In Defence of the Right to Trial by Jury: A Solution to the Ailing Czech Justice System?

According to the pollsters, public confidence in the Czech justice system is very low. 65% of Czechs do not trust their judges. Certainly, there is a connection between this mistrust and the fact that approximately 40% of the CR\u27s 2500 current judges have been on the bench since before 1989. To an outsider, it seems surprising that the post-communist governments did not make changes to a system that had been controlled by the Communist party. The institution of trial by jury may be one way to promote public confidence in the Czech justice system. The purpose of this article is not to claim the superiority of the American criminal justice system, but merely to suggest that there is at least one aspect of the American criminal justice system worthy of emulation: a guarantee that every person facing loss of liberty or loss of property enjoy the right to trial by a jury of ordinary citizens. The right to a jury of one\u27s peers serves several important functions in a free society. These functions are crucial to a legitimate public sense of confidence in the system of justice. There were, and are, good reasons for a democracy to provide its people with the right to trial by jury. In the Czech Republic, if for no other reason than to bolster public confidence in the judiciary, trial by jury makes sense. I suggest that now is the time to consider re-institution of this fundamental right

Conversational Cross-Examination

This Article discusses the benefits of the more subtle, conversational style of cross-examination as an alternative to the stereotypical gladiator style of cross-examination. This article also includes an Appendix of the Laws of Cross-Examination of each state

Viewpoint: Golden Gate Professor Susan Rutberg Remembers Bernie Segal

Professor Bernard L. Segal, one of the world\u27s great trial lawyers from the old school of silver-tongued orators, and a much beloved law professor, passed away Aug. 12. Bernie, as he was known by everyone he ever met, was my teacher, mentor, colleague and friend for nearly four decades. Although he faced increasingly difficult health problems in recent years, his death was unexpected, and I didn\u27t get to see him before the end. I\u27m writing this because I didn\u27t have the chance to say goodbye

Perceived safety, mobility and strategies : a qualitative study of women’s perceived safety on Hyllie train station

För en miljömässigt och socialt hållbar stadsutveckling är en attraktiv och tillgänglig kollektivtrafik av största vikt. För att både nya och befintliga resenärer ska kunna, och vilja, använda sig av kollektivtrafiken är det viktigt att resenärerna kan känna sig trygga. Detta gäller inte enbart ombord på kollektivtrafiken utan även på kollektivtrafikhållplatsen och på vägen till eller från hållplatsen. Uppsatsens syfte är att undersöka hur en specifik plats i Malmö, Hyllie station, och vägen till och från stationen, upplevs ur ett trygghetsperspektiv samt hur detta påverkar kvinnors dagliga mobilitet. Genom att observera stationen, följa med kvinnorna i deras förflyttning från stationen och därefter genomföra uppföljningsintervjuer, ges en djup inblick i hur stationen och vägen till och från stationen upplevs, och hur upplevelsen påverkar kvinnorna. Studien visar att (o)trygghet är ett komplext fenomen som kräver en holistisk förståelse. Det finns ett flertal aspekter som påverkar den upplevda tryggheten: platsens specifika karaktärsdrag (bestående av den fysiska och sociala miljön), våra föreställningar om platser, samt sociala kategorier och maktrelationer. Det som hade störst påverkan på den upplevda (o)tryggheten för kvinnorna i studien var dock den sociala miljön, det vill säga sammansättningen av människor på platsen. Hur upplevelsen påverkar kvinnornas dagliga mobilitet är också komplext. För att hantera känslor av otrygghet använder kvinnorna ett flertal mobilitetsstrategier. Det kan till exempel handla om att välja andra vägar kvällstid, att ständigt vara uppmärksam på sin omgivning eller om att vara i kontakt med vänner/familj över telefon. Dessa strategier påverkar dels kvinnornas förflyttning i sig, men också hur förflyttningen upplevs och känns i kroppen.An accessible and attractive public transport system is of great importance in order to achieve an environmentally and socially sustainable urban development. One important aspect concerning the accessibility of public transport is that public transport users can feel safe, both during the journey, but also on public-transport nodes and on the walk to/from these nodes. This essay aims to investigate how a specific transport node in Malmö, Hyllie train station, and the journey to and from the station, are experienced from a safety perspective and how the experience affects women's daily mobility. This is done through an in-depth qualitative study with six participating women using observations and interviews as main methods. The study shows that perceived safety is a complex phenomenon that requires a holistic understanding. The study finds that perceived safety is mainly affected by three components: the specific characteristics of place (composed by the physical and social environment), our notions of place, and finally, by social categories/power relations. Even though all of these components are important, what seemed to be most significant based on the study was the social environment. Moreover, the study shows that women’s mobility is affected by their own perceived safety in several ways. This becomes visible through the multiple mobility strategies that the women utilize in order to fulfill their desired movement. This in turn affects both the actual movement, and how the movement is experienced

Wrongfully Convicted: The Overrepresentation of the Poor

Professor Susan Rutberg introduced a panel of her students who presented papers, each focused on an individual cause of wrongful convictions and a proposed solution to this identified problem. The panel illustrated how law school students can use the lens of their inexperience to articulate straightforward approaches that might reduce the circumstances that produce wrongful convictions and alleviate some of the hardship such convictions cause