Chapter V
1.
Powell vs.
raping 2 white girls; 8 of the accused were sentenced to death; Supreme
Court. overturns the verdict and rules that the
accused have a right to effective counsel in capital cases.
2. Johnson vs. Zerbst: the court decision in 1938 that required the appointment of counsel for all indigent defendants in criminal cases.
3. Gideon vs. Wainwright: the court decision in 1963 that extended the right to counsel to the states.
4. Right to Counsel: when the court ruled that “no person may be imprisoned , for any offense, whether classified as petty, misdemeanor, or felony, unless he or she was represented by counsel.
5. Critical Stages: stages when defendants are required to have representation. These stages are from arrest to interrogation through sentencing and the appellate process.
6. Public Defender: A lawyer who works for a state or local agency representing defendants accused of a crime who cannot afford to pay for private counsel.
7. Assigned Counsel: a private attorney appointed by the court for persons who are accused of crimes and are unable to hire their own lawyers.
8. Contract Attorney System: providing counsel for the poor under which the government contracts with a law firm to represent all indigent for the year in return for a set fee.
9. Private (retained) Attorney- counsel who is hired by someone for legal representation.
10. Bail—The deposit of cash or property to insure the appearance of an accused in court when released from jail.
11. Bail Reform—is the restructuring of the process of releasing accused citizens from jail awaiting trail that reduced the discrimination against low income citizens.
12. Pretrial Detention—is the incarceration of accused citizens in jail to wait for the court to hear the evidence against them.
13.
14. Indirect Racial Discrimination - 1.Discrimination on grounds other than the seriousness of a crime, in setting bail, but on characteristics of the accused such as economic status rather. 2. Discrimination on factors not linked directly to physical characteristics of the person.
15. Direct Racial Discrimination: Discrimination based on the physical characteristics of the persons involved. i.e. African American, Hispanic, Chinese.
16. Release on Recognizance: Release without paying bail trusting the accused to return to trial on the date set. If the accused fails to appear a warrant is issued for their arrest.
17. Pretrial Release: The release of an accused person before trial by means of bail or release on their own recognizance.
18.
Charging Decisions: A
prosecutor’s right to exercise broad discretion in deciding whether to file
formal charges against individuals suspected of crimes and in determining the
number and seriousness of the charges to be filed, so long as the prosecutor
has probable cause to believe that the accused committed an offense defined by
statute, and that the decision is not reached based on race, ethnicity, gender
or social status. -In other words-A
prosecutor cannot legitimately take the race of the suspect into account in
deciding whether to file charges or not in deciding on the seriousness of the
charge to be filed.
19. Plea Bargaining: When a defendant agrees to plead guilty in a criminal trial in exchange for a lesser charge. Prosecutors plea bargaining decisions are strongly determined by the strength of evidence against the defendant, by the defendants prior criminal record, and by the seriousness of the offense. A number of studies show that white defendants are offered plea bargains more frequently and also get better deals than minority defendants.
20.
Selective Prosecution: The
method of singling out members of specific identifiable groups such as career
criminals for aggressive processing. An inappropriate tactic when group identity
is based on racial minority status or certain types of racial minorities, while
members of the dominant majority group are either screened out very early in
the process of prosecution or never even enter the system in the first place in
similar cases involving similar charges because of the advantage of being
white.
21.
First Presentation: An
opening statement in a court case regarding the trial itself. The first
presentation is pertinent to the trial because it can set the tone for the
trail. Often important to the attorneys because if an outstanding opening
statement is made, it will show the promising qualities of the attorney.
22. Federal Sentencing Guidelines: Guidelines designed to reduce judicial discretion in sentencing in an effort to eliminate unwanted sentencing disparity among defendants with similar records who have been found guilty of similar criminal conduct.
23.
Guidelines Departure: When
the sentencing judge strays from the sentencing guidelines for a particular
crime and in turn issues an alternative sentence.
Chapter VI
24.
