Courtroom

"'Environment in the Courtroom' provides extensive insight into Canadian environmental law. Covering key environmental concepts and the unique nature of environmental damage, environmental prosecutions, sentencing and environmental offences, evidentiary issues in environmental processes and hearings, issues associated with site inspections, investigations, and enforcement, and more, this collection has the potential to make a significant difference at the level of understanding and practice. Containing perspective and insight from experienced and prominent Canadian legal practitioners and scholars, Environment in the Courtroom addresses the Canadian provinces and territories and provides context by comparison to the United States and Australia"--Provided by the publisher.

In the wrong hands, math can be deadly. Even the simplest numbers can become powerful forces when manipulated by politicians or the media, but in the case of the law, your liberty -- and your life -- can depend on the right calculation. In Math on Trial, mathematicians Leila Schneps and Coralie Colmez describe ten trials spanning from the nineteenth century to today, in which mathematical arguments were used -- and disastrously misused -- as evidence. They tell the stories of Sally Clark, who was accused of murdering her children by a doctor with a faulty sense of calculation; of nineteenth-century tycoon Hetty Green, whose dispute over her aunt's will became a signal case in the forensic use of mathematics; and of the case of Amanda Knox, in which a judge's misunderstanding of probability led him to discount critical evidence -- which might have kept her in jail. Offering a fresh angle on cases from the nineteenth-century Dreyfus affair to the murder trial of Dutch nurse Lucia de Berk, Schneps and Colmez show how the improper application of mathematical concepts can mean the difference between walking free and life in prison. A colorful narrative of mathematical abuse, Math on Trial blends courtroom drama, history, and math to show that legal expertise isn't't always enough to prove a person innocent.

This rigorous yet reader-friendly book reviews the state of the science on a broad range of psychological issues commonly encountered in the forensic context. The goal is to help professionals and students differentiate between supported and unsupported psychological techniques--and steer clear of those that may be misleading or legally inadmissible. Leading contributors focus on controversial issues surrounding recovered memories, projective techniques, lie detection, child witnesses, offender rehabilitation, psychopathy, violence risk assessment, and more. With a focus on real-world legal situations, the book offers guidelines for presenting scientific evidence accurately and effectively in courtroom testimony and written reports.

“An essential text” that examines how interpreters can influence a courtroom, updated and expanded to cover contemporary issues in our diversifying society (Criminal Justice). Susan Berk-Seligson’s groundbreaking book presents a systematic study of court interpreters that raises some alarming and vitally important concerns. Contrary to the assumption that interpreters do not affect the dynamics of court proceedings, Berk-Seligson shows that interpreters could potentially make the difference between a defendant being found guilty or not guilty. The Bilingual Courtroom draws on more than one hundred hours of audio recordings of Spanish/English court proceedings in federal, state, and municipal courts, along with a number of psycholinguistic experiments involving mock juror reactions to interpreted testimony. This second edition includes an updated review of relevant research and provides new insights into interpreting in quasi-judicial, informal, and specialized judicial settings, such as small claims court, jails, and prisons. It also explores remote interpreting (for example, by telephone), interpreter training and certification, international trials and tribunals, and other cross-cultural issues. With a new preface by Berk-Seligson, this second edition not only highlights the impact of the previous versions of The Bilingual Courtroom, but also draws attention to the continued need for critical study of interpreting in our ever diversifying society.

The credibility of children's testimony is a highly debated topic in America's courtrooms, universities, and living rooms. Does the ingenuousness of children assure that their testimony will always be truthful? Or are children easily misled by overzealous investigators and therapists into making untrue allegations? Stephen J. Ceci and Maggie Bruck contend that the truth falls somewhere between these extremes. Using case studies ranging from the Salem Witch Hunt to the Little Rascals Day Care case to illustrate their argument, Jeopardy in the Courtroom draws from the vast corpus of scientific research to clarify what is most relevant for evaluating and understanding children's statements made in the legal arena.

Publisher Description

This updated edition of The Illustrated Courtroom came to be because the world of court art has evolved so dramatically since our book's first edition. Trial art is now a fixture both in the 24/7 news cycle and in the fast-moving online world. And numerous epic news stories that broke in the past few years proved hard to ignore. We welcomed the opportunity to include some notable examples. The #MeToo social movement exploded internationally in 2017, signaling massive support for victims of sexual assault. Uber-powerful Hollywood movie producer Harvey Weinstein's precipitous fall was at its heart, following decades of rumors of his sexually predatory behavior. In February 2020, I drew Weinstein being found guilty of rape and criminal sexual acts then sentenced to 23 years in prison. Artist Aggie Kenny's work is also featured in this book. She and I covered multimillionaire financier Jeffrey Epstein's July 2019 arraignment on sex trafficking charges in New York. Epstein was first convicted as a sex offender back in 2008 but unlike in 2008, in 2019, he faced major prison time. However, on August 10, before he could stand trial, he was found dead in his cell. The story and theories on how Epstein died gripped the nation. We court artists have always needed nerves of steel plus an aptitude for speed and precision, but now, with the Internet's meme culture, our work is ever more closely scrutinized. Any perceived failure to produce a good likeness of a famous face triggers a flood of criticism. In 2015, an artist's rendition of New England Patriots' football star Tom Brady at the #Deflategate proceedings-which followed allegations that Brady's team had cheated by using under-inflated balls-was pilloried as unflattering and unrecognizable. The illustration swiftly went viral. Its artist was heavily criticized as parodies and memes erupted, ridiculing her artwork. The effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on the courts has been significant. Courtroom artists faced a whole new challenge, people's faces behind masks, behind barriers or on video. Limited seating in courtrooms due to social distancing. At the Britney Spears conservatorship, hearing some lawyers made their arguments via video, while others were in court wearing masks. Artists drew the R.Kelly sex trafficking trial from a blurry video feed piped into an overflow courtroom. These episodes alone are proof positive that we courtroom artists now inhabit a whole new world