THE FILM LAW ABIDING CITIZEN: HOW POPULAR CULTURE IS POISONING PEOPLE’S PERCEPTIONS OF PLEAS
3.SALZMANN.MACRO.10.10.2011 (DO NOT DELETE)
1/12/2012 9:14 PM
THE FILM LAW ABIDING CITIZEN: HOW
POPULAR CULTURE IS POISONING
PEOPLE’S PERCEPTIONS OF PLEAS
Victoria S. Salzmann*
TABLE OF CONTENTS
I.INTRODUCTION .......................................................................................... 119
II.THE REALITIES OF PLEAS ........................................................................... 122
A. Positive Aspects of Plea Systems ................................................... 122
B. Perceived Problems with Pleas ..................................................... 124
C. Lay-person Perspective of the Justice System ................................. 124
III.HOW POPULAR CULTURE CHANGES PERCEPTION ........................................ 126
IV.THE FILM ................................................................................................ 137
V.WHY LAWYERS SHOULD SEE LAW ABIDING CITIZEN ..................................... 141
VI.HOW THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM SHOULD RESPOND ............................ 145
I.
INTRODUCTION
What would you do if a ruthless killer broke into your home and killed your family right before your eyes, then bargained with the prosecutor to receive only three years punishment in exchange for testifying against his innocent accomplice? Would you accept this chain of events as a just system of punishment, or would you “go rogue” and mete out your own justice, killing the defendants and even the members of the criminal system who encouraged the practice? This scenario is the plot of the blockbuster movie, Law Abiding Citizen, which stars Gerard Butler as the hero/vigilante avenging his family’s heinous murder and Jamie Foxx as the repentant
*Professor and Dean of Teaching and Learning, Phoenix School of Law. J.D., Baylor University
School of Law, 1999; M.S. in Environmental Biology, Baylor University, 1996; B.S. in
Biology/Environmental Studies, Baylor University, 1994. The
1/12/2012 9:14 PM
THE FILM LAW ABIDING CITIZEN: HOW
POPULAR CULTURE IS POISONING
PEOPLE’S PERCEPTIONS OF PLEAS
Victoria S. Salzmann*
TABLE OF CONTENTS
I.INTRODUCTION .......................................................................................... 119
II.THE REALITIES OF PLEAS ........................................................................... 122
A. Positive Aspects of Plea Systems ................................................... 122
B. Perceived Problems with Pleas ..................................................... 124
C. Lay-person Perspective of the Justice System ................................. 124
III.HOW POPULAR CULTURE CHANGES PERCEPTION ........................................ 126
IV.THE FILM ................................................................................................ 137
V.WHY LAWYERS SHOULD SEE LAW ABIDING CITIZEN ..................................... 141
VI.HOW THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM SHOULD RESPOND ............................ 145
I.
INTRODUCTION
What would you do if a ruthless killer broke into your home and killed your family right before your eyes, then bargained with the prosecutor to receive only three years punishment in exchange for testifying against his innocent accomplice? Would you accept this chain of events as a just system of punishment, or would you “go rogue” and mete out your own justice, killing the defendants and even the members of the criminal system who encouraged the practice? This scenario is the plot of the blockbuster movie, Law Abiding Citizen, which stars Gerard Butler as the hero/vigilante avenging his family’s heinous murder and Jamie Foxx as the repentant
*Professor and Dean of Teaching and Learning, Phoenix School of Law. J.D., Baylor University
School of Law, 1999; M.S. in Environmental Biology, Baylor University, 1996; B.S. in
Biology/Environmental Studies, Baylor University, 1994. The