Decision-Making and Holistic Public Defense Post-Montgomery v. Louisiana

2019 ◽  
Vol 31 (6) ◽  
pp. 886-907
Author(s):  
Jeanette Hussemann ◽  
Jonah Siegel
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Supreme Court ◽  
Qualitative Interviews ◽  
Family Members ◽  
Defense Attorneys ◽  
Public Defense ◽  
Emotional Wellness ◽  
The U.S

In 2012, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Miller v. Alabama that mandatory sentences of life without the possibility of parole (LWOP) for youth are unconstitutional. In 2016, the Court held in Montgomery v. Louisiana that the ruling in Miller should be applied retroactively. Drawing from qualitative interviews with justice actors, and individuals who were sentenced to LWOP as juveniles and paroled, this article examines the implementation of Miller-Montgomery in Michigan, the factors that influence decisions to release juvenile lifers, and their reentry process. In doing so, we focus specific attention to the role of publicly appointed defense attorneys and the application of holistic defense practices to support Montgomery case mitigation and juvenile lifer reentry. Findings indicate that institutional disciplinary and programming records, emotional wellness, statements by victims’ family members, political considerations, and reentry plans are key considerations when deciding whether a juvenile lifer should be eligible for parole.

Defense Attorneys and Plea Bargains

2019 ◽  
pp. 37-55 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kelsey S. Henderson
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Supreme Court ◽  
Plea Bargaining ◽  
Psychological Processes ◽  
Defense Attorneys ◽  
Adversarial System ◽  
Federal Standard ◽  
Extralegal Factors ◽  
The U.S

In the landmark Gideon v. Wainwright decision (1963), the U.S. Supreme Court established the federal standard of appointed counsel for indigent defendants as fundamental to fairness. This right has been upheld throughout the years and is central to our adversarial system. The attorney’s responsibility is to zealously serve as the accused’s strongest counselor and advocate. In the context of plea bargaining, the attorney can assist the defendant in making a voluntary, knowing, and intelligent plea decision. The attorney may act as a “debiaser,” counteracting irrationality on the defendant’s part. However, research suggests structural influences and psychological processes may impede the role of the attorney. This chapter explores how legal and extralegal factors affect attorneys’ plea decision-making, which ultimately influence defendants’ decisions to waive or invoke their right to trial.

scholarly journals Family involvement in the context of chronic diseases: The role of social support in treatment decision-making for surgical procedures

2020 ◽  
Vol 32 (1) ◽  
pp. 45-71
Author(s):  
Elena Link ◽  
Doreen Reifegerste ◽  
Christoph Klimmt
Keyword(s):  
Social Support ◽  
Decision Making ◽  
Chronic Diseases ◽  
Family Involvement ◽  
Surgical Procedures ◽  
Qualitative Interviews ◽  
Family Members ◽  
Medical Decision ◽  
Personal Factors

If medical decision-making about complex treatment options (such as surgical procedures) is challenging for patients, family members can provide them with advice and health information. Previous research about family involvement in health communication has largely focused on cancer patients. Thus, it lacks an examination of family involvement in surgery decision-making in the context of non-life-threatening chronic diseases like arthrosis. In particular, we focus on the role of social support for family involvement in these situations. Against this background, we conducted semi-structured qualitative interviews with arthrosis patients and their family members (n = 32 patients; n = 8 relatives). To better understand family involvement in surgery decision-making, three research questions were analyzed: (1) What are the perceived characteristics of the arthroplasty decisional process? (2) Which patterns of family involvement exist with regard to social support? (3) What general circumstances are relevant for family involvement? Our results demonstrate that social support plays an important role in the patterns of family decision-making. Instrumental, emotional, and informational support can indirectly enhance family involvement in decision-making. In addition, relatives are also directly involved in decision-making processes and may instigate the decision. The type of family involvement is influenced by characteristics of the decision-making situation. In addition to personal factors and the relationship with the physician, which is perceived as less supportive, the need for familial decisional support intensifies.

The Role of Gender Norms in Judicial Decision-Making at the U.S. Supreme Court: The Case of Male and Female Justices

2018 ◽  
Vol 47 (3) ◽  
pp. 494-529 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shane A. Gleason ◽  
Jennifer J. Jones ◽  
Jessica Rae McBean
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Supreme Court ◽  
Gender Norms ◽  
Legal Profession ◽  
Judicial Decision ◽  
Judicial Decision Making ◽  
Masculine Norms ◽  
Gender Impacts ◽  
The U.S

Although still a minority, the growing number of women on both the Bench and at the Bar of the U.S. Supreme Court has important implications for judicial decision-making and successful advocacy at the Court. Research in judicial behavior generally focuses on vote direction and the presence of female attorneys in a case. We offer a more nuanced account of how gender impacts both attorney success and judicial decision-making by drawing on work in social and political psychology and utilizing quantitative textual analysis to explore the tension between masculine norms of behavior that are valued in the legal profession and feminine norms of behavior that are expected of women, but devalued in the legal profession. Based on the Court’s long-standing disdain for emotional arguments, we examine how the emotional content in 601 party briefs shapes the Court’s majority opinions. Our results indicate that male justices evaluate counsel based on their compliance with traditional gender norms—rewarding male counsel for cool, unemotional arguments and rewarding female counsel for emotionally compelling arguments. However, we find no evidence that gender norms shape the opinions of female justices. Given that the justice system is supposed to be “blind,” our results highlight the durability of gendered expectations and raise questions about the objectivity of judicial decision-making.

scholarly journals Testimonies of Communication in Dementia Care

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Grant D. Campbell ◽  
Nicole Dalmer ◽  
Jason Andrews
Keyword(s):  
Significant Role ◽  
Qualitative Interviews ◽  
Family Members ◽  
Dementia Care ◽  
Information Services ◽  
Professional Information

This paper presents a study of recorded conversations, qualitative interviews, and published memoirs to articulate the role of professional information services in answering the needs of persons caring for family members living with dementia. The data from these sources reveals evidence of working naïve classifications based on images of ritual, paradox, contrast, synchrony and stability. The findings suggest that information services need to align with caregivers’ working classifications, and that information, when appropriately delivered, plays a significant role in re-establishing temporary periods of stability in the caregiving relationship.

