Josef Ks' Victory in Death Over the Law in Kafka's The Trial

What can lead to wrongful conviction? Leo (2010) states that there are 7 psychological processes that can allow a wrongful conviction to occur (pg. 19). The first one being confessions and misleading specialized knowledge. Confessions are looked at as an amazing source of persuasive evidence especially when

In Franz Kafka’s “In the Penal Colony,” there is no presumption of innocence whatsoever; there is only presumption. “Innocent until proven guilty.” This presumption of innocence is considered to be the foundation of a civilized criminal justice system, as well as within the fundamental rights of mankind. The Officer says that “guilt is never to be doubted,” and because he was ordained the judge of the penal colony, there is no proper trial or “due process” needed, as all are guilty in the eyes of the one who judges (Kafka, p.198). If the punishments delivered to the guilty were less severe, than there would perhaps be fewer qualms about the system, however the “justice” dispensed by the machine is nowhere near reasonable or humane, dispensing grievous punishments that far exceed most crimes to those who are condemned. However, it is important to remember that the apparatus and its function are simply an extension of the ideology of the Old Commandant and the Officer who are the true punishers. The punishments the officer administers through the device to the condemned seem to be an example of just one of the two types of justice criticized in the text. The first type of “justice” is the excruciating suffering wrought by the officer and Old Commandant through the apparatus upon the “naturally” guilty, almost like divine punishment raining down from the heavens to strike down sinners. The other “justice” is the presumption of innocence and civilized law and order of liberal

Society has a significant role when it comes to convictions and punishments. For example, in the case of Walter McMillian, he was convicted of a murder he did not commit due to the police receiving continuous negative compliments [condescending] in regards to their failure in catching the murderer in this case. Initially, on page 31,

2. Why does he say that many forms of “lawlessness” have a collective aspect; and are often hard to differentiate from “the law?” Why did extra-legal “justice” become less acceptable over time?.

To judge is to irreparably arbitrate; the judged seldom find recourse if an error lies in the judge’s logic. In criminal proceedings, the courts judge alleged criminals and deliver verdicts. A frequently encountered issue is determining guilt. Critics of the de facto court system cite moral culpability as an ideal that the courts fail to attain. Priding its moral superiority, the United States surprisingly lacks some of the basic rights to justice afforded to others elsewhere. America purports to have a duty to serve justice, yet the justice system provides little leeway to those whose crimes are not their fault. This notion of unfulfilled justice appears in In Cold Blood by Truman Capote. When Dick and Perry commit murder, the circumstances are such that Perry cannot be entirely accountable for the actions he took. Perry bears no responsibility for the crimes he committed; storied psychological illnesses and pitfalls compromised his sense of right and wrong, rendering him incapable of intervening in his planned crime with Dick.

The novel Unfair: the new science of criminal injustice, is a collection of short pieces addressing different situations in the criminal justice world where psychology plays a major role in determining outcomes. Chapter 6, "The Corruption of Memory”, addresses the problems with the process and using of an eyewitness testimony to convict someone (108-132). John Jerome White’s real-life example is used to demonstrate the problems with eyewitness testimony and how mistakes made during the process can ruin someone’s life. In the case of John Jerome White, he was misidentified as the man who raped and robbed a 74 year old women, by the victim herself (6 weeks later), which resulted in him spending 28 years in prison. To make it worse the actual guilty man, James Edward Parham, was in the lineup one person away from Mr. White and he was not caught again until he raped another victim. Many errors were made in how the case was handled and although they were not intentional they still magnify problems in the justice system and how we view our memories. From immediately after the crime to the point a suspect is put behind bars, the questioning, interrogation techniques, line up methods, and cross examinations can all effect the victims and witness’s recollection of events. Human memories are thought to be strong but with all the information that needs to be processed they are not as reliable as thought. However, this is not accounted for in the criminal justice system and it can greatly affect the outcomes of cases like John Jerome White’s. The point of the criminal justice system is to provide justice like it says in its name and although it happens more times than not, if there are possibilities of not providing justice they need to be fixed. Chapter 6, "The Corruption of Memory”, looks at what went wrong in order to wrongly convict an innocent man which ended up costing him half his life and how psychological principles could help prevent this from happening again.

