Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption Bryan Stevenson
Panel 5: Lauren Silver, Marcelle Ellis, Cathy Tran, Duyen Nguyen, Cecilia Tran, Kalyn Green, Kiki Prager
Just Mercy trailer (2019)
Book Overview & Author (Cecilia) About the Book: - profiles of many different people, - relationship between Stevenson, EJI, and Walter McMillian - Stevenson provides historical context, as well as his own moral and philosophical reflections on the American criminal justice and prison systems - argues that society should choose empathy and mercy over condemnation and punishment. Bryan Stevenson: - founder and Executive Director of the Equal Justice Initiative (EJI) - argued and won multiple cases at the United States Supreme Court
What is crime? Crime : behavior that is prohibited by the criminal law because it is considered especially harmful or offensive. - Who decides what is offensive or harmful? - Are some harmful behaviors not considered crimes? Are some crimes not that harmful? - Are some people more likely than others to be considered criminals due to their gender, race and ethnicity, social class, age, or other aspects of social backgrounds?
Crime & Media - News media distort the true nature of crime and public perceptions of crime in certain ways - The over-dramatization of crime creates a false impression that a “crime wave” is occurring - Media devotes heavy coverage to violent crime… “if it bleeds, it leads” - Violent crime is only 12 - 14% of all street crimes combined - Most crimes are some sort of theft
Crime & Media (contd.) - exaggeration/ tendency to highlight crimes committed by African Americans / POC and crimes with white victims - Most crimes involve offenders and victims of the same race - Portrayal of criminals in the media differs based on race - In Just Mercy, when an African American male slept with a white woman, it was all over the news
How is Crime Measured? UCR NCVS National Crime Victimization Survey An annual survey conducted by the US department of justice that asks a representative sample of the American public about crimes they have suffered
Uniform Crime Reports FBI’s regular compilation of crime statistics, most being Part I crimes (major crimes)
Self-report Surveys Survey given to individuals, usually adolescents, that asks them about offenses they have committed and usually about their families and other aspects of their lives
Are These Measurements Accurate? NO 1. Self-report surveys 2. NCVS 3. UCR UCR: numbers are much lower than what they should be since half of all crime victims do not report their crimes to the police Excludes white-collar crimes and diverts attention away from their harm Police practices affect number of times listed NCVS : excludes commercial crimes (like shoplifting)
Types of ★ ★
Violent Crime: Violent crime includes homicide, rape and sexual assault, and more. Property Crime: Major property crimes are quite common in the United States and other nations (millions occur annually in this country) ○
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Crime
burglary, larceny, motor vehicle theft, and arson.
White-Collar Crime: Crime committed by people in the course of their occupations; by some definitions emphasized people of high social status are emphasized. ○
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Organized Crime: Premeditated criminal activity by groups or organizations whose major purpose for existing is to commit such crime ○
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Corporate Violence: Actions caused by corporations that cause death, injury or illness. Victims of corporate violence include corporate employees, consumers of corporate goods, and the public as a whole. ■ Example: The asbestos industry kept the discovery of the danger of asbestos a secret for over 3 decades, despite learning that it was a major health hazard in the 1930s. White Collar crime involves more death, injury, and economic loss than street crime, yet the punishment of white-collar crime is relatively weak
people smuggling, extortion, human and drug trafficking, money laundering, cybercrime, and more
Consensual Crime: (also called victimless crime) Behaviors in which people engage voluntarily and willingly even though these behaviors violate the law ○
prostitution, gambling, pornography, illegal drug use
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Raises two related issues: (a) To what extent should the government prohibit people from engaging in behavior in which there are no unwilling victims, and (b) do laws against consensual crime do more good than harm or more harm than good?
LOCATION Where we live makes a difference - Urban areas usually have higher crime rates in part because they are more poor but also due to greater population density
RACE The disproportionate involvement of African Americans and Latinxs in street crime arises largely from their poverty and urban residence.
DEMOGRAPHICS OF CRIME
GENDER
Males commit more street crime than females, in part because of gender role socialization that helps make males more assertive and aggressive.
AGE Young people commit a disproportionate amount of street crime, in part because of the influence of their peers island their lack of stakes in conformity.
The US has highest incarceration rates in the world About two thirds of homicides involve firearms, and half involve a handgun
Rates of black imprisonment have been soaring
THE COLD HARD FACTS OF CRIME Most homicides are intraracial
The U.S. is the only country that actively sentences youth to life in prison without the possibility of parole Although African Americans comprise about 14 percent of the U.S. population, they account for about 37 percent of all arrests for violent crime
Offending rates are highest in the late teens and early 20s and decline thereafter. Those in the 15–24 age range account for about one-third or more of all arrests even though they comprise only about 14 percent of the population.