The Role of Emotional Language in Briefs Before the U.S. Supreme Court

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ryan C. Black ◽  
Matthew E.K. Hall ◽  
Ryan J. Owens ◽  
Eve Ringsmuth
Keyword(s):  
Supreme Court ◽  
Emotional Language ◽  
The U.S

The Combat Exclusion and the Role of Women in the Military

Hypatia ◽  
1995 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 56-73 ◽  
Author(s):  
Judith Wagner Decew
Keyword(s):  
Supreme Court ◽  
Women In The Military ◽  
History Of ◽  
Role Of Women ◽  
The Military ◽  
The U.S

I first discuss reasons for feminists to attend to the role of women in the military, despite past emphasis on antimilitarism. I then focus on the exclusion of women from combat duty, reviewing its sanction by the U.S. Supreme Court and the history of its adoption. I present arguments favoring the exclusion, defending strong replies to each, and demonstrate that reasoning from related cases and feminist analyses of equality explain why exclusion remains entrenched.

U.S. Supreme Court Decision-Making and the Free Exercise Clause

1993 ◽  
Vol 55 (3) ◽  
pp. 511-529 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joseph A. Ignagni
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Supreme Court ◽  
Supreme Court Decision ◽  
Court Decision ◽  
Free Exercise ◽  
Free Exercise Clause ◽  
Attitudinal Model ◽  
The Supreme Court ◽  
Free Exercise Of Religion ◽  
The U.S

The U.S. Supreme Court, at various times, has changed the constitutional tests it claimed to use in order to settle free exercise of religion disputes. These changes in official doctrine and the manner in which many cases have been decided have left the Supreme Court open to much criticism from legal scholars. This study differs substantially from previous work in this area. It uses a fact-attitudinal model to analyze the cases from the Warren, Burger, and Rehnquist Courts. Its findings indicate that these decisions are, generally, explainable and predictable.

Family communication and decision making at the end of life: A literature review

2014 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 815-825 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cara L. Wallace
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
End Of Life ◽  
Family Communication ◽  
End Of Life Care ◽  
Family Members ◽  
Empirical Literature ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Life Care ◽  
The Family

AbstractObjective:Patients and families coping with a terminal illness are faced with a number of decisions over the course of their disease. The role that family communication plays in the process of decision making is an important one. The objectives for this review are to examine the current state of empirical literature on the relationship between family communication and decision making about end-of-life care, to identify gaps, and to discuss implications for policy, practice, and future research.Method:Articles were identified using systematic keyword searches within the following relevant databases: Academic Search Complete, CINAHL Plus, Communications and Mass Media Complete, ERIC, PsychINFO, MEDLINE, SocINDEX, and ProQuest.Results:The three bodies of relevant literature that emerged during this review include: (1) the importance of family communication at the end of life (EoL); (2) family decision making at the EoL; and (3) the interrelationship of communication (both within the family and with healthcare professionals) and decision making at the EoL. While the literature highlights the role of communication between medical professionals and the patient or family members, there is very little focus on the process of how family communication among the family members themselves contributes to decision making at the end of life.Significance of results:Barriers to end-of-life care are important considerations for helping patients to access timely and appropriate services. Understanding the pertinent role of family communication as it relates to the decision for EoL care is the first step in working to provide another avenue for overcoming these barriers.

scholarly journals The judgment of crimes against humanity in Brazil: Analysis through the critical criminological lens of lola aniyar

2021 ◽  
pp. 47135-47145
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Human Rights ◽  
Supreme Court ◽  
Ad Hoc ◽  
Lewis Carroll ◽  
Crimes Against Humanity ◽  
Military Dictatorship ◽  
Criminal Control ◽  
Decision Making Rule

In this article we discuss two recent Brazilian Supreme Court judgments about crimes committed during the civil-military dictatorship: Allegation of Disobedience of Fundamental Precept suit n. 153 (constitutionality of the 1979 amnesty law), and Extradition suit n. 1362, that discussed the extradition of an Argentine citizen who was convicted of committing crimes against humanity during the Argentine dictatorship). We analyze the role of the Brazilian Supreme Court in the (re) construction of the “criminal problem” and “criminal control” in relation to crimes against humanity perpetrated during the periods of the Argentine (1978-1983) and Brazilian (1964-1985) dictatorship. We take Lola Aniyar de Castro Thought’s, seeking some inspiration, for whom the criminology of the 21st Century is the “criminology of human rights”, and criminal control would be the thermometer of human rights. In the last part of this article, we discussed what seems to have been “the triumph of Lewis Carroll”, in the metaphor of reversing meanings: when protecting human rights is not to protect human rights, by creating an ad hoc decision-making rule from which “remembering is to forget”, and “forgetting is to remember”, provided that, from the peculiar Rule n. 42, the investigation and accountability for crimes against humanity are not allowed.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document