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Full-Text Articles in Criminal Law
Greening Criminal Legal Deserts In Rural Texas, Pamela R. Metzger, Claire Buetow, Kristin Meeks, Blane Skiles, Jiacheng Yu
Greening Criminal Legal Deserts In Rural Texas, Pamela R. Metzger, Claire Buetow, Kristin Meeks, Blane Skiles, Jiacheng Yu
Deason Criminal Justice Reform Center
Texas’ rural communities urgently need more prosecutors and public defense providers. On average, Texas’ most urban areas have 28 lawyers for every 100 criminal cases, but rural areas only have five. Many rural prosecutor’s offices cannot recruit and retain enough staff. The Constitution’s promise of equal justice for all remains unfulfilled. Rural Texans charged with misdemeanors are four times less likely to have a lawyer than urban defendants. In 2021, only 403 rural Texas lawyers accepted an appointment to represent an adult criminal defendant. In 65 rural counties, no lawyer accepted an appointment. And the problem is getting worse. Since …
Getting Gideon Right, Andrew L.B. Davies, Blane Skiles, Pamela R. Metzger, Janelle Gursoy, Alex Romo
Getting Gideon Right, Andrew L.B. Davies, Blane Skiles, Pamela R. Metzger, Janelle Gursoy, Alex Romo
Deason Criminal Justice Reform Center
In Gideon v. Wainwright, the U.S. Supreme Court held that the government must provide a criminal defense lawyer for any accused person who cannot afford one. But for too many people, Gideon's promise remains unfulfilled. In Texas, there are no statewide guidelines about who is entitled to a court-appointed lawyer. Instead, counties create their own rules that create serious gaps in constitutional protection. Getting Gideon Right investigates the financial standards that determine an accused person's eligibility for appointed counsel in Texas county courts. The report reveals a patchwork of county court policies that are both complex and severe.
Fewer, Not Fairer, Victoria Smiegocki, Pamela R. Metzger, Andrew L.B. Davies
Fewer, Not Fairer, Victoria Smiegocki, Pamela R. Metzger, Andrew L.B. Davies
Deason Criminal Justice Reform Center
In 2019, police across Dallas County asked the District Attorney to prosecute fewer marijuana cases than the year before. This report examines whether the racial disparity in those cases improved at the same time. Fewer, Not Fairer shows that while the number of referrals declined, police were still more likely to refer a Black person for marijuana prosecution than a non-Black person. However, some cities achieved more fairness when their police departments almost entirely stopped requesting marijuana prosecutions altogether.
Budding Change, Pamela R. Metzger, Victoria Smiegocki, Kristin Meeks
Budding Change, Pamela R. Metzger, Victoria Smiegocki, Kristin Meeks
Deason Criminal Justice Reform Center
Budding Change explores what happened when Dallas County District Attorney John Creuzot (DA Creuzot) radically changed his office’s policies about the prosecution of first-time misdemeanor marijuana cases. The report concludes that DA Creuzot’s 2019 policies were associated with significant reductions in police enforcement of marijuana misdemeanor laws. As a result, marijuana screening caseloads within the District Attorney’s Office declined substantially. Budding Change shows that prosecutorial policies can have a profound impact on policing behaviors.
The Abcs Of Racial Disparity, Pamela R. Metzger, Kristin Meeks, Victoria Smiegocki, Kenitra Brown
The Abcs Of Racial Disparity, Pamela R. Metzger, Kristin Meeks, Victoria Smiegocki, Kenitra Brown
Deason Criminal Justice Reform Center
Data show that Black and White people use marijuana at roughly equal rates. Yet in 2018, in six of Dallas County's biggest cities, Black people were vastly overrepresented in the enforcement of low-level drug crimes. With a look at enforcement trends before the election of District Attorney John Creuzot, this study launches a series of reports about how his reforms have impacted Dallas County.
The Rural Texas Sheriff, Andrew L.B. Davies, Valeria Liu, Elisa Torossian
The Rural Texas Sheriff, Andrew L.B. Davies, Valeria Liu, Elisa Torossian
Deason Criminal Justice Reform Center
The Rural Texas Sheriff reports on a focus group conducted in conjunction with the Deason Center's 2019 Rural Criminal Justice Summit. The report places rural Texas sheriffs and their agencies in a national context. It also offers insight into the focus group's perceptions of rural law enforcement and jail management. With first-hand accounts of these sheriffs’ experiences, the report offers a compelling look at the personal and professional lives of Texas’ rural sheriffs.
Series Preview: Screening And Charging Practices Of Three Mid-Sized Jurisdictions, Deason Criminal Justice Reform Center
Series Preview: Screening And Charging Practices Of Three Mid-Sized Jurisdictions, Deason Criminal Justice Reform Center
Deason Criminal Justice Reform Center
Understanding how prosecutors make their screening and charging decisions is essential to criminal legal reform. This preview report is the first in a series of publications that explores the screening and charging practices of prosecutors in three mid-sized jurisdictions. Through an innovative mixed-methods empirical study, the series provides a holistic account of prosecutors’ charging practices.
Greening The Desert, Pamela R. Metzger, Kristin Meeks, Jessica Pishko
Greening The Desert, Pamela R. Metzger, Kristin Meeks, Jessica Pishko
Deason Criminal Justice Reform Center
Greening the Desert brings a criminal justice lens to the phenomenon of legal deserts in small, tribal, and rural (STAR) communities—vast areas with few, if any, practicing attorneys. The report explores STAR criminal justice communities and describes strategies and initiatives to green these criminal law deserts. Using case studies, the report offers concrete examples of successful innovations. It also includes cautionary notes about risks that may arise with the implementation of strategies to recruit, train, and retain STAR practitioners.