Digital Commons Network^™

The Value In Emphasizing Critical Thinking, Leah Bigl

Agora

No abstract provided.

Ulead: The Effects Of A Civics-Based Educational Program On Urban Youth, Rodney W. Smith, Aaron H. Willis, Mario Pascal Charles

Dissertations

ABSTRACT

Urban Legal Education and Academic Development: The Effects of a Civics-Based Educational Program on Urban Youth

There is a critical need for urban youth to have working knowledge of the legal and civic nuances of their communities and political state that affects their daily lives. The pressing problems of the daily existence that these students face inhibit them from utilizing this understanding to exhibit appropriate behavior and engage in civil discourse. Urban Legal Education and Academic Development (ULEAD) provided these students with the knowledge of the functions of the legal and civic processes that facilitate behavior modification to allow …

Fighting Fines & Fees: Borrowing From Consumer Law To Combat Criminal Justice Debt Abuses, Neil L. Sobol

Faculty Scholarship

Although media and academic sources often describe mass incarceration as the primary challenge facing the American criminal justice system, the imposition of criminal justice debt may be a more pervasive problem. On March 14, 2016, the Department of Justice (DOJ) requested that state chief justices forward a letter to all judges in their jurisdictions describing the constitutional violations associated with the illegal assessment and enforcement of fines and fees. The DOJ’s concerns include the incarceration of indigent individuals without determining whether the failure to pay is willful and the use of bail practices that result in impoverished defendants remaining in …

Police-Worn Body Cameras: An Antidote To The “Ferguson Effect”?, Alberto R. Gonzales, Donald Q. Cochran

Missouri Law Review

This Article explores the questions raised by this scenario, focusing on police-worn body cameras, the role these cameras may play in officer-citizen encounters, and the resolution of legal disputes that arise from such encounters. Part II discusses what role, if any, citizen-recorded videos and the effect they have on society play in the prevalence of crime – what has sometimes been called the “Ferguson effect.” Part III explores the role police-worn body cameras could play in counteracting any such effect, addressing arguments in favor of body cameras and exploring their potential to encourage positive police and citizen behavior. Part IV …

Written Testimony For Briefing On Targeted Fines And Fees Against Low-Income Minorities: Civil Rights And Constitutional Implications, Neil L. Sobol

Neil L Sobol

A Mixed-Methods Investigation On Contributing Factors To The Political Efficacy Of Eighth Grade Students In A Suburban School District In Missouri, Colette Edson

Dissertations

This study investigated the relationship between the political efficacy and expected civic engagement of eighth grade students in the Ferguson-Florissant School District, Missouri and demographic factors, reading ability, and parental attitudes. Data on students’ attitudes on topics such as citizenship, trust in institutions, opportunities, political efficacy, school efficacy, and political engagement were analyzed. The 180 students who completed the questionnaire demonstrated lower trust and assessment of access to opportunities and higher youth political engagement than the participants in the 1999 International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IAE) Civic Education (CIVED) study. Tests to determine the impact of student …

The Everyday Economic Violence Of Black Life, Renee Hatcher

Renee Hatcher

Missouri*@!!?*@! - Too Slow, Mae Quinn

Journal Articles

When asked to share my thoughts at this symposium about contemporary human rights issues in domestic criminal law—and how they manifest in St. Louis, Missouri in particular—I could not help but think of these words. Nina Simone, the brilliant vocal artist and civil rights activist, wrote these lyrics over fifty years ago and then bravely and controversially sang them for a mostly-white audience at New York City’s Carnegie Hall following the 1963 shooting death of Medgar Evers.2 Evers was a military veteran who turned civil rights activist and organizer for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (“NAACP”) …

Challenging The System? The Potential For Radical Politics In The Age Of Ferguson, Danae Hart

Ethnic Studies Review

As a social movement continues to grow challenging the justice system that fails to prosecute and convict police officers use of deadly force, it is crucial to note what hegemonic constructs maintain the institutional power structures that continue to harm people of color. When police officers are acquitted when they inflict deadly harm on unarmed citizens the justice system is working to maintain the power structures that devalues Black lives. When hegemonic power structures perpetuate injustice it appears necessary to challenge and deconstruct the system as a whole. Do the protest movements choose to challenge hegemony or rather seek to …

Different Lyrics, Same Song: Watts, Ferguson, And The Stagnating Effect Of The Politics Of Law And Order, Lonnie T. Brown

Scholarly Works

This Article critically examines the Watts riots and their aftermath in comparison to the Ferguson situation, and demonstrates how little progress America has made in a span of fifty years in the area of race relations. More importantly, the Article points to the politics of “law and order” as the primary culprit for this static social condition.

The Grand Jury: A Shield Of A Different Sort, R. Michael Cassidy, Julian A. Cook

Scholarly Works

According to the Washington Post, 991 people were shot to death by police officers in the United States during calendar year 2015, and 957 people were fatally shot in 2016. A disproportionate percentage of the citizens killed in these police-civilian encounters were black. Events in Ferguson, Missouri; Chicago, Illinois; Charlotte, North Carolina; Baton Rouge, Louisiana; and Staten Island, New York - to name but a few affected cities - have now exposed deep distrust between communities of color and law enforcement. Greater transparency is necessary to begin to heal this culture of distrust and to inform the debate going forward …