Building a More Just Society

Section No. 2: Juvenile Justice and the 5th Amendment Right Against Self-Incrimination
 

When in custody, Juvey claims that law enforcement asked incriminating questions about the investigation. While his parents were present during the custodial interrogation, law enforcement did not communicate the right to remain silent in Joey or his parents’  primary language. Everyone agrees that his parents have no understanding of the English language. Think about how cultural sensitivity should impact procedures for officers assigned to communities with diverse languages.
 

Issue and Process Summary

For these issues, evaluate the following:

1. Can the State prove that Juvey understood the waiver of his Miranda rights, and
2. How should law enforcement interact with the public and the accused in multilingual communities.

Section No. 3: Racial Make Up of Juries

The defense attorney believes that the county court system systematically fails to summon non-Caucasians for jury trials in the jurisdiction where Juvey’s case could ultimately be tried. She wants to assert that the failure to summons minorities to jury service is a violation of constitutional rights and undermines the legitimacy of the trial process. The defense lawyer has data that shows while the community is comprised 42% Caucasian and 58% minority eligible jurors, but routinely over 80% of those issued a summons to appear for jury duty are Caucasian.

Please review the case summary of Batson v. KentuckyLinks to an external site. (1985) and Foster v. Chatman (2016) available through the webpage link under the “Required Resources” section and consider how the United States Supreme Court addresses the issue of racial discrimination within the context of juror exclusion.

Issue and Process Summary

For these issues, discuss the following:

1. fairness in jury pool and jury selection, and
2. the impacts of juror exclusion by race.