Statistically-derived algorithms, adopted by many jurisdictions in an effort to identify the risk of reoffending posed by criminal defendants, have been lambasted as racist, de-humanizing, and antithetical to the foundational tenets of criminal justice. Just Algorithms argues that these attacks are misguided and that, properly regulated, risk assessment tools can be a crucial means of safely and humanely dismantling our massive jail and prison complex. The book explains how risk algorithms work, the types of legal questions they should answer, and the criteria for judging whether they do so in a way that minimizes bias and respects human dignity. It also shows how risk assessment instruments can provide leverage for curtailing draconian prison sentences and the plea-bargaining system that produces them. The ultimate goal of Christopher Slobogin's insightful analysis is to develop the principles that should govern, in both the pretrial and sentencing settings, the criminal justice system's consideration of risk.
This book is written for researchers, scholars, advanced graduate students, and clinicians who work in risk assessment and criminal responsibility. It addresses the question of admitting expert testimony from behavioral health experts in determining matters of culpability and dangerousness by examining a number of factors, including the source of the expert testimony, whether juries need it, and whether it is presented as proven or informed in the court. It argues that the question cannot be understood as a dualistic matter of being for or against expert testimony; rather, its highly nuanced arguments show that determining who should be punished and who should be preventively detained must happen through an interdisciplinary process that looks at the specific circumstances of each case. It offers an analytic framework for making these determinations that treats culpability and dangerousness not as static, ontologically-complete entities, but rather as socially-constructed concepts that cannot be determined solely through the scientific method. The book makes the intriguing argument throughout that although expert testimony cannot be considered scientifically reliable or proven, it should nevertheless be included as long as it can be classified and understood as informed speculation because it makes legal factfinders attend more closely to the matters that the law considers pertinent to past mental states. It seeks to reconcile the tension between the law's demand for accuracy and the inability of behavioral science to provide more than speculative answers for most questions raised by the insanity defense and related doctrines and by sentencing, commitment and sex offender statutes that require determinations of risk.
A close look at innovations in policing and the law that should govern them A host of technologies—among them digital cameras, drones, facial recognition devices, night-vision binoculars, automated license plate readers, GPS, geofencing, DNA matching, datamining, and artificial intelligence—have enabled police to carry out much of their work without leaving the office or squad car, in ways that do not easily fit the traditional physical search and seizure model envisioned by the framers of the Constitution. Virtual Searches develops a useful typology for sorting through this bewildering array of old, new, and soon-to-arrive policing techniques. It then lays out a framework for regulating their use that expands the Fourth Amendment’s privacy protections without blindly imposing its warrant requirement, and that prioritizes democratic over judicial policymaking. The coherent regulatory regime developed in Virtual Searches ensures that police are held accountable for their use of technology without denying them the increased efficiency it provides in their efforts to protect the public. Whether policing agencies are pursuing an identified suspect, constructing profiles of likely perpetrators, trying to find matches with crime scene evidence, collecting data to help with these tasks, or using private companies to do so, Virtual Searches provides a template for ensuring their actions are constitutionally legitimate and responsive to the polity.
Without our consent and often without our knowledge, the government can constantly monitor many of our daily activities, using closed circuit TV, global positioning systems, and a wide array of other sophisticated technologies. With just a few keystrokes, records containing our financial information, phone and e - mail logs, and sometimes even o...
In this Advanced Introduction, Christopher Slobogin covers every significant aspect of U.S. criminal procedure. Focusing on Supreme Court cases and the most important statutory rules that provide the framework for the criminal justice system, he illuminates the nuances of American criminal procedure doctrine and offers factual examples of how it is applied. Chapters cover police practices such as search and seizure, interrogation, and identification procedures, as well as the pretrial, trial and post-conviction process.
This comprehensive examination of the laws governing the punishment, detention, and protection of people with mental disabilities provides innovative solutions to problems associated with criminal responsibility, protection of society from "dangerous" individuals, and the state's authority to act paternalistically.
In this book, Slobogin and Fondacaro present their vision for a new juvenile justice system, founded on the evidence at hand and promoting the principles of rehabilitation and reintegration into society. The authors develop their juvenile justice policy proposals effectively by carefully addressing the problems with past policy approches and recent theoretical contributions.
Tens of thousands of readers have relied on this leading text and practitioner reference--now revised and updated--to understand the issues the legal system most commonly asks mental health professionals to address. Highly readable, the volume demystifies the forensic psychological assessment process and provides guidelines for participating effectively and ethically in legal proceedings. Presented are clinical and legal concepts and evidence-based assessment procedures pertaining to criminal and civil competencies, the insanity defense and related doctrines, sentencing, civil commitment, personal injury claims, antidiscrimination laws, child custody, juvenile justice, and other justice-related areas. Case examples, exercises, and a glossary facilitate learning; 19 sample reports illustrate how to conduct and write up thorough, legally admissible evaluations. New to This Edition *Extensively revised to reflect important legal, empirical, and clinical developments. *Increased attention to medical and neuroscientific research. *New protocols relevant to competence, risk assessment, child custody, and mental injury evaluations. *Updates on insanity, sentencing, civil commitment, the Americans with Disabilities Act, Social Security, juvenile and family law, and the admissibility of expert testimony. *Material on immigration law (including a sample report) and international law. *New and revised sample reports.
This is the definitive reference and text for both mental health and legal professionals. The authors offer a uniquely comprehensive discussion of the legal and clinical contexts of forensic assessment, along with best-practice guidelines for participating effectively and ethically in a wide range of criminal and civil proceedings. Presented are findings, instruments, and procedures related to criminal and civil competencies, civil commitment, sentencing, personal injury claims, antidiscrimination laws, child custody, juvenile justice, and more.
This work provides a far-reaching introduction to the study of criminal procedure, from investigation to habeas corpus. Topics covered include: Exclusionary Evidence Rule and other remedies for constitutional violations, law of arrest, law of searches, privilege against self-incrimination, eyewitness identification techniques, initial custodial decisions, pretrial review, preliminary hearing, grand jury, discovery, the right to a speedy trial, entrapment defense, guilty pleas and plea bargaining, adversarial rights, appeals, double jeopardy, right to counsel, effective assistance of counsel, and state constitutions as an independent source of rights.
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