Essays on Courtrooms

The CSI (Crime Scene Investigation) effect or the CSI syndrome is the phenomenon that shows that the media has been spreading serious concerns on the integrity of the criminal trials which are being influenced by the effects of popular television show – CSI (Dioso-Villa, 2009). It is basically the perception that the forensic science results are false as they do not match with the observations in the television show. This syndrome is the effect of the increase in the mass media. This effect started appearing in the year 2003 after the show became popular on the television. Another side effect ...

Part A:

The case that was tried in “A Civil Action” pertained to a case that was based on events that happened in Woburn, Massachusetts, (A Civil Action). The events that led up to the court case were the fact that six families filed suit against W.R. Grace & Co. due to the fact that their chemical plant that manufactured food-processing equipment had improper disposal of toxic chemicals that polluted the local ground water that flowed to the two local municipal wells, (A Civil Action). This improper disposal of these chemicals was believed to cause leukemia for several local residents, (A Civil ...

Abstract

The correlation between criminal activity and genetic composition is one of the polarizing issues in criminal justice today. This paper investigates the relevance of using genetic testing in courtrooms for defense and the causation relationships between the genetic composition and criminal behavior. The study conducted a survey on a random sample of 100 participants. The results indicated that most people do not support using genetic testing as defense in criminal procedures. Similarly, many people do not see the causation relationship between the two phenomena. Nevertheless, this research concluded that, following the implications of criminal behavior, and that, most criminal activities such ...

There are many books related to the criminal justice system in the United States whose main focus is to highlight the extraordinary cases. Most of them discuss high-profile crimes and breathtaking and thrilling trials. However, Ordinary Injustice: How America Holds Court by Amy Bach is an exceptionally different book. Bach is an award-winning reporter cum lawyer who has given a completely original enlightenment concerning the failing justice system in the United States of America. There is no doubt in the fact that Ordinary Injustice: How America Holds Court is a ground-breaking piece of work by Bach as it is full ...

Introduction

Asked to stereotype a criminal, many people are likely to go for a certain gender (usually male), a certain social class (usually low class), a certain race (usually black) and a certain age (usually under the age of 30). In the early days, courtrooms exclusively comprised of white decision makers. Today there is more racial diversity in the composition of judicial benches. In spite of this progress; race, class and gender still play a critical role in numerous criminal justice outcomes. The role of these issues usually comes in handy in the sentencing of convicts. More than 40 studies have been conducted in regard to ...

Introduction

At times, attorneys ask therapists to provide information that they obtain from their patients as expert witness testimony in a number of their therapy patients litigations. The therapists include psychologists and other professionals in mental health. As a result, they end up providing inaccurate information in the court. Research has found that most attorneys do not understand the difference between forensic and therapeutic roles. Although the two parties may be dealing with the same patient/examinee, this does not justify a therapist proving both services to the same patient-litigant (Greenberg & Shuman, 2007, p.130) .Their roles are distinct based on different professional elements. ...