Condensing the Government

I feel a few federal law enforcement agencies could be combined/eliminated as they seem to be extra steps within the system more than justifiable aid. The ATF is a good example, they started as a division tasked with collecting unpaid taxes on alcohol, tobacco, and firearms. Over the years they became focused primarily on firearms, over alcohol or tobacco issues, starting with prohibition. They picked up on mob/gang gun cases while alcohol was illegal and started dealing with illegal gun trafficking in connection to tax evasion. Dealing with the criminal cases tied them into law enforcement, shortly after prohibition ended the IRS reabsorbed several offshoot agencies, had the ATF not taken up the trafficking issues they would have been included. They still have the IRS/tax connections and responsibilities, though they seem to process just enough tax related cases to satisfy their obligations to the IRS. They are lined up for the law enforcement aspect more than any other. Their tax cases being minimal suggests that the IRS could easily reabsorb this area (they have a criminal investigations division already), while the firearms issues easily slot into (came from in the first place) the FBI’s territory, the ATF is a redundant division in it’s functions and productivity. Dissolving this department into the IRS and FBI would allow for it’s funding to be redistributed to more productive endeavors and eliminate a portion of red tape in the systems ability to function smoothly.

I also feel Customs and Border Protection and Immigration and Customs Enforcement are mirrors of each other, both developed form the Department of Homeland Security. CBP: “Two main stated goals are anti-terrorism and facilitating legitimate trade and travel.” (AllGov, 2015) ICE: “responsible for identifying, investigating, and dismantling vulnerabilities regarding the nation’s border, economic, transportation, and infrastructure security.” (U.S., 2015). Basically, CBP cares about what is coming into the country with whom and rather or not either are permitted. ICE cares about who is coming into the country, what they are bringing and rather either is permitted. While both functions justify a department, that there are two departments, preforming the same function, with polar focuses is potentially counterproductive. They should be separated, not to trip over each other, or combined for the same reason. It seems more complicated to have one department for immigration issues and another for Customs, each could deal with the associated terrorism in their own departments and work together in situations that overlap, but they would still be on top of each other. Breaking departments up excessively only serves to slow the justice systems ability to function, combining CBP and ICE into one larger department could complement both agencies strengths and weaknesses. There would be less inter agency red tape to deal with, better oversight, resulting ideally in things going smother and faster for it.

I also feel the DEA is not needed, at least not in their current form. They are tasked with combating drug trafficking and a leading agency in the war on drugs. I don’t agree with the war on drugs, it serves to make being addicted to something illegal rather than provide proper care and aid to the person. It has had a direct positive correlation to inmate populations (they’ve skyrocketed since enacted), and in this regard creates ‘victim-less’ crimes, rather than dealing with the violent ones that were already happening. Drug trafficking is not a ‘victim-less’ crime, and does need to be dealt with, I could see this function of the DEA melding very will with customs; As I would have them from above, separate from imagination. Properly funding mental heath care, health care, rehab facilities, and decriminalizing drug use, would remove a large portion of the inmate population influx. This would be done, by preventing people from making it as far as the justice system from the get-go, and actually addressing the core issue (resulting in actual ‘reform’/resolution of the potential crime issues – before they occur).

There are redundancy in the federal law enforcement agencies, meant as safeguards, but taken too far they stop being productive and start causing problems instead. Rather than expanding departments, and duplicating purposes, cleaning up and condensing several agencies could result in many benefits. From funding for things like mental health care, health care, substance abuse care, and so on, it could speed up the time constraints going through multiple jurisdictions causes. All of this would help combat the very crimes these agencies were developed for, only more efficient and productively.

References

“AllGov – Departments.” AllGov – Departments. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Aug. 2015.

Bumgarner, Jeffrey B., Charles E. Crawford, and Ronald G. Burns. Federal Law Enforcement: A Primer. Durham: Carolina Academic, 2013. Print.

“Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF).” AllGov – Departments. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Aug. 2015.

“U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).” AllGov – Departments. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Aug. 2015.

Jocelyn Johnson

Gun Control

The US population consists of 323 million people, this is 4.4% of the world population. There are 650 million civilian owned guns in the world, the US owns 300 million of them. One third of the US population owns 300 million guns, 20% of that third own 85% of those 300 million guns. This means 1.4% of all humans (who are all American civilians), owns 48% of the civilian owned guns in the entire world. America also accounts for 62% of the worlds total gun deaths each year, and is the leading supplier of illegal guns confiscated throughout the world.

There are 100,000 people shot in the US each year, 34,000 die and 66,000 are injured on average. Of those gun deaths, 22,000 are suicides, accounting for half of all suicides each year; with guns there is a 96.5% chance of successful suicide, where all other methods are under 10%. States with tighter gun regulations only have a quarter of the gun suicides, while maintaining the same rate of non-gun suicides, indicating that stricter regulations lowers suicide rates and attempts. Suggesting 16,500 people a year commit suicide because they can easily access a gun, who otherwise would not have, given time to think about it. 11,000 of the gun deaths are murders, accounting for 60% of all murders in America each year. There are about 540 unintentional, 460 legal intervention, and 260 undetermined shooting deaths each year in America, as well.

In 2013 we declared a mass shooting as consisting of 4+ victims, and the numbers started pouring in. In the 50 years prior to the University of Texas shooting in 1966, there were only 25 public mass shootings, the numbers have been growing ever since (exploding as we entered the 21^st centry). In 2013 there were just over 250 mass shootings, in 2015 that number crossed 300, and in 2017 it crossed 400. In a study done by Mother Jones, consisting of 62 mass shooting cases from 1982 – 2012, 70% were perpetrated by white males in their 30’s. Most had mental health issues. Since Columbine, we’ve reached a point where there is an average of one school shooting per week now, with a total of 65 in 2017. Of the guns used in mass shootings, 75% were obtained legally. Of the worlds worst mass shootings, America holds 5 of the top 15 slots, Vegas coming in at number 2 with 58 victims (first place having 69 victims). States with high numbers of gun ownership have three times the rate of police officers being shot and killed on duty. All the while, polling shows mass shootings (even at schools), have little to no effect on the public opinion regarding gun control. Domestic violence offenders are involved in 10% of all shootings, but account for over 50% of all ‘mass’ shooting perpetrators. Many states have laws that take gun ownership rights away from DV offenders, however, there are those who only prevent future purchases, keep what you already own.

In 1996, the NRA claimed that the CDC conducting gun research and data collections was advocating for gun control. Congress threatened to cut all the CDC’s funding if they continued, so they ceased, and funding for gun studies dried up all together. The DOJ has done a few small studies since, and started in again after a 10-year hiatus, when Sandyhook happened. Of the studies done through the government, privet funding, and worldwide, they all come to the same conclusion; more guns means more deaths from state to state and country to country. The NRA is on record budgeting 3+ million dollars a year, for lobbying congress, to keep gun regulations lax.

Of the 85 terrorist attacks in America, between September 12, 2001 and December 31, 2016, 62 (74%) were far-right extremists. This is almost three times as many attacks, as the 23 radical Islamic extremists, in the same time frame. Only 7% of the 85 terrorist attacks involved guns, and those 85 attacks only account for 225 total deaths in more than 15 years time. As terrorist attacks are currently classified, they don’t hold much ground in the gun violence arena; should hate crimes, currently seen as mental health issues, be recategorized into terrorism that could change.

