Relevance To The Death Penalty

Over the course of my college career, I have accumulated several concepts that have broadened my understanding of the criminal justice system immensely. The area of criminological theory is the central component necessary in formulating what is considered the concept of criminal justice because it aims to explain the nature of criminality and why crime itself occurs.

The first aspect of criminological theory that will be discussed is positivism. Positivism itself it’s characterized by three sub theories; biological, psychological, and social.

Positivism emerged in the mid-1800s and is essentially the study of external attributes and their relevance to criminal behavior. Biological positivism suggests that criminal behavior is a direct result of an abnormality within an individual that can be biological or genetic. Positivist theorists used these abnormalities to differentiate between criminal and non-criminal citizens. The theorist that is most famous for his contributions to this theory is Cesare Lombroso. Lombroso argued that there is some sort of correlation between an individual’s physical traits and their likelihood to commit a crime.

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Lombroso examined certain physical features that he characterized as atavisms such as protruding jawlines, arms being longer than the body, asymmetrical faces, etc. and argued that criminals can be identified through these primitive features a researcher by the name of William Sheldon expanded on Lombroso’s theory. He used what he called soma typing to characterize three different types of the body. The first type was called an endomorph, this is defined as an individual whose body is soft and round.

The second body type that he came up with was what he called mesomorph. He associated this body type with having an extremely strong build. The last body type that he is recognized for is the ectomorph. Ectomorphs are characterized as having a very lean body type. Sheldon argued that these body types were indicators of ones’ behavior.

Another aspect that I was most interested in with regards to the criminological theory is the Strain theory. This theory in layman’s terms is the immense pressure that is applied on individuals to achieve socially motivated goals. Robert Merton who is credited with this theory separated it into two categories societal and personal. He also argued that crime transpires as a direct result to the gap between societal goals and the means to achieve these goals, thus leading to individuals engaging in criminal behavior. For example, American society strives for the big house with the white picket fence, fancy car in the yard, etc. (goals) in order to obtain that one would have to have the means, (education, employment) When one does not have the means, they have the tendency to develop a whatever it takes mentality in order to achieve success.

An important aspect of law that interests me is the topic of rule of discovery. During discovery, the prosecution and the defense must both relinquish all evidence that either part has before the beginning of the trial. This evidence may include police reports, interrogation recordings, witness statements autopsies, basically any information or evidence in regards to the trial. This procedure ensures that both opposing sides each have the same amount of information leading into the trial. Although the rule of discovery is designed to aid both opposing parties. One may argue that this is only beneficial to the defense due to the fact that in criminal court cases the prosecution has the burden of proof and must have the ability to prove their case without a shadow of reasonable doubt. The evidence that is obtained and used by the prosecution in order to prove the defendant’s guilt must be made readily available through discovery. This allows the defense to build a sound argument effective enough to prove their client’s legal innocence. One might argue that this is a double edged source because although this principle may aid guilty individuals evade justice, discovery also does its part in aiding individuals who are being wrongly accused prove their innocence.

Another aspect of criminal law that I found interesting is the exclusionary rule. This rule that is embedded within the fourth amendment was established to prevent evidence that had been obtained through illegal search and seizure by law enforcement or any government entity from being admissible in court. It mainly serves a deterrence to stop law enforcement from participating in illegally obtaining evidence. Another interesting fact is that if any evidence that lies within the guidelines of the exclusionary rule contributed to the discovery of other evidence, which would have otherwise not been located, then the newly discovered evidence is protected under the exclusionary rule. This is what’s known as the fruit of the poisonous tree doctrine. Although these practices are a sure fire way to get incriminating evidence excluded from the trial; the courts have established many ways to obtain exceptions. The first one is the good faith exception. According to the good faith exception, evidence does not have to be excluded if the officers relied on a search one that turned out to be invalid by chance. This exception was created in 1981 through the ruling of Herring vs the United States. The Supreme Court ruled that it is constitutional for the police to arrest on the grounds of another warrant in anther jurisdiction that may or may not be valid. Another exception to the exclusionary rule is the independent source doctrine. According to this exception, any evidence that was firstly gathered during an unreasonable search, may be used in court if it is later obtained through a legal search and seizure. This particular exception was created as a result of the ruling of Murray Vs the United States. Another exception to the exclusionary rule is that of inevitable discovery. According to this exception states that any evidence that was found using illegal search and seizure methods may be used in court if eventually the evidence would have been found anyway. This doctrine of the exclusionary rule was created in response to the Supreme Court ruling of Nix Vs Williams. For example, The last exception to the exclusionary rule that I will discuss is this attenuation doctrine is exception calls for despite obtaining evidence illegally the evidence may be utilized in court if the connection between the illegal act and the evidence provides that despite the illegality in obtaining evidence, such evidence may be admissible if there is no viable connection between the illegal search and the evidence that was obtained.

