Court Systems and Practices

Court Systems and Practices
Author: ALEC Instructional Materials Service
Publisher:
Total Pages:
Release: 2017-09
Genre:
ISBN: 9781621621195

An overview of the judiciary in the criminal justice system; including instruction relative to the American courts system, the nature of criminal law, criminal procedure and the judicial process, and the juvenile justice system.

Model Rules of Professional Conduct

Model Rules of Professional Conduct
Author: American Bar Association. House of Delegates
Publisher: American Bar Association
Total Pages: 216
Release: 2007
Genre: Law
ISBN: 9781590318737

The Model Rules of Professional Conduct provides an up-to-date resource for information on legal ethics. Federal, state and local courts in all jurisdictions look to the Rules for guidance in solving lawyer malpractice cases, disciplinary actions, disqualification issues, sanctions questions and much more. In this volume, black-letter Rules of Professional Conduct are followed by numbered Comments that explain each Rule's purpose and provide suggestions for its practical application. The Rules will help you identify proper conduct in a variety of given situations, review those instances where discretionary action is possible, and define the nature of the relationship between you and your clients, colleagues and the courts.

Criminal Procedures

Criminal Procedures
Author: Marc L. Miller
Publisher: Aspen Publishing
Total Pages: 1058
Release: 2019-03-07
Genre: Law
ISBN: 1543809693

In Criminal Procedures: Prosecution and Adjudication: Cases, Statutes, and Executive Materials, Sixth Edition, the highly respected author team presents a student-friendly, comprehensive survey of the laws and practices at work between the time a person is charged and the moment when the courts hear an appeal after the offender’s conviction and sentence. In the Sixth Edition, the authors retain the vitality and contemporary approach of the book with an updated selection of cases, statutes, and office policies. Covering in detail the “bail-to-jail” portions of the criminal process, this casebook features: Extensive use of documents from multiple institutions including U.S. Supreme Court cases, state high court cases, state and federal statutes, rules of procedure, and prosecutorial policies A real world perspective that focuses on high-volume issues of current importance to defendants, lawyers, courts, legislators, and the public instead of intricate but rarely-encountered questions Interdisciplinary examination of the impact that different procedures have on the enforcers, lawyers, courts, communities, defendants, and victims Points of comparison between U.S. practices and the systems at work in other countries Frequent use of Problems to give the instructor options for applying concepts and doctrines in realistic practice settings. New to the Sixth Edition: Two new authors join the editorial team: Jenia I. Turner of SMU Dedman School of Law and Kay L. Levine of Emory University School of Law: With her doctoral training in Socio-Legal Studies and her balanced experience as a prosecutor and a defense attorney in state court, Professor Levine sharpens the focus of the book on the real-world operation of courtroom actors in high-volume state systems. With her background in international criminal tribunals and comparative criminal procedure, Professor Turner strengthens the comparisons between court systems in the U.S. and those around the world. As experienced and celebrated classroom teachers, both Professors Turner and Levine bring closer attention to student learning needs in every chapter of the book. A revamped Chapter 2 surveys the major changes in the use of money bail and risk assessment algorithms, previewing the prospects for further system reforms. Chapter 3 covers newsworthy recent changes in the charging policies and diversion practices of prosecutors’ offices, especially those in urban areas such as Philadelphia. Chapter 7 expands its coverage of the tensions between fair trials and public trials, including new materials on public access to court files and statistics. A refocused Chapter 9 provides a more detailed and vivid portrait of sentencing hearings and the use of risk assessment instruments. Professors and students will benefit from: Materials that support class discussion, including criminal justice actors beyond the nine Justices of the U.S. Supreme Court: the vision is “street level federalism” Materials that give students a nuanced portrait of current practices in criminal justice rather than a rushed historical narrative about doctrinal trends A supporting website that offers exemplar documents, recent news with relevance for criminal procedure, and brief video lectures to introduce each major unit Intuitive organization—tracking the typical order of events in criminal court—that makes it easy to see connections among different areas of the law

