The criminal justice system presupposes people generally are free to decide whether or not to engage in criminal behaviour. However, the courts acknowledge not everyone has free will.
Coronavirus has dealt a blow to the already overburdened Victorian criminal court system, meaning hundreds — if not more — face extensive delays for their day in court.
Funeral for a woman and her 11-year-old daughter, both found dead inside a burnt out vehicle in Puebla state, Mexico, June 11, 2020.
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Reports of rape, domestic abuse and murdered women are way up in Brazil, Mexico, Peru and beyond since the coronavirus. But Latin America has long been one of the most dangerous places to be a woman.
Research shows that arrests for serious crimes are quite rare.
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The Federal Bureau of Prisons recently opened a unit for people suffering dementia. But is incarceration a ‘cruel and unusual’ punishment for those who don’t understand why they are behind bars?
Cyntoia Brown was sentenced to 51 years in prison when just 16 years old.
Courtesy of Netflix
Dan Birman, USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism
Dan Birman, director of the new Netflix feature documentary ‘Murder to Mercy: The Cyntoia Brown Story,’ discusses his filmmaking process and the importance of the case.
Victoria and the ACT just joined other states in implementing judge-alone trials during the pandemic. Such a significant change deserves much more public scrutiny than it has received.
Police keeping a safe distance from patients awaiting COVID-19 tests at a New York hospital.
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With officers being hit by illness, arrests have dropped during the coronavirus crisis. Meanwhile crime rates have remained static, or even fallen. Is it time to rethink policing?
A ministry program student at a Texas prison. Some inmates cite religion to avoid gang recruitment.
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Gangs are still a significant reality in US prisons. But most inmates say that their power has been watered down, and they no longer rule facilities with an iron fist.
You wouldn’t think Bob Marley ‘shot the sheriff,’ but rappers are held to a double standard.
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When prosecutors introduce lyrics, they’re asking juries to suspend the distinction between author and narrator, reality and fiction, and to read them as literal confessions of guilt.
Protesters attended Harvey Weinstein’s first day of trial.
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The ability to prosecute alleged domestic abuse cases without the support of the victim is vital.
The NFL has been thrust into conversations around criminal justice since Colin Kaepernick and others chose to kneel in protest against police violence, but also in the case of former player Aaron Hernandez.
AP Photo/Ted S. Warren
More and more district attorney candidates are running on reversing the government’s traditional approach to crime and punishment. And they’re winning.
People who oppose the death penalty cannot serve on juries in those cases.
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A work placement is integral to a degree in social work. But many people who have a history with the justice system would be denied a working with children check, which most placements require.
Judges in the courtroom prior to the the sentencing of Jean-Pierre Bemba at in the International Criminal Court in The Hague
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