Hinkley's Abuse Of The Justice System

Some may ask themselves, “Who is John Hinckley Jr.?” For most people, they know him as being the man who tried to assassinate former President Ronald Reagan. But why did John feel the need to kill the president and what drove him to do it. While doing the research to answer those questions into why the crime was committed, some information and fact were brought up to the surface that is quite disturbing.

Jonathan Simons “Mass imprisonment on trial: A remarkable court decision and the future of prisons in American landmark”, focuses on the decision made from case Brown v. Plata, where it was discovered that the overcrowding of prisoners was causing prisoners to suffer from chronic illness and inhumane treatment. As per the 8th amendment prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment the court ordered the release of more prisoners than ever before. Mass incarceration resulted from laws like the three strikes laws or use a gun and you’re done created situations on inhumane treatment such as denial of healthcare which caused death behind bars this calls for reforms. In Massachusetts the three strike laws must be enforced with a different approach

In Section 190.1, the trial would happen in three stages. First, the accused individual's guilt will primarily be examined, and if they are found guilty, in certain circumstances where they were previously accused of murder, they would be considered guilty for those crimes as well. Second, If the defendant was charged previously of first or second degree murder, those previous convictions will have to be investigated. Third, if the individual is found guilty of murder and other previous convictions were proven true, and he is trying to plead not guilty by reason of insanity, his sanity should be examined. If found sane, his punishment should then be

On 17th December 1986 Olaf Dietrich flew from Bangkok, Thailand, to Melbourne Airport. He had smuggled at least seventy grams of heroin, which was hidden in condoms that he had swallowed. He was arrested by the Australian Federal Police the next morning when they searched his apartment and found of the condoms in the kitchen and some heroin concealed in a plastic bag under a rug in another room. Dietrich rights were infringed because he did not receive a fair trial in 1988 as he didn’t have a legal representative throughout the case. Dietrich’s trial was considered unfair because he didn’t have access to legal aid therefore having to represent himself throughout the trial. Dietrich argued that he was tried in an unfair trial because he did not have a counsel to represent him.

A criminal background check revealed Richard Brown was negative for CANTS/LEAD (5/3/16). His criminal background check from the Illinois State Police (5/3/2016) and FBI (5/3/2016) were positive. In 1986, Richard was charged with contribution of delinquency to a minor. The girl told Mr. Brown she was 18, but she was only 14. For his restitution Richard paid a $100 fine and served six months of supervision. This is Richard's only run in with the law; he has not been in trouble with the law since 1986. He has since been a model citizen. Inquiries into the National Sex Offender Registry (5/2/2016) and the Illinois Sex Offender Registry on (5/2/2016) revealed no offenses for Richard Brown. A criminal background check revealed Vickie Brown was

Champion, D.J. (2009). Leading U.S. supreme court cases in criminal justice: Briefs and key terms. Upper Saddle river, NJ: Prentice Hall.

Where do you stand with a defense that, under-minds an act of crime and permits criminal justification to overlook a crime that has been committed? That is basically what the insanity defense is. It has been around for over two-hundred years and since then it has had several reforms brought to it. Was also brought around to help the mentally ill, allowing them to plead not guilty to a crime because they lacked the mental capacity to understand right from wrong or appreciate why what they did was wrong. Basically, it states they aren’t criminally responsible for their actions; therefore they are sent to mental facilities to help treat their mental illness and not given prison or jail time.

Myths are stories telling a part of the world view of a society or give an explanation of a practice, belief, or natural phenomenon. It is a popular viewpoint, embodying the ideals and institutions of a society or segment of society. Although myths are regarded as fictional representations, they often reveal underlying ideals. Myths often tell us more about our social and cultural values than they do about any particular circumstance. While myths seem to explain events, often times they instruct us on integrating an event an individual’s belief system and worldviews. The phrase crime myths does not stray too far from these definitions. These types of myths are usually created in nonscientific forums through the telling of sensational stories. These crime fictions often take on new meanings as they are told and retold, eventually evolving into truth for many people (Kappeler and Potter, 2005). The commonly held belief of the United States’ leniency within the criminal justice system is a crime myth, unfounded, and false.

Wrongful convictions are common in the court-system. In fact, wrongful convictions are not the rare events that you see or hear on televisions shows, but are very common. They stem from some sort of systematic defect that lead to wrongful convictions such as, eyewitness misidentification testimony, unvalidated or improper forensic science, false confessions and incriminating statements, DNA lab errors, false confessions, and informants (2014). Bringing awareness to all these systematic defects, which result in wrongful, is important because it will better adjust the system to avoid making the same mistakes with future cases. However, false confession is not a systematic defect. It does not occur because files were misplaced or a lab technician put one too many drops. False confessions occur because of some of psychological attempt to protect oneself and their family. Thus, the courts responsibility should be to reduce these false confessions.

