Serial Misconduct Research Paper

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.

When we think about prisons, jails, and courthouses, our minds are meant to draw a connection to cold, hard, justice and fair punishments for guilty and deserving parties. Yet, in our judicial and prison systems around the world, this idea is nowhere close to reality. From inhumane punishments, to mass incarceration, and “trapping” people in the system based on race or financial status, justice is far from being served.

Throughout history, various cases have not been properly executed in such a way that rightful criminals are taken to justice (hence the creation of courtrooms). The result of improper trials have led to the death of innocent lives which is unfortunately not unprecedented. A trial that epitomizes such unfair charges, leading to the execution of an innocent, was the Lindbergh Baby Kidnapping Trial. Bruno Richard Hauptmann was not guilty of the murder pertaining to the Lindbergh’s baby; he was wrongly convicted under circumstantial and biased evidence. The kidnapping of the baby had led to widespread speculations, and caused the case to spread amongst the

As a community we long to know that we are safe from criminal activity on all levels. If we have property stolen or vandalized we expect that the perpetrator will be caught and held accountable for their actions and restitution will be brought forth. If a “mad man” is on the loose raping and kill members of our community we expect they will be caught and sentenced in the legal system and order will be restored. In reality we know that this is not an actuality. Often criminals accept plea deals, overcrowding of jails provide sentences to be reduced, and lawyers find “loop holes” for their defendants and no time is served.

Most of the times suspects are placed in dark rooms where they are unable to see sunlight for many hours. The room is usually empty, making it seem very isolated and having no way out. This plays a big role due to the fact that most of people don’t want to be in a small room where law enforcers are yelling in their face, calling them names and making them feel worthless. Once bringing the suspect’ self-esteem down it is very easy for the interrogator to manipulate the suspect, making him or her confess of a crime, just as it was seen in the Norfolk Four

Jimmy Santiago Baca is a winner of the International Prize for his work in, A Place to Stand. The making of a poet. He writes, “I had no money. There is no way I’m going to make bail” (Baca, 187). In some cases, prisoners are only locked up because they had to get appointed a defense attorney who convinced them to plead to the charges so they would not have to go to trial and risk getting an extended amount of time. District attorneys are elected by the citizens and those people want someone who is tough on crime. If the district attorney is not tough on crime, the people will not reelect him. This can lead to many innocent lives being wasted; For instance, some criminals will sit in a cell for decades for the smallest offense. However, if a prisoner attempts to plead not guilty and the case goes to a trial by jury and they do find him or her guilty, they will be sentenced to an even longer term. It is obvious that our justice system is unfair and against human morals and ethics. They are somehow “innocent until proven guilty” yet they cannot afford to prove themselves innocent. Not only is poverty a reason for the rising increase in the population of inmates, many lack the education needed to understand the law or what they are being accused of.

Many people would like to believe that they live in a just society and that their justice system is fair and never makes mistakes, but it seems as though the United States criminal justice system makes more errors than necessary, that is detrimental to one's life. According to the article, “Mass Incarceration: The Whole Pie 2017” by Peter Wagner and Bernadette Rabuy, in the United States, 2.3 million people are incarcerated in state prisons, 102 in federal prisons, and 3,163 in local jails and state prison (Wagner and Rabuy, 2017). The United States has the highest incarceration rates than anywhere else in the world and it is not due to the fact that many of those incarcerated are actually guilty. In 2015, 149 innocent people spent an average

Throughout one’s life many are prone to being in one of America’s many courtrooms at least once in their life. Whether it is for a parking ticket, a petty larceny charge, or simply jury duty most citizens have been in a courtroom once or twice. However, it is rare that one knows the many steps and processes that take place when a crime has been convicted. There is an excess number of elements that are introduced and just to name a few it all starts with the occurrence of the crime, then follows the arrest, proceeded by an arraignment, bail hearing and any more steps before finally reaching the final verdict that lands one with guilt or innocence (Neubrauer, Fadella 2013). Based on the laws in place by the United States and the Constitution one must be able to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. If there is doubt at all in the jurors minds, they cannot convict the individual of being guilty and lately this has created a lot of controversy in the United States with many cases being tried. For example, the Casey Anthony case that took place in Florida was one of the most recent states where Common Law and the Constitution were unable to be reconcilable to prove one’s guilt.

Everything changes with time. Sometimes that change is good and sometimes it is bad. Unfortunately, change will happen whether people like it or not, therefore it is best to focus on the positive components of that change. One aspect of society that constantly changes over time is the Criminal Justice System. Luckily for humanity, most of the evolution that the criminal justice has gone through has been positive. The most positive of these changes has been the ongoing evolution of the defendants’ rights in the process of law. America is a society founded and based on freedom. Therefore, it seems only right that free people, until proven guilty, are treated as free and innocent people.

According to Banks, the amount of prison spending has increased six times from 1983 to 2008, and “the correctional population has tripled in 25 years.” (Banks, 2013, p. 139) The United States alone holds the highest percentage of incarceration in the world. In addition to racial discrimination, and offenses targetting minorities, the biggest issue in our prison system is the fact that most of these prisoners are held in prison longer than they should in which they await for trial. It’s sad to think that as an alleged offender who requests a speedy trial does not reach his date of trial as fast as it is said to be. According to the Miami-Dade County daily jail population statistics, the longest stay of a inmate who is still awaiting trial for 1st Degree Murder in 4,358 days which is roughly 11 years and 11 months, and currently there are 103 who are waiting trial with more than 4 years length of stay in prison. Our criminal justice system seems to be quite devistating and extremely disorganized when it comes to properly giving the alleged inmates their Constitutational right to a speedy trial. The United

“No one loses their innocence. It is either taken away or given willingly” Tiffany Madison. A person’s innocence and freedom should be theirs to hold and control, but that is not always the way things unfold. Conviction flaws, poor evidence, and the social responses to these flaws are all involved and present in the cases of Paula Gray and Keith Allen Harward, as new evidence thirty years after they were imprisoned comes to light.

Imagine walking down the street at night alone and all of the sudden being taken and raped or murdered. How would the victim or the family of one of the victims feel if the rapist or murderer was not sentenced to enough jail time to serve him justice? Seeing him again could induce fear, panic, or anxiety. The family would have no say in what comes from a release trial. Imagine the family of the victim seeing him a couple of months later because he was let out early. They would constantly feel uneasy and unsafe because this monster is out and roaming the streets again. This is the gut-wrenching reality of the justice system today. Many rapists and murderers are not serving full or proper sentences because of “good behavior,” lenient judges,

A wrongful happens when a defendant who is innocent is found guilty in a criminal trial or even when a defendant pleads guilty to a crime they did not commit usually to avoid extreme sentences like death penalty. A wrongful conviction also refer to a situation where a jury finds a person who has a good self-defense guilty or where the constitutional rights of a person have been violated during trial but the appellate court reverse their convictions regardless of their factual guilt.

The death penalty can lead to the death of innocent people. For example, “…According to a new study, serious errors occur in almost 70% of all trials leading to the death penalty…”(Leibman). This shows that if 100 people were put on death row, 70 would have serious mistakes in their

"Since 1973, over eighty people have been released from death row with evidence of their innocence" (Innocence and the Death Penalty 1). Statistics say that of the three-thousand six hundred people on death row right now, at least one hundred of them are innocent (Capital Punishment 1). When an innocent person is executed, the real killer is still on the streets ready to victimize someone else (Pragmatic Arguments 1). The most important problem is that when an innocent person is executed, they represent another human being who did not deserve to die.