Who Commits the Crime? Gender
Age
Social Class
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03
Area of Residence
Race & Ethnicity
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04 05
Gender ●
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Males commit more crimes than females ○ 80% of all arrests for violent crimes ○ 65% for property crimes Experience higher victimization rates
Socialization Boys Assertive
Girls nurturing
Age ● ● ●
15-24 years old More than ⅓ of all arrests ~14% of the population
Factors: ● Peers ● Lack full-time jobs ● Prefrontal cortex in adolescent brains is still biologically immature ● Early 20s - increase conformity / reduce desire to break the law from FBI 2018 Crime Stats & Data
Just Mercy: Cases ●
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Antonio Nunez ○ 14 ○ Imprisonment until death ○ Youngest person in the U.S. condemned to die in prison for a crime in which no one was physically injured Ian Manuel ○ 13 ○ Solitary confinement ○ Life sentence without parole
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George Stinney ○ 14 ○ Arrested for the murder of two young white girls ○ Sentenced to death
Area of Residence
Social Class ●
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Poor people are more likely to commit street crimes Wealthy people are more likely to commit white-collar crimes
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Higher homicide rates in big cities
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Higher crime rates in urban areas ○ Greater population density ○ More peers to influence
Race & Ethnicity ●
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African Americans and Latinx have higher street crime rate than non-Latinx whites African Americans ~14% of U.S. pop. ○ 37% of all arrests for violent crime Latinxs ~17% of U.S. pop. ○ 24% of violent crime
Factors ● Poorer than whites on average ○ Poverty contribute to higher crime rates ● More likely to live in urban areas ● Racial and ethnic discrimination
TOPIC Sociological perspectives FUNCTIONALIST CONFLICT INTERACTIONIST
Functionalist Perspective Social Disorganization Theory - Certain social characteristics [poverty, dilapidation, population density, and population turnover] of urban neighborhoods contribute to high crime rates Anomie Theory - crime by the poor results from a gap between the cultural emphasis on economic success and the inability to achieve such success through the legitimate means of working - Focused on effects of poverty in US that emphasizes economic success - Was influential but lost popularity
Conflict Perspective Conflict theories stress that social groups with power and influence try to use the law and criminal justice system to maintain their power and to keep other groups at the bottom of society. Group conflict theory: criminal law is shaped by conflict among various social groups in society that exist because of differences in race and ethnicity, social class, religion, etc. Radical theory: economic social class and power > religion, ethnicity, and other group characteristics Feminist approach: focuses on - (1) reasons girls and women commit crime - (2) the reasons female crime is lower than male crime - (3) victimization of girls and women by rape, sexual assault, and domestic violence - (4) experience of women professionals and offenders in criminal justice system
Interactionist Perspective stresses that individuals’ interactions shape the social world around them
Labeling Theory: Differential Association Theory: individuals learn the values, attitudes, techniques, & motives for criminal behavior through interaction with others
self-identity & behavior of individuals can be determined or influenced by the terms that are used to describe or classify them, therefore by labeling certain people as deviant, society encourages them to become more deviant
Social Bonding Theory: based on the assumption that all individuals naturally tend towards delinquency and includes 4 elements: attachment, commitment, involvement, and belief.
The Criminal Justice System
In order for criminal justice systems to exist & function in democratic societies, there are 2 major tenets that must be upheld: 1. Apprehend criminals, keeping the public safe by getting criminals off of the street, & thus reducing crime 2. Do so while still protecting people from the abuse of law enforcement agents & other government officials
Police
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Police Working Personality - a demeanor that is typically authoritarian and suspicious
“Thin Blue Line”
Primary Level Crime
Police Behavior Police Corruption ●
No measure of police corruption ○
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low-level corruption (small bribes, and stealing while on duty, etc.) are fairly common High-level corruption (large bribes, stealing and reselling illegal drugs, etc.) is thought to be far from rare
Just Mercy ○
Lying eyewitness
Police Brutality ●
Physical force is permitted and expected to be used when necessary to subdue suspects ○
Working personality influence
How Often?
Police and Crime Reduction
Two options for lowering crime rate:
Hiring More Police ●
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Adding more officers to a police force does not reduce crime holistically Why?