The facts are what they are, but they don’t spell out a clear black and white answer to gun violence. Research shows restrictions on what types of guns can be bought, and what type of criminal offenders should be banned from owning firearms, goes a long way to curb the number of attacks. That said, where there’s a will, there’s a way. Much like comparing the gun suicide rates against the state gun regulations, while there was a significant decrease in incidents, the problem wasn’t entirely eliminated. Continuing to do nothing though, as the problem grows experientially, is not working. Hand grenades and land mines are regulated and banned from citizen ownership, and we don’t see then on the nightly news either. Regulations do not mean removal, and ‘something’ needs to be done, at the very least openly discussed rather than lines and heads in the sand all around.

References

“Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 26 Apr. 2017, http://www.cdc.gov/.

EverytownResearch.org, 2 Feb. 2018, everytownresearch.org.

gerald.kandulu. “United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime.” Statistics, http://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/data-and-analysis/statistics.html.

Mass Shootings, http://www.shootingtracker.com/Main_Page.

Muhlhausen, David. “Terror Trends: 40 Years’ Data on International and Domestic Terrorism.” The Heritage Foundation, www.heritage.org/terrorism/report/terror-trends-40-years-data- international-and-domestic-terrorism.

Pan, Deanna. “A Guide to Mass Shootings in America.” Mother Jones, 29 Nov. 2018, http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2012/07/mass-shootings-map/.

-Jocelyn Johnson

Torture

O’Mara’s article starts out citing recent updates about the torture of suspected terrorists during the Bush administration. It then details the theory behind the use of torture, explaining ‘folk psychology’ is the foundation that supports it. Citing that when normal interrogation fails, the next step in obtaining crucial information is spending an extended period of time (up to six months and longer) psychologically and physically torturing the subject and that stress holds no effect over memory. The goal of this is, the subject will tell the truth that the interrogator seeks, to escape the unpleasant situation withholding it puts them in. At the same time it points out the scientifically opposing views of more recent studies on mental prepossessing and the adverse effects that torture inflicts on an individual, which in turn irreparably damages the credibility of any information gathered through such methods. It continues, detailing the opposing points while citing the lack of supporting evidence on the pro-torture side. This article explains how prolonged stress, pain, starvation and sleep deprivation can cause severe damage to the hippocampus and prefrontal cortex, the brain’s main sectors, regarding memory and stress reactions. There are studies that show temporary stress to these areas can be helpful in the self preservation sense, but prolonged stress can permanently damage these areas of the brain. Memory loss, false memories, hypersensitivity to stress, depression, impaired learning and damage to verbal recall abilities are all attributed as lasting effects of torture. Reinforcing, that due to all of these effects, any information gained through torture is no longer credible. Even the subject’s may believe they are telling the truth, when actually lying. This is because their brain’s attempt to find safety from said torture by telling the interrogators what they want to hear, starts to form false memories, due to stress induced damage to the memory sectors of the brain. I agree with the message this article is presenting, and the scientific evidence put forth has more credibility then any pro-torture studies I’ve found. Though I feel that the author gave the impression that pro-torture viewpoints were lacking in supporting studies more then acknowledging that the C.I.A. Has barely begun to declassify the studies related to the torture incidents cited in this article. I do not expect any withheld data to carry any significant weight supporting torture, but I would hope that our military would have more then a couple weak sources and a ‘prayer’ that it was worth trying when all else had failed. …

The impact that these studies potentially hold over medicine, society and law are a step forward in shedding barbaric war tactics that appear to do more harm to the subjects and interrogators, then they do good towards producing useful results. With medicine, these studies hold new hope for helping the victims of torture deal with the trauma they are scared with. There is also hope that torture victims will, over time, lessen in numbers, as people learn that torture is an unreliable source for information and detrimental to those who go through it. Socially it opens doors of progress in understanding and civility, and in law, it gives the possibility of torture ceasing to be publicly overlooked for the gain of ‘feeling more secure’ about uncertainty’s in life. I found many article’s that were laced with bias and agenda on the topic of torture, and articles that were a review of O’Mara’s article in which his points were expanded upon but no new information was given. The article I found by The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), is ten years old, yet still supports the likelihood for mental damage that coincides with O’Mara’s article. Independently, it points out that not every victim of torture will suffer mental stress to the same degree, some may never notice any ill effects (though this is unlikely). Due to varying external factors, such as “the context of personal meaning, personality development, and social, political, and cultural factors”, “not everyone who has been tortured develops a diagnosable mental illness.” The majority of this article was focused on how the organization is trying to help those being held in torture encampments and the types of effects the torture has on the victims. They mention being ‘broken’, loss of hope and depression readily.

In a short summary article from 1994 by the American Journal of Psychiatry in which a comparison study of 110 total former political prisoners, 55 of whom were tortured and 55 of whom were not, The findings are much the same as the other articles. The only real difference being that the sufferings of the prisoners seems less ‘dramatic’. The prisoners who were tortured were exposed to a mean of 291 encounters with a mean of 23 types of torture over a mean period of 47 months. The symptoms of post traumatic stress disorder, anxiety and depression were significantly higher in the tortured group then the group who was not tortured. However the effects, regardless the level of torture, were described as “a moderate level of psychopathology”. This article also cites how being predisposed to stressful stimulation can lessen the lasting effects of torture, as the article by the ICRC states.

The article by Medical News Today points out how there is little difference between the mental effects of psychological torture verses physical torture, regardless of a U.S. Defense Department working group’s report that excluded any non-physical abuses from the definition of torture. They cite an interview study of 279 survivors of torture from Sarajevo in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Luka in Republica Srpska, Rijeka in Croatia and Belgrade in Serbia between 2000 and 2002. The findings of this study indicate that the mental illnesses that developed due to torture were caused by the psychological effects of torture. There was little variance between symptoms of PTSD, anxiety and depression in relation to rather the victims were physically or mentally tortured.

All the credible research I have been able to find is echoing the same message. Torture most often causes some level of lasting mental distress. The presence or lack of physical assault holds little effect over said mental distresses, torture yields the same effect over ones psyche, regardless of how it is administered. The damaging effects of torture last, most often, for the rest of the victims life. Knowing the lasting effect it holds over ones psyche and that the information gained through torture is unreliable, I believe it is past time that this interrogation method be retired from use. It has been shown that intense interrogation is far more reliable and far less damaging to those involved then torture. I understand that when a person feels ‘attacked’ due to traumatic events, such as 9/11, the desire to find answers and prevent it from reoccurring can overpower moral issues that may otherwise stop this person from crossing the line. However, it does not justify actually going threw with tactics such as torture that hold more evidence towards causing harm then producing usable results.

References

O’Mara, Shane. “Torturing the Brain.” Trends in Cognitive Sciences Vol. XXX No. X (2009)

Marina Staiff . “Visits to detained torture victims by the ICRC (II): The psychological impact of visits and interviews with detained torture victims”. The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) 01 January, 2000 http://www.icrc.org/web/eng/siteeng0.nsf/iwpList265/03046C8B7314B448C1256B66005F4DBF.