Jury Pool: The group
of individuals selected by the court from the citizens of a jurisdiction from
which juries are drawn to hear specific cases.
25. Race Conscious Jury Selection: Methods used during jury selection, to make the number of minorities in the jury pool proportional to that of the majority.
26.
Juror Challenge:
A request to dismiss a prospective juror from a specific jury. When
selecting jurors for a trial the prosecutor and defense attorney select jurors
through the jury pool. If either the
prosecutor or defense attorney wishes to choose a certain juror whereas the
other doesn't wish to have them on the jury then they are able to
challenge. However, there must be an
explanation or justification for this.
The issue could be racial discrimination.
27. Peremptory Challenge: This is a juror challenge in which the attorney does not need to show cause. The juror is dismissed without explanation and without judicial scrutiny. Both prosecutor and defense attorneys have used peremptory challenges in a racially discriminatory manner.
28.
Swain v.
29.
Batson Standard:
Batson v.
30. Race Neutral Justification: Coming to a conclusion or course of action in such a manner that consideration of race has not influenced the outcome.
31. Race Card: An allegation that the issue of race or racism is raised in a debate or case to gain an advantage when there is no racial issue.
32. Mock Jury Studies: use of research subjects to simulate real juries deliberating about selected or prepared legal cases.
33. Jury Nullification: Jury's right to deliver a not-guilty verdict regardless of the evidence of guilt even where such a verdict clearly conflicts with the letter if the law.
Chapter VII
34.
The sentencing project is a
nonprofit organization that promotes "more
effective and humane" alternatives to prison for criminal offenders.
35.
Aggravating circumstances are
factors that make the crimes worse or
more heinous.
36.
Mitigating circumstances are
more general reasons for treating the
offender more leniently.
37. Racial disparity is a statistical difference in the treatment of members of a racial group that is not based on race based prejudice and discrimination.
38. List the four explanations for racial disparity in sentencing
More serious crimes and careers, economic discrimination, discrimination, limited discrimination
39.
Sentence Outcomes: The sentence assigned. Discrimination exists when a member of a minority group receives a harsher sentence for the same
crime than a white who
committed the same crime under similar circumstances.
40. List the four factors that interact with race or ethnicity in disparity.
Other irrelevant characteristics, process-related factors, race of the victim and race of the offender, nature and seriousness of the crime.
41. Punishment Penalty: Members of discriminated against minorities receive longer sentences for the same behavior than other offenders. This is the penalty received by a minority just for being a minority.
42. Social Dynamite: Members of the deviant population who are viewed as particularly threatening and dangerous.
43. Intra-racial Sexual Assault: The act of committing a sexual assault when the victim is a member of the same race as the offender. .
44.
Interracial Sexual
Assault- sexual assault when the victim is of a different race than the
offender.
45.
Crack Cocaine: a very
powerful, highly addictive drug that has not been neutralized by an acid to
make hydrochloride salt that is heated and inhaled or mixed with water and
injected. Commonly marketed in low
income minority neighborhoods.
46.
Powder Cocaine: a very
powerful drug that has been neutralized by an acid to make hydrochloride. Commonly marketed in middle and upper class
majority communities.
47.
Sentencing Reform: a
plan designed to either make sentences more severe or less discriminatory
(examples would be the use of
indeterminate sentencing or the development of sentencing guidelines)
48. Indeterminate sentence: the judge imposes a minimum and maximum sentence and the parole board determines the date of release.
49. Flat-time sentence: A sentence that specifies a fixed term of detention that must be served.
50. Sentencing guidelines: federal guidelines designed to reduce judicial discretion in sentencing in an attempt to eliminate unwarranted sentencing disparity.
Chapter VIII
51. Death Penalty: sentence of death for those criminals found guilty of heinous murders.
52.
Furman v.
53.
Gregg v.
54.
