Criminal Justice

"The voices of those experiencing life in the long term are often not heard. This collection of essays and personal stories from the people most impacted by long-term incarceration in Statesville Prison bring light to the crisis of mass incarceration and the human cost of excessive sentencing. Compelling, moving narratives from those most affected by the prison industrial complex make a compelling case that death by incarceration is cruel and unusual punishment. Implemented in the 1990's and 2000's harsh sentencing policies, commonly labeled “tough on crime,” became a bipartisan political agenda. These policies had real impacts on families and communities, particularly as they caused the removal of many non-white and poor individuals from cities like Chicago. The Long Term brings into the light what has previously been hidden, a counter-narrative to the tough on crime agenda and an urgent plea for a more humane criminal justice system. The book is a critical contribution to the current debate around challenging the mass incarceration and ending mandatory sentencing, especially for non-violent offenders."

"All colleges and universities grapple with the complexities of student misconduct. How can these institutions conduct efficient fact-finding investigations and disciplinary proceedings? What best practices should administrators and legal counsel follow when student behavior interferes with a university's mission or poses a campus safety threat? Oren R. Griffin answers these questions and more in Investigating College Student Misconduct, an essential resource for student affairs professionals and university administrators. Misconduct investigations and disciplinary proceedings are as common in higher education as they are contested. Without the force of law, clear procedures, or even rules of evidence, these proceedings can leave both the accused and the accuser in danger of receiving unfair treatment, opening the university up to legal action. Emphasizing the importance of institutional compliance obligations and students'rights, Griffin explores the fundamental steps that should guide the investigation process. He describes tactics that academic and student affairs administrators should consider and comments on the importance of managing privileged and confidential information—as well as communicating the results of and proposed remedies to student misconduct investigations.A law professor, scholar of higher education law, and associate dean who consults with other universities on legal compliance and litigation matters, Griffin brings a unique perspective to this topic. Touching on a range of issues, including academic dishonesty, sexual assault, freedom of speech, quasi-criminal activity, and other acts of misconduct, Investigating Student Misconduct is supported by a review of relevant judicial decisions from state and federal courts, along with a conceptual and pragmatic analysis of important statutory and constitutional provisions, including Title IX and FERPA."

"This work asks readers to reconsider punishment contracts in the United States. It illustrates the importance of state accountability and responsibility to those who are punished, while also focusing on the dual importance of desistance and re-entry. Looking across current criminological desistance literature, Stephen C. McGuinn shows the value of empowerment, meaning and, most of all, assimilation. Woven throughout the text, the work also captures the actual experiences of a man returning to society after eleven years in prison. He details his experiences in a daily journal, providing an honest and forthright account of the confusion and struggle of those who come home after lengthy prison stays. Through this account, readers are reminded of the importance of human connection and compassion. As researchers, as scientists, we must provide a map, or a language and narrative, on how to consider punishment in the US. In developing a new way to consider the process of desistance, this book champions the humanity in forgiveness and the compassion of justice."

"This updated and expanded new edition resumes the theme of the first edition, and the findings reveal that race, ethnicity, gender, class, and several other variables continue to play a significant and consequential role in the legal decision-making process. The book is structured into three sections, each of which corresponds to a different body of work on Latinos. Section One explores the historical dynamics and influence of ethnicity in law enforcement, and focuses on how ethnicity impacts policing field practices, such as traffic stops, use of force, and the subsequent actions that police departments have employed to alleviate these problems. A detailed examination of critical issues facing Latino defendants seeks to better understand the law enforcement process. The history of immigration laws as it pertains to Mexicans and Latinos explains how Mexicans have been excluded from the United States through anti-immigrant legislation. Latino officers must cope with structural and political issues, the community, and media, as these practices and experiences within the American police system are explored. Section Two focuses on the repressive practices against Mexicans that resulted in executions, vigilantism, and mass expulsions. The topic of Latinos and the Fourth Amendment reveals that the constitutional right of people to be protected against unreasonable searches and seizures has been eviscerated for Latinos, and particularly for Mexicans. Possible remedies to existing shortcomings of the court system when processing indigent defendants are presented. Section Three studies the issue of Hispanics and the penal system. The ethnic realities of life behind bars, probation and parole, the legacy of capital punishment, and life after prison are discussed. Section Four addresses the globalization of Latinos, social control, and the future of Latinos in the U.S. Criminal justice system. Lastly, the race and ethnic experience through the lens of science, law, and the American imagination, are explored, concluding with policy recommendations for social and criminal justice reform, and ultimately humanizing differences. Written for professionals and students of law enforcement, this book will promote the understanding of the historical legacy of brutality, manipulation, oppression, marginalization, prejudice, discrimination, power and control, and white America's continued fear about racial and ethnic minorities."