M Basoglu, M Paker, O Paker, E Ozmen, I Marks, C Incesu, D Sahin and N Sarimurat. “Psychological effects of torture: a comparison of tortured with nontortured political activists in Turkey“, American Journal of Psychiatry ,1994 http://ajp.psychiatryonline.org/cgi/content/abstract/151/1/76

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-Jocelyn Johnson

Bystander Effect

When we think of the bystander effect, we tend to think of people ignoring crimes they witness, like pick-pockets and muggings, or ignoring someone in distress, who doesn’t fit certain criteria that makes them approachable. We think first of public or direct contact situations, but does the bystander effect apply to other, indirect aspects of American life? If we look at the social attitude in our country regarding rape, prejudice, or drug use/abuse compared to the majority of expressed individual opinions on said topics, most all of us have been or are bystanders to systematic injustices.

In America, one would be pressed to find someone who doesn’t oppose rape. However, rather than teaching children not to rape, we teach them how to avoid being raped. When someone does get raped, often there forms an attitude of ‘what did “they” do to bring this upon themselves?’ Rather than ‘what’s wrong with the rapist?’ Our society has been labeled a ‘rape culture’, as the rapes are expected, happen often, and we tend to blame the victim’s after.

The majority of American’s oppose racism and sexism, yet both are strongly prevalent in our country. Women often are paid less than men for the same job, if not for doing more work, and while many voices protest the injustice remains. After the Black Suffrage movements, many American’s who hadn’t previously held them, adopted the racial equality morals of those who facilitated the movement. Yet, the KKK still holds a strong existence in the American South. While the Black Panthers who formed to protect people from the KKK, were decried a terrorist organization and hunted by the FBI.

America, for better or worse, has waged a ‘war against drugs’, though we are riveted watching those in Hollywood crash and burn due to excessive drug use. People proclaim, it’s awful, someone should do something, but only after things reach a certain level. Rather than advocate intervention before rock bottom is reached, we revel so deeply in the spectacle of it, that the drug use actually promotes careers until the breaking point is reached. We could choose to boycott their work or the companies they work for, but instead, we watch with riveted disapproval as entertainers spiral out of control for our entertainment.

The medical personal who supply prescriptions beyond any legitimate medical need to celebrities, fear loss of business while the celebrity is alive, and the fear of loss of career and freedom only comes after an untimely death. We watched the spectacle of Anna Nicole’s reality show, where she spent most of her time on it so wasted she couldn’t talk straight, but withheld uproar until she overdosed and died. Even then, our anger was directed towards the lawyer, friend (we saw as a gold digger), and the doctor who prescribed her the ‘medications’. Not once did I hear anyone say, they should have canceled the show and admitted her into rehab before it reached this point. Then we watched as Michael Jackson followed suit, and again, we blamed the doctor alone. When Amy Winehouse drank herself to death, we cried it was tragic (though expected), yet no one stopped Whitney Houston from following suit. Watching an impending disaster play out, knowing the likely life altering results, and doing nothing is being a bystander. Feeling justified in doing nothing, feeling no responsibility to the situation, is bystander effect.

What of other issues in our culture? Healthcare inadequacy and poverty are two topics we declare moral opposition to, yet when it comes to the extra taxes to fund solving these devastating social problems or reorganizing the current taxes distribution methods, we voice an even louder objection. The same with education, we cry out for a solution to the plummeting standards and graduation rates, yet continue to cut funding. All these things are topics we as a society are bystanders in. We see the wrong, we know it’s wrong, we even say it’s wrong… but we let it slip by on a daily basis, or refuse to take the needed actions.

Amy Bach cites another area of social injustice in her book Ordinary Injustice: How America Holds Court. She writes about how many social injustices are embedded in the justice system, she points out countless cases that have gone unfilled, un-investigated, un-prosecuted, and practically ignored. These cases belong to the minorities and the poor. These cases are ones that if in a higher social status would have not been set aside, these cases have no excuse for not being processed. The justice system is overwhelmed and has been forced into assembly-line functioning, where adversarialism allows for officials to drop some cases, but many of these cases were blatantly mishandled if even looked at. Judges, when they do receive these cases, strong arm the people involved. They give them options like dropping the case or pleading guilty in the preliminary hearings, or waiting for the court date in jail. This is not how legal proceedings are supposed to function, but there is little concern from the judges that peers will report them, so it continues and justice is twisted.

So why do we just ‘stand by’ and let all these things slide? Why have we not just put our foot down and declared it indecent to let things carry on as they have and it’s going to change now? It would be easy to say it’s all tied up in the mess that is government, but our lobbyists, legislators, and congressmen and women don’t do anything we don’t let them do. They are our scapegoats in such areas, if we truly disapproved of the decisions they make, they wouldn’t be reelected. Or we could claim the problem is so large it is beyond each of us, but that takes us back to the purpose of the government officials we elect to represent us.

Daniel Dorling suggests in his book Injustice: Why Social Inequality Persists, that social injustice persists because of strongly held beliefs by those in power. “The five tenets of injustice are that: elitism is efficient, exclusion is necessary, prejudice is natural, greed is good and despair is inevitable.” (Dorling, Daniel. 2010.) Dorling puts forth that until these false beliefs are corrected in the minds of those in power, they will continue to be diffused into the rest of society. Until this correction is made, we can not stop the social injustices that occur in our society as a result, even though there is plenty of supply to meet the demand (with regard to applicable issues). Dorling’s theory puts forth that the five tenets mindset is the structure that supports people’s by-standing issues, that seem too complex or overwhelming to fix. The poor are expected to always exist, so only so much can be done to aid them, any more is a waste. There are only a small number of children capable of becoming educated and even fewer who can learn to run the country through it’s government. The mindset is laden with bias and prejudice, even though those holding it don’t see it as such. Correcting this requires making people aware of it’s existence and it’s alternatives. Once aware of the options, it is mostly a matter of choice and the rest would follow, or so Dorling asserts in his book.

Seeing so many social injustices day in and day out can make one numb to them, especially when they do not noticeably effect the given person. The thought of where to start or how can be so overwhelming one is more inclined to resume ‘not’ noticing. I suggest each person picks one social injustice at a time and do what they can to correct it, or bring attention to the issue. No one can tackle all the issues at once, it’s just not realistic. But, if each person picks one thing to help push in the right direction, improvements will be made. Eventually the number of injustices will decrease, and the rest will seem less overwhelming to deal with. In theory.

References

Bach, Amy. Ordinary Injustice: How America Holds Court. New York, NY: Metropolitan, 2011. Print.

Dorling, Daniel. Injustice: Why Social Inequality Persists. Bristol: Policy, 2010. Print.

Hockenbury, Don H., and Sandra E. Hockenbury. Discovering Psychology. New York: Worth, 2001. Print.

Jocelyn Johnson

Human Trafficking

Human trafficking is a billion dollar business that has gone on throughout human history and focuses on, but is not limited to, sexual and labor purposes. Most of the victims of human trafficking are children who are sold into slavery or prostitution. Victims also include adults and are both male and female. Human trafficking is committed both internationally and within both a single country if not state (if applicable). Human trafficking does involve organized crime but is independent in it’s existence. Some countries have outlawed all aspects of human trafficking while others have not, the countries that have laws against trafficking have mixed results that are reliant on other countries cooperation. The countries that have no opposing laws to human trafficking provide a support system and safe-haven for traffickers, making elimination impossible and control the only obtainable goal.

