Impact Of Criminal Justice Law In Society

Great Essays
FINAL JOURNAL ENTRY
LAW IN SOCIETY
I have learnt that the law is multifaceted, unpredictable, and its technical nature can lead to outcomes that we, as society, may initially perceive as perverse. I refer to the main pillar of criminal defence is legal guilt versus factual guilt. That is to say, a person may have committed the crime, but will be found not guilty if the state cannot prove it beyond reasonable doubt. The balance hangs, then, in whether defence counsel can demonstrate failures or omissions on behalf of the state, in regards to improper or poor police work, illegal seizures of evidence, and any other failures of proper procedure.

JUSTICE ACCESS
A specific incident in court alerted me to several issues outlined including justice access, ethics, the importance of good communication, and issues regarding self-represented litigants.

One of the challenges to justice access
…show more content…
As I mentioned in a previous entry, he was incredibly unhappy with the representation that he had received on other occasions. He stated that his lawyers did not listen to him, did not respect him, and did not address him when they walked into the same room. Good communication is crucial for justice access, as well as the sense of being adequately represented. Part of justice access, too, then, is about validation.

The extract from the article written by Chay, Allan and Smith discusses the ‘humanistic’ approach of the lawyer in their contact with a client. Respect and the humanistic approach, including being responsive to the client’s concerns and considering their wellbeing, are all integral to client satisfaction with their lawyer. People regularly base their perceptions of an entire profession based on what contact they have had with even just one professional, even if that contact is limited. This is understandable but can be misguided if that particular lawyer has failed to satisfy their client’s needs and

Related Documents

  • Great Essays

    In the United States, the criminal justice system follows two unique diverse models that protect the people. One of these models is the Due Process Model and in this model, the rights of the defendant are equally and fairly treated. Which this process being the main objective of this clause. The second model is the Crime Control Model and in this model strict punishments to the defendant committing the crime be forced but also protecting the individual 's rights as well. Both these models have a different method in which they protect the individuals but have a similar focus.…

    • 1518 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Balancing the tension between community interest and individual rights and freedoms are a significant component of the criminal trial process and is relatively successful in that retrospect. In order to be effective and efficient the criminal trial process should reflect the moral and ethical standards of society, ensure the community is sufficiently protected and respects the rights of the individual. However, despite efforts to achieve justice for all members of society, the criminal trial process does fail to provide adequate success in some areas of the law such as the jury system, Legal Aid and the provocation defence. All these areas to an extent highlight the lack of success the criminal trial process serves in balancing community interests…

    • 1138 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Olaf Dietrich: Case Study

    • 1537 Words
    • 7 Pages

    What point of view did the group/individual have on these issues? At the time he has didn’t access legal representation. 6 What laws existed at the time of this case? How did they impact on the individual/group?…

    • 1537 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Wrongly convicted individuals will become more common. Attorney client priveledge exists to protect innocent people from being wrongly convicted. In an aff world you would see the number of wrongly convicted individuals increase. (no evidence, just logic.) just because a person is innocent doesn’t mean they are protected from prosecution.…

    • 471 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Anthony Guerra SC 240 Dr. Clark 11/17/17 Chasing Gideon In the text, Chasing Gideon by Karen Houppert she explains about the fundamental flaws in the way we provide legal representation to the poor in America. Houppert goes on to clarify how people are often distorted or undersold. She brings up evidence about how defense attorneys are seriously mistreated. They are mistreated because they are underfunded and understaffed. This results in a large workload that would make the top attorneys break down under certain scenarios, which then ultimately reflects in the quality of council that an blamed person is given.…

    • 1894 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    INTRODUCTION Appellate litigation has played a major role in the development and progress of the Unite States. One case in particular, Gideon v. Wainwright, stands out to me as it has been one of the many motivating factors in my decision to purse of law degree. Gideon v. Wainwright, a case involving an indigent man by the name Clarence Gideon, who was denied counsel. This case not only changed America when the supreme court ruled the government must provide free counsel to accused criminals who cannot afford counsel for themselves, but this case as also had a huge impact on my family life and in my decision making when it came to my career path. GIDEON V. WAINWRIGHT Clarence Gideon was charged with breaking an entry into a pool hall in Florida.…