Ordinary Injustice

Ordinary Injustice
Author: Amy Bach
Publisher: Macmillan
Total Pages: 328
Release: 2009-09
Genre: Law
ISBN: 9780805074475

From an award-winning lawyer-reporter, a radically new explanation for America’s failing justice system The stories of grave injustice are all too familiar: the lawyer who sleeps through a trial, the false confessions, the convictions of the innocent. Less visible is the chronic injustice meted out daily by a profoundly defective system. In a sweeping investigation that moves from small-town Georgia to upstate New York, from Chicago to Mississippi, Amy Bach reveals a judicial process so deeply compromised that it constitutes a menace to the people it is designed to serve. Here is the public defender who pleads most of his clients guilty; the judge who sets outrageous bail for negligible crimes; the prosecutor who brings almost no cases to trial; the court that works together to achieve a wrong verdict. Going beyond the usual explanations of bad apples and meager funding, Bach identifies an assembly-line approach that rewards shoddiness and sacrifices defendants to keep the court calendar moving, and she exposes the collusion between judge, prosecutor, and defense that puts the interests of the system above the obligation to the people. It is time, Bach argues, to institute a new method of checks and balances that will make injustice visible—the first and necessary step to any reform. Full of gripping human stories, sharp analyses, and a crusader’s sense of urgency, Ordinary Injustice is a major reassessment of the health of the nation’s courtrooms.

Social Work Practice in the Criminal Justice System

Social Work Practice in the Criminal Justice System
Author: George T. Patterson
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 291
Release: 2013-07-03
Genre: Law
ISBN: 1136342427

The criminal justice system, with its complex policies and procedures and its focus on deterrence, punishment, and rehabilitation, can be a difficult system to understand. Social Work Practice in the Criminal Justice System presents an overview of the criminal justice system, exploring the network of systems which comprise it. Integrating social work values and a commitment to social justice, this textbook explores how social workers can practice to address social problems within the criminal justice system and promotes the development of knowledge, skills and critical reflection in this increasingly important area of practice. In addition to covering the four key areas for social work practice – law enforcement, courts, corrections, and legislation – it covers: Alternative programs and services Special populations – such as juveniles, women and sex offenders Special topics – such as reoffending, wrongful conviction and racial disparities The application of evidence-based practice principles in criminal justice. Looking at the challenges and opportunities of social work practice in the criminal justice system, this is the ideal text for social work instructors, students and practitioners working with or within the criminal justice system. Each chapter includes a summary of social work practice implications, key terms, and suggested further reading.

Criminal Procedures

Criminal Procedures
Author: Marc L. Miller
Publisher: Aspen Publishing
Total Pages: 1994
Release: 2019-03-07
Genre: Law
ISBN: 1543807127