Finding reliable statistics on human trafficking is difficult, many cases go unreported and most data bases have significant differences in their reports. Victims are threatened harm both to their person and their families and tortured to the point that they are too afraid or are simply too ignorant (uninformed) to report the crimes. In 2008 there were about 1000 reported cases of human trafficking/slavery, in 2014 there were about 5,500 reported cases. However, the data is so sparse it can not be discerned if trafficking is escalating or if it’s simply that a larger percentage of people are being reported than before.

While victims come from and are transported to all countries in the world, there are several primary source and destination countries. There are an estimated 127 countries in Africa, Europe and Asia that make up the primary countries of origin including: Nigeria, China, Thai-Land, Russia, Lithuania, Belarus, Ukraine, Moldova, Romania, Bulgaria and Albania. There are an estimated 137 countries of destination from North America, Australia, Asia, The Middle East and Europe including: The United States of America, Canada, Australia, Japan, Saudi Arabia, Italy, Greece,Turkey, Germany, The United Kingdom, Spain, France, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Austria, Andorra, Bosnia, Luxembourg and The Netherlands. The United States is the highest ranked destination country followed by Canada while Asia is the highest ranked origin location followed by North Africa. It is also estimated that there are 98 transit countries involved with human trafficking.

In The United States, many human trafficking victims are people who were trying to sneak in from Mexico and were kidnapped after paying to be smuggled across the boarder. Victims are kept in a loop of debt that is impossible to pay off with transportation ‘bills’, then housing and food bills and so on. The DOJ and DHS are the primary combatants to this type of human trafficking, they however, are reliant on public aid in noticing situations that have red flags. Signs include people not being able to live independently from their employer, guards at their work, inability to contact family members or friends, not being able to be contacted and so on.

An estimated 800,000 people are kidnapped, sold or deceived into becoming a victim of human trafficking/slavery each year. There is an estimated 21 million victims currently in some stage of trafficking, from being kidnapped, smuggled, tortured, exploited or in active labor, including (but not limited to): sex, prostitution, marriage, commercial exploitation (video/photo) and so on.

Another reason report numbers are low is due to many of the victims having been taken when they were young, if not given or sold to the traffickers by their parents. The effects of the crimes of trafficking are most prevalent in the victims themselves, they are raped, beaten, tortured, and often fleeing from or being abandon by an abusive family. The victims suffer psychological damages that may never be undone, and are lucky to get out alive. The toll on society is notable in that it funds other

criminal activities and weakens the moral structure that promotes freedom and equality worldwide.

The countries that have laws against trafficking work with legislation and law enforcement

agencies to prevent and stop it’s occurrence. That so many countries have no laws against or actively support human trafficking and slavery makes elimination impossible. The focus remains on continuing efforts to convince said countries to change their stance and implement and enforce laws as best possible against human trafficking.

Sweden is the only country that has laws against human trafficking and almost no cases to report. Canada, Australia, Saudi Arabia, The United Kingdom and Iceland are primarily destination countries and most have laws against trafficking. The United States is a country of origin, transport and destination, as are parts of South America, Europe, Africa and most of Asia. Many of these countries also have laws against human trafficking. Even if all the other countries in the world are brought into agreement and all formed laws to protect against and combat human trafficking, it will have little effect if it is not enforced.

The source of victims needs to be addressed more, if at all, in order to aid in stopping human trafficking. Runaways from abusive homes, children sold by their families, people duped into servitude trying to immigrate to another country and those kidnapped may not have been there to provide ‘product’ to the traffickers if they had been reached with aid prior. If the country is set up in a manner that living conditions are so poor people are actively trying to flee it on a reliable bases, correcting that would go a long way to preventing victims. However, ‘fixing’ a government is easier said than done and making entry to the destination easier to access is the most reliable method of disrupting ‘business’ from this outlet.

Many of the destination countries already have anti-human trafficking laws, properly and

consistently enforcing them would aid in cutting off the flow of business. Tightening border security, while streamlining imigration and asylum entries, as well as tighter import/export inspections would aid greatly. However, the problem is more often in corruption, where anyone from the screener to politicians could be bought to ‘look the other way’ and allow the ‘product’ to continue to flow.

Human trafficking is an atrocious crime that is archaic in nature, however, so are humans. Until we socially evolve beyond putting personal gain above others value as a whole, such atrocities will continue.

Reference List

FBI. FBI, 17 Mar. 2010. Web. 26 Sept. 2015.

“Human Trafficking.” Human Trafficking. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Sept. 2015.

“HumanTrafficking.org: A Web Resource for Combating Human Trafficking in the East Asia Pacific Region.” HumanTrafficking.org: A Web Resource for Combating Human Trafficking in the East Asia Pacific Region. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Sept. 2015.

“Human Trafficking | Polaris | Combating Human Trafficking and Modern-day Slavery.” Human Trafficking | Polaris | Combating Human Trafficking and Modern-day Slavery. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Sept. 2015.

“United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime.” What Is Human Trafficking? N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Sept. 2015.

Deinstitutionalization

Prior to the deinstitutionalization movement, in the 1950’s and 60’s, care for those suffering from severe mental health issues fluctuated. It varied from non-existent to well intentioned but misguided or underfunded. The asylums were built with the best of intentions, but were not properly funded or supported, to meet the needs of those placed inside of them. Instead of being the treatment centers they were meant to be, they became the dumping grounds for those with psychological abnormalities. The introduction of chemical balancing drugs in the 50’s made notable progress with many patients. Along with a need to lighten the load on the hospitals as well as better the conditions within them, 90% of the hospitalized patients were discharged or placed in outpatient programs.

While many patients benefited from di-institutionalization, many others got lost in the system they needed help from. There weren’t enough outpatient programs to support the massive influx of new patients, enough properly trained medical personal to provide care, or funding to support them. Also, in the excitement of finding truly helpful drugs, doctors released patients that were not ready to be on their own. Many of these prematurely released patients were among those ‘lost in the system’, who subsequently ended up homeless or in the justice system, ever further from the proper help they needed. I believe, while well intentioned, the di-institutionalization process of the 50’s and 60’s was hasty, over optimistic, and thought through very poorly.

Shorter (1997) cites several cases in his book ‘A History of Psychiatry’, where many of the deviant, abnormal acts noted in patients institutionalized prior to the 1950’s, were directly caused by their poor treatment in the hospitals. When they were treated more decently, their behavior became more socially acceptable. It is obvious that a change was desperately needed for many reasons. However, the way the change was made caused a new, unintended harm. More thorough release evaluations should have been used, and a more stable outpatient support system should have been established, before releasing most of the hospitalized patients. But like they say, ‘the damage has been done’, so what of it now? Public awareness needs to be dealt with for starters, and while it has been progressing, it is slow going. When the public does not properly understand something, they are far less willing to contribute to it’s cause. With better funding and understanding, the proper balance between inpatient and outpatient facilities could be reached and staffed. While we may be a far cry from cutting holes in skulls to release the evil within, we are also a far cry from having the absolute answer we seek, regarding abnormal psychology and it’s treatment. A financially crippled system can be on the correct path, but is also at risk of being dismantled, for appearing ineffective.

