Gideon v. Wainwright (1963) is important for poor defendants in the country, even now. Regardless of income or social standing, each criminal defendant gets defense counsel. However, the public defender system is not working the way it should. The main problem with the public defender system is the amount of caseloads. Many cases do not go to trial so the defendants are not always heard.…
Allison D. Kuhn’s article titled “If You Cannot Afford an Attorney, Will One Be Appointed for You? : How (Some) States Force Criminal Defendants To Choose Between Posting Bond and Getting a Court-Appointed Attorney”, published in 2012, provides a critique of the present-day US system of assigning state-provided counsel to indigent defendants. The author focused on the ambiguity of the term ‘indigent’ and criticized the system of indigence determination based on the defendant’s ability to post a bond and get released from prison on bail for the period of legal proceedings. The core idea of Kuhn’s is that such a system poses an unethical choice for individuals – to either remain in prison and have the right for state-provided counsel, or be released…
Stephen Bright takes a clear stance when discussing capital punishment. He associates the death penalty with the many other practices which have long been abandoned. These practices include whipping, branding, cutting off appendages, maiming, and other primitive forms of punishment. It is clear that Stephen Bright believes the United States should abandon the death penalty. In fact, his essay is written in a way which assumes that the United States will inevitable abandon capital punishment.…
Ethical Dilemmas of Defense Attorneys Defense attorneys have to face the ethical dilemma every day of whether or not to defend their client as well as whether or not to maintain that lawyer-client privilege. The lawyer-client privilege provides a security blanket for the client. Under this privilege, the client can almost tell the lawyer just about anything in confidence and not have to worry about the possible fear of being judged or incriminating themselves. A defense attorney serves as a guide that you can basically tell all your deepest darkest secrets to. However, some of those secrets may not always be able to be kept confidential, so be careful about what secrets you share.…
The failure of overworked lawyers to investigate, call witnesses or prepare for trial has led to the conviction of innocent people. When a defense lawyer doesn't do his or her job, the defendant suffers. Shrinking funding and access to resources for public defenders and court-appointed attorneys is only making the problem…
Crook County: Racism and Injustice in America’s Largest Criminal Court strives to discuss the corrupt practices that are occurring in the courts of Cook County, Illinois. This book was written by Nicole Gonzalez Van Cleve, is 272 pages in length, and was published on May 4, 2016. It wastes no time sugar-coating the great amount of racism that occurs in the courts in Cook County, going into great detail as soon as the book starts. All within the first chapter, Gonzalez Van Cleve covers just about every aspect of the people within the courthouse. She discusses judges, security, and attorneys stating that no matter which courtroom she was in, they were always all white.…
According to a 2013 study, between 60 and 90 percent of defendants require publicly-funded attorneys (Giovanni 6). Defenders across the nation today, though, face much resentment and animosity dating back to the Tough-on-Crime era when they were scapegoats for many societal issues simply because they were helping the accused. Unfortunately, if a defendant was in court, then he was assumed guilty by many—especially if he was black and poor—and this supposition continues to pervade opinions today. These reactions result in high pressure on politicians not to allocate money from state budgets to Public Defenders Offices. The animosity has also led to the subjugation of Public Defenders to harassment and even death threats, such as in one email which read "DIE SCUMBAG LAWYERS!…
Development- chances are everyone knows at least something about it. Mainly because it is constantly occurring around each and every one of us. Barbara Miller defines development as change that is directed towards the improvement of human welfare (Miller, B., 2013). Yet, not everyone views development in the same context. In fact, when two interviewees, both from the Dickinson College community but with different backgrounds, were asked about what development meant to them, the results showed a collection of similar and conflicting views.…
1.Who is Amy Bach? —Why did she write this book? Amy Bach was a journalist who was very passionate and intrigued by criminal law and wanting to seek justice. Which lead her to attend law school to further her education. Once she completed her degree she became an author of the novel called Ordinary Injustice – How America Holds Court.…
The prosecutors are considered to be the most influential actors within the courthouse, as they decide which case to prosecute, the cases to plea-bargain, and the case to try. The prosecutor may also influence the factors of setting bail and creating the sentence. In the United States Constitution, one’s Sixth Amendment right to counsel is granted as many defendants cannot afford to hire a lawyer, they are provided a public defender also known as the defense attorney. The defense attorneys encourage their clients to think about how the jury will assess them as guilty beyond reasonable doubt, therefore most will plead guilt. The judge plays a major authority role in the criminal justice system whether it is in state courts, or larger courts.…
This speech was written by Abhay Gupta, one of the most respected criminal lawyers in the nation, at Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Gupta. He was disturbed by the notion that many criminals did not properly repent for their wrongdoings; instead of receiving a death sentence, they spent their lives in prison living an easy life. After spending time with many mass murderers and drug lords, he concluded that the world would be a better place without such individuals. He gave this speech to promote the idea that criminals who deserve death should receive it. His speech at a criminal justice convention targeted high-profile politicians, judges, ranking military officials, and legislative members to raise awareness about capital punishment.…
As a professional, I want to become a criminal justice attorney and the level of professionalism that an attorney has when dealing with a client is extremely important. An attorney can easily transfer inappropriate behaviors to a client because of an emotional connection they have with the case. For example, if an attorney gets a case involving a child who is being abused in some way by their guardian: if the attorney has children of their own or experienced a similar case in the pass, they can easily become overprotective of the child or overly involved in the child’s personal life. Being overprotective can “reflect a[n attorney’s] fears” and it could cause the attorney to make the case personal instead of about the wellbeing of the client (Callanan). Countertransference can also become an issue regarding a professional’s religious and moral beliefs.…
The Process of Interviewing and Interrogations Interrogation involves questioning a suspect to obtain incriminating evidence from him or her. Interrogations are done in a controlled manner, and the suspect may be exposed to a psychological disadvantage. Interviews are basically done on the witnesses and the victims. The investigator asks open-ended questions in order to obtain more information about the crime. There are some cases where an interview turns into an interrogation depending on the suspect’s behavior.…
In today’s society, most people either do not like attorneys or just do not trust them. They form their opinions from stereotypes that just are not true in any form whatsoever. There are many misunderstandings of lawyers portrayed especially by the media showing all the wrong things that a small number of lawyers have actually done and never anything of the good things they do. These misconceptions can push people to not entire the legal field, causing less and less people to become lawyers in this world. Lawyers have always faced many stereotypes that do not define every attorney but just because they are lawyers they are put into stereotypes that do not fit the person.…
Public defenders are often over worked and carry a heavy case-load but in spite of that, they often develop good relationships with prosecutors and judges, which can give them advantages in court and plea bargaining. Private attorneys have smaller workloads and are therefore able to devote more time to the case and often a good relationship with the client that builds confidence in the defendant. Both public and private attorneys are essential to keeping the modern criminal justice system reasonable and…