Legal Representation and Social Class
Week 2 – Discussion
Your initial discussion thread is due on Day 3 (Thursday) and you have until Day 7 (Monday) to respond to your classmates. Your grade will reflect both the quality of your initial post and the depth of your responses. Refer to the Discussion Forum Grading Rubric under the Settings icon above for guidance on how your discussion will be evaluated.
Legal Representation and Social Class
After listening to the interview with Stephen B. Bright, The quality of a legal defense: Does it matter if you’re rich or poor? (Links to an external site.), and studying the required readings for the week, please respond to the following:
- What role does geographic location play a role in the quality of representation provided by the public defender?
- How does the overburdened public defense system contribute to issues of wrongful conviction?
- Contrast the legal representation described by Bright to the level of representation available to white-collar, corporate, and environmental crimes.
- Considering the “war on drugs,” discuss what role the “war on drugs” might play in contributing to an overburdened public defense system?
- What relationship exists between race, the war on drugs, and the overburdened public defender system?
- How can we solve the problems of an overburdened public defense system and racial discrimination in the criminal justice system?
Your initial post should be at least 350 words in length. Support your claims with examples from the required material(s) and at least one other scholarly resource. Please properly cite in the body of your work and at the end of your work your required references. Please read several of your classmates’ initial posts and respond to at least two of your classmates’ posts by Day 7. Your peer responses should focus on the course concepts and be scholarly in nature. Be sure to support any opinions you have with credible, scientific evidence.
