The American Criminal Justice System

The American Criminal Justice System PDF Author: Gerhard Falk
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA
ISBN: 0313383480
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 260

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Book Description
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."

The American Criminal Justice System

The American Criminal Justice System PDF Author: Gerhard Falk
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA
ISBN: 0313383480
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 260

Get Book

Book Description
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."

SOU-CCJ230 Introduction to the American Criminal Justice System

SOU-CCJ230 Introduction to the American Criminal Justice System PDF Author: Alison Burke
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781636350684
Category :
Languages : en
Pages :

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Book Description


The Collapse of American Criminal Justice

The Collapse of American Criminal Justice PDF Author: William J. Stuntz
Publisher: Harvard University Press
ISBN: 0674051750
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 425

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Book Description
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.

Junk Science and the American Criminal Justice System

Junk Science and the American Criminal Justice System PDF Author: M. Chris Fabricant
Publisher: Akashic Books
ISBN: 1636140386
Category : True Crime
Languages : en
Pages : 350

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Book Description
Innocence Project attorney M. Chris Fabricant presents an insider’s journey into the heart of a broken, racist system of justice and the role junk science plays in maintaining the status quo. Praise from John Grisham, author of A Time for Mercy: "No one in America will ever know the number of innocent people convicted, sent to prison, and even executed because of the flood of rotten forensics and bogus scientific opinions presented to juries. In this intriguing and beautifully crafted book, Innocence Project lawyer M. Chris Fabricant illustrates how wrongful convictions occur, and he makes it obvious how they could be prevented." "Fierce and absorbing . . . Fabricant chronicles the battles he and his colleagues have fought to unravel a century of fraudulent experts and the bad court decisions that allowed them to thrive." —Washington Post "Junk Science is a book that should be on every true-crime reader's shelves. It is an eye-opening and infuriating tour through the failed idealism of forensic science as a discipline, how certain techniques like analyzing fibers and bite marks wilt under scrutiny, and how the criteria for 'experts' in a courtroom can be laughable at best and dangerous at worst, causing scores of innocent people to lose decades behind bars (or, in some heartbreaking instances, their lives.)." —Slate, one of "The Best New True Crime That Won't Make You Feel Gross" From CSI to Forensic Files to the celebrated reputation of the FBI crime lab, forensic scientists have long been mythologized in American popular culture as infallible crime solvers. Juries put their faith in "expert witnesses" and innocent people have been executed as a result. Innocent people are still on death row today, condemned by junk science. In 2012, the Innocence Project began searching for prisoners convicted by junk science, and three men, each convicted of capital murder, became M. Chris Fabricant's clients. Junk Science and the American Criminal Justice System chronicles the fights to overturn their wrongful convictions and to end the use of the "science" that destroyed their lives. Weaving together courtroom battles from Mississippi to Texas to New York City and beyond, Fabricant takes the reader on a journey into the heart of a broken, racist system of justice and the role forensic science plays in maintaining the status quo. At turns gripping, enraging, illuminating, and moving, Junk Science is a meticulously researched insider's perspective of the American criminal justice system. Previously untold stories of wrongful executions, corrupt prosecutors, and quackery masquerading as science animate Fabricant’s true crime narrative.

America's Courts and the Criminal Justice System

America's Courts and the Criminal Justice System PDF Author: David W. Neubauer
Publisher: Wadsworth Publishing Company
ISBN: 9780538738293
Category : Criminal courts
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
Widely used and widely respected, "America's Courts and the Criminal Justice System", Tenth Edition, 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, clear writing style, characterized by careful chunking of material into small sections within chapters, ensures that readers gain a firm handle on the material, while the text's innovative "courtroom workhouse" model, which focuses on the interrelationships among the judge, prosecutor, and defense attorney, brings the courtroom to life. This popular text is known for the way it gives students a true glimpse what it is like to work within the American criminal justice system, and the tenth edition is no exception. This modern edition offers coverage that reflects recent policy shaping and headline-making developments as well as incorporation of additional student-learning and review tools.