"The United States has more people locked up in jails, prisons, and detention centers than any other country in the history of the world. Exploring the history and foundations of mass incarceration, Dominique Gilliard examines Christianity's role in its evolution and expansion, assessing justice in light of Scripture, and showing how Christians can pursue justice that restores and reconciles."

"Trapped in a Vice explores the consequences of a juvenile justice system that is aimed at promoting change in the lives of young people, yet ultimately relies upon tools and strategies that enmesh them in a system that they struggle to move beyond. The system, rather than the crimes themselves, is the vice. Trapped in a Vice explores the lives of the young people and adults in the criminal justice system, revealing the ways that they struggle to manage the expectations of that system; these stories from the ground level of the justice system demonstrate the complex exchange of policy and practice."

"The magnitude of wrongful conviction is increasing across the country and around the world, with individuals arrested, convicted, and incarcerated for extended periods of time. This book provides an understanding of legal remedies, organizational reforms, and policy changes that have been proposed and implemented. In various jurisdictions, these procedures reduce the likelihood of a wrongful conviction. Legal and organizational reforms and changes in criminal justice policy are considered at three key junctures of the process: (1) the investigation, evidence gathering, and forensic analysis, (2) prosecutorial decision-making, and (3) the judicial review and exoneration of a wrongfully convicted defendant. Each chapter opens with a wrongful case vignette that illustrates the reform strategies being considered. The investigatory process is studied on each case, and the police process is analyzed in detail. Part 1 includes the introductory chapter that provides an overview of wrongful convictions, and the investigatory process routinely employed to gather evidence and identify a suspect. The analysis of forensic evidence is explored, including the chain of custody, contamination of the evidence, misinterpretation, and the falsification of forensic reports. Part 2 focuses on the prosecutors, defense attorneys, judges and juries. Plea bargaining strategies, coaching witnesses, violations of the rules of discovery, use of jailhouse snitches, inadequate defense counseling, lack of preparation and adequate resources are examined. Part 3 analyzes the processes involved in the reversal of wrongful convictions, the judicial review, and obstacles encountered in the exoneration process. In addition, the authors provide a thorough analytical overview of the criminal justice processes involved in wrongful conviction and the reforms that are needed to prevent and reverse injustices. This book is an invaluable resource for prosecutors, defense attorneys, judges, advocates for the wrongfully convicted, criminal justice policymakers, law and society, and will contribute to academic courses in the fields of criminology and justice."

"Our nation's schools should be safe havens for teaching and learning, free of crime and violence. Any instance of crime or violence at school not only affects the individuals involved, but also may disrupt the educational process and affect bystanders, the school itself, and the surrounding community (Brookmeyer, Fanti, and Henrich 2006; Goldstein, Young, and Boyd 2008). Establishing reliable indicators of the current state of school crime and safety across the nation and regularly updating and monitoring these indicators are important in ensuring the safety of our nation's students. This is the aim of Indicators of School Crime and Safety. The report included in this book is the seventeenth in a series of annual publications produced jointly by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), Institute of Education Sciences (IES), in the U.S. Department of Education, and the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) in the U.S. Department of Justice. This report presents the most recent data available on school crime and student safety. The indicators in this report are based on information drawn from a variety of data sources, including national surveys of students, teachers, principals, and postsecondary institutions. Sources include results from the School-Associated Violent Deaths Study, sponsored by the U.S. Department of Education, the Department of Justice, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC); the National Crime Victimization Survey and School Crime Supplement to that survey, sponsored by BJS and NCES, respectively; the Youth Risk Behavior Survey, sponsored by the CDC; the Schools and Staffing Survey and School Survey on Crime and Safety, both sponsored by NCES; the Supplementary Homicide Reports, sponsored by the Federal Bureau of Investigation; EDFacts, sponsored by NCES; and the Campus Safety and Security Survey, sponsored by the U.S. Department of Education. The most recent data collection for each indicator varied by survey, from 2009 to 2013. Each data source has an independent sample design, data collection method, and questionnaire design, or is the result of a universe data collection. All comparisons described in this report are statistically significant at the.05 level. Additional information about methodology and the datasets analyzed in this report may be found in appendix A. The report covers topics such as victimization, teacher injury, bullying and cyber-bullying, school conditions, fights, weapons, availability and student use of drugs and alcohol, student perceptions of personal safety at school, and criminal incidents at postsecondary institutions. Indicators of crime and safety are compared across different population subgroups and over time. Data on crimes that occur away from school are offered as a point of comparison where available."