Wrongful convictions heavily presided in Canada before adequate measures were taken to help prevent them. Many victims of wrongful convictions were subjected to the flaws in the Criminal Justice System, in which has undergone drastic reforms to repair some of the many imperfections. In Canada, the state provides compensation for individuals deemed factually innocent of the crimes they were charged for only through ex gracia, which simply means, “payment by the state, … made voluntarily, as a favour out of kindness or grace, and without recognition of any legal obligation” (Entitlement of Compensation- The Legal Framework). However, in order to be considered eligible for financial compensation, certain guidelines must be met under the Federal/ Provincial Guidelines on Compensation for Wrongfully Convicted and Imprisoned Persons, which was established in 1988. (Entitlement of Compensation- The Legal Framework). The guidelines as specified in the Federal/ Provincial Compensation for Wrongfully Convicted and Imprisoned Persons require that, an accused individual be convicted and imprisoned, and the conviction and imprisonment must be declared a miscarriage of justice as a result of new factual evidence presented (Entitlement of Compensation-The Legal Framework). Also, the individual must have been convicted and imprisoned under the Criminal Code of Canada, and the individual must be acquitted in the Court of Appeal, following a referral made by the Ministry of Justice.

The criminal justice system plays an important role in this society, it is meant to protect and serve. This “system” is also meant to maintain the peace and enforce the laws set by the government. However, the criminal justice system is not even close to perfect. It has many flaws, some of which are: police brutality, death penalty, mass incarceration, gun violence, and especially wrongful convictions. A majority of the flaws that the system has can be easily fixed and can be set straight. For example, the issue of wrongful convictions has been relevant for quite some time and has the potential to decrease its probability of occurring by focusing on the importance of scientific evidence, rid of faulty witness testimonies, and make sure that the lack of evidence and/or government misconduct, if applicable, does not determine the outcome of the case.

Similar to how the accused is innocent until proven guilty, the rule states that the accused is assumed sane “unless the defense proved at the time of committing the act, the accused was laboring under such a defect of reason, from disease of the mind, as not to know the nature and quality of the act he was doing or, if he did know it, that he did not know what he was doing was wrong" (Francone). This rule is now a standard in the United Kingdom and in almost half the states in America. The next test is the Model Penal Code, which states that “a criminal defendant must be found not guilty by reason of insanity if he is diagnosed with a relevant mental defect” (FindLaw). The mental defects could range anywhere from severe mental retardation to schizophrenia. The test was adopted in the 1970s, but it quickly became unfavorable after John Hinckley Jr. tried to assassinate President Reagan in 1981 and was found not guilty by reason of insanity because of the test’s loose rules. Soon after, the federal government went back to using the M’Naghten Rule because it was

Within the criminal justice system, officials abuse their power. The officials of the justice system have a duty to protect and perform their duties with unbiased decision making. The abuse of power jeopardizes people’s lives who are not able to sustain oneself and their families. Some people do not understand that poorer people find themselves in jail more and once a person is released, that person is subjected to return to jail for the amount of money owed to the state. There are many obstacles for the poor, especially those of color. People of color are treated unfairly in the justice system, from the arrest, the sentencing, and the release. The criminal justice system is supposed to be just but that is not the case. The criminal justice system allows for the police, public defenders, and judges to bend the laws and not be punished for their actions or that apologizes can fix the wrong that has been done. This paper will discuss the abuse of power from the justice system and the solutions to rectify the damages.

The criminal justice system was put in place to serve justice to those that deserve it and punishing those that break the laws. The tiers of power include police departments to enforce the law, courts to prosecute the guilty or prove innocence, and corrections facilities to contain those that are being punished. The American Justice System has a responsibility to protect and uphold the freedoms of citizens. Although throughout history, the justice system has failed to carry out their initial purpose. Courts can no longer tell the difference between innocence and guilt, police are using their power to gain leverage over citizens, and incarceration rates in the US are higher than the next couple of countries combined. These are some effects that prove the failure of the American justice system.

The insanity defense finally received harsh critism from the public until the 1981 assassination attempt on President Ronald Regan. On March 30, 1981 John Hinckley shot the president and several of his aids on live television. The whole world saw the shooting. There was no doubt that he did the shooting. On May 4, 1982, after a seven-week trail, in which a ton of psychiatrist testified for Hinckley's defense, Hinckley was found not guilty by reason of insanity. He was sent to a mental hospital in Washington D.C, where he remains today. This verdict outraged American's, as it should have. How can a man who shoots another man on national television be given a not guilty verdict(Gado)?