American Criminal Justice

American Criminal Justice PDF Author: Frederick T. Davis
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1108493203
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 179

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Book Description
Provides a comprehensive, readable overview of how criminal justice actually works in the United States, and what makes US procedures distinctive and important.

No Equal Justice

No Equal Justice PDF Author: David Cole
Publisher: ReadHowYouWant.com
ISBN: 1459604199
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 386

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Book Description
First published a decade ago, No Equal Justice is the seminal work on race- and class-based double standards in criminal justice. Hailed as a ''shocking and necessary book'' by The Economist, it has become the standard reference point for anyone trying to understand the fundamental inequalities in the American legal system. The book, written by constitutional law scholar and civil liberties advocate David Cole, was named the best nonfiction book of 1999 by the Boston Book Review and the best book on an issue of national policy by the American Political Science Association. No Equal Justice examines subjects ranging from police behavior and jury selection to sentencing, and argues that our system does not merely fail to live up to the promise of equality, but actively requires double standards to operate. Such disparities, Cole argues, allow the privileged to enjoy constitutional protections from police power without paying the costs associated with extending those protections across the board to minorities and the poor. For this new, tenth-anniversary paperback edition, Cole has completely updated and revised the book, reflecting the substantial changes and developments that have occurred since first publication.

Criminal Justice in Native America

Criminal Justice in Native America PDF Author: Marianne O. Nielsen
Publisher: University of Arizona Press
ISBN: 9780816526536
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 260

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Book Description
Native Americans are disproportionately represented as offenders in the U.S. criminal justice system. However, until recently there was little investigation into the reasons. Furthermore, there has been little acknowledgment of the positive contributions of Native Americans to the criminal justice system- in rehabilitating offenders, aiding victims, and supporting service providers. This book offers a valuable and contemporary overview of how the American criminal justice system impacts Native Americans on both sides of the law. Contributors- many of whom are Native Americans- rank among the top scholars in their fields. Some of the chapters treat broad subjects, including crime, police, courts, victimization, corrections, and jurisdiction. Others delve into more specific topics, including hate crimes against Native Americans, state-corporate crimes against Native Americans, tribal peacemaking, and cultural stresses of police officers. Separate chapters are devoted to women and juveniles.

American Criminal Justice Policy

American Criminal Justice Policy PDF Author: Daniel P. Mears
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 0521762464
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 337

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Book Description
Examines the most prominent criminal justice policies, finding that they fall short of achieving the effectiveness that policymakers have advocated.

A History of Crime and the American Criminal Justice System

A History of Crime and the American Criminal Justice System PDF Author: Mitchel P. Roth
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1351373773
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 761

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Book Description
This book offers a history of crime and the criminal justice system in America, written particularly for students of criminal justice and those interested in the history of crime and punishment. It follows the evolution of the criminal justice system chronologically and, when necessary, offers parallels between related criminal justice issues in different historical eras. From its antecedents in England to revolutionary times, to the American Civil War, right through the twentieth century to the age of terrorism, this book combines a wealth of resources with keen historical judgement to offer a fascinating account of the development of criminal justice in America. A new chapter brings the story up to date, looking at criminal justice through the Obama era and the early days of the Trump administration. Each chapter is broken down into four crucial components related to the American criminal justice system from the historical perspective: lawmakers and the judiciary; law enforcement; corrections; and crime and punishment. A range of pedagogical features, including timelines of key events, learning objectives, critical thinking questions and sources, as well as a full glossary of key terms and a Who’s Who in Criminal Justice History, ensures that readers are well-equipped to navigate the immense body of knowledge related to criminal justice history. Essential reading for Criminal Justice majors and historians alike, this book will be a fascinating text for anyone interested in the development of the American criminal justice system from ancient times to the present day.