CRMJ 205 1st Edition Lecture 21 Outline of Last Lecture I Decisions Regarding Counsel and Bail II Pretrial Detention III Charging and Plea Bargaining IV San Jose Mercury News Study 1991 700 000 cases Outline of Current Lecture Charging and Plea Bargaining I Race drugs and selective prosecution II Jena Six III Crack Cocaine vs Powder Cocaine IV Affirmative Action and Law Students Current Lecture I II Race drugs and selective prosecution a Selective prosecution Singling out cases for prosecution that involve Minorities Groups of minorities b War on drugs Fought primarily in 1 Hispanic communities 2 African American communities Jena Six a September of 2006 and African American student at Jena Louisiana High School defied tradition and sat under a large oak tree in the center of campus that was reserved for whites The next day three hangman s nooses were found dangling from the tree This led to a series of altercations involving white and African American students and eventually to the beating of a white student Justin Barker by six African American youths who also attended the school Barker was treated at a local hospital and released b Outcome Six students five of whom were juveniles were expelled and charged with attempted second degree murder Prosecutor s decision to charge as felonies in adult court meant that each faced up to 100 years in prison In 2009 the These notes represent a detailed interpretation of the professor s lecture GradeBuddy is best used as a supplement to your own notes not as a substitute remaining five defendants pleaded no contest to misdemeanor simple battery and were sentenced to seven days unsupervised probation and ordered to pay fines of 500 III Crack Cocaine vs Powder Cocaine a US Sentencing Commission created the disparity in the 1980s 5 year mandatory minimums became active at a 100 1 weight level 5 grams of crack cocaine vs 500 grams of power cocaine b 2010 US Sentencing Commission revised guideline 5 year mandatory minimums became active at a 18 1 ration 28 grams of crack vs 500 grams of powder cocaine 10 year mandatory minimums became active at 280 grams of crack vs 1000 grams of powder cocaine IV Affirmative Action and Law Students a Grutter v Bollinger 1997 b 5 4 Decision Barbara Grutter a white resident of Michigan with a 3 8 undergraduate GPA and a 161 LSAT score was denied admission to the University of Michigan Law School Argued the law school used race as a predominant factor and gave preference to applicants from certain minority groups and violated the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment and Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 The United States Supreme Court ruled that the law school s narrowly tailored use of race in admissions decisions to further a compelling interest in obtaining the educational benefits that flow from a diverse student body is not prohibited by the Equal Protection Clause or Title VI
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