Making Changes in Police Practices ●
Changing the way in which police are deployed does help reduce crime ○ Directed Patrol - Consistent deployment of large numbers of police in high-crime areas or “hot spots” can reduce crime significantly and keep it long-term ○ Opposite of Crackdowns
Criminal Courts
The US legal system is designed to/supposed to allow suspects and defendants certain rights and protections that are guaranteed by the constitution and the bill of rights Problems in Criminal Court ● Lack of adequate counsel for the poor - get free legal counsel, however the counsel is usually ineffective or virtually non-existent ○ Socioeconomic status can determine fate (Just Mercy vs. OJ) ● Plea Bargaining - a defendant agrees to plead guilty, usually in return for a reduced sentence ○ Benefits: ensure convictions & ensure a lower sentence ○ Pitfalls: punished for exercising rights, coerced into pleading guilty ■ Just Mercy: “swapped places”, ensuring convictions
Statistics: ● More than 1.5 million people in state and federal prisons ● More than 750,000 in local jails ● Total: 2.3 million people behind bars ● Highest incarceration rate of any western democracy
Problem of Prisons and Mass Incarceration Racial Composition: ●
More than 60% are African American or Latino ○ African Americans and Latinos are arrested and imprisoned for drug offenses far out of proportion to their actual use of illegal drugs ○ The new Jim crow of mass incarceration - Shows that 1 of every 3 young African American males are in jail, prison, on probation, or parole
Costs: ● ●
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Correction system costs the nation more than 75 billion dollars annually What does this money accomplish? ○ Prison fund allocation How can funding actually help crime? ○ Crime prevention programs
Problems of Prison and Mass Incarceration Prison Purpose ● Prison may be a breeding ground for crime ○
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Rehabilitation programs, vocational training, drug and alcohol counseling, etc are lacking in prisons 700,000 inmates are released from prison a year and go back into their communities ill equipped to live a normal life Lack job opportunities, lack friendships with law abiding citizens ■ Labeling theory
Living Conditions ● Some minimum security federal
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prisons have clean, adequate facilities State prisons and local jails are typically dirty, with subpar living conditions americans feel that criminals deserve these living conditions, while others are completely unbothered by the situations prisoners face Treating inmates humanely would be an important step toward successful reentry into mainstream society!
The Death Penalty ● ● ●
Perhaps the most controversial issue in the criminal justice system today The US is the only Western democracy that sentences common criminals to death About two-thirds of Americans in national surveys favor the death penalty, with their reasons including: ○ ○ ○
need for retribution (“an eye for an eye”) deterrence of potential murderers lower expenditure of public funds compared to a lifetime sentence
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Faults within the Death Penalty Reasoning Homicide Deterrence: ○
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Racial Discrimination: ○
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The death penalty is racially discriminatory ■ African Americans are more likely than whites who commit similar homicides to receive the death penalty ■ Race of the victim ■ Whether or not this difference is intended, it suggests that the criminal justice system values white lives more than African American lives.
Wrong Convictions: ○
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Capital punishment does not deter homicide ■ Nature of homicide ● Spontaneous and emotional (not thinking), or premeditated (won’t get caught)
Many people have been mistakenly convicted of capital offenses ■ Leads to wrongful executions ■ During the past four decades, more than 130 people have been released from death row after DNA or other evidence cast serious doubt on their guilt
Costs: ○
Executions are expensive ■ $1 million for life, $3 million for death
Reducing Crime and Improving th Criminal Justice System Marcelle Ellis
Two Approaches: “Get Tough”
Public Health Approach
“Get Tough” Pushed as policy beginning in the 1980s-1990s Longer prison sentences Building of more prisons and jails Mass incarceration and harsher punishments Cost effective crime reduction? Not really. Rise of private prisons, public prison staff unions, private companies that benefit from mass incarceration systems ● “War on Drugs” created focus on targeting drug users and sellers for prison rather than rehab ● ● ● ● ● ●
Public Health Approach An “upstream” approach that focuses on the environment and surroundings that create crime and deviant behavior rather than assigning individual blame. CREDITS: This presentation template was created by Slidesgo, including icons by Flaticon, and infographics & images by Freepik
Public Health Approach Reduce Poverty
Male Socialization
5 Strategies Childhood Intervention Programs
Improve Schooling
Community Corrections
Changing Male Socialization
Reducing Poverty ● ●
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National effort Create programs that alleviate economic insecurity Improve neighborhood conditions Good paying jobs and opportunities for education
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Alter how parents raise boys Create a less aggressive and dominating mindset Reduce such high gender disparity in crimes
Childhood Intervention Programs
Improve Schooling ●
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Expand programming targeting helping mothers and young children Nutrition services Social worker visits, training, instruction
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Create better and smaller schoolhouses Promote academic achievement Reduce time outside of discipline Educational and job opportunities
Community Corrections ●
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Rehabilitation and behavior correction instead of prison Reduce number of inmates Cut prison costs Fund educational programming Allow easier transition back to society
How does this relate to Just Mercy? Death Penalty = Tough on Crime
Male Socialization and Expectations
ACTIVITY
Walter McMillan’s Case - White woman is shot and killed at her work - Nobody can find killer for a while - Walter McMillan’s affair with a white woman (different from the victim) - “Witness” comes forward that McMillan had used him to go through with the murder - McMillan’s family stated that they were at his house all day
What Do You Think?
VERDICT
Not guilty! - well, after his second trial
Juvenile Court Case - Two boys died due to smoke asphyxiation from a house fire - Trina Garnett (16 years old) was arrested - She had accidentally caused the fire while attempting to sneak in and talk to the boys
What Do You Think?
VERDICT Guilty & convicted of 2nd degree murder. Sentenced with mandatory life imprisonment without parole Should she have been tried as an adult?
THANKS! Do you have any questions?
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