Cultural Studies and the 'Juridical Turn' by Jaafar Aksikas Sean Johnson Andrews

Author:Jaafar Aksikas, Sean Johnson Andrews [Jaafar Aksikas, Sean Johnson Andrews]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Nonfiction, Social & Cultural Studies, Social Science
ISBN: 9781317244790
Publisher: Taylor and Francis
Published: 2018-02-02T05:00:00+00:00

Honouring victims, viewing executions and victims making prosecutorial and judicial decisions

In the following section, I will examine the suppression of society in three elements of victims’ rights’ practices. First, the practice of naming and passing criminal justice legislation in ‘honor’ of victims described earlier, specifically versions of ‘Jessica’s Law’ passed across the country. Second, I look at inviting victims to view executions, focusing on the Texas Board of Corrections 1995 decision to change their policy and invite victims’ family members to view executions. Third, I describe a series of judicial, prosecutorial and law enforcement decisions made in North Carolina and South Carolina between 2009 and early 2012, which privileged victims’ views above societal considerations, in order to demonstrate how pervasive the deference to victims is in the criminal justice system today.

Honouring victims through passage criminal justice legislation

As discussed earlier, a signature practice of the victims’ rights movement is to name sentencing legislation for dead victims. Naming a law after a victim implies that a vote for that law is a vote to honour the victim. The language of passing laws to honour dead victims is used by politicians and in the media. This section provides an example of this practice, the Jessica Lunsford Act, and demonstrates that the passage of these laws, and hence the practice itself, contributes to mass incarceration in the USA. It concludes with the argument that mass incarceration itself, and not just arguments used to justify it, is non-societal.

The Jessica Lunsford Act, or Jessica’s Law, has been passed in 44 states since first being passed in Florida in 2005. It is named for Jessica Lunsford, who was murdered in 2005 by a previously convicted sex offender. Among other provisions, the bill mandates that first-time offenders who sexually victimize children receive 25 years minimum sentences, and those convicted for a second offence receive life sentences. Jessica’s father, Mark, has effectively crusaded across the country for states to pass the Act, appearing dozens of times on television, meeting with politicians and testifying in front of Congress and state legislatures. He portrays his crusade as one conducted in honour of Jessica.

Politicians used the language of honouring Jessica when discussing the Jessica Lunsford Act and related legislation. US Representative Ginny Brown-Waite (Florida) introduced the Children’s Safety Act in 2005, which, among other measures, increased penalties and reporting requirements for offenders, measures similar to the Jessica’s Law passed by states. After the House of Representatives passed the Act, Brown-Waite said in a statement that by passing the law ‘Congress has moved in a swift and appropriate manner to ensure that the memories of Jessica Lunsford, Sarah Lunde, and the thousands of other children harmed by sexual predators will be honored and remembered’ (Brown-Waite 2005). New York State Senator James Seward, in advocating for a New York version of the Jessica Lunsford Act, said ‘[w]e do not honor those victimized by crime unless we do all we can to punish those who committed the crime, and work to prevent future crimes from being committed’ (Seward 2008).

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