scholarly journals How criminal courts blend punitive ends with immigration control aims: The decision-making process of the discretionary prosecution provision to authorise an administrative expulsion

2020 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 1-29
Author(s):  
Byron Villagómez Moncayo

The involvement of the criminal justice system in immigration control is nowadays a global phenomenon that has called the attention of academics and practitioners. The Spanish legal regime has not been immune to this occurrence, encompassing a series of situations in which criminal courts are required to make decisions that can have significant implications upon immigration law enforcement. One of the most noteworthy provisions in this regard is that by which criminal courts are allowed to exercise discretionary prosecution to authorise the administrative expulsion of a prosecuted foreigner (Art. 57.7 Aliens Act). Drawing on focused observation of a court setting and semi-structured interviews with judges, prosecutors, clerks, court personnel and defence attorneys, the main findings of this paper hover around the idea that expulsion is a court’s culturally constructed punishment, defined more by the meanings attributed to it by court actors than by its formal legal categorisation.

2018 ◽  
Vol 30 (8) ◽  
pp. 1229-1249
Author(s):  
Jennifer Gatewood Owens ◽  
Michelle Smirnova

Given the rapid increase in prescription (Rx) drug misuse, overdose, and drug-related arrests, the purpose of this study is to identify strategies to combat Rx misuse from the perspective of former Rx drug misusers who are presently incarcerated. Using semi-structured interviews, we elicited such recommendations from 33 incarcerated women in the Midwest with histories of Rx drug misuse. The policy recommendations put forth by the women tended to be proactive rather than reactive and focused upon more vigilant surveillance and prevention efforts by medical professionals. While there was little mention of the criminal justice system or incarceration, women did also advocate for better treatment and rehabilitation options. Users affected by Rx misuse suggested more proactive approaches in dealing with Rx misuse that would ultimately shift drug control responsibilities from law enforcement to doctors.


2016 ◽  
Vol 23 (2) ◽  
pp. 123-144
Author(s):  
Josep M Tamarit Sumalla ◽  
Mª Jesús Guardiola Lago ◽  
Albert Padró-Solanet ◽  
Patricia Hernández-Hidalgo

This article analyses the criminal justice system’s treatment of those sexual offences against children of which it is made aware. The findings reported in this article draw on a quantitative study based on data ( n = 97) taken from judicial files from a province of Catalonia, Spain. The study examines prosecution, trial and conviction rates, analysing the possible variables involved to provide a better understanding of the reasons behind the successful prosecution of complaints made. The study points to a low rate of prosecution, similar to other studies carried out in English-speaking countries. This leads us to conclude that differences in legal systems do not give rise to significant differences in dealing with cases. There is no evidence that a legalistic system such as that of Spain acts as a restraining element against the influence of non-legal factors in the judicial decision-making process. However, similarities with other studies are not found with regards to some factors associated with it. The findings provide no confirmation of the hypothesis that the Spanish criminal justice system is particularly reluctant to prosecute cases of intrafamilial victimization.


Author(s):  
Jordan C. Pickering

PurposeThroughout the last decade, a number of empirical studies have assessed the effectiveness of body-worn cameras (BWCs) among law enforcement agencies across the United States. The purpose of this paper is to examine officers' perceptions regarding the impact this technology has had on police-community relations, as well as the working relationship between police and other actors in the criminal justice system (e.g. prosecutors, jurors).Design/methodology/approachThe author conducted focus groups with officers (n = 89) from two local law enforcement agencies in California that had adopted BWCs in recent years. Participating officers discussed advantages and disadvantages they associated with BWCs, as well as how BWCs have impacted their relationship with the public and justice system personnel.FindingsOfficers recognized advantages to using BWCs, including the potential for positive changes in police behavior and the ability to protect officers against false citizen complaints. Officers also identified a number of disadvantages (or consequences) they associate with BWCs, such as the depreciation of credibility behind an officer's word and the impact of video footage on prosecutorial decision-making.Originality/valuePrior studies have gathered officers' perceptions regarding BWCs, but very few have assessed whether and how the use of this technology by law enforcement influences other actors within the criminal justice system. The findings from this study may prompt further empirical consideration regarding BWCs, especially with regard to whether police use of this technology significantly impacts citizens' trust in the police and how their use may impact prosecutorial and juror decision-making.


2021 ◽  
Vol 33 (4) ◽  
pp. 237-239
Author(s):  
Sara Andrews

The complex, intricate process of felony sentencing in Ohio makes ensuring clear, comprehendible sentences of the utmost import for the administration of justice and promoting confidence in the system. As such, for more than a year, the Ohio Criminal Sentencing Commission worked with justice system partners to develop a package of uniform felony sentencing documents that prescribe the most clear and concise, minimum language required to comply with Criminal Rule 32 and existing case law and establishes standardized, common data essential for identifying relationships and trends common to all felony courts. The adoption of the package of felony sentencing documents is the first step to begin standardized, aggregate felony sentencing data collection in Ohio—the Ohio Sentencing Data Platform. Sentencing data provide opportunities for robust research, including the ability to parse comparative data between counties, recognizing that community standards can drive law enforcement, prosecution, and sentencing decision-making. The Ohio Sentencing Data Platform will improve information about the people we are trying to help in the criminal justice system and has been met with enthusiastic interest and support from judges and courts throughout the state. Our modest, incremental path will ultimately yield high dividends in building public trust in criminal justice processes and outcomes. At the same time, without fiscal or administrative burden, it will help give judges and decision- makers access to the best information available to perform their public service duty in the most impactful way.


