An Introduction Thoughts on Crime Prison and Justice The law isnt always about truth a friend tells Luis J Rodriguez in his memoir Always Running Rodriguez 192 Thoughts on Crime Prison and Justice ID: 798343
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Slide1
Writing about Wrongful Conviction
An Introduction
Slide2Thoughts on Crime, Prison, and Justice
“’The law isn’t always about truth,’” a friend tells Luis J. Rodriguez in his memoir
Always Running
(Rodriguez 192).
Slide3Thoughts on Crime, Prison, and Justice
Rapper Meek Mill’s wrongful conviction was blasted by Jay Z, who called the sentence “unjust and heavy-handed”
Slide4Thoughts on Crime, Prison, and Justice
“I just spent sixty days in the jailhouse/For the crime of having no dough”—from The Band’s “The Shape I’m in” (1970)
Slide5Thoughts on Crime, Prison, and Justice
T.I. told
Vibe
, “When you are a prisoner, part of the mandate of your sentence is getting up and working. The product you are working on is then put on a market for a corporation that makes top dollar for it…That, to me, is incentivized incarceration…I don’t believe it’s constitutional.”
Slide6Worldwide Prison Rates
According to BBC News, the U.S. prison rates are the highest in the world at 724 people per 100,000
In Russia, that rate is 581 per 100,000 (“World Prison Populations”).
Slide7U.S. Prison System
“The American criminal justice system holds more than 2.3 million people in” state, federal prisons, and juvenile correctional facilities” (“Mass Incarceration: The Whole Pie 2016”).
Slide8U.S. Prison System
In the U.S., 1/5 people who are incarcerated are there for a drug-related offense (“Mass Incarceration: The Whole Pie 2016)
Slide9Imprisoned Journalists
According to PBS, the Committee to Protect Journalists, “reported 259 journalists” worldwide, “the highest total since” they started tracking these numbers in 1990 (“Which nations jail the most journalists?).
Slide10Countries Imprisoning the Most Journalists
Slide11Imprisoned Journalists
Ahmed Douma, Egyptian political activist
Arrested in 2012
Sentenced to life in prison
Slide12Imprisoned Journalists
Abdullah al-Fakharany, Egyptian co-founder of Rassd News Network
Arrested in 2013
Sentenced to life in prison for “spreading false information” and other charges
Slide13Imprisoned Journalists
Mahienour El-Massry, Egyptian human rights lawyer and political activist
Arrested in 2013
Slide14Imprisoned Journalists
Roman Sushchenko, Ukrainian journalist
Arrested in 2016
Slide15Imprisoned Journalists
Yang Tongyan, Chinese freelance journalist
Arrested in 2005
Slide16Imprisoned Journalists
Eskinder Nega, Ethiopian columnist, publisher, and editor
Arrested in 2011
Slide17Imprisoned Journalists
Mumia Abu-Jamal, American journalist and political activist
Arrested in 1982
Slide18Essay 2
Summary of Essay 2
: Select someone, a journalist perhaps, who has been unfairly imprisoned and analyze the case
Mumia Abu-Jamal
Slide19A Legal Argument
1. Introduction
2. Facts and Procedure
3. Standard of Review
4. Error
5. Prejudice
6. Remedy
7. Federalize
8. Procedural Bars
Slide20Organization of Essay 2
I. Introduction
A. Hook
B. Background Information
C. Introduce the Case
D. Thesis (argument on the case)
II. Definition of a Term (i.e. “justice”)
III. State the Relevant Law
IV. Error in the Case
V. Remedy
VI. Conclusion
Reflect on the justice system
Slide21Definition
Slide22Types of Definitions
Formal Definition
Stipulative Definition
Extended Definition
Slide23How We Use Definitions
“The beginning of wisdom is the definition of terms”—Socrates
Slide24Formal Definition
Formal Definition
: a dictionary definition, which makes for a good starting point
Slide25Formal Definition
Paradox
: “(1) a tenet contrary to received opinion, (2) a statement that is seemingly contradictory or opposed to common sense and yet is perhaps true, or (3) one (such as a person or situation) having seemingly contradictory qualities or phases”
Slide26Stipulative Definition
Stipulative Definition
: clarifies a particular way in which an author intends to use a word
Slide27Stipulative Definition
In Elizabeth Cady Stanton’s “The Destructive Male” speech, she clarifies what she means by “the masculine element”: “I do not wish to be understood to say that all men are hard, selfish, and brutal, for many of the most beautiful spirits the world has known have been clothed with manhood; but I refer to…the love of acquisition and conquest”
Slide28Extended Definition
Extended Definition
: used to explore a quality or idea in its full complexity (can help persuade, explain, or amuse)
Slide29Extended Definition
Use extended definitions to define:
Abstract concepts
like ”patriotism”
A
controversial phrase
like “how life began on earth”
A
colloquial or slang expression
A
thing
like a “hybrid class”
A
scientific idea
like “dark matter”
An
everyday expression
like ”lagging”
Slide30Extended Definition
Encyclopedia Britannica
defines
dark matter