McCleskey v. Kemp: The court
held that since McCleskey could not prove that
purposeful discrimination had had a discriminatory effect on him in this
particular trial, there was no constitutional violation. McCleskey, a black man, was convicted of murdering a police officer in
55.
Georgia’s
“guided-discretion” death penalty statute:
When a defendant is
convicted of first-degree murder or another death-eligible
offense, the prosecutor could ask to conduct a second “penalty stage” of the
trial, and after this proceeding the jury could impose the death sentence only
if the prosecutor proved “aggravating circumstance” even if proved the jury could
decline the death sentence and impose a life sentence if it found “mitigating
evidence.”
56. Marshall Hypothesis—the average citizen who knew all of the facts presently available regarding capital punishment would find it shocking to his conscience and sense of justice.
57. Dual System—the finding that stated that race of the victim was a potent influence in the justice system such that it appeared that the system for prosecuting cases involving white victims was different from the system for process cases involving black victims.
58.
Death Penalty Protocol—a set of standards and
procedures adopted by the department of justice which define the circumstances
under which
59. What are the two explanations for disparate application of the death penalty?
Conflict theory, race of victim
60.
Racial Justice Act—an act that would have
allowed condemned defendants to challenge their death sentences by showing a
pattern of racial discrimination in the capital sentencing process in their jurisdictions.
61.
American Bar
Association: The professional
organization for attorneys practicing law in the
62.
63.
DNA Testing: Analysis
of blood, hair, saliva, semen, or cells from almost any part of the body
commonly used in linking individuals with crime scenes and more recently used
as a powerful tool in determining the innocence of prisoners who were tried before
DNA testing in its current form was an option.
64.
Innocence Protection
Act Of 2001: A combination of criminal justice reforms that would:
1).
Allow a person convicted of a federal crime to obtain DNA testing to support a
claim of innocence.
2).
Prohibit states from denying applications for DNA testing made by death row
inmates if specified conditions apply.
3).
Encourage states to develop minimum standards for capital representation.
4). Provide funding to ensure that indigent defendants have
access to lawyers who meet those minimum standards.
Chapter IX
65. Jail: a short term local holding place for people who exhibit deviant behavior and who may propose a potential threat to society as a whole.
66. Prison: a long term state level holding place that is designed for convicted felons who pose a great threat to society.
67. Jail population: People held in local places waiting trial, transfer to the state prison system, or for serving sentences for minor offenses. For the 2005, the total admissions was 2137, average inmate population was 1986, average male population is 1737, and the average female population is 249. 32% of people in prison are African American, but only make up 13% of population.
68.
Incarcerated population:
The total number of people held in prisons and jails in the
69. State Prison Systems: Prisons run by the states that house the majority of incarcerated offenders. African Americans are over represented in state prison systems compared to their representation in the general population.
70. Federal Prison Systems: Prisons run by the federal government. Prisoners in federal prison serve up to 50% more of their original sentence than do state inmates. African Americans are still over represented, but not as much as they are in state prisons. All prisoners are housed according to security risk.
71.
Incarceration Rates: Reflect the number of prisoners
incarcerated. Race, ethnicity, gender, age and employment status have a direct
effect on whether one is incarcerated. Young
African American males are over represented in incarceration rates compared to
their representation in the general population. These rates describe the make
up of the
72. Misdemeanor: A crime that carries a less severe punishment than a felony under the law. A misdemeanor is punishable by a fine and by a term of imprisonment not to be served in a penitentiary and not to exceed one year.
73. Felonies—crimes which are punished by sentences of more than one year in prison.
74. Discretionary Parole—parole is a gift from the state and can be given or withdrawn on the whim of state representatives.
75. Mandatory Parole—requires offenders to be released and supervised on parole as a part of their sentences.
76. Conditions of Parole—restrictions on personal freedom that offenders must accept if they are to receive parole. Failure to follow these rules can result in a return to prison.
77.
Probation: is an
alternative to incarceration, a sentence to
supervision in the community. Fewer
minorities are granted probation.