Gateways Hospital and Mental Health Center (2002), founded in 1953 in Los Angeles, is dedicated to providing quality mental health care to patients who could otherwise not afford it. They have several locations today, but space is still limited. Gateways provides help to children, adults, the homeless, those in the justice system, and the families of their patients. They work with outpatient clients as well as those requiring hospitalization and long term care. They even have a residential center for adult patients to live at while in transition towards outpatient status, or who are not stable enough to join society without the added support. Along with treatment, they also help patients learn how to live productive lives on their own, by teaching life skills and providing job training. The majority of their funding is provided by “the Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health, the State Department of Mental Health’s Conditional Release Program and the Federal Bureau of Prisons Community Corrections Council programs” (Gateways Hospital and Mental Health Center, 2002). As well as, the Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles and volunteers.

Self help groups can encourage independence, build self confidence, and help aid in patient treatment, among other benefits. However, like most things, there are concerns that come along with self help practices. Over confidence in ones ability to deal with some problems on ones own, can result in patients not seeking help when they need it, or before it’s to late. Because there is not a therapists present, guidance for participants is reliant upon other participants in the groups. Research indicates that there are anywhere from 500,000 to 3 million self help groups in our nation, if we have such a vague grasp on how many groups there are, how can we know what amount of help or harm they are providing.

Overall, the mental health facilities are tangled up in a flawed system and are in need of help and proper structure. They are better now then they were in the past, but until proper understanding of abnormal mental states is more prevalent than misunderstandings, the needed funding is going to remain low which will continue to cripple it’s progress.

Works Cited

Gateways Hospital & Mental Health Center. 2002. Web. 28 Jan. 2012. <http://gatewayshospital.org/>.

Shorter, Edward. A History of Psychiatry: From the Era of the Asylum to the Age of Prozac. New York: John Wiley & Sons, 1997. Print.

Jocelyn Johnson

Tips For Being on Probation

After working 5 years in a private probation office, I have some easy advice to offer out to those who may be on probation. To make their time spent easier, more comfortable, possibly help them not extend their stay…

If you are going to insist on continuing to sell pot, do not bring a pound of prepackaged baggies in your coat, to your probation meeting. Your PO will smell it, search your coat, and you will be arrested.
If you are going to cheat on your UA (urine analysis – pee in a cup in front of a stranger to prove you’re sober), do not use animal pee… It makes for an awkward conversation at your next meeting… “So, when were you bit by the werewolf?”
Or your girlfriends… “Congratulations sir, you’re pregnant.”
Don’t ask if you can drink the left over pee. No one needs to know you’re on that cleanse.
If you’re going to use a Wizinator (fake strap on penis that pees stored urine), this is not the time to brag. The person testing you has likely seen you test before, an average Asian man does not one day come in with a big black dick.
Don’t cry during the UA. Neither you nor the tester wants to be there, they can not make anything different. You either pee in the cup or you don’t.
Peeing in the lobby, on the floor, and on the guy in front of you’s flip-flop/foot, because the long line is annoyingly long, will never go over well in front of the judge.
Threatening your PO’s life in the testing lobby is not a good idea. The desk staff interacts with the courts daily, likely knows your PO, and may care if they die. They will report you.
Your ankle monitor did not ‘just fall off’. Ever.
If you’re on pretrial and arguing incompetents, due to not being able to retain information for more than 5 minutes… Don’t call your mom a bitch while loudly correcting her on your schedule for the following week, during your meeting. Your case manager will report you.
Don’t ask the staff out to the bar for drinks. Especially if they are supervising your UA’s for alcohol consumption/DUI. They will always say no, and will report you.
Don’t ask anyone out for a one-night-stand in the lobby of the Probation/UA office. You may never call her back, but you’ll likely see her within a couple weeks in the lobby again. It will be awkward for all.
If you’re not on probation, chucking a Red Bull can at the front door and screaming ‘Fuck the police!’ is a good way to try to change that.
Your child is not allowed in here, not to inconvenience you, but because there are pedophiles that come here. Do you want your kid sitting next to a pedophile in the lobby? Why would you want your 7+/- year old to see this shit anyhow? Find a sitter.
Yes, that’s probably vomit… Or shit.
If you work in probation, transferring to the half-way house will not make for a friendlier less stressful work environment.
If you get your girlfriend to take a job as a UA tester, to try to steal your case file from your PO in the same office… Know that even if she makes it that far, before the staff figures out you’re dating, it’s just a hard copy. There’s several different copies in several CJS data bases. All records are recorded in computer systems. All you might accomplish, is needing to replace all the paperwork you provided, proving you’d completed your court ordered classes, community service, and so on… Like seriously… Don’t do this, it’s beyond stupid.
If you break into the probation office to steal your file, read tip 17; and remember, if all you do is take your file (and maybe set your PO’s desk on fire….), they will know who did it.
If you break in (tip 17 again), steal your file, some of your friends, and a few random ones, it’s just going to take a little longer to figure it out… But trashing your PO’s office narrows it down.
If Jesus didn’t want you to pee in a cup on a Sunday, Jesus would have stopped you from driving drunk in the first place. Stop screaming at people who have nothing to do with your being there.

Jocelyn Johnson

The PLRA

What is the PLRA and Who Does it Really Help?

The Prison Litigation Reform Act (PLRA) was enacted in 1996 (Welch, 2011.). The purpose of the PLRA is to restrict prisoners’ ability to file cases against those in the system, with the courts. It requires prisoners exhaust the institutions’ (in question) grievance solution policies, paying filing fees (that at a prison salary could take decades to pay/save for), (“No Equal Justice”, 2016), and added a physical injury requirement to mental and physical abuse claims.

The PLRA was created as a solution to the flood of suits being filled by inmates that were seen to be frivolous and clogging up the system (Snyder, Erin. 2016). Shortly after the courts attention was drawn to the squalid and inhumane living conditions in jails and prisons, the courts went about trying to correct the issues (Borchardt, Derek. 2016.) After the courts sweep in the 60s and 70s, prisoners were told clearly, that “the Iron Curtain was lifted” (Borchardt, 2016) and they had a legal right to file suits against those mistreating them or violating their rights in any other way. And file suits they did. Everything from abuse by staff, deplorable living conditions, rape, overcrowding, safety concerns, to bad hair cuts and complaints of melted ice cream (“No Equal Justice”. 2016).

The PLRA applies to cases regarding policy and institution reform, and has a short list of guidelines that can be used to prevent a case from being filed in the first place (get it denied before it takes up much of the courts time and energy). First, a prisoner must exhaust all levels of grievance resolution offered by the institution before filing. A prisoner must file written complaints to officials within the institution they are complaining about. If that fails, they must then appeal to higher officials if applicable, and continue on, until there is no where left to go besides the courts. This alone can take years to complete. Failing to exhaust these routs will result in the case filing being denied before anything in the complaint is addressed. The PLRA allows for judges to dismiss cases early on; the case is considered frivolous, or the filing was not written properly if: the complaint is not clearly stated and outlined, and/or the parties involved are not properly identified and listed. So, if someone in the system, with no legal training, and limited resources, does not write a complaint filing exactly right, they will be denied.

