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The legal academy lost a giant earlier this year when William Stuntz passed away from an aggressive cancer. Stuntz was an amazing scholar who had the gift of explaining how legal doctrine in the area of criminal procedure frequently failed to measure up to the real world. "The Collapse of American Criminal Justice" is his defining masterpiece that marshals statistics, history, and logic to argue that our current criminal justice system is badly broken. He points to the facts that (1) we incarcerate more people per capita by far than our peer nations (550+ per 100,000, versus the 50-150 range), and in fact, we eclipse even Russia; (2) we incarcerate so many African-American men that in some cities, 1/3 or more of young African-American men are in prison, probation, or supervised release; (3) most criminal defendants plead guilty.
The reasons for this breakdown are complicated, but Stuntz attributes it to a number of key factors. First, he points to the increasing centralization of criminal justice. It used to be that the judges, prosecutors, and juries in criminal cases came directly from the neighborhood that the criminal defendant did. This meant that there were local pressures to temper justice with mercy, since the defendant being sent away for incarceration was part of the community too. With the growth in suburban population, however, coupled with having larger districts -- meaning that the jury pool came from a wider swath of the population -- this local control was lost. Worse yet, the voting strength of the suburbs meant that the increasing bulk of voters were voting to reduce crime, even though they (suburbanites) were hardly the target of crime. The inner cities were.
Second, Stuntz faults the Supreme Court during the reign of Chief Justice Earl Warren for its reliance on procedural protections that simply raised the cost of trials, without making them more accurate. Prosecutors have been able to evade these protections by inducing defendants to plead guilty, such inducements made more enticing because the substantive criminal law -- the part of the law governing what is a crime -- was left alone by the Court, and roamed free and wild. With broader laws available, prosecutors are able to ensnare more and more people, and pleading guilty becomes preferable to risking a long and protracted trial.
Stuntz's solution is to return to local juries, local judges, local prosecutors, and to allow juries to play a more important role in the criminal justice system. (Right now, they are only responsible for finding the facts.) He is of course cognizant of the sordid past of the Jim Crow era in the South, when all-white juries frequently engaged in jury nullification in favor of white defendants accused of killing African-Americans. This, he contends, is less of a problem today than the problem of discriminatory charging. Thus, Stuntz suggests that prosecutors be required to demonstrate that they are prosecuting people of different races for the same kinds of crimes, a proposal that would prevent prosecutors from harassing disfavored minorities.
This is a spectacular, paradigm-shifting book. The arguments that he makes are daunting, and the solutions would be challenging to implement. He might not fully persuade as to his diagnosis or his prescription, but this book is guaranteed to make you think about the criminal justice system in a new way.
The "Captain Underpants" books are ones that parents probably find annoying, juvenile, and ridiculous, whereas young boys likely find absolutely hilarious. That's certainly the case in my household. What boys from ages 4 to 7 wouldn't like books where evil talking toilets come to life, the hero shoots underwear briefs, and other bathroom-related jokes abound? I gave this five stars not because I personally find it very good, but because my boys do, and if it gets them interested in reading, then it's very good.
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Tung has commented on (2) products.
The Collapse of American Criminal Justice by William J. Stuntz
Tung, October 16, 2011
The legal academy lost a giant earlier this year when William Stuntz passed away from an aggressive cancer. Stuntz was an amazing scholar who had the gift of explaining how legal doctrine in the area of criminal procedure frequently failed to measure up to the real world. "The Collapse of American Criminal Justice" is his defining masterpiece that marshals statistics, history, and logic to argue that our current criminal justice system is badly broken. He points to the facts that (1) we incarcerate more people per capita by far than our peer nations (550+ per 100,000, versus the 50-150 range), and in fact, we eclipse even Russia; (2) we incarcerate so many African-American men that in some cities, 1/3 or more of young African-American men are in prison, probation, or supervised release; (3) most criminal defendants plead guilty.The reasons for this breakdown are complicated, but Stuntz attributes it to a number of key factors. First, he points to the increasing centralization of criminal justice. It used to be that the judges, prosecutors, and juries in criminal cases came directly from the neighborhood that the criminal defendant did. This meant that there were local pressures to temper justice with mercy, since the defendant being sent away for incarceration was part of the community too. With the growth in suburban population, however, coupled with having larger districts -- meaning that the jury pool came from a wider swath of the population -- this local control was lost. Worse yet, the voting strength of the suburbs meant that the increasing bulk of voters were voting to reduce crime, even though they (suburbanites) were hardly the target of crime. The inner cities were.
Second, Stuntz faults the Supreme Court during the reign of Chief Justice Earl Warren for its reliance on procedural protections that simply raised the cost of trials, without making them more accurate. Prosecutors have been able to evade these protections by inducing defendants to plead guilty, such inducements made more enticing because the substantive criminal law -- the part of the law governing what is a crime -- was left alone by the Court, and roamed free and wild. With broader laws available, prosecutors are able to ensnare more and more people, and pleading guilty becomes preferable to risking a long and protracted trial.
Stuntz's solution is to return to local juries, local judges, local prosecutors, and to allow juries to play a more important role in the criminal justice system. (Right now, they are only responsible for finding the facts.) He is of course cognizant of the sordid past of the Jim Crow era in the South, when all-white juries frequently engaged in jury nullification in favor of white defendants accused of killing African-Americans. This, he contends, is less of a problem today than the problem of discriminatory charging. Thus, Stuntz suggests that prosecutors be required to demonstrate that they are prosecuting people of different races for the same kinds of crimes, a proposal that would prevent prosecutors from harassing disfavored minorities.
This is a spectacular, paradigm-shifting book. The arguments that he makes are daunting, and the solutions would be challenging to implement. He might not fully persuade as to his diagnosis or his prescription, but this book is guaranteed to make you think about the criminal justice system in a new way.
Captain Underpants #01: The Adventures of Captain Underpants by Dav Pilkey
Tung, July 26, 2011
The "Captain Underpants" books are ones that parents probably find annoying, juvenile, and ridiculous, whereas young boys likely find absolutely hilarious. That's certainly the case in my household. What boys from ages 4 to 7 wouldn't like books where evil talking toilets come to life, the hero shoots underwear briefs, and other bathroom-related jokes abound? I gave this five stars not because I personally find it very good, but because my boys do, and if it gets them interested in reading, then it's very good.