78.
Adjustment to Prison: The process of adapting to
living in a highly structured relatively dangerous environment with
organization by race a dominant factor. Or adaptation
to the prison subculture as it relates to race, ethnicity, religious
activities, economic systems, and the formation of gangs.
79. Self Segregation—the decisions by members of disparate groups to associate only with members of their own group.
80. Native American Cultural and Spiritual Awareness Group. Operate on a global scale to learn more about their culture and interactions. This program was brought about to help people learn more about different cultures. To help people to be aware of how different cultures operate. Native American women are very in touch with nature. They took care of the children, cooked, and clothed their family. They did this while the men hunted and gathered. The Native American Cultural and Spiritual group teach people about differences in culture and how it should be appreciated. Many, Native Americans pray different than us and they worship different gods we should respect this and appreciate what their culture means. The Native American Cultural and Spiritual Awareness group helps people to better understand.
81. Prison Gangs: People join gangs in prison to [protect themselves and have power while in prison. They also do it for "brotherhood". People who join a gang in prison usually end up in prison again after they have been let out. Prison gangs were formed in the 1980's. They were formed to retaliate against building tenders (B.T.S). It was formed after building tenders beat inmates and sometimes killing them. Gangs were formed and they fought back. The news found out and legal action was taken and the B.T. system was dead. Since the B.T. system was abolished gangs went to a different direction. They would claim turfs, control of flowing drugs. Then prison gang wars broke out daily. People were being killed daily. Then entire blocks that housed two inmates per cell, were turned into one man cells. Gang members were separated. Prison gangs are still a problem today; but it has gotten better.
82.
83.
84. Prison Gangs—groups of inmates who associate in a semi-formal organizations based on resistance to prison officials, protection from other groups, and promotion of criminal activities.
85.
Texas Syndicate—a predominately Hispanic prison gang
originally formed in
86. Texas Mafia—A predominately white prison gang with ties to motorcycle gangs and the distribution of illegal drugs.
87. Aryan Brotherhood of Texas—A gang of predominately white racists who endorse violence toward members of minority groups.
88. Mandingo Warriors—A gang of predominately African Americans believed to have formed for protection from Hispanic and white gangs.
Chapter X
89. Property Victimization—Youth are more likely than adults to be victims of property crimes with African Americans more likely than other groups to be victimized.
90. Violent Victimization—Youth are more likely than adults to be victims of violence with African American youth more likely to be victimized than other groups.
91. Homicide Victimization—Young adults are more likely to be victims of homicide than children or older adults with African Americans more likely to be victimized that members of other groups
92. Parens Patriae—Early English principle that stated that society (the king) is responsible for providing support and socialization to youth.
93. Cumulative Disadvantage—small racial differences in outcomes are the initial stages of the process become more acute as a minority youth are processed further into the justice system.
94. Formal Referral—The referral of a case to the court in which a delinquency petition is filed.
95. Judicial Waiver Rate—percentage of youth waived to the adult court by juvenile court judges for a given jurisdiction.
96. Government Accounting Office—Government agency charged with the collections of data to assess the effectiveness of various federally funded programs.
97. Waiver Rates—the percentage of youth waived to adult court for a given jurisdiction.
98. Disparate Treatment—treating an identifiable group of people differently than other groups.
99. External Attributions—factors within the individual which are identified as related to criminal behavior.
100. Internal Attributions—factors in the individual’s environment which are identified as related to criminal behavior.
Name _____________________________
CJ 303/Soc315
First exam
Spring 2005
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
they ____________________________________________________________________.
often not ____________________________________________________________
CJ 303
Minorities in Criminal Justice
Spring 2007
Instructor: Robert Sigler, 348-7781, 553-3897, rsigler@cj.as.ua.edu; Home page: bama.ua.edu/~rsigler/home
Office hours: 11-12:30 Tuesday and Thursday
Text: The Color of Justice, Race, Ethnicity, and Crime in
Course Description 3 hours of credit
Study of the role played by racial
minorities at each stage of the criminal justice system.