After going through all the prerequisite steps within the institution in question, and wording the complaint to the courts correctly, the prisoner must then contend with the filing fee of about $400 (this fee is charged with each attempt to file). While a prisoner can request the fee waived or to pay it in monthly installments, there are conditions. If the prisoner has had a previous case that was dismissed or deemed frivolous (regardless the time span they encompass) they are each considered a strike. The fee can not be waived if there have been three or more strikes, and the prisoner must pay in full, prior to filing (unless there is imminent risk of harm to the prisoner for the resulting delay).

Prisoners are constitutionally guaranteed access to filing claims in their own defense. However, if one is filing a claim of abuse, ‘physical’ abuse is required across the board. All mental and emotional abuse claims are required to be accompanied by evidence of ‘physical abuse’ in order to even be heard. By definition, emotional and psychological abuse lacks physical evidence.

There are those who see the PLRA as a solution to those that would abuse the ‘right to file suits’. There are those that see the PLRA as a way to, in part, replace the Iron Curtain; allowing the courts to ignore prisoner’s plights and discourage them from speaking up. There are those who see the PLAR as a needed ‘work in progress’. While the courts are overloaded with cases as it is, there is no justification for effectively silencing people from speaking out against injustice, no mater their station in life.

When you make being so much as heard an obstacle course of time, money, patients and procedures, you are inhibiting ones equal justice rights. Yet, the prisoners are expected to be properly heard, in the prison whose policies or staff they are complaining about. Moving on to the next step of filing in court can be stretched out to whatever the institution in question’s individual time/response rules are. Should the institution set its time frame to address an issue at 30 days, and have say three levels (supervising guards, other officials ((non officers, officer’s supervisors)), and warden), and an appeal process, it is feasible that it could take a year or more to exhausts all avenues in a ‘timely manner’.

The one policy in the PLRA I see as flat out wrong, is requiring physical attachment to mental and emotional abuse. This is a glaring loop-hole that allows for abuse, so long as there is no physical record. Mental and emotional abuse can be just as, if not more, damaging than physical abuse. Especially when it is near, if not outright, impossible to ‘ask for help’. Any allegation of abuse should have an open, accessible, and reliable path to be reported/addressed.

Prisoners have every right to access the courts, to file suits on their own behalf. While I believe the PLRA was intended to be a filter for the courts, not a tool to circumvent prisoner rights, I also feel it is easily corrupted and manipulated. I think there should be an ‘outside’ entity that reviews the cases, a third party. An entity that would review each case, and could do so for cases that had not ‘exhausted all avenues’ yet also, that could return filings due to errors (for correction) that would not count as strikes. A neutral entity that could help eliminate bias and ensure justice was better served.

References

A Jailhouse Lawyer’s Manual. New York: Columbia Human Rights Law Review, 1985. Web.

Borchardt, Derek. THE IRON CURTAIN REDRAWN BETWEEN PRISONERS AND THE CONSTITUTION (n.d.): n. Pag. 2016. Web.

“No Equal Justice.” Human Rights Watch. N.p., 16 June 2009. Web. 08 Feb. 2016.

Snyder, Erin. THE PRISON LITIGATION REFORM ACT (PLRA) (n.d.): n. Pag. 2016. Web.

Welch, Michael. Ironies of Imprisonment. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, 2011. Print.

Jocelyn Johnson

Wrongful Convictions

Wrongful convictions are a miscarriage of justice in which an innocent person is convicted, sentenced, and imprisoned or even executed for a crime they did not commit. Wrongful convictions happen at all levels, from misdemeanor to death penalty, the evidence shows thousands of people have been wrongfully convicted and imprisoned throughout the history of the United States Judicial Systems. There are several independent and combination reasons for wrongful convictions, along with options for those convicted to appeal the rulings. However, for all the progress we make as a society in our judicial systems, we still fail dozens of people a year (going by the optimistic numbers that don’t account for those yet undiscovered).

What causes wrongful convictions? Usually a combination of factors. The leading cause is Eyewitness Misidentification, being linked to about 75% of cases. Any entry level psychology course will show, human memory is flawed, research shows that people neither ‘record’ events ‘in play’, nor later ‘recall’ them exactly as they happened. Memories distort and degrade under stress and over time. Also, they are also easily contaminated by preconceptions and other people. There are also those convicted due to the witnesses knowingly lying for the purpose of convicting the accused, for varying personal reasons.

Junk Science is when scientific methods are used to prove guilt, however, the methods used are not properly regulated, come with inadequate validation of their reliability or significance, are preformed by under-qualified labs and/or technicians, and some are due to unethical practices, incompetence or plain sloppiness. Overall, they do not hold to proper scientific standards. ‘Proper’ scientific examinations have freed hundreds of wrongfully convicted people.

DNA forensics is the most regulated in it’s testing methods, however, the other methods vary greatly from there. “A subsequent review identified forensic science testing errors in 63% of the wrongful convictions and false or misleading testimony by forensic experts in 27%” (Giannelli, Paul, 2011.) Like everything in the justice system, the science is only as accurate as the human producing the results.

False Confessions are another cause of wrongful convictions, being involved in about 25% of cases, a third of which were juveniles. Regardless the confessors age, race, mental state, and so on, most have one thing in common, at some point they decided confessing was easier than fighting to show their innocents. Then, there are those who think they are helping someone (taking the blame or feel responsible though they are not), as well as those who are mentally ill, and others who would have less interest or ability to appeal or be known of.

False confessions can also go hand and hand with Government Misconduct. Improper interview techniques, such as denying access to a lawyer, mistreating the detainee, taking advantage of a member of an ‘at risk’ community (mentally challenged, Juvenal, the elderly, etc…). Up to outright ignoring evidence to the contrary and proceeding, evidence planting and tampering (with evidence, witnesses, and so on.). Government misconduct is arguably the most reprehensible cause for wrongful convictions.

Snitches, witnesses who testify for an incentive, have caused the conviction of about 19% of the cases overturned. Often times, juries are unaware that a witness is a snitch, weather it’s time off their sentence, privileges, or just monetary compensation, knowing testimony is ‘bought’ can make a big difference in it’s credibility. While there is a generally held code among inmates not to snitch, it happens regularly, more often when rewarded.

And, even if none of the aforementioned effects someone, wrongful convictions can come simply from having a Bad Lawyer. Weather under-prepared, under-skilled, overworked or what-have-you, a bad lawyer can be all it takes to put an innocent person in jail or prison.

Cameron Todd Willingham’s case shows how several of these factors can play into a false conviction and execution. Mr. Willingham (a widower) was convicted of the arson murder of his three daughters, and sentenced to death in 1991. A heater in the girl’s bedroom ignited a house fire in the night, Mr. Willingham was the only survivor. He maintained he woke in the night to the smoke, and upon failing to get the girl’s bedroom door open he ran outside as the fire engulfed the house. The prosecution argued the (non-forensic) arson investigation showed acceleration points, had burned fast and hot, and was set intentionally. They also produced a cell-mate, Johnny Webb, witness to testify that Willingham had confessed to him. During sentencing a psychologist, James Grigson, cited a skull and serpent tattoo and band posters as evidence to sociopath tendencies, along with his erratic behavior in the moments and days following the fire. They claimed financial gain as motive.

