Criminal Law and the Health Penalty A-Term Day 2- Max Barger

     

On Tuesday morning, we had a late start due to weather and began our day at 10 a.m. We started off this terrific morning with a special guest coming to talk to us. Ms. Naomi Terr, a parent of two kids in our A-Term group, came and spoke to us as a criminal lawyer who focuses on death row cases. We watched multiple videos touching upon the details relating to civil vs. criminal cases, procedural processes, and the difficulty of the appeals process, amongst other things. We watched a video hosted by comedian, John Oliver, talking about wrongful convictions in the U.S. prison systems and the damage they cause. 


 Naomi Terr speaking to students about the differences between civil and criminal cases

This country's criminal system is in need to make changes, making ethically correct and important decisions should be the priority, not just when you get to leave work. At the end of the video, John Oliver left us with a very impactful quote, “At which point it really feels like our system is essentially guilty until proven rich or lucky,” he concluded. “And that has to change because we cannot keep letting the most vulnerable be casualties of a system that cares more about quick and final decisions than actually correct ones.”

- Max


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