1 Topics:

● Jury nullification
○ Occurs when jurors acquit a defendant they believe to be guilty because
they disagree with the law or its application
○ It's a de facto power of the jury, not officially sanctioned by the legal
system but arising from the jury’s role in the justice process (what
really happens instead of what the law says should happen)
○ History
■ In 1670, English courts first recognized the jury’s power to acquit
a criminal defendant even when the weight of the evidence points
to the defendant being guilty.
■ Also occurred under drug laws for low-level drug offenses or
those who have faced harsh mandatory sentences.
■ Jurors have acquitted in cases against Vietnam war protesters
charged with destroying draft files and its fugitive slave act
prosecutions againsts escaped slaves and individuals who aided
them.
● Stats
- 56% of African Americans ages 18-35 were under the jurisdiction of the cj
system including things such as probation, parole, imprisonment, and
awaiting trial
- ⅔ African American males between the ages of 18-30 have been arrested
at least once
- ⅙ of CA’s black men (16+) are arrested per year; 92% of the Black men
arrested were due to drug charges and released for lack of evidence
- 3% of CA’s population was Black males but 40% of them were in prison
- Basis behind the concept
■ Paul Butler’s argument that jury nullification can be used as
a form of civil disobedience against laws perceived as unjust
■ Can be a way for juror to express disagreement with
systemic injustices (racially)
● Can also reflect the morals of the community on
views of laws that the community may find unjust
● Juror Conscience vs. Legal obedience
○ Make choice between following conscience
or following the law
● Potential biases
○ Can lead to unjust or arbitrary (impulsive)
outcomes
■ Particularly those that disproportionately affect African
Americans, like certain drug laws
■ Possibility of misuse by jurors
2 Topics:
● Social contract: An unwritten agreement among people in society. The agreement
is to follow the rules the government decides in exchange for protection, such as
their rights, freedoms, and maintaining order.(breaking this law means breaking
this agreement)
○ Theoretical basics:
- Emphasizes individualism
- Rational persons should agree, would agree, or have in fact agreed
in exchange for greater freedom and security
- Establishes the framework for living together in peace
- Morally based
● Disenfranchisement: sanctions include being prohibited from appearing in court,
voting, making speeches, attending assemblies, serving in the army, etc; loss of
position as a citizen and loss of rights/legal protection
○ Civic duties- a responsibility expected from all members of a society: ex is
participating in a jury, can also be voting
○ Voting differences nationwide (not by specific state but differences)
■ State law governs removal of the right to vote even if the
conviction is for federal offense
■ African Americans are the most targeted when taking away voting
rights (about 15% of the voting adult population in Tennessee and
Mississippi)
■ Most severe in Southern states
■ Parole board and presidential officials can determine who can
regain the right to vote (determined by state)
■ Determined by state: some offer the right to vote when still in
prison, some when you return to society, and some when they
finish parole

3 Topics:
Crook County
Courtroom culture
● Complications
Working in the courtroom:
○ Misogyny
○ Lack of accountability for behavior
○ Indecency towards people working with (weight comments,
misogynist comments)
○ Racism:
■ racist behavior and unwillingness to talk about
racism/race and how it interacts with their work,
“colorblind racism”
■ Use of the word “mope” to get away with discreet
racism
■ “Us” vs “them” mentality
 ○ Implicit biases
How the courtroom runs:
○ Leans twd crime control model
○ Guilty until proven innocent
○ Problematic hierarchy for handling cases, varying levels of
due process, discretionary
○ Berating defendants
● Location: Illinois, similar states. Circuit court in Cook County is the
largest in Illinois, one of the largest unified court systems
worldwide.