In appeals, it was brought up that the psychologist that testified, had been expelled from the field since, for unethical behavior. Gerald Hurst (a renowned forensic-arson expert) reexamined all the physical evidence and could refute and discredit every piece with peer-reviewed and repeatable testing methods. Other fire investigators had also found the same evidence during a previous appeal. There was even another fire due to a faulty heater (the same model), that left an identical burn pattern (the main citation for arson evidence), while he was on death row. The Texas Governor at the time, Rick Perry, is accused of impeding the writ of habeas corpus investigation. He’s said to have replaced three commission members, to sway the findings, to uphold the conviction. The DA in the case has been accused of suppressing evidence that could have provided reasonable doubt, and the witness has been recorded stating he lied in his testimony, in exchange for time off his own sentence. Mr. Willingham was executed in 2004.

What can be done if wrongfully convicted of a crime? If sentenced to death, one at least has the benefit that ‘exhausting the appeals’ is mandatory. Though, 2% (that have been proven) of the death row population has been wrongfully executed, since the death penalty’s reinstatement in 1976. Another 12% of those sentenced to death, since reinstatement, have been exonerated prior to execution. The first step regardless of conviction level is to decide who one appeals through, weather one goes through a non-profit, personal lawyers, or independently. The Innocents project for example (non-profit), will only accept cases where the defendant is ‘fully innocent’. Other organizations will help in situations such as ‘it wasn’t murder, it was self-defense’, if they feel it holds merit and aligns with their core values. Some of these groups are non-profit and free or financially assisted, others are not. Privet attorneys will take any case they feel they can win, but unless it’s through a pro-bono (which can narrow eligibility), this is often too expensive for most inmates to maintain. The prisoner can also file with the courts directly on their own behalf, without a lawyer (most frequented method).

The prisoner must file a petition for a writ of habeas corpus with the courts, including the facts of the case and the evidence to their being held illegally (wrongfully convicted). The petition can be filed by mail, online, or in person with a filing fee. Some states waive this fee for the first few filings or if the petitioner is deemed unable to afford it (though there is a limited number of times this applies to each case), the costs involved are one reason some inmates stop trying to appeal. If one is using a lawyer or has found an organization to aid them, they would send their petition to them, they would then review it for validity and likelihood of the case being overturned. The review process takes several months in non-profit organizations, but can be much faster through personal lawyers, there is no official review process for direct filing by a prisoner.

Once the petition is filed the courts serve it, in that the party claimed to be at fault (facility/warden) for the wrongful detention in question, is informed of the petition and the courts decision as to rather they need to provide a response. From here, a judge takes the petition into consideration to decide rather to elevate it into a writ, or to dismiss it.

Once a petition becomes a writ, a hearing is set. The hearing is a full trial with evidence and witnesses. It can involve a jury, but only it’s focus is the wrongful conviction, not the original crime involved. The outcome of this hearing is the ruling. If denied, and the conviction upheld, the prisoner can start the process over with new findings or evidence. Many inmates give up at this point due to funding and lack of new evidence.

Wrongful convictions can be fought, but it is difficult, time consuming, and expencive to win. The more appropriate correction is with the original conviction processes. Starting with being more selective in the type of and experience level of scientific testing and administrators/experts admissable in court. To requier proper disclosures reguarding eyewitness reliability, and if the witness is profiting in any way. And, like many of the problems in the criminal justice system, uncloging it or properly funding it, so that the lawyers and courts had the proper time to spend on a cases, would go miles.

References

Bernhard, Adele. “Justice Still Fails: A Review of Recent Efforts to Compensate Individuals Who Have Been Unjustly Convicted and Later Exonerated.” Justice Still Fails: A Review of Recent Efforts to Compensate Individuals Who Have Been Unjustly Convicted and Later Exonerated by Adele Bernhard :: SSRN. SSRN, 2004. Web. Oct. 2016. <https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm? abstract_id=1396849>.

“Cameron Todd Willingham: Wrongfully Convicted and Executed in Texas – Innocence Project.” Innocence Project. N.p., 12 Sept. 2010. Web. Oct. 2016. <http://www.innocenceproject.org/cameron-todd-willingham-wrongfully-convicted-and- executed-in-texas/>.

Giannelli, Paul. “Wrongful Convictions and Forensic Science: The Need to Regulate Crime Labs.” Wrongful Convictions and Forensic Science: The Need to Regulate Crime Labs by Paul C. Giannelli :: SSRN. SSRN, 7 Sept. 2011. Web. Oct. 2016. <https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/Papers.cfm?abstract_id=1083735>.

Leo, Richard. “Studying Wrongful Convictions: Learning from Social Science.” Studying Wrongful Convictions: Learning from Social Science by Richard A. Leo, Jon B. Gould :: SSRN. SSRN, 2009. Web. Oct. 2016. <https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1531903>.

“Death Penalty Information Center.” DPIC | Death Penalty Information Center. N.p., n.d. Web. Oct. 2016. <http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/>.

Jocelyn Johnson

Pre-Trial: From The Defendants POV

As explained in Criminal Courts: A Contemporary Perspective (Hemmens, 2013), first a defendant is arrested, the prosecutor decides whether or not to press charges and if so, they quickly have their initial appearance in front of a judge where they are released or detained. If released there may be bond requirements of monetary security deposits or other forms of monitoring beyond the standard pretrial conditions.

Once arrested a defendant is brought to the jail, from here the prosecutor has virtually complete discretion to decide to charge the defendant with anything or release them. 43% of cases are dismissed by the prosecutor off the bat, regardless of their personal philosophy guiding their process, they are determined to be cases that wont likely be won even if guilt is believed (Hemmens, 2013).

Once the prosecutor decides to press charges the defendant is sent before a judge for their initial appearance, this most often happens in a matter of hours but could take up to a couple days. In the initial appearance the defendant has the charges against them listed and explained, along with consequences of being found guilty, by the judge. If the defendant pleads guilty they are either sentenced or held over for sentencing. Felony charges can not be accepted in most cases during the initial appearance.

If the defendant enters a not guilty plea the judge decides rather the defendant can be released on their own recognizance or on bond requirements. Bound requirements can be monetary retainers and or more involved tracking methods (electronic tracking devices: ankle monitors. Etc…) or other less often used options. Most bonds only require the monetary retainer, that can be made through a bondsman for 10% of it’s total, this money is lost if bond conditions are broken or if the defendant absconds. Repeat offenders, those with escalated or aggravated charges and many with DUI’s are sometimes given a monitory bond that is believed to be higher than they could pay, this on occasion proves to be wrong. Some are put on substance use monitoring and or monitoring equipment.