Criminal Procedures: Cases, Statutes, and Executive Materials, Sixth Edition is noted for its comprehensive coverage and excellent selection and editing of cases and materials. The book is known for its special focus on a rich selection of materials from multiple institutions, including primary materials from U.S. Supreme Court cases, state high court cases, state and federal statutes, rules of procedure, and police and prosecutorial policies, along with materials from social science studies. The new Sixth Edition retains the casebook’s engaging writing style and division of materials into “teachable chunks.” Updated cases are chosen for their contemporary accuracy and feel to complement essential cases of historical value. Taken together, the principal materials highlight procedural variety, focus on real process topics, provide the political context, and consider the impact of procedures on the various parties involved. The scholarly expertise and experience of the authors is especially reflected in the Criminal Procedure II materials, which includes coverage of prosecutorial charging, plea bargaining, and sentencing. Their frequent use of Problems gives instructors options for applying concepts and doctrines in realistic practice settings. New to the Sixth Edition: Two new authors join the editorial team: Jenia Iontcheva Turner of SMU Dedman School of Law and Kay L. Levine of Emory University School of Law. With her doctoral training in Socio-Legal Studies and her balanced experience as a prosecutor and a defense attorney in state court, Professor Levine sharpens the focus of the book on the real-world operation of courtroom actors in high-volume state systems. With her background in international criminal tribunals and comparative criminal procedure, Professor Turner strengthens the comparisons between court systems in the U.S. and those around the world. As experienced and celebrated classroom teachers, both Professors Turner and Levine bring closer attention to student learning needs in every chapter of the book. More examples and discussion demonstrate the effects of new technologies on criminal procedure. A revamped Chapter 1 offers a deeper exploration of competing models of policing and useful background about policing organizations. Reorganized Chapters 2 and 7 introduce students to the shifting analytical frameworks that the U.S. Supreme Court now employs to evaluate searches in the context of technological devices that store and collect large amounts of data. Chapter 6 relies on current newsworthy debates about police use of force to explore the alternatives and supplements to the exclusionary rule remedy. A revamped Chapter 12 surveys the major changes in the use of money bail and risk assessment algorithms, previewing the prospects for further system reforms. Chapter 13 covers newsworthy recent changes in the charging policies and diversion practices of prosecutors’ offices, especially those in urban areas such as Philadelphia. Chapter 17 expands its coverage of the tensions between fair trials and public trials, including new materials on public access to court files and statistics. A refocused Chapter 19 provides a more detailed and vivid portrait of sentencing hearings and the use of risk assessment instruments. Professors and students will benefit from: Materials that support class discussion, including criminal court actors beyond the Justices of the U.S. Supreme Court: the vision is “street level federalism” Materials that portray for students the range of current practices in criminal justice rather than a rushed historical narrative about doctrinal trends A supporting website that offers exemplar documents from legal practice, recent news with relevance for criminal procedure, and brief video lectures to introduce each major unit Emphasis on high-volume practical issues in criminal procedure instead of intricate but rarely-encountered questions Intuitive organization—tracking the typical sequence of events in criminal investigations and in the criminal courts—that makes it easy to see connections among different areas of the law

Trials Without Truth

Trials Without Truth
Author: William T. Pizzi
Publisher: NYU Press
Total Pages: 269
Release: 2000-06
Genre: Law
ISBN: 0814766501

Uncovers a major deficiency of U.S. criminal justice—a trial system that prioritizes winning over truth Reginald Denny. O. J. Simpson. Colin Ferguson. Louise Woodward: all names that have cast a spotlight on the deficiencies of the American system of criminal justice. Yet, in the wake of each trial that exposes shocking behavior by trial participants or results in counterintuitive rulings—often with perverse results—the American public is reassured by the trial bar that the case is not "typical" and that our trial system remains the best in the world. William T. Pizzi here argues that what the public perceives is in fact exactly what the United States has: a trial system that places far too much emphasis on winning and not nearly enough on truth, one in which the abilities of a lawyer or the composition of a jury may be far more important to the outcome of a case than any evidence. How has a system on which Americans have lavished enormous amounts of energy, time, and money been allowed to degenerate into one so profoundly flawed? Acting as an informal tour guide, and bringing to bear his experiences as both insider and outsider, prosecutor and academic, Pizzi here exposes the structural faultlines of our trial system and its paralyzing obsession with procedure, specifically the ways in which lawyers are permitted to dominate trials, the system's preference for weak judges, and the absurdities of plea bargaining. By comparing and contrasting the U.S. system with that of a host of other countries, Trials Without Truth provides a clear-headed, wide-ranging critique of what ails the criminal justice system—and a prescription for how it can be fixed.

The Bail Book

The Bail Book
Author: Shima Baradaran Baughman
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 331
Release: 2018
Genre: Law
ISBN: 1107131367

Examines the causes for mass incarceration of Americans and calls for the reform of the bail system. Traces the history of bail, how it has come to be an oppressive tool of the courts, and makes recommendations for reforming the bail system and alleviating the mass incarceration problem.