Takeaway: courtrooms HAVE cultures. This impacts the way they run

4,5 Topics:
● MOVIE: Just Mercy
○ Different stories
■ Bryan Stevenson defended Walter McMillian who was on death
row for the murder of a young white girl in the town that to kill a
mockingbird was inspired by.
■ He did this along with his assistant Eva
■ The two faced many threats for helping Walter, and Bryan
Stevenson faced much racism throughout the town and many
people tried to get in his way. Such as the police charging Darnell
with perjury for only telling the truth, and trying to scare him out
of giving an alibi for walter.
■ Bryan Stevenson defended Walter McMillian as well as other
prisoners on death row with no charge. He is now the executive
director of The Equal Justice Initiative. The EJI.
■ Walter Mcmillian was found innocent after about six years and
exonerated and released from prison
■ The real murderer of the young girl was never found
○ Roper v Simmons
■ Christopher Simmons was sentenced to death in 1993 when he
was 17. Execution was reconsidered in 2002 after Atkins v
Virginia which found that executing the mentally disabled violated
the 8th and 14th amendments
■ The Missouri court decided 6-3 that executing minors was no
longer “not unconstitutional”
■ SCOTUS voted 5-4 that executing minors is a cruel and unusual
punishment
■ Simmons was resentenced to life without parole
● Death penalty
○ Stats- Total Number of Death-Row Prisoners as of January 1, 2023: 2,331
○ Methods-
○ Lethal Injection where prison guards will put them to sleep with
anesthesia, then use a drug to paralyze them, then use a drug to stop their
 heart. Sometimes it is a slow process for the inmate to die after the drugs
were injected in their body. Also, Prisoner guards would make mistakes
with this method due to their lack of medical field experience.
○ Firing squads- Where a group of military personnel will shoot at someone,
but one of them is the executioner and has real bullets while the rest have
fake bullets, this is done so the executioner will remain unknown.
○ Electric chair
■ Sends very strong current of electricity through a chair to kill
someone through electrocution
○ nitrogen hypoxia
■ subjecting someone to inhale pure nitrogen through a mask until
they are suffocated
○ Controversy- killing is immoral, some people think it is a cruel
punishment. Innocent people could be killed due to a judge error or racial
bias from the jury.
■ Some believe it’s in violation of the eighth amendment. Multiple
organizations strive to abolish the death sentence such as the
Innocence Project
● Wrongful conviction
○ Stats– 1/9 are wrongfully convicted
○ Since 1973, at least 190 people have been exonerated from death row in
the U.S.
● Bryan Stevenson & the EJI
○ Ted talk
■ The US has the highest rate of incarceration in the world, the
violent crime rate has been stable
■ One in three black men 18–30 are in jail, prison, or parole, and
this goes up to 60% in major urban areas
■ We have life in prison without parole for children
■ ⅓ of black men in Alabama are disenfranchised
■ You’re significantly more likely to get the death penalty for white
victims and black defendants than the other way around

6 Topics
● Diversion / Specialty courts
○ Specialty courts put rehabilitation on the forefront and removes the
punitive aspect
○ “Life will never be a drug free society”
■ It’s not about abolishing drugs all together it's about
acknowledging the drug use and maintaining safety
■ Medication assisted treatment (MAT)
● Things like Methadone and how you are using lower
dosage prescribed medications to wean yourself off of
your current addiction
■ Syringe exchange programs
● This is where you bring syringes to a site and for however
many you bring the exchange you that many clean
syringes
■ Safe consumption sites
● Used to make sure those consuming drugs do so in a safe
 space. Helps prevent the possibility of an overdose
■ Deregulation of overdose
● The removal of prosecution for overdosing or calling for
an overdose
○ Similar to amnesty
■ Treatments like naloxone
● Medication that reverses the effects of opioid overdose
○ Specialty courts put an emphasis on the offender’s psychological
health, and not simply on the guideline of the law.
■ Problem solving courts - specialized court docket programs
focusing on rehabilitation over punishment (emphasize the
combination of judicial supervision with resources and
treatment to promote recovery).
■ Drug courts - focuses on substance abuse disorders and
primarily targets repeated offenders, the overall goal is to
reduce drug dependency through court-supervised treatment,
targeted outcomes include improved recovery rates and
reduced re-arrest rates.
■ Mental health courts - focuses on offenders with mental
health disorders that contribute to their criminal behavior,
overall goal is to provide access to psychiatric treatment and
other supportive services instead of incarceration, targeted
outcomes include lower rates of recidivism and improved
mental health.
■ Veterans court - focuses on veterans facing charges that stem
from service-related issues, overall goal is to honor their
service while addressing specific needs through
rehabilitative approaches, targeted outcomes include
enhanced recovery and reintegration with strong support
networks.
● Legalization / Decriminalization policy:
○ Measure 110- a policy passed in Oregon 2020 that aimed to
■ reclassify possession/penalties for specified drugs such as heroin,
methamphetamine, etc.
■ Establish health-focused addiction treatment programs
■ Reduce costs and improve outcomes by avoiding criminal
penalties
○ Safehouse- a Philadelphia project aimed to providing a safe place for
people to use pre-obtained drugs under supervision as to reduce the
amount of overdoses as a result of them
○ Impact the future of the courts
■ Sets a precedent that enables courts to focus on commonly ignored
problems such as drug rehabilitation and mental health care
■ Shapes public health policies by determining the legality of safe
sites
● Decisions can lead to new laws specifically addressing the
status and regulation of SEPs and SCSs
○ Federal, State, & Local
 ■ While independent organizations such as Safehouse have
intentions to serve and benefit the community, they are often faced
with legal challenges imposed by federal and local laws
● “Crack House Statute” (federal) - outlaws the operation of
houses and buildings where crack and other drugs are
made or used
● Philadelphia (local) health department stated it would not fund the site but would
support private sector development

Overall ● Implicit bias

● Gideon v Wainwright