The Juror

Skepticism is the theory that people have either no knowledge, or very little knowledge. In this essay I will discuss one particular type of type of skepticism, called “brain-in-a-vat” skepticism, which denies that we can know whether the external world (anything outside our minds) exists as we think it does. I will examine two attacks that have been made on this sort of skepticism, and argue that both fail to defeat it. The brain-in-a-vat skeptic argues that no person knows that his/her body,…

The Fourth Amendment of the Constitution provides “protection against unreasonable searches or seizure by government agents and law enforcement officers who then attempt to use that evidence in a criminal prosecution”(Buckles, 2006, p. 132), therefore law enforcement and investigators must meet certain requirements in order to avoid that the evidence would fall under the exclusionary rule. There are two Four Amendment Search Warrant Requirements they are probable cause and a sworn affidavit…

The role of any attorney can be viewed in three parts: as a participant of the legal business, a delegate for clients and also an everyday civic resident of their community. Although it may seem as if the responsibilities amongst attorneys are equally distributed across the board, I feel that the role of a defense attorney at times can seem a bit more problematic. Discretion within any profession whether it is Law Enforcement, Prosecutors, Correctional Officers and or Judges can affect the…

CHECKS AND BALANCES The criminal justice system is comprised of individual components which play a part in the process of justice. Each of the different branches of the United States government, the Legislative, Executive, and Judicial, all provide a series of checks and balances meant to keep any one branch from gaining too much power over the accused (Aberle, 2014). All three of these branches work in conjunction to provide the accused an opportunity for the fair application of the justice…

Literature Review Theoretical Orientation Living in a society where victim blaming in rape cases has become a social norm when exploring rape culture as a whole. Focusing primarily on victim blaming, research can provide evidence of inequalities in the criminal justice system that impacts the sentencing of perpetrators. Common aspects seem from victim blaming is creditable of the victim, perpetrator’s race, and/or class, and patriarchy has all influence sentencing in regards to the guilty party…

misconception about the legal system. One major effect has often been referred to as the “CSI effect” in which jurors often come into the courtroom with a preconceived notion of the capabilities of forensic scientists resulting in a higher expectation of proof. When fingerprints, dna, and all other sorts of futuristic tools are not demonstrated in a case such as theft or burglary jurors have been shown to hesitate on a guilty verdict. The correlation between the standard of proof associated with…

The play “Seventy IV Seconds to judgement” is a hair raising play that is both powerful and moving. The story opens up with six jurors’, they have been discussing a case that has been deadlocked for over a week. The crime was committed by two individuals, a young black man, and a white man. The white man is a teacher, and the young black man is a good student of his. One day they’re in class and someone’s phone rings. Out of all the people in the class, the teacher picks on Brandon, the only…

The jurors and the state had a very low expectation of Adnan and Jay. They believed to each word of Jay. Jay’s testimony is full of inconsistencies in which he stated that he helped Adnan to bury Hae, even though they were not very close friends, they just knew…

Stated in the book CJ in the USA: An Introduction to Criminal Justice “The courts are just one component of the overall criminal justice system. The function of the courts is to judge and make proper disposition of crimes, it is in this venue that the guilt or innocence of a defendant is determined”(Byrum,2014). Key players important to the court system are prosecution, defense, judge, and the jury. To start off the prosecutor works with police by reviewing evidence, and preparing a search…

court for disobeying the judge to keep silent. In the end he was sentenced to 19 years in prison. It was also rare, that almost all jurors returned for the sentencing, which most do not attend because they are not made too. I thought about it after I had awhile to sit and think, and I wonder if others feel the way that I did when I was in the courtroom. Do most jurors judge someone’s guilt or innocence based on their appearance or temperament? Is that fair in the eyes of the law to convict…