CRM/LAW C7 Lecture 15: Week 3 Lecture 4 - The Judge
8 Sep 2016
School
Department
Course
Professor
Decide whether to detain defendant pending trial and other bail decisions
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Rule on all pretrial motions
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Decide whether to accept guilty plea if plea bargain is arranged
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Pretrial Roles and Responsibilities of Judges
Oversees jury selection
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Maintains decorum of courtroom and rules on motions and objections
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Most of the time, we think of the jury as being the trier of fact
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Bench trials
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In some cases, judges become trier of facts and decide guilt or innocence
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Determines sentence given to defendant
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Trial Roles and Responsibilities of Judges
WATCH - "Judicial Elections"
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Either appointed or elected
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Federal - appointed
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Special interests
Money
Opens them up to the political process
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State and local - most elected
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Selection of Judges
Does the identity of the judge matter?
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Who are judges?
Reading - Steffensmeier & Britt
As the courts become more representative of the populations, what effect will that have on their
decisions?
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Question:
To black and white judges give similar sentences to criminal defendants
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Do black and white judges use the same criteria and give the same weight to case characteristics?
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Which matters more? Who the judge is or the fact that they are a judge?
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Person vs organization model
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Questions they have
Small or negligible effects of judges' race on sentencing.
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Specifically, by extension, black judges will be especially lenient toward black defendants
○
Substantial race-of-judge effects, with black judges being less punitive in their sentencing
decisions
-
Specifically, black judges might be especially punitive and sentence black defendants even
more harshly than white defendants
○
Substantial race-of-judge effects, with black judges being more punitive in their sentencing
decisions
-
Expectations
X (race of judge) --> Y sentencing outcomes (whether to incarcerate; length of incarceration)
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Severity of the offense
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More likely to get punished if committed more crimes
Prior criminal history
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Violent crime vs property crimes
Type conviction offense
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Number of concurrent offense convictions
Controlling for:
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Analysis
Week 3: Lecture 4 - The Judge
Tuesday, August 16, 2016
4:44 PM
Crim C7 Page 1
Document Summary
Decide whether to detain defendant pending trial and other bail decisions. Decide whether to accept guilty plea if plea bargain is arranged. Maintains decorum of courtroom and rules on motions and objections. In some cases, judges become trier of facts and decide guilt or innocence. Most of the time, we think of the jury as being the trier of fact. To black and white judges give similar sentences to criminal defendants. Small or negligible effects of judges" race on sentencing. Substantial race-of-judge effects, with black judges being less punitive in their sentencing decisions. Specifically, by extension, black judges will be especially lenient toward black defendants. Substantial race-of-judge effects, with black judges being more punitive in their sentencing decisions. Specifically, black judges might be especially punitive and sentence black defendants even more harshly than white defendants. X (race of judge) --> y sentencing outcomes (whether to incarcerate; length of incarceration) More likely to get punished if committed more crimes.
