Even if the decision might not be popular, wrote the court, "from the very beginning, our state and national constitutions and laws have laid great emphasis on procedural and substantive safeguards designed to assure fair trials before impartial tribunals in which every defendant stands equal before the law," and because these procedures are often very complicated to understand, "this noble ideal cannot be realized if the poor man charged with crime has to face his accusers without a lawyer to assist him," when he or she is striving to make a credible defense before a judge or jury. ("Gideon v. Wainwright," 1963)
Justice, and the work of the nine men (today, eight men and one women) on the court, is not always about the will of the majority of the American people, it is often about the rights of the individual. A case that demonstrates this principle even more vehemently is that of "Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka." In this instance, the school children of Topeka who were Black were denied the right to go to the same schools as their White counterparts, regardless of where they lived, the desires of their Black parents, or where their Black parents paid taxes. The will of the majority of the White residents held sway, until a dedicated band of activists and lawyers gave voice to the desire of the Black community to have equal rights for their children in Topeka.
The Supreme Court's interpretation of the community triumphed over prejudice, even though that prejudice was expressed by the will of the majority. "The plaintiffs contend that segregated public schools are not 'equal' and cannot be made 'equal,' and...
Casey Anthony Digital forensics can be a useful tool when applied in the correct manner. The recent case of Casey Anthony and her murder trial demonstrated the role that digital forensics may play in the setting of justice. The purpose of this essay is to describe the role that the digital evidence played within the not-guilty verdict of Casey Anthony nearly over two years ago. This essay will address the problems
The problem with mitochondrial DNA is that it is inherited only from the maternal side of the family. The hair could have belonged to Anthony, to the victim, to Anthony's brother, or to any of the female ancestors in the maternal side of the family. Because the state could not establish that the victim was the source of this hair, the fact that it could establish that the hair
Casey Anthony Trial The murder trial Florida vs. Casey Marie Anthony turned into a national sensation because of the alleged attempt by 25-year-old Casey Anthony to cover up the murder of her own 2-year-old daughter, Caylee Anthony (Alvarez, 2011). On July 5, 2011, after nearly six weeks of courtroom testimony and just 11 hours of deliberation, the jury found Casey Anthony not guilty. The prosecution's failure to convince the jury of
To achieve these objectives, she murdered her daughter and created a story about how she was kidnapped. The situational choice theory states that crimes will occur based on individual choices and motivating factors. When this is applied to Anthony's situation, it is clear that murdering her daughter was a choice that she made. This is because she was motivated to have her personal freedom. ("Review of Basic Criminological Theory")
The pro-life sections were deeply disappointed as they had considered Casey as an ideal opportunity for the Court to overturn Roe. Legal Reaction to the Case The legal fraternity realized that the U.S. Supreme Court was loathe to re-visit its previous decisions or to endanger stability. Some of the justices had decided that even if the Roe holding had been wrong, they would rather amend parts of it instead of overturning
People of the State of California v. Conrad Robert Murray The involuntary manslaughter trial of Michael Jackson's personal doctor, Conrad Murray, was in the news seemingly every day for months. Even though the trial has concluded and the world knows that Dr. Murray was found guilty, it is important to look at the court proceedings and how the evidence led the jury to that verdict. Dr. Murray administered a powerful drug
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