2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
pp. 99-100
Author(s):  
Malwina Anna Wojcik

The pressure on the criminal justice system in England and Wales is mounting. Recent figures reveal that despite a rise in recorded crime, the number of defendants in court proceedings has been the lowest in 50 years. This indicates a crisis of access to criminal justice. Predictive policing and risk assessment programmes based on algorithmic decision making (ADM) offer a prospect of increasing efficiency of law enforcement, eliminating delays and cutting the costs. These technologies are already used in the UK for crime-mapping and facilitating decisions regarding prosecution of arrested individuals. In the US their deployment is much wider, covering also sentencing and parole applications.


Author(s):  
Luke McNamara ◽  
Julia Quilter ◽  
Tamara Walsh ◽  
Thalia Anthony

Lawyers and allied professionals who have experience supporting, advising and representing people experiencing homelessness are uniquely placed to identify problems with the operation of the criminal justice system—from policing to courts to punishment—and to conceive reform options. This article reports the findings of qualitative interviews with lawyers and allied professionals in all Australian states and territories. Participants identified multiple points where decisions about criminal law enforcement fail to take adequate account of the complex factors that underlie ‘offending’ by people experiencing homelessness, producing outcomes that exacerbate disadvantage. They advanced a range of proposals for reform directed at breaking the nexus between homelessness and criminalisation, including re-conception of the role of police, adoption of therapeutic jurisprudence (or ‘solution-focused’) models in criminal courts, and major changes to the use of fines as a criminal punishment.


2019 ◽  
Vol 17 (3/4) ◽  
pp. 456-472 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aaron Shapiro

Predictive analytics and artificial intelligence are applied widely across law enforcement agencies and the criminal justice system. Despite criticism that such tools reinforce inequality and structural discrimination, proponents insist that they will nonetheless improve the equality and fairness of outcomes by countering humans’ biased or capricious decision-making. How can predictive analytics be understood simultaneously as a source of, and solution to, discrimination and bias in criminal justice and law enforcement? The article provides a framework for understanding the techno-political gambit of predictive policing as a mechanism of police reform—a discourse that I call “predictive policing for reform.” Focusing specifically on geospatial predictive policing systems, I argue that “predictive policing for reform” should be seen as a flawed attempt to rationalize police patrols through an algorithmic remediation of patrol geographies. The attempt is flawed because predictive systems operate on the sociotechnical practices of police patrols, which are themselves contradictory enactments of the state’s power to distribute safety and harm. The ambiguities and contradictions of the patrol are not resolved through algorithmic remediation. Instead, they lead to new indeterminacies, trade-offs, and experimentations based on unfalsifiable claims. I detail these through a discussion of predictive policing firm HunchLab’s use of predictive analytics to rationalize patrols and mitigate bias. Understanding how the “predictive policing for reform” discourse is operationalized as a series of technical fixes that rely on the production of indeterminacies allows for a more nuanced critique of predictive policing.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (12) ◽  
pp. 6581
Author(s):  
Jooyoung Hwang ◽  
Anita Eves ◽  
Jason L. Stienmetz

Travellers have high standards and regard restaurants as important travel attributes. In the tourism and hospitality industry, the use of developed tools (e.g., smartphones and location-based tablets) has been popularised as a way for travellers to easily search for information and to book venues. Qualitative research using semi-structured interviews based on the face-to-face approach was adopted for this study to examine how consumers’ restaurant selection processes are performed with the utilisation of social media on smartphones. Then, thematic analysis was adopted. The findings of this research show that the adoption of social media on smartphones is positively related with consumers’ gratification. More specifically, when consumers regard that process, content and social gratification are satisfied, their intention to adopt social media is fulfilled. It is suggested by this study that consumers’ restaurant decision-making process needs to be understood, as each stage of the decision-making process is not independent; all the stages of the restaurant selection process are organically connected and influence one another.


2021 ◽  
Vol 33 (2) ◽  
pp. 143-182
Author(s):  
WILL COOLEY

AbstractThe rise of crack cocaine in the late 1980s propelled the war on drugs. The experience of Canton, Ohio, shows how the response to crack solidified mass incarceration. A declining industrial city of 84,000 people in northeast Ohio with deep-seated racial divides, it was overwhelmed by aggressive, enterprising crack dealers from outside the city. In response, politicians and residents united behind the strategy of incessant arrests and drastic prison sentences. The law-enforcement offensive worsened conditions while pursuing African Americans at blatantly disproportionate rates, but few people engaged in reframing the drug problem. Instead, a punitive citizenry positioned punishment as the principal remedy. The emergency foreclosed on more comprehensive assessments of the city’s tribulations, while the criminal justice system emerged as the paramount institution.


1974 ◽  
Vol 20 (3) ◽  
pp. 281-290 ◽  
Author(s):  
Harvey Treger ◽  
Doug Thomson ◽  
Gordon Sloan Jaeck

Police and social workers have together developed an effective service model that alleviates overloading in the criminal justice system, develops new cooperative relationships within the system and social welfare, and expands the roles of law enforcement, prosecution, and correction.


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