Building a More Just Society
[WLOs: 1, 3, 4] [CLOs: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6]
Prior to beginning work on this assignment, please review the article Blended Sentencing Laws and the Punitive Turn in Juvenile Justice (Schaefer and Uggen, 2016). In addition, please review resources included in your Week 3 Annotated Bibliography assignment. Finally, examine the Building a More Just Society (Links to an external site.) case scenarios multimedia below.
The Final Paper
You will prepare a four to six-page paper that addresses the questions below which relate to each of the three sections for the case of People v. Joey Juvenile. There are three sections for discussion with two sub-parts that need to be addressed within each section. The best way to present your paper will be with sub-headings which address each of the “Issue and Process Summaries” listed below.
Be sure to include at least three reliable/credible sources other than the textbook, at least one of which must be found in the University of Arizona Global Campus Library. It is expected that you will draw resources from your Week 3 Annotated Bibliography assignment, but you may select other resources if you choose to do so.
Note: To access the University of Arizona Global Campus Library directly, click on the Writing Center and Library links in your left navigation. Watch the Database Search Tips (Links to an external site.) video for more and see Searching the University of Arizona Global Campus Library document for assignment-specific search tips.
Note: You are encouraged to integrate any feedback from your instructor and upload the assignment to your ePortfolio (Links to an external site.).
Background
You work as a paralegal in a public defender’s office. In a current criminal case, the public defender represents Joey Juvey, a juvenile, and plans to address criminal justice issues, constitutional principles, cultural sensitivity, and diversity awareness in the criminal trial and hopes to promote social justice goals in local communities. This is a high-profile case, meaning that the press is reporting on every aspect of the charges on both local and national programs. You have been asked to assist the public defender in preparing theories for defense which not only best benefit the defendant but also highlight the societal issues inherent in the case. To this end, you will explore processes, issues applications for criminology, and relevant critical perspectives toward the goal of building a more just society.
Your Task
The public defender believes that her defense of Joey Juvey highlights significant criminal justice issues that the public needs to be made aware of and address. The defense lawyer sees herself in a dual function in this case; she must defend her client to the best of her abilities while seizing the opportunity to educate the public about current, critical criminal justice issues. To provide context for the public defender’s public exposure and trial strategy.
Section No. 1: Juvenile Justice, Transfer to Adult Court and the 8th Amendment: Cruel and Unusual Punishment
Case Description (also included in the multimedia content)
The State wants to transferJoey Juvey from the juvenile justice system to the adult criminal justice system for drug related charges. He is being held in juvenile detention pending trial. If convicted as an adult, Juvey could receive a prison sentence in an adult correctional facility. He grew up and still resides in a severely impoverished community.
The public defender will claim that the correctional facility conditions violate Eighth Amendment rights due to cruel and unusual punishment in the form of overcrowded and unsafe cell conditions. She argues that cell conditions are highly unsanitary and unacceptably crowded in violation of Juvey’s constitutional rights.
Issue and Process Summary
For these issues, examine the following:
The impact of transferring Juvey from the juvenile justice system to the adult criminal justice system, and
Issues in this case include cell conditions within the context of the Eighth Amendment. How will the court examine the Eighth Amendment’s prohibition against “cruel and unusual punishment and apply it to Juvey’s case?
Section No. 2: Juvenile Justice and the 5th Amendment Right Against Self-Incrimination
When in custody, Juvey claims that law enforcement asked incriminating questions about the investigation. While his parents were present during the custodial interrogation, law enforcement did not communicate the right to remain silent in Joey or his parents’ primary language. Everyone agrees that his parents have no understanding of the English language. Think about how cultural sensitivity should impact procedures for officers assigned to communities with diverse languages.
Issue and Process Summary
For these issues, evaluate the following:
Can the State prove that Juvey understood the waiver of his Miranda rights, and
How should law enforcement interact with the public and the accused in multilingual communities.
Section No. 3: Racial Make Up of Juries
The defense attorney believes that the county court system systematically fails to summon non-Caucasians for jury trials in the jurisdiction where Juvey’s case could ultimately be tried. She wants to assert that the failure to summons minorities to jury service is a violation of constitutional rights and undermines the legitimacy of the trial process. The defense lawyer has data that shows while the community is comprised 42% Caucasian and 58% minority eligible jurors, but routinely over 80% of those issued a summons to appear for jury duty are Caucasian.
Please review the case summary of Batson v. Kentucky (Links to an external site.) (1985) and Foster v. Chatman (2016) available through the webpage link under the “Required Resources” section and consider how the United States Supreme Court addresses the issue of racial discrimination within the context of juror exclusion.
Issue and Process Summary
For these issues, discuss the following:
fairness in jury pool and jury selection, and
the impacts of juror exclusion by race.
The Building a More Just Society paper
Must be four to six double-spaced pages in length (not including title and references pages) and formatted according to APA Style (Links to an external site.) as outlined in the Writing Center’s APA Formatting for Microsoft Word (Links to an external site.) resource.
Must include a separate title page with the following:
Title of paper
Student’s name
Course name and number
Instructor’s name
Date submitted