After the twelve jurors had taken their initial vote, Juror Eight found himself to be a pariah among his associates, for simply possessing an opinion contradictory to the other 11 men in the room; breaking the pattern of unanimous voting, and declaring that he felt the accused might not be guilty. After the other jurors took turns verbally expressing their dissatisfaction with his audacious contradiction to the majority opinion, Juror Eight calmly responded: “It’s not so easy for me to raise my hand and send a boy off to die without talking about it first” (Fonda). Here lies the fundamental characteristic that renders Juror Eight a leader among his peers: his desire to consider the situation at hand to a deeper extent than what the other jurors felt was necessary. This inherent drive to face the true perplexity of the situation and submerge his consciousness under the pressure that upheld a human life ultimately led Juror Eight to shed light upon the holes in the evidence, and find an opinion worthy of acting upon. By deeply evaluating the witness’s’ testimonies, and considering the consequences of his decision, Juror Eight considered the situation before him deep within the dimensions of empathy and skepticism. The minds that can embark on such voyages through labyrinthine speculation

The circuit court denied relief without addressing Appellant’s request for an evidentiary hearing on harmless error. The court acknowledged that Hurst was retroactive to Appellant under Mosley v. State, 209 So. 3d 1248 (Fla. 2016), but ruled that the Hurst error was harmless because (1) Appellant’s prior violent felonies remove Appellant from the protection provided by Hurst; (2) the jury was unanimous; and (3) Appellant instructed his counsel not to present

Knight was being tested if he had any mental illnesses. Their theory was only someone who was insane could last in the wilderness alone for twenty-seven years. Yet, when they did all these testings he said that he was still very insane. If he was not insane then that means he was very aware of everything he was doing. So then infact he should get the worst punishment for his illegal actions.

Why Innocent People are Wrongly Convicted Introduction Attention grabber: “Wrongful convictions have been documented throughout history with incidents in 1611,1660,1792,1819,1820, and 1835 - not including the Salem Witch trials” (Krieger) Explanation: There are many different factors that contribute to false imprisonment such as: inaccuracy of eye-witnesses, perjured testimony, availability of DNA testing, accuracy of DNA testing, prosecutorial misconduct, and ineffective defense representation. These are only some of the few factors that lead to false imprisonment. B. Thesis: False imprisonment should not be a problem in today’s advanced society, there should be more precise ways to ensure that false imprisonment does not occur.

and their deeds in order to grip his audience and back his views, employing vivid words

Justice held by humans can be corrupt, but true justice serves righteous. This shows true in Franz Kafka’s story of brutality and injustice, “In the Penal Colony”. An officer who wills to be just, who’s decision to give cruel justice with prejudice, results in his realization of wrongdoing. A traveller from outside the unmodernized island colony brings him this realization. Since the officer is motivated by his will to be just, his decision to sustain old ways, creates his demise by the end of the story.

However judge john Hawthorne presumed the accused was guilty. I think a good example of this would be when john Hawthorne was interrogating Bridget Bishop he asks her if he she is a witch and if she says that not only is she not a witch she doesn’t even know what a witch is. Judge John Hawthorne then says “If you know not what a witch is, how do you know you are not one”? (Miller

As recent high-profile criminal trials make clear, the evidence available at the trial can rarely put to rest all doubt as to the guilt or innocence (Tyler, T.). The uncertainly about the truth makes it more difficult to achieve justice in a psychologically satisfactory manner (Tyler, T.).

False testimony/false accusation played a huge role in Just Mercy as well as in The Shawshank Redemption. In the movie, false accusation came into play when Andy was taken into custody for murdering his own wife. Toward the end of the movie, a man came out and openly admitted that “this guy gave him shit so he killed him and the busty bitch he was with. This man also stated that the ladies man was a banker and he was the one who was taking fault for her murder. After this scene was shown, viewers were able to realize that Andy was truly innocent. Moreover, Andy was mainly being kept in prison after attempting to prove his innocence due to the amount of money that he personally helped the prison save. This was the reason why Warden Norton made Andy shy away from certain things like the ability to feel a sense of freedom. It was easier for Warden Norton to facilitate stricter rules rather than to actually let Andy testify his innocence. The practices in which Mr. Norton was putting prisoners under weren’t equitable. Furthermore, Just Mercy also portrayed situations dealing with false accusation, which was something that played a huge role within various chapters. False accusation became an enormous part in the book when Walter McMillian was convicted for Ronda Morrisons Murder. False accusation is something that is displayed in both the book as well as the movie. Throughout the book, Walter McMillian was a main focus due to the false testimony that was made by Ralph Myers in regard to Ronda Morrison’s murder. Ralph Myers testified against Walter McMillian by making false accusations, which would lead on to his very own justice. In addition to the previous statement, these accusations caused Walters incarceration, which later on led to six years of Walter McMillians’ life being taken away from him. These false accusations caused Walter