"The lethality of lone-wolf terrorism has reached an all-time high in the United States. Isolated individuals using firearms with high-capacity magazines are committing brutally efficient killings with the aim of terrorizing others, yet there is little consensus on what connects these crimes and the motivations behind them. In The Age of Lone Wolf Terrorism, terrorism experts Mark S. Hamm and Ramón Spaaij combine criminological theory with empirical and ethnographic research to map the pathways of lone-wolf radicalization, helping with the identification of suspected behaviors and recognizing patterns of indoctrination.Reviewing comprehensive data on these actors, including more than two hundred terrorist incidents, Hamm and Spaaij find that a combination of personal and political grievances lead lone wolves to befriend online sympathizers—whether jihadists, white supremacists, or other antigovernment extremists—and then announce their intent to commit terror when triggered. Hamm and Spaaij carefully distinguish between lone wolves and individuals radicalized within a group dynamic. This important difference is what makes this book such a significant manual for professionals seeking richer insight into the transformation of alienated individuals into armed warriors. Hamm and Spaaij conclude with an analysis of recent FBI sting operations designed to prevent lone-wolf terrorism in the United States, describing who gets targeted, strategies for luring suspects, and the ethics of arresting and prosecuting citizens."

"Practitioners in the social, behavioral, and health fields often work with perpetrators and survivors of interpersonal violence. Many are asked to make predictions about the likelihood of future violence. Assessing Dangerousness reviews the intricacies of predicting intimate partner violence and homicide as well as child abuse and homicide to better prepare readers to make such assessments. Extensively revised, this classic volume highlights the latest research in clear and accessible language. Each contributor, a noted expert in their field, has faced the difficult task of assessing the risk of intimate partner violence and child abuse in courtrooms, clinics, shelters, hospitals, schools, and more. Their experience in research and practice makes this the go-to resource for anyone required to make predictions about violent behavior in family settings. Presents clinical and court examples requiring the assessment of risk and danger that appeals to practitioners in social work, psychology, nursing, counseling, criminology, and public health. Introduces an evidence based approach that practitioners can use to integrate risk assessment in a variety of settings. Covers the latest risk assessment instruments for use in the field including the Danger Assessment, the DVSI-R, and the ODARA. Highlights the newest and most promising applications of risk assessment such as the Maryland Network Against Domestic Violence Lethality Assessment Program. Synthesizes related legal and ethical issues to help practitioners implement risk assessment in a responsible way. Identifies prediction factors and risk markers for use in interventions. Exposes the overlap between child and intimate partner homicide, instrumental in identifying families with multiple risks. Presents the latest research on the risk of re-assault in intimate partner violence and risk over the life course. Reviews the latest version of Dr. Campbell's Danger Assessment, the most widely used homicide risk assessment instrument for intimate partner violence survivors. Introduces two new authors in the chapters on child abuse lethality assessments and risk of IPV exposing readers to the rising stars in the field."

"The dramatic increase in U.S. prison populations since the 1970s is often blamed on the mandatory sentencing required by'three strikes'laws and other punitive crime bills. Michael O'Hear shows that the blame is actually not so easily assigned. His meticulous analysis of incarceration in Wisconsin—a state where judges have considerable discretion in sentencing—explores the reasons why the prison population has ballooned nearly tenfold over the past forty years. O'Hear tracks the effects of sentencing laws and politics in Wisconsin from the eve of the imprisonment boom in 1970 up to the 2010s. Drawing on archival research, original public-opinion polling, and interviews with dozens of key policymakers, he reveals important dimensions that have been missed by others. He draws out lessons from the Wisconsin experience for the United States as a whole, where mass incarceration has cost taxpayers billions of dollars and caused untold misery to millions of inmates and their families."

"This third edition, arriving nearly 12 years after the previous one, is not only timely but overdue. This text offers a welcome and appropriate mixture of knowledge or information about specific types of technology along with empirical studies of certain technology used in various subcomponents of the criminal justice system. This text consists of 12 chapters, with eight completely new and four substantially revised and updated. The text is arranged into two parts: law enforcement technology and public safety technology. Major topics include: technology infrastructure: what it is and how it's changing; current overview of law enforcement technology; body-worn cameras: the new normal; avoiding the technological panacea of the body-worn camera; examining perceptions of technology-enabled crimes; digital forensics; technological advancements in keeping victims safe; the evolution of offender electronic monitoring: from radio signals to satellite technology; technoprisons: technology and prisons; inside the Darknet: techno-crime and criminal opportunity; securing cyberspace in the 21st century; and assessing the deployment of automated license place recognition technology and strategies to improve public safety. Numerous illustrations and tables highlight the chapter contents. Students, educators, and practitioners will find this new edition most useful as it provides practical knowledge about different technology advances and projections on many levels. This third edition has developed into an excellent resource that allows both neophyte and expert to learn state-of-the-art information."

