Legal Injustice
Throughout the history of jurisprudence and legal theory, there has been recurring concern about the links between law and justice and how the law is implicated in injustice. In the past, law and justice were practically considered synonymous. However, experience has taught us that injustice can indeed be supported by law. Nevertheless, the belief remains that justice is the particular concern of the law. These are the most common characteristics that are protected by law. The goal of the Civil Rights Corps Policy Department is to help policymakers and lawyers end these injustices. Our work includes efforts to end unconstitutional detention based on property, support bail reform that maximizes pre-trial freedom, address fines and fees that are used to criminalize poverty, end debt-based licence revocation, eliminate racial disparities in these and related prison systems, and work to reduce criminal and legal injustice. The United States The criminal justice system is a stain on our democracy. The current system, which focuses on criminalization and punishment rather than recognizing and addressing the underlying causes of most crimes, fails to keep people safe while tearing apart far too many communities – particularly low-income Black and Brown communities that are disproportionately affected by these practices. Proactive police practices – such as stop and search and window breaking policies – disproportionately target minorities and low-income neighbourhoods. Whether it`s a vindictive federal prosecution of a rural Native American family using medical marijuana or the state`s prosecution of a large amount of legal marijuana within city limits, mandatory minimum sentences for victimless crimes disproportionately target people living in poverty. These people are easy targets for overzealous prosecutors: unable to afford a lawyer and aware of the catastrophic consequences of dismissal, people living in poverty lack the tools to respond effectively.
When a person is imprisoned for years or decades for a victimless crime, the entire community suffers the loss of a parent, sibling, colleague or employee. Andrea Lyon was appointed Dean of the Faculty of Law at the University of Valparaiso in July 2014. She is thrilled to be at the forefront of legal education at a time of necessary change. The University of Valparaiso is a leader in curriculum reform and acceptance of diversity. Previously, she served as Clinical Professor of Law, Associate Dean of Clinical Programs, and Director of the Center for Justice in Capital Cases. Lyon received his bachelor`s degree from Rutgers University and his law degree from Antioch Law School. After graduation, she worked for the Cook County Public Defenders Office in the Criminal Procedure Division, the Sentencing and Habeas Corpus Division, the Preliminary Hearings Unit/First Municipal Unit (Misdemeanors) and the Appeals Division. His last position was as head of the Homicide Task Force, a 22-member legal unit representing those accused of murder. She tried more than 130 murder cases, during and after her time at the Public Defender`s Office.
She defended more than 30 potentially capital cases at the litigation level and referred 19 through the criminal phase; She won all 19 victories. In 1990, she founded the Illinois Capital Resource Center and served as its director until 1995, when she joined the University of Michigan School of Law as a clinical assistant professor. Winner of the prestigious Reginald Heber Smith Award from the National Legal Aid and Defender Association for the best advocate for the poor in the country, she is a nationally recognized expert in the field of defence against the death penalty and a frequent law professor across the country. In this essay, I will describe how the justice system applies poverty using three examples: bail, fines and fees, and access to civil legal aid. These are by no means the only means by which the judiciary literally imprisons people in poverty, but they are widespread and particularly harmful. I will also provide a legal framework to analyze these practices and a brief gloss on their history. I hope to conclude with a discussion on successful reform efforts and the way forward. In this powerful and insightful book, Andrea D. Lyon uses clients` stories and historical perspective to explain what is wrong with the criminal justice system and makes a compelling case for reform at the heart of the system; Not just its edges. Lyon proposes to create an office of the United States Defence Counsel and to give it the same importance as the Attorney General and the Attorney General. Such a position would not be filled by someone who represents law enforcement or American corporations, but by someone who represents and defends the accused, collectively before those in power. A defense attorney general would raise his voice against injustices such as the unnecessary murders of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor or the Texas Supreme Court`s refusal to release an innocent man acquitted by DNA from prison.
The United States needs a general defender. Due to the number of reports we receive, it may take several weeks for us to respond to your issue. Local legal aid offices or lawyers in your area may be able to respond quickly to your concern or assist you, or visit www.findlegalhelp.org or call (800) 285-2221 to find a lawyer through the American Bar Association. In 2019, more than 100 ideologically diverse organizations formed Free to Drive: a coalition united by the belief that restrictions on driving privileges should be reserved for dangerous driving, not to force debt payments or punish people who miss a court date. Over the past five years, 22 states and CDs have adopted reforms to reduce debt-based conduct restrictions. The Free to Drive campaign brings together legal, political, advocacy, business, grassroots and research organizations committed to the principle that restrictions on driver`s licenses should only be used for dangerous driving – not to force debt payments or punish those who miss a traffic hearing. The provision of legal aid to poor people accused of crimes has been devalued, diminished and neglected for centuries. Andrea Lyon argues persuasively that the status and role of the advocate must change if our system is to become more reliable, equitable and just.
Contact the Société des services juridiques at lsc.gov/find-legal-aid or call (202) 295-1500. One of our country`s most capable public defenders, Andrea D. Lyon, brings us heartbreaking ideas from the trenches to passionately advocate for the creation of an attorney general of national defense – someone with a powerful voice to protect the rights of the accused, correct false convictions, and fight racism and other deep-rooted systemic issues. It is a compelling, challenging and compelling book that will appeal to anyone interested in fixing our broken criminal justice system. The essays collected in Justice and Injustice in Law and Legal Theory attempt to address this uncertainty about the meaning of justice and its disembodied quality by integrating the investigation of justice into an examination of the day-to-day practice of law, its institutional arrangements, and its engagement with particular issues at specific times. The essays examine the relationship between law and justice and injustice in specific issues and practices and thus make the issue of justice tangible as a concrete political issue.