Designed to Fail Notes

Intro

• bipartasan to help crim justice/mass incarcaration
• Executive system can do more
• retrosopective important
• Prosecutors are represented too much, and most things are in the prosecutors favor

1

a. Prosecutorial mindset

• For prosecutors you need a moral mindset that is hard and unchanging. Not good for reform
• Doesn't question past decisions
• Second guessing is bad
• Making job harder is bad and stops justice

b. Structure factors against reform

• The people of the department aren't diverse
• The people there don't like reform
• Come from specific "elite" places
• Mostly want reforms that increase power (more incarceration)

2. Response during obama

a. Resistance

1. Sentencing reform

• big progess

• EXAMPLE: Crack to Cocain

  • was 100-1, they changed it and its not 18 to 1

  • Caused inequality in african american incarceraction

  • Lots of resistance to retroactive (changing sentences)

  • Up to the judge to decide if it is retroactive even if it is

  • Policies against full retroactivity happen without knowledge

  • Harsh policies for public safety stop retroactivity

    The Department stated that its limited approach to retroactivitywas driven by “public safety concerns that arise from the release ofdangerous drug offenders and from the diversion of resourcesnecessary to process over 50,000 inmates.”

• There was legislation for elimination mandatory minimum, but not backed by obama, "The Justice Safety Valve Act of 2013"

2. Clemency

• no gang members ← racist
• also denied the most amount of people
• were based on if the charges were more than it would be today, this is not actually helping bad prosecutors, but changes in the law (retroactivity would solve)
• Keeping the department in charge of clemency lost most of the applicants
• lack of resources
• People met guidlines, only 3% recieved the clemency
• Seemingly random

3. Compassionate release

• Director of BOP can reduce sentences also
• Many people qualified, but 24/ 200,000 people got it
• People die before getting etc.
• Looked at specifics rules in a biased way
• Narrow view

4. Forensic science

• did not consider a report he issued and rejected findings
• DNA sampling is a lot better
• There were talks of experiece and judgment are outweighed by error rates and validity

B. Aggressive pursuit of reforms

• Revenue generation is stressed
• View people as revenue, not as actual people
• police then use execcive force.
• Urges states to reform, because its in their interest

3 Redesigning the executive branch for reform

• Obama reform was not big
• Institutional bias against reform
• create a single Crim-inal Justice Advisory Commission (which would include Departmentrepresentation but would be comprised of other viewpoints) withinthe Executive Office of the President that could advise the Presidenton criminal justice issues.
• Presidential clemency board
  • to speed up clemencies
  • proved effective in states
• DOJ Appointments
  • make sure they share reform goals
  • Helps compassionate releases
• Judicial branch needs reform
  • many judges have prosecutor experience vs defence