Fixing the U.S. Criminal Justice System

by Paul Brakke

Overview

The sad truth is that the U.S. Criminal Justice System doesn't work for many different reasons -- from our overflowing prisons to the destructive war on drugs and disproportionate effect on minority communities to conflicts between police and citizens and problems with prosecutors and the courts. In FIXING THE U.S. CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM, author Paul Brakke provides an in-depth look from a conservative perspective at the many flaws in the system and how to fix them. The chapters in the book cover these topics:

- why our criminal justice system is a national shame

- how families suffer severe collateral damage

- alleged misconduct by the police

- how powerful prosecutors misbehave

- when judges show bias and exceed their judicial power

- how the media makes matters worse with their sensationalized coverage

- nine prescriptions to fix our broken criminal justice system

This is an important, break-through book that shows the damage of the system not only to individuals accused of crimes but to their families, the economy, and society as a whole.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781947466357
Publisher:	Changemakers Kids
Publication date:	11/01/2017
Pages:	172
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.37(d)

About the Author

Paul Brakke is a scientist based in central Arkansas. He became interested in studying the criminal justice system when his life was turned upside down after his wife was falsely accused of aggravated assault for allegedly trying to run over a 12 year old boy with her car. This happened because a group of kids and some neighbors wanted her out of the neighborhood. Eventually, the Brakkes were forced to move as part of a plea agreement, since otherwise, Brakke's wife faced a possible 16 year jail sentence if the case went to trial and she lost. He has previously told his wife's story in American Justice?, along with a preliminary critique of the criminal justice system. That book's website is at www.americanjusticethebook.com. Paul Brakke has also written several other books: The Price of Justice in America Cops Aren't Such Bad Guys The Great National Divides

Table of Contents

INTRODUCTION

CHAPTER 1: OUR CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM IS A NATIONAL SHAME

The Deleterious Effects of the War on Drugs

Disproportionate Effects on Minority Communities

Suggested Solutions

CHAPTER 2: FAMILIES SUFFER SEVERE COLLATERAL DAMAGE

The Impact on Families

A Loss of Privacy

Psychological Damage/Familial Fall-Out

Deterioration of Family Units

Financial Woes

A Family’s Future Picture, Financial and Otherwise 31

Damage to the Children

Suggested Solutions

CHAPTER 3: POLICE ISSUES

Complaints of Misconduct by the Police

Two Major Laws that Can Be Abused

Stop and Identify

Search and Seizure

Incentives for Police Misconduct

Is there Effective Recourse against Police Misconduct?

At the Federal Level

At the State and Local Level

Police Brutality and Killings

Breakdown of Law and Order: Killings of Police and Riots

Photography of Police Actions

Suggested Solutions

CHAPTER 4: POWERFUL PROSECUTORS MISBEHAVING

Major Types of Prosecutorial Misconduct

Playing Politics with Evidence

Ignoring Evidence of a Witness’s Lies, and/or Leaking Inflammatory and Prejudicial Information

Motivations for Prosecutorial Misconduct

Suggested Solutions

An Example of a Successful Solution in Action

CHAPTER 5: JUDICIAL LIMITATIONS AND MISBEHAVIOR

Judicial Limitations

Trials and Plea Bargains

Limitations Imposed on Judicial Sentencing

Judicial Misbehavior

Abuses of Judicial Power

Improper Courtroom Behavior

Showing Bias

The Power to Do Harm

Pressuring Defendants to Take Plea Bargains and Make Guilty Pleas

Motivations for Judicial Bias

Political and Prosecutorial Bias

Personal Bias and Discrimination

Unaccountability in a Conveyor Belt System

The Protections of Judges

Peers on Judicial Disciplinary Panels

Limitations on Citizen Complaints

Suggested Solutions

CHAPTER 6: THE MEDIA MAKE MATTERS WORSE

How Cases that Involve Celebrities or Government Officials Can Fare Even Worse

How Media Abuses Make a Defendant Look Guilty

Notorious Pre-Trial (and Trial) Publicity

Across Multiple Platforms and from Unnamed Sources

Racial Bias

Stereotyping

Criminal Profiling

The Growing Problem of Bias and False News

Suggested Solutions

CHAPTER 7: NINE PRESCRIPTIONS TO FIX OUR BROKEN CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM

Prescription # 1: Better Safeguard our Police and Citizens

Prescription # 2: Reform the Bail Reform Act

Prescription # 3: More Legal Assistance for Low-Income Defendants

Prescription # 4: Strict Limits on Immunity of Prosecutors and Judges

Prescription # 5: Separate Courts for Urban, Suburban and Rural Areas

Editorial Reviews

2018-01-18
A book calls for the reform of the American criminal justice system.The United States has the highest incarceration rates in the world and a prison system that annually imposes unsustainably astronomical costs. Even worse, Brakke (The Price of Justice in America, 2016, etc.) argues, the social costs of its dysfunction are devastating. Families are financially ruined and torn asunder by emotional distress; children are forced to grow up without their fathers; and a toxic prison culture contributes to skyrocketing rates of criminal recidivism. The author investigates the issue from a myriad of broad perspectives, thoughtfully discussing prosecutorial and judicial dereliction, police misconduct, and systemic problems like a plea-bargaining system that unfairly disadvantages poorer defendants. He excoriates the failed war on drugs, not only for its role in filling prisons with nonviolent offenders saddled with indefensibly punitive sentences, but also for its pervasive racial bias. Furthermore, Brakke blames sensationalist journalism for irresponsibly depicting defendants as guilty irrespective of the available evidence and for fanning the already hot flames of racial tension. In his passionate and meticulous book, Brakke prescribes numerous, detailed solutions to these nagging problems, including a greater emphasis on rehabilitation in prison, increased judicial discretion with respect to sentencing, and a standardized system for training police officers in the use of deadly force. Some of his suggestions are not only familiar, but also widely practiced; for example, equipping police officers with cameras to encourage better behavior. But he also offers intriguingly novel ones, like establishing separate courts for urban, suburban, and rural areas and promoting a more sensitive, localized approach to law enforcement while neutralizing the prejudices upper-class citizens harbor about inner-city life. Some of his more controversial judgments could use more empirical substantiation; for example, Brakke claims that, with respect to the media, "liberal racial bias seems to target whites." But the study is generally rigorous and evenhanded and makes an admirable effort, in plainly readable prose, to consider opposing sides on any given issue. His measured tone is especially notable when discussing particularly contentious topics like the police use of stop-and-identify to canvass for criminal suspects.A thorough and innovative look at a burgeoning national problem.

Kirkus Reviews