Special attention is devoted to theories and measurement of minority
crimes and race relationsand to the treatment of
minorities by law enforcement officers, courts, and corrections.
Schedule
January 11 Course introduction
16-18
23-25
Stereotypes and
prejudice
30-Feb
1
Discrimination
February
6-8 Types
of Racists and adaptations
13-15
20-22
and Victim Status
27-Mar
1
March
6 Review
8 Mid
term
13-15 Spring
Break
20 return
and discuss exams
22 Role of Discretion
in Discrimination
Term Paper due March 22
27 On Becoming a Racist
on the Job
29
April
3
5
10 Ch.
8 Deciding Who will Die
12
17 Voluntary? Segregation
in Institutions
19
24 Affirmative
Action
26 Diversity
Training
2-4 Review
8 11:30
Final
Student Learning Outcomes
a.
become familiar with the concepts stereotypes,
prejudice, discrimination, affirmative action, diversity as they related to
criminal justice.
b.
become familiar with the manifestations of
these concepts on the operations and outcomes of the justice system.
c.
become familiar with techniques designed to
neutralize the impact of discrimination and prejudice.
Course Requirements
Midterm 35%
Final
Exam 35%
Term
Paper 30%
l00%
Term Paper
The term paper will be about 3,500 words (about l5-20 pages)
in length. It will focus on any issue
regarding minorities, prejudice, discrimination, affirmative action, or
diversity in the operations or outcomes of the justice system. The paper will have the following sections
(headings): l) identification of the problem; 2) discussion of the alternative
solutions proposed with a discussion of the merits of each; 3) choose or
develop a preferred solution; 4) defend your solution. The instructor will discuss possible topics
on request. No more than one half of the
reference citations can come from non-refereed web sites. Due
March 22.
A paper which does not follow the format with proper
headings in the text will earn a C even if it is an excellent well written
paper.
Class Format
This class is a lecture/discussion class. Specific chapters are assigned some
days. The content will be delivered by
lecture on others. Some of the material
is difficult. Students will ask
questions about the reading assignments or prior lectures at the beginning of
each class period followed by discussion of issues in the news. When the questions have been discussed,
enrichment material will be presented by the instructor and discussed. You are required to read a newspaper and
watch/listen to one non-print media news program each day.
I expect my students to demonstrate the ability to think and
reason for themselves. You need not
agree with me during the class sessions.
I will respect your right to disagree with me and to maintain any
beliefs that you cherish. The same is not true for the exams. You must present exam answers consistent with
the positions that I present in class even though you disagree with them. Our discussions will be sensitive and frank. While I want you to express your beliefs
clearly, civility in all exchanges is essential in the classroom and is
recommended for all other settings.
Grading Policy: Grades are not assigned on a
"curve." It is possible for
all students to earn an A. It is also
possible for no one to earn an A. I have
specific expectations for your performance so you are working to achieve my
expectations not competing with each other.
Attendance Policy:
There are no penalties for missing class. I will take roll each class period. You should be aware, however, that there is a
direct relationship between attendance and grades. Those who attend regularly consistently make
higher grades then those who don’t. This
is probably caused by several factors including: some of the questions on the
exams come directly from the lecture and professors generally talk about what
is most important to them in lecture (you should not be too surprised to
discover that these things also tend to appear on the exams). You also may earn up to three additional
points on your final grade (you loose one point for each day of class that you
miss).
Note: I have not been able to find a text that I
consider to be adequate for this course.
As a result, much of the material will be presented in lecture. If you are not there, you will miss this
material and are more likely to fail the course.
Academic Misconduct Policy: All acts of dishonesty in any
work constitute academic misconduct.
This includes, but is not limited to, cheating, plagiarism, fabrication
of information, misrepresentation, and abetting any of the above. The Academic Misconduct Disciplinary Policies
will be followed in the event of academic misconduct, including the right to
appeal any decision or action taken under this policy.
