present and future of society, and the fact it provides all citizens of the public and private sectors, to have the right to a fair, speedy, and public trial,
Criminal behaviour has always been an interest for psychologists, for they could never quite come to a conclusion between nature and nurture. Research concerning this topic has been organized for many years and due to the never ending debate, is still being conducted. I have decided to read and write about this myself, for I was genuinely curious about the matter and wanted to be a part of the research, as I felt responsible to do so. I believe that in order to stop something, it must be discussed and scrutinized. What effects do genes have on criminal behaviour, why do peer pressure and habitat influence a person to commit crimes and are men really more violent than women?
Does it make sense to lock up 2.4 million people on any given day, giving the U.S the highest incarceration rate in the world. More people are going to jail, this implies that people are taken to prison everyday for many facilities and many go for no reason. People go to jail and get treated the worst way as possible. This is a reason why the prison system needs to be changed. Inmates need to be treated better.
Victims in the criminal justice system had few legal rights to be heard, present and informed about thirty years ago. Victims were not required to be notified of the release or arrest of the defendant and had no right to make a statement at sentencing's or other court hearings. Without these rights, victim assistance programs would not have a purpose and therefore did not exist. Fortunately, in the recent years, there have been incredible advances in the development of legal rights and assistance programs for victims of crime.
Columbia Law Review argued that defense attorneys have a culture of accepting guilty pleas, stating that "an opponent of 'bargain justice' may seek comfort in the concept of a bygone golden age in which plea negotiation was unknown." (Alschuler, 1979) The textbook brings up the concern that police heavily impact plea deals, “The police officer is generally the first decision maker in the U.S. criminal justice system and often the most important.” (Dempsey) An officers decisions can impact the prosecutions defense.
Victim witness programs are used by the government in order to provide support and assistance to those who fall victim to a crime. According to Victim Witness Program, the primary goals of such programs, include but are not limited to, encouraging victims to participate in any parole and supervised release processes of their offender, notify and facilitate victims in participation of any hearing or release dates in regards to their offender, provide options for supportive services, and advocate for crime victims (2015, para.1). The organization under which the victim-witness program is located is under a system, which has many internal constituencies, thus creating competing and conflicting purposes. The goals of the victim-witness program are quite simple and seek out to give the victim the right to be represented during the processing of the offender, however, given the multiple roles the court, for example, must serve, the goals of the victim-witness program can be both complex and conflicting.
For most people, only the person involved in the encounter are labeled as victims. The pain comes in from the view of one who feels the full effects of the ordeal. However, there is more to the scope of victims than the person directly involved in the crime. Debra narrates how much her family participates in events following up her kidnap and her husband’s murder. Family members would like to see the perpetrator get the death penalty.
The biggest issue within the Criminal Justice system is the large number of wrongful convictions, innocent people sentenced to die for crimes they did not commit. People are put in prison for years, even executed for false convictions. This affects not only those put in prison but friends and family of the accused. Wrongful convictions aren’t solely a tragedy for those directly involved either. It weakens the faith the public has for the justice system as well as poses safety issues; when innocent people are put away, the real criminals are still out there.
Wrongful convictions are one of the most worrisome and tragic downsides to the Canadian Criminal Justice System. As stated by Campbell & Denov (2016). “cases of wrongful convictions in Canada call into question the ability of our criminal justice system to distinguish between the guilty and innocence” (p. 226). In addition, wrongful convictions can have devastating repercussions on the person, who was found guilty, effecting their personal/public identities, beliefs and family lives. This essay will be examine some of the common factors that apply to the conviction of an innocence person.