Fixing the U.S. Criminal Justice System (eBook)

CHAPTER 1: OUR CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM IS A NATIONAL SHAME The Deleterious Effects of the War on Drugs    Disproportionate Effects on Minority CommunitiesSuggested Solutions    CHAPTER 2: FAMILIES SUFFER SEVERE COLLATERAL DAMAGEThe Impact on Families A Loss of PrivacyPsychological Damage/Familial Fall-Out   Deterioration of Family UnitsFinancial Woes   A Family’s Future Picture, Financial and Otherwise    31Damage to the Children Suggested Solutions    CHAPTER 3: POLICE ISSUES     Complaints of Misconduct by the Police   Two Major Laws that Can Be Abused  Stop and IdentifySearch and Seizure     Incentives for Police Misconduct   Is there Effective Recourse against Police Misconduct?     At the Federal Level   At the State and Local Level Police Brutality and KillingsBreakdown of Law and Order:  Killings of Police and Riots  Photography of Police ActionsSuggested Solutions    CHAPTER 4: POWERFUL PROSECUTORS MISBEHAVING    Major Types of Prosecutorial Misconduct  Playing Politics with Evidence     Ignoring Evidence of a Witness’s Lies, and/or Leaking Inflammatory and Prejudicial InformationMotivations for Prosecutorial Misconduct Suggested Solutions    An Example of a Successful Solution in Action  CHAPTER 5: JUDICIAL LIMITATIONS AND MISBEHAVIORJudicial Limitations   Trials and Plea Bargains     Limitations Imposed on Judicial Sentencing     Judicial Misbehavior   Abuses of Judicial Power     Improper Courtroom Behavior  Showing Bias     The Power to Do Harm   Pressuring Defendants to Take Plea Bargains and Make Guilty PleasMotivations for Judicial BiasPolitical and Prosecutorial Bias   Personal Bias and Discrimination   Unaccountability in a Conveyor Belt System     The Protections of Judges    Peers on Judicial Disciplinary Panels    Limitations on Citizen Complaints  Suggested Solutions    CHAPTER 6: THE MEDIA MAKE MATTERS WORSE  How Cases that Involve Celebrities or Government Officials Can Fare Even Worse     How Media Abuses Make a Defendant Look Guilty  Notorious Pre-Trial (and Trial) PublicityAcross Multiple Platforms and from Unnamed Sources   Racial BiasStereotyping     Criminal Profiling     The Growing Problem of Bias and False News     Suggested Solutions    CHAPTER 7: NINE PRESCRIPTIONS TO FIX OUR BROKEN CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEMPrescription # 1: Better Safeguard our Police and Citizens Prescription # 2: Reform the Bail Reform Act   Prescription # 3: More Legal Assistance for Low-Income DefendantsPrescription # 4: Strict Limits on Immunity of Prosecutors and JudgesPrescription # 5: Separate Courts for Urban, Suburban and Rural AreasPrescription # 6: Reduce the High Rate of Incarceration