"This unique text has been written as a practical reference for detectives, crime scene investigators, and prosecutors on how to recognize a staged scene and how this offender behavior could be used as evidence in subsequent trials. The book is designed to help those actively engaged in conducting criminal investigations identify the red flags or those common findings at a crime scene that point to the scene being staged or altered and thereby assist the investigative process. The text is not only research based but also includes the authorsf 30-year experience and personal observations in conducting hundreds of different crime scene investigations ranging from homicide and death, burglary and other property crimes, to rape and other sexual crimes. This experience also includes interviewing hundreds of victims and suspects, and conducting investigations from initiation of cases through prosecution. The authors have located hundreds of examples of staging and have included many of them as case studies throughout the text. Many of the case studies presented are based on the authorsf personal involvement in them. In addition to defining and categorizing the various aspects of staging, the reader is also introduced to new terminology describing the different elements of staging based on offender motive and the dynamics of the events. Other major discussions include primary and secondary staging as well as the two subcategories of primary staging: premeditated and ad hoc staging. Staging by individuals other than the offender and victim, described as tertiary/incidental scene alterations, are included as are several chapters on a variety of crimes and how to identify the red flags relevant to them. A final chapter is written especially for prosecutors and offers suggestions and references on how the concept of staging might be introduced in court. A very thorough Appendix provides reviews of many appellant court decisions from across the U.S. and Canada specifically addressing issues of staging."

"Victims of crime are still marginalized in criminal law practice, even though an increasingly large number of legislatures have introduced reforms on their behalf. This collection of papers from some of the leading experts in the field sets out to provide a better understanding of the problems associated with restorative justice, with the aim of improving criminal law in the area. Questions asked include whether retribution may be plausibly reinterpreted as restoration by offenders on behalf of victims; the relationship between criminal law and tort law; and issues relating to the rights of victims."

"Police Studies constitute an important area of academic inquiry and policing raises a large number of ethical questions, yet to date there has been a paucity of research on the subject. This significant volume provides an integrated mix of ethico-philosophical analysis combined with practitioner knowledge and experience to examine and address the large number of difficult ethical questions involved in modern-day policing. Key features: Outlines a distinctive philosophical theory of policing which promotes the human rights dimension of police work; Analyzes the phenomenon of noble cause corruption and ways to combat it; Examines the role of restorative justice; Discusses the related notions of police authority and police discretion; Assesses the use of coercive and deadly force; Provides a detailed discussion of recent issues such as privacy and confidentiality in the context of new communication and information technologies, and entrapment. Philosophical in approach and written in an accessible style, the book will be a valuable guide for all those with an interest or involvement in Police Studies, Criminology, Philosophy and Ethics."

"Few people experience life inside of prison. Even fewer are charged with the formidable responsibility of deciding whether inmates should be released. In his twenty-four years on the Rhode Island Parole Board, Frederic G. Reamer has judged the fates of thousands of inmates, deciding which are ready to reenter society and which are not. It is a complicated choice that balances injury to victims and their families against an offender's capacity for transformation. With rich retellings of criminal cases—some banal, some brutal—On the Parole Board is a singular book that explains from an insider's perspective how a variety of factors play into the board's decisions: the ongoing effect on victims and their loved ones, the life histories of offenders, the circumstances of the crimes, and the powerful and often extraordinary displays of forgiveness and remorse. Pulling back the curtain on a process largely shrouded in mystery, Reamer lays bare the thorny philosophical issues of crime and justice and their staggering consequences for inmates, victims, and the public at large. Reamer and his colleagues often hope, despite encountering behavior at its worst, that criminals who have made horrible mistakes have the capacity for redemption. Yet that hope must be tempered with a realistic appraisal of risk, given the potentially grave consequences of releasing an inmate who may commit a future crime. This book will appeal to anyone interested in the complexities of the criminal justice system, the need to correct its injustices, and the challenges of those who must decide when justice has been served."

"For years, criminologists have studied the relationship between crime and below-average intelligence, concluding that offenders possess IQ scores 8-10 points below those of non-offenders. Little, however, is known about the criminal behavior of those with above-average IQ scores. This book provides some of the first empirical information about the self-reported crimes of people with genius-level IQ scores. Combining quantitative data from 72 different offenses with qualitative data from 44 follow-up interviews, this book describes the nature of high-IQ crime while shedding light on a population of offenders often ignored in research and sensationalized in media."