    • 516 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    Kingsford Legal Centre Report 1. Kingsford Legal Centre sees a range of clients, many of whom are disadvantaged in some way. What were some of the ethical and/or professional issues and considerations that arose during your interviewing sessions? How were these issues addressed or resolved? How might they be different from working with other types of clients?…

    • 1101 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    On April 15, 1880, Darrow and Jesse Ohl, a girl he had grown up with in Kinsman, were married. They immediately moved to Andover where they expected he could set up a law practice and make a living. He quickly realized that was not an easy thing to do and that he needed to make contacts and get his name known. One way to do this was to offer his services as a public speaker and another way was to become involved in politics. By 1883, he was a speaker in the Andover area and he joined the Democratic party.…

    • 338 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The key social issues contributing to the needs of Criminal Justice Practitioner there are five key issues that are facing criminal justice professionals today: They are managing change; offender population management; probation and parole violations; problem solving courts; and reentry and transition. On managing change we have a growing number of offenders under correctional supervision and a lot of the state budget are low and cannot keep up with the growing demands and more inmate come in every day making the prison system overloaded. Collaboration creates a more comprehensive planning process, which results in a holistic system change. The strength in leadership along with a key understanding of the dynamics of change and leading others through the change process. One of the other…

    • 759 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Effects of wrongful conviction are commonly underrepresented in the Criminal Justice System. According to the Innocence project (2014), more than 1,300 individuals in the United States that were convicted of crimes have been exonerated and cleared of all charges brought against them. Errors consist of misleading eyewitness testimony, confessions that are coerced, criminal investigators getting tunnel vision, and corruption of prosecutors. Of the many difficulties exonerates face compensation, due to the state, impacted against them is often understated. Many face difficulties with finding employment, healthcare, and housing.…

    • 738 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Centerforce Case Study

    • 491 Words
    • 2 Pages

    I am the director of Centerforce Youth Court and I have had the privilege of supervising Evan Mallah for the past four years. Centerforce is a rehabilitation program where people such as Evan represent adolescent offenders in court where the offenders are given the chance to expunge their record instead of going to juvenile hall. Throughout Evan’s four years volunteering with the program he has managed countless cases, advised younger volunteers and done his best for a cause he feels strongly about. Evan has proven both his outstanding leadership ability and his commitment to helping the less-privileged parts of his community.…

    • 491 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Heffernan Case Summary

    • 621 Words
    • 3 Pages

    As new assistant district attorney, Heffernan was tasked with reviewing a case on whether or not it should be retried. The defendant had been found guilty of murder; however, during the course of the trial the judge had made a legal error. The defendant had given testimony that he had reacted in self-defense. The defendant’s attorney had requested that the judge instruct the jury in what is considered justifiable use of deadly force and then let the jury decide whether the defendant had spoken the truth or not about acting in self-defense. In this case the judge made an error by denying that instruction.…

    • 621 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    Assessment of the Positive Impact of Classical Theory on the Legal System Through Promotion of Fairness and Improvement to the Existing Criminal Justice System Introduction Classical theory traces its origin to the mid years of the eighteenth century. Importantly, during this time, the uses of very severe and intense modes of punishment were common. This school of thought has its roots in Europe, as the region is well known to have used severe torture procedures to obtain confessions and secure testimonies that were self-incriminating. Highlighting the fundamental idea that classical theory is based on: that humans should be left to exercise their free will in making decisions and the modes of punishment used can deter crime given that their extent is proportional, implemented in a proper manner and fitting to the particular…

    • 1445 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Great Essays

    1. Basic Information: On the 13th April, 2016, I visited the Melbourne Magistrates’ and heard the case Singh v Prosecution. Mr Jagraj Singh is the accused and the Prosecutor is Senior Constable Lawson. This case is trialled in front of Justice Reardon.…

    • 997 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In the story of "Bartleby and the Scrivener " by Herman Melville, the relationship between employee and employer is a very unusual one. What makes the relationships, unusual is the strange behavior of the employees in the workplace, Bartleby 's extremely unusual, eccentric behavior through out the story and the employer 's attitude towards his employees work behavior. We are able to conclude some characteristics of the employer, who happens to be a layer. Although, Bartleby 's behaviors were the most eccentric, all the characters showed behavior that would normally not be expected of a person in their position, they exhibited at some point or other unconventional behavior with little explanation as to why they behaved in such a way.…

    • 888 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays

Related Topics