When given an electronic monitoring requirement the equipment must be hooked up before the defendant may be released from the jail. This presents an issue with the jail, as they are only permitted to retain a defendant for a finite amount of time after they have made bond, before it becomes false imprisonment in the eyes of the courts (regardless the bond requirement). Probation offices (often privet rather than state operated) contract out to the jail/courts/pretrial services to provide the electronic monitoring for defendants with those requirements on their bonds and sentences.

A few defendants will bond out with In-Home Detention as a pretrial requirement, usually when associated with a charge that has a victim the court wants to have extra insurance they will not be contacted by the defendant (domestic violence and stalking usually). DUI defendants age given electronic requirements most often, in Boulder County (Colorado), when bonding out on repeat offenses. They most often are required to go on “Electronic Alcohol Monitoring”, which due to the wording of an order by the judges must also require GPS capabilities. The frustration with is, is that the judge may be under the false impression that the defendant will be wearing some form of ankle monitor, when in fact this defaults the defendant onto a portable breathalyzer. Yes the breathalyzer will GPS the defendant and take a photo during testing to ensure sobriety requirements are being adhered to, however, the defendant could also chuck this device in a bush the second they walk out of the booking doors at the jail and take off. This device is occasionally assigned to sex offenders due to the misgivings the GPS implies, and it’s the discretion of the privet probation office to hook up or refuse to, however they have to have a cause such as not being able to insure the victim does not live where the accused will be residing. If there is no cause to refuse the hook-up, it legally must be done.

regardless of how they got there, once on pretrial a defendant starts going through court required programs and systems that result in the defendant effectively preforming the core requirements of probation (prior to conviction). Defendants must set up with a pretrial case manager that they must meet with once a week (regular probation requires monthly meetings), they are set up on monitored drug testing most often, and some are required to attend therapy evaluations and/or classes. On the surface, one might think only those who have cases related to drugs or alcohol will be taking drug tests, you would be wrong. In Colorado and Boulder county especially, almost everyone pees in a cup, at least a few times (in front of a stranger monitoring to insure no cheating). Juries don’t know this is standard, and if it comes up in court it could hold less favor as proof of sobriety and possibly cause damage by implying guilt for having been done at all. This is a common concern among pretrial defendants.

If given an electronics requirement, the cost will range from $8-11 a day for the defendant. Inability to pay for the equipment’s use can result in bond revocation due to monitory failure to comply with terms and conditions of the company providing the equipment. When placed on drug tests, defendants will often start at 6-8 tests a month whose price can range from $10-20+ each. Pretrial supervision costs $50 a month, and any evaluation or class will range from $50-200 each. Many defendants know they can not afford this or have no intention of being able/willing to comply with the bond requirements and would rather do straight time, if guilty it counts for time served. However, in Boulder county, the jail is well over max capacity and it’s a battle to be retained and not placed on bond (also probation once convicted).

Should the defendant have not lost their employment during their arrest and release phase, they will now have to juggle weekly meetings, random drug testing, and other time consuming requirements around it. If they have lost their (or never had) employment, they will be expected to find new employments as soon as possible while also complying with pretrial terms and conditions. If a defendant is on charges of DUI, there is a good chance they have lost their license and are now limited to walking, biking or busing everywhere, resulting in things taking three times as long to accomplish. One of the most commonly held complaints is: being expected to accomplish more on a daily bases than those assigning it, in less time than they would be allotted, and not feeling any amount of understanding for how difficult that would be for any person, simply because they have charges (not convictions) related to it. This is where the impression that the system is set up to ‘help one fail’ starts to develop in defendants.

Defendants on pretrial often see it as a forced extension to their sentence that costs them much of their time and money and only reimburses them with the ability to attend to their daily life (jobs and other responsibility’s) and allows them to be around friends and family rather than incarcerated. Most defendants would rather do the pretrial sentence in jail, as the time spent awaiting trial would count towards their sentenced time (which is most often accredited ‘good time’ – day for day). there is nothing about pretrial bond requirements that applies towards ones sentence. The evaluations must be redone, the classes started over, the drug tests done only get used if to prove the defendant relapsed between pretrial and sentencing. Only now can the defendant start community service (referral from the probation office required) and if convicted of a DUI, get an interlock installed in their car (DMV requirement to have holds removed from licenses but allow driving in the mean time) and much of the pretrial conditions will continue (from square one). Defendants will still be testing 6-8 times a month at $10-20 each, regardless of charge. Classes may not have been required for pretrial, but they will be on probation, and there are countless ways to trip up and get revoked and reinstated (your probation time duration starts over).

When released on pretrial defendants may still be innocent until proven guilty, but they are required to preform the requirements of those convicted to retain their pretrial freedoms granted by the courts, these freedoms may be used to build a defense, maintain their life, or to deal with their impending conviction. Those not granted release must spend their time sitting in jail with little to no power over the events effecting their life. From arrest to initial appearance to arraignments, discovery and pretrial motions the defendant may only see the court room a dozen times over the course of

around 6 months, but rather innocent or guilty they will be sanctioned.

Many in the pretrial/probation departments see all clients as guilty, not because they are jaded necessarily but because more often than not it’s true. However, there are exceptions as well as cases of people who ‘had a few drinks too many, honestly thought they were fine’, weren’t by the smallest amount and the fact that they weren’t is enough in itself to have gotten the point across (regardless impending punishment), or were in the wrong place at the wrong times and got caught up in something they otherwise wouldn’t have. ~ There are many people who have clean records with the same story, just minus the arrest (including many working in the system).

While I can see the retribution, rehabilitative and restitution factors in the pretrial requirements being a mirror of probation sentencing, I also see it as biased and prejudicial towards those that are in fact innocent. On top of defending themselves, they are sent through a gauntlet of requirements that their non-convicted freedom and lives depend on. I feel there should be no class requirements with pretrial, evaluations should remain as they would be needed for mental heath and other like assessments. If someone needs to be on monitored sobriety there are cost effective alternatives that would not disrupt a defendants life as much as the standard methods do. Rather than calling a hot-line every day to see if you need to test that day (at $60-80 a month) a defendant could either be set at a lower amount per month or placed on a more affordable testing method. If a defendant is found innocent or their case dropped, any supervision infraction (with pretrial not new charges) encored during pretrial should be dismissed as well. A person should not have to continue to serve a punishment related to a crime they are not charged with. If anything, should dismissal not be an option, turn it into a monetary fine, rather than a way to trap someone in the system on technicalities.

Pretrial sounds cut and dry in text book descriptions, just a matter of court dates and time, but from the defendants point of view it is incredibly, if not overwhelmingly, involved. The costs of being

released quickly soar above and beyond that of a bond payment on average. The stress involved can hinder recovery in addicts if not cause relapse, and the costs can ruin lives in ways beyond the conviction alone. In counties where overcrowding and other factors result in most people being released on pretrial but having to wait up to 6 months for their trial/sentencing while preforming endless monitoring tasks, It can be hard not to at least accept how defendants could see the system as stacked against them. Not to says it’s justified as many of the referred points of view are warped to some degree towards the system, but the sheer magnitude of pretrial requirements and weight they carry over a defendants life are something that shouldn’t be easily dismissed.

References

Hemmens, Craig, David C. Brody, and Cassia Spohn. Criminal Courts: A Contemporary Perspective. Los Angeles: Sage, 2013. Print.

Jocelyn Johnson