"It's having an effect on the entire community and the safety of the entire community."
Although a certain problem is affecting everyone in the area. This problem isn't just a small worry; it's making the place less safe for people. The word "community" being used twice shows that this issue touches everyone, not just a few. It sounds like everyone in the area should work together to fix it, especially since it's about safety. It seems like the problem needs quick attention.
But most stark in the report is research that cites innocent defendants who agree to falsely plead guilty, sometimes on the advice of their own lawyers. An Innocence Project database of exonerations includes dozens of people who falsely pleaded guilty.
This brings concern and creates a big problem within the legal system. Surprisingly, their own lawyers sometimes tells them to do this. The Innocence Project, is a growing list that reveals individuals who were found guilty but later found innocent. This poses great issues as there is no real issue on how the system works in my opinion.
The prevalence of plea bargaining exploded in the last several decades as a way to save money and time and to promote more certainty in outcomes. But the practice comes with "a very high cost," said Lucian Dervan, a professor at Belmont University College of Law in Nashville.
What are the potential drawbacks or 'high costs' of relying heavily on plea bargaining, as mentioned by Lucian Dervan?
Pleas can allow police and government misconduct to go unchecked, because mistakes and misbehavior often only emerge after defense attorneys gain access to witness interviews and other materials, with which they can test the strength of a government case before trial
This passage talks about how if lawyers don't get to see certain information, police and government might get away with doing wrong things. It says that lawyers need this information to make sure everything is fair before a trial starts.
"Trials have become rare legal artifacts in most U.S. jurisdictions, and even nonexistent in others,"
It's like saying trials are now like old, rare treasures, and in some places, you won't find them at all.
A task force that includes prosecutors, judges, defense attorneys and academics cited "substantial evidence" that innocent people are coerced into guilty pleas because of the power prosecutors hold over them, including the prospect of decades-long mandatory minimum sentences.
Definition: "Substantial evidence" means there's a lot of proof or clear information supporting a belief or claim. They believe there's strong proof that innocent people sometimes say they're guilty because prosecutors have a lot of power over them. One big reason is the fear of very long prison sentences if they don't take a deal.
The deals also exacerbate racial inequality, with Black defendants more often subject to prosecutors' stacking of multiple charges in drug and gun cases. Altogether, defendants face stiffer punishments for going to trial — known as a trial penalty — that can add seven to nine years or more to their sentence
How does the practice of stacking multiple charges affect the decision of defendants, especially Black defendants, to take a plea deal instead of going to trial?
Not all cities can reform and reduce crime
Chicago turned to academics from top-tier universities to develop training using the latest buzzwords, such as “implicit bias” and “procedural justice.” But the programs did not always take hold —and one Chicago cop sued the city for inadequate training after he accidently shot and killed a African-American grandmother despite the new classes.
This goes to show that simply incorporating concepts into training doesn't guarantee effectiveness. Practical application, constant feedback, and real-world testing are essential to keeping everyone safe!
I encourage people, even at this point, to retrain themselves on reflexively calling or suggesting calling the police,” she said. “It’s been ingrained in us and what we’ve been trained to do, but we need to look for alternatives — even as they are being developed.”
shift mindset as we have been conditioned to call the police as an automatic response that may or may not need police intervention.
the police have killed city residents while responding to minor crimes.
More harm done than good....
police reform in cities like Memphis and Chicago found that cutting law enforcement budgets did not reduce police violence or produce healthier relationships with the neighborhoods they patrol.
Not all cities can reduce crime based on budget.
Police handle mental health crises. They enforce traffic laws. They patrol public school hallways and contract with colleges and universities. In many small towns, police answer 911 calls about barking dogs and loud parties. Advocates of defunding the police argue that many of these functions would be better left to other professionals, such as social workers.
Police are tasked with many duties that might not necessarily be what we think of policing.
many cities spend millions more on law enforcement than they do on most other services, including public health.
That raises a broader question about our societal priorities. How do we determine what gets the most funding and why?