as, “a component of the universe whose presence is discerned from its gravitational attraction rather than its luminosity. Dark matter makes up 30.1% of the matter-energy composition of the universe; the rest is dark energy (69.4%) and ’ordinary’ visible matter (0.5%)”
Slide31Definition Strategies
Slide32Function Strategy
Function Strategy
demonstrates how the concept functions in the real world
Slide33Example Strategy
Use specific
examples
to help the reader understand your definition. These examples come from texts and from personal experience
Slide34Negation Strategy
Negation strategy
is when writers explain something by showing what it is not. Using negation helps to contrast your definition from a definition that comes from another source
Slide35Other Strategies of Definition
Use
Synonyms
to convey the range of the word’s meaning(s)
Use
Negation
to convey what the word does not mean and how this limits the meaning of the word
Use
Etymology
to express an original or lesser known meaning of the term
Use
comparisons
to help the audience understand complex ideas
Slide36Other Types of Definitions
Cultural definitions
: shaped by the history, values, and attitudes of a national, ethnic, or religious group, like one of our recent writing center topics, where you defined and described an item of cultural significance
Personal definitions
: used by writers to express individual interpretations of words or ideas
Slide37Definition of DNA
“One of the most reliable forms of evidence in many criminal cases is in our genes, encoded in DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid). DNA evidence can be collected from blood, hair, skin cells, and other bodily substances. It can even be used to solve old crimes that occurred prior to the development of DNA-testing technology. Similar to fingerprints, each individual has a unique DNA profile (except for identical twins, who share the same genetic code).”
Slide38Definition Exercise
Using any definition strategies that you want, take 10-15 minutes to define the term “wrongful conviction”
Slide39Example of Stating a Relevant Law
18 U.S. Code 3600-DNA Testing: “Upon a written motion by an individual sentenced to imprisonment or death pursuant to a conviction for a Federal offense (referred to in this section as the “applicant”), the court that entered the judgement of conviction shall order DNA testing of specific evidence”
Slide40Example of Stating a Relevant Law
“As used in this section, ‘duress’ means a direct or implied threat of force, violence, danger, or retribution sufficient to coerce a reasonable person”—from Section 261 of California Law, Sexual Assault Statutes
Slide41Errors in the Case: Common Reasons Convictions are Overturned
1. Mistaken witness identification
2. False confession
3. False forensic evidence
4. Perjury
5. Official Misconduct
Slide42Example of a Remedy
The famous Central Park Five were convicted and that conviction was later overturned. In 2014 the City of New York awarded them $41 million dollars for wrongful imprisonment
Slide43Reflection on the Justice System
Slide44Bastoy Prison
Bastoy Prison in Norway provides inmates amenities like tennis, horseback-riding, fishing, and sunbathing
Slide45HMP Addiewell
Her Majesty’s Prison Addiewell helps inmates transition back into society by providing “40 weekly hours of productive skill building”
Slide46Otago Corrections Facility
Otago Corrections Facility in New Zealand holds classes in light engineering, dairy farming, cooking, and other skills
Slide47Justice Center Leoben
At the Justice Center Leoben in Austria prisoners have single cells, private bathrooms, kitchenette, and a television. Prisoners are also allowed to use the fully-equipped gym, basketball court, and outdoor recreation
Slide48Aranjuez Prison
At Aranjuez Prison in Spain, they take an innovative approach to families. They allow infant children to live their first years with their incarcerated parents
Slide49Sollentuna Prison
In Sollentuna Prison in Sweden, they offer a state-of-the-art gym, an open-for-use kitchen, TV, couch, and a spacious recreation room
Slide50Halden Prison
In Halden Prison in Norway, they offer skill-building classes, video games, a fully equipped gym, and a musical recording facility
Slide51Cebu Prison
At Cebu Prison in the Philippines, they focus on teaching singing and dancing. Inmates perform and sign autographs
Slide52Pondok Bambu Prison
At Pondok Bambu Prison in Indonesia, inmates are offered refrigerators, karaoke machines, and nail salons
Slide53Resources
“Causes of Wrongful Conviction.” Western Michigan University.
https://wmich.edu/sociology/causes-wrongful-conviction
Committee to Protect Journalism:
https://cpj.org/imprisoned/2016.php
“Dark Matter.” Encyclopedia Britannica.
“DNA Testing.” Legal Information Institute.
Foucault, Michel.
Crime and Punishment
.
Opposing Viewpoints: LASC Library Articles and Databases
Stanton, Elizabeth Cady. “The Destructive Male.” 1868.
“What is DNA Evidence?” Findlaw.com.