It is extremely significant that criminal justice officials are practicing good ethics at all times. Otherwise, unlawful activities could taint the integrity and morale of the entire criminal justice system Prosecutorial misconduct has escalated in the last few years, however no one has been able to shed light on this issue, due to most of the work that prosecutors do being behind closed doors. Therefore no one is aware of the detrimental effect a dishonest prosecutor can have on the public. For instance, prosecutors have a substantial amount of power in the sense that they have unlimited access to evidence that is obtained through their investigators. This gives the prosecutor free reign to fail to disclose pertinent information that may help the defendant’s case. Not only have that but prosecutors also had the ability to offer incentives in exchange for testimonies without anyone knowing. In fact witnesses that are brought in by prosecution as experts get compensated very well for their expert testimonies. Not only is this apparent with regards to prosecutorial misconduct but also some prosecutors have a tendency to pad the accused’s file in attempts to get bail revoked.

In addition to prosecutorial misconduct, judicial misconduct is running rampant as well. Judges are supposed to be the beacon of impartial judgement so to speak, and is entrusted with the task of viewing the case from all angles. These days you have judges accepting bribes in return for favorable judgements. For instance the most memorable, incident is the case of former judge Mark Ciavarella that was found guilty of accepting money in exchange for unlawfully imprisoning juveniles in privately own juvenile correctional facilities. This was detrimental in the sense that it ruined the lives of several juveniles by imprisoning them for several years for minor infractions such as petty pranks. Not only do we have an ethical issue with judges being bribed their also exists a problem with their overall conduct. For instance a judge in New Jersey by the name of Judge John Russo is being charged with misconduct due to asking a female rape victim if she tried to close her legs to prevent her attacker from penetrating her during the assault.

One aspect of juvenile justice that I found to be extremely significant is the development of a separate court system. The very first juvenile court took place in cook county of Chicago Illinois. The legal basis for the jurisdiction of the court was Parens Patriae. This doctrine set the foundation for the intervention in the lives of troubled youth. Parents were expected to possess the ability to control and punish their children, however when it became apparent that some was unable to adequately accomplish this task; the state was given authority to do so. The purpose of the juvenile court system was to transform juvenile delinquents into upstanding citizens through the implementation of treatment instead of adult punishment. In fact the terminology is significantly different from what is associated with adults. For instance Juveniles are charged with acts of delinquency and not crimes. They are adjudicated instead of being found guilty and sent to reform schools instead of prisons.

Another aspect of the juvenile justice system that I found to be extremely interested in is the introduction of juvenile diversion programs. This is a strategy that is utilized as means of an intervention technique that holds youth offenders accountable, without going through all the court proceedings. This also ensures that first time offenders are free from labels that will potentially follow them for the rest of their life. One major aspect of this program is that it only pertains to first time non-violent offenders, juveniles who have committed serious violent offenses are not eligible for entrance into any type of diversion program even If is the very first crime that they have ever commented. These diversion programs have been great in deterring future crime with first time offenders.f

The constitution is referred to as a set of guidelines within the criminal justice system. It is it’s also known as the absolute law that determines how the United States is governed and how laws are enforced. When discussing ways in which the constitution has contributed to the criminal justice system and its relevance to the death penalty; three exponentially important cases come to mind. The first court case I will discuss is Furman vs Georgia of 1973. In this case the argument was regarding whether the death penalty was in violation of the 8th and the 14th amendment rights. The Supreme Court’s ruling was, due to the nature of which the death penalty was inflicted, it does in fact constitute as cruel and unusual punishment thus leading to its suspension for a few years. The next court case that will be discussed is Gregg vs Georgia of 1796. In this case the Supreme Court ruled that as long as the death penalty is given pertinently in accordance with the severity of the crime; it is not unconstitutional to sentence someone to the death penalty. The final court case, Coker vs Georgia, involves whether the death penalty should be invoked for rape. The Supreme Court ruled that the death penalty would be unconstitutional because it does not appropriately fit the crime that was committed. These court cases helped set the premise for how we approach death penalty cases from here on out.

Throughout the course of learning about the criminal justice system I have taken with me many concepts that have helped to mold my general understanding of the criminal justice system in ways in which I never would have imagined. I am extremely grateful for the time I have spent here at the university.