Introducing the Explainer Series
The criminal justice system affects hundreds of lives daily. It is difficult to meet a person who doesn’t know someone whose life it has touched. They have been pulled over for a ticket, have had a loved one arrested or shot, are a prosecutor or a defense lawyer, have been convicted of a crime, or acquitted of one. It is regularly in the news and is a topic of constant political debate, both locally and on a national level.
And yet the justice issues that arise daily in the headlines are not always easy to understand. People refer to the Brady doctrine — a constitutional rule requiring the government to turn over exculpatory evidence — but what does that really mean? There is a debate raging about the validity of forensic science fields in this country, from fingerprints to complex DNA mixtures, but what are the contours of that argument? Who is on which side? Particularly since Jeff Sessions took on the Attorney General job, there has been a renewed focus on civil asset forfeiture. But how does that work? Where do the seized assets go? Who are the actors responsible for seizing people’s possessions, even if there is no conviction? Is it the prosecutor, the police, both, or someone else?
In our Explainer series, Fair Punishment Project lawyers help unpackage some of the most complicated issues in the criminal justice system. We break down the problems behind the headlines — like bail, civil asset forfeiture, or the Brady rule — so that everyone can understand them. Wherever possible, we try to utilize the stories of those affected by the criminal justice system to show how these laws and principles should work, and how they often fail. We will update our Explainers monthly to keep them current.
At present, we have explainers on bail, civil asset forfeiture, the Brady doctrine, the death penalty, and pattern-matching forensic science. In the upcoming months, we will add many others, including explainers on juvenile life without parole, direct file, the criminalization of homelessness, and DNA. If you have requests for explainers or feedback, please provide them to our legal director: Jessica.Brand@fairpunishment.org.