Challenged Students: To request
disability accommodations, please contact Disabilities Services (348-4285).
After initial arrangements are made with Disabilities Services, please
contact Bob Sigler at rsigler@cj.as.ua.edu,
348-7781, or 553-3897.
Affirmative Action
A Position Paper
Human Relations Council
Social change is a slow and
deliberate process characterized by periods of forward movement, periods of
stability, and periods of regression.
In the area of minority relations we appear to be in a regressive period;
that is, gains that have been made in improved relations among the majority and
minority groups in
What is Affirmative Action
Affirmative
action is reverse discrimination. In
affirmative action, members of minority groups are given preference in
decisions to award benefits whether it be a promotion or a contract. There are three legitimate forms of
affirmative action. First, in some
programs, if two equally qualified persons apply for a benefit, the benefit is
awarded to the person who can demonstrate minority status. In some programs, applicants are divided into
two groups: those who are qualified for the benefit and those who are not. Preference for awarding the benefit is given
to those members of a minority group who are in the qualified group. A third approach divides applicants for a
benefit into two or more groups of minority and majority candidates. Benefits are awarded proportionately to each
group; that is, if native Americans constitute 15% of the population, native
Americans are given preference in awarding the benefit until 15% of those who
receive the benefit are native Americans.
When proportional parity is achieved, the benefit is awarded
proportionally to all groups. This is
known as a quota system. Awarding a
benefit to unqualified minority applicants is not affirmative action and is not
acceptable. In the early years of
desegregation, some administrators, on rare occasions, appointed minority
applicants to positions for which they were not qualified to establish a token
presence and, on some occasions, to “prove” that members of the minority group
were incapable of doing the work.
Appointing unqualified applicants has never been a policy of those who
promote equity in awarding benefits to the members of our society and generally
does not occur today.
Why was Affirmative Action Adopted
In
the 1960s, our society decided to end discrimination. While desegregation is frequently presented
as a black and white issue, the laws and policies that were adopted applied to
all minority groups including one minority group that is actually a majority
group--women. If we decided that
discrimination would end, why did we need affirmative action? Couldn't we just assure that discrimination
would not occur in future decisions?
There are three reasons why affirmative action was proposed as a
necessary remedy. Two are fairly
straightforward, the third complex and, sometimes, difficult to
understand. First, social change is not
universal and is generally slow. Some
people do not accept the change but learn quickly to remain silent. Some of these people will continue to
discriminate but will claim that their decisions are not based on minority
status. Other people will accept the
change and will believe that they are not discriminating but they believe that
their stereotypes are true. When they
make decisions based on these “truths” that disqualify minority applicants,
they do not believe that they are discriminating. They believe that they are making reasonable
decisions.
The third reason for affirmative action is the primary need for a remedy. The need for a remedy is based in the concept of systematic multi-generational discrimination. Systematic multi-generational discrimination produces a situation in which the targeted minority group has been displaced from the system because of long term discrimination. That is, there are none or very few representatives of the minority group in positions that control the distribution of benefits. In this situation, a “level playing field” is unfair and a remedy must be applied until the playing field is functionally level. Affirmative action assures that minority representation (equity) will be established and should be maintained until equity is attained. This can be best understood if the system for awarding benefits is understood. Many, perhaps most, benefits are awarded on a kinship/friendship basis. In simple terms, if the company for which I work is going to hire someone, I will try to get that job for one of my children, another relative, or a friend or neighbor. This is a natural well-established process and is frequently referred to as pulling strings. The more status I have in the company, the more likely I will influence the decision as to whom to hire. Because of systematic multi-generational discrimination, there are either no or only a few low status minority employees in my company and the “natural” non-discriminatory process produces unintentional but systematic discrimination. Affirmative action forces the hiring and promotion of minorities and should continue until minority represen