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Chapter Outline
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  1. Introduction

  2. The Courtroom Work Group
    1. Judges
      1. roles and responsibilities
        1. safeguard the rights of the accused and the public
        2. control the flow of cases through the courts; appoint and evaluate court personnel
        3. appeals court judges review and evaluate the decisions of trial courts
        4. influence other aspects of the criminal justice process; probation, pretrial release
      2. selection of judges
        1. federal judges—nominated by the President and confirmed by the Senate—hold office for life
        2. state and local judges—elected or appointed
        3. Missouri Plan—an example of merit selection—an attempt to avoid political influence
      3. judicial training
        1. no constitutional or statutory qualifications for serving on the U.S. Supreme Court
        2. all Supreme Court justices are attorneys and have extensive legal backgrounds
        3. state judges—trial and appellate judges are usually lawyers; some in limited jurisdiction courts are not
        4. New York law as an example of statutory requirements
        5. most judges have little or no formal training on how to be a judge; many resist training requirements
    2. Prosecutors
      1. roles and responsibilities
        1. enforce the law
        2. represent the government in legal matters
        3. represent the government in matters of legislation and criminal justice reform
        4. plays an important role in every phase of the criminal justice process from the investigation, through the trial, even in parole decision-making
      2. the decision to prosecute
        1. the importance of prosecutorial discretion; virtually unlimited
        2. selective prosecution
        3. many reasons not to prosecute
        4. influences on the prosecutor's discretion; police, defense attorneys, community leaders, etc.
      3. nolle prosequi
        1. decision of the prosecutor to "no further prosecute" the case after previously deciding to prosecute
        2. reasons are numerous; evidence problems or plea bargaining arrangements
        3. can lead to abuse, favoritism, and corruption
      4. plea negotiation
        1. primary means by which criminal convictions are obtained
        2. the defendant pleads guilty in exchange for prosecutorial or judicial concessions
        3. advantages for the defendant and the government
        4. plea bargaining is controversial; many objections
        5. U.S. Supreme Court has formally recognized the importance of plea bargaining
        6. plea bargaining as a necessary element of the criminal justice process
    3. Defense attorneys
      1. fundamental right of a criminal defendant; Sixth Amendment
      2. functions of the defense counsel
      3. retained counsel
    4. Bailiffs, clerks, and other regulars in the American courthouse
      1. bailiffs and sheriffs; maintain order and assist the judge
      2. court clerk; maintain records and process paperwork
      3. court reporters and court stenographers; keep the official record of the trial
      4. witnesses; police, lay expert
      5. coroners and medical examiners; conduct investigations and inquests, determine cause of death; criticisms of coroner system
      6. auxiliary court personnel; secretaries, investigators, security personnel


  3. The Right to Counsel
    1. Narrowly applied to death penalty cases in federal court until the 1930s
    2. Powell v. Alabama
      1. the "Scottsboro Boys" rape case; convicted and sentenced to death
      2. appealed to U.S. Supreme Court claiming violation of the Fourteenth Amendment due process
      3. convictions overturned; first in a series of Supreme Court rulings widening the reach of the right to counsel in federal and state court
    3. Extending the Sixth Amendment right
      1. Johnson v. Zerbst; felony defendants in federal court
      2. Betts v. Brady; noncapital defendants in state court not entitled to appointed counsel if indigent
      3. Gideon v. Wainwright
        1. U.S. Supreme Court granted certiorari
        2. In forma pauperis—unable to provide one's own attorney; in the form of a poor man
        3. Supreme Court ruled unanimously in Gideon's favor
        4. counsel in a criminal trial is a fundamental right of due process in state court; felonies
      4. Argersinger v. Hamlin—right to counsel whenever defendant may be imprisoned, even in a misdemeanor case
    4. Restrictions on the right to counsel; numerous decisions against extending the right to counsel-attempts by the Supreme Court to maintain a proper balance


  4. Legal Aid, Assigned Counsel, and Public Defenders
    1. Review of legal services for indigent defendants
    2. Voluntary defender programs
      1. charitable organizations, legal aid societies, law school clinics
      2. federal funding support from the late 1960s to the early 1980s
      3. American Civil Liberties Union
      4. weaknesses of this system
    3. Assigned counsel systems
      1. judge appoints an attorney from a list of lawyers in the local community
      2. weaknesses are numerous
      3. advantages—widens the involvement of the legal community in the criminal justice process; brings in attorneys who are outside of the regular courtroom work group
    4. Public defenders
      1. an attorney paid by a unit of government to represent indigent defendants
      2. growing in popularity, especially in medium and small sized jurisdictions
      3. several advantages—experience, skill, independent investigations
      4. disadvantages—low salaries, heavy caseloads
    5. Contract systems
      1. attorneys and law firms enter into a contract with a unit of government to provide legal representation to indigent defendants
      2. has yet to gain much popularity


  5. Legal, Prosecutorial, and Judicial Misconduct
    1. Increasing problem of corruption among judges, lawyers, and prosecutors
    2. The problem of ineffective representation by legal counsel
    3. Judicial discipline commissions and "watchdog" groups and efforts to police court personnel


  6. Summary





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