CJUS 410_DISCUSSION BOARD_LIBERTY
Each of the Scriptures below concern a given criminal procedure topic. All
Scriptures are from the New International Version, 1984. Begin this
assignment by meditating on the given Scriptures. You may even want to
pray about them. Psalm 119:18 recommends this prayer: “Open my eyes
that I may see wonderful things in your law.” Once you have done that,
answer the questions below.
Witnesses
Deuteronomy 19:15 "One witness is not enough to convict a man accused of
any crime or offense he may have committed. A matter must be established
by the testimony of two or three witnesses."
Deuteronomy 17:6 "On the testimony of two or three witnesses a man shall
be put to death, but no one shall be put to death on the testimony of only
one witness."
Cross Examination
Proverbs 18:17 "The first to present his case seems right, till another comes
forward and questions him."
Deuteronomy 19:16–19 "If a malicious witness takes the stand to accuse a
man of a crime, the two men involved in the dispute must stand in the
presence of the LORD before the priests and the judges who are in office at
the time. The judges must make a thorough investigation, and if the witness
proves to be a liar, giving false testimony against his brother, then do to him
as he intended to do to his brother. You must purge the evil from among
you."
Physical Evidence
Deuteronomy 22:13–18 "If a man takes a wife and, after lying with her,
dislikes her and slanders her and gives her a bad name, saying, “I married
this woman, but when I approached her, I did not find proof of her virginity,”
then the girl’s father and mother shall bring proof that she was a virgin to
the town elders at the gate. The girl’s father will say to the elders, "I gave
my daughter in marriage to this man, but he dislikes her. Now he has
slandered her and said, ‘I did not find your daughter to be a virgin.’ But
here is the proof of my daughter’s virginity." Then her parents shall display
the cloth before the elders of the town, and the elders shall take the man
and punish him."
Exodus 22:12-13 "But if the animal was stolen from the neighbor, he must
make restitution to the owner. If it was torn to pieces by a wild animal, he
shall bring in the remains as evidence and he will not be required to pay for
the torn animal."
Answer the following questions for your thread:
An important feature of fundamentally all criminal justice policies is their
multifaceted criteria. Many of the policy choices made within the criminal
justice system are made in legislatures where ideology or political appeal is
notably salient. Christian Constitutionalists generally believe the
foundation of a superior and the inferior court system was derived from
Jethro’s counsel to Moses (Exodus: 18: 19-22). This passage does provide
Biblical precedent for a graduate judicial system; however, that is where
any similarity ends (Fishbane, 1988). This thread will focus on a pithy
comparison or contrast of Biblical judiciary procedure to that of present day
criminal justice procedure. Witness testimony, cross examination, and
evidentiary will be examined.
•
Witnesses: “take one or two others along, so that every matter may be
established by the testimony of two or three witnesses” (NIV, Matthew
18:16). Research psychologists have formulated that “the single
greatest cause of wrongful conviction is erroneous eyewitness
testimony. Much of their reasoning stems from the number of cases
that have been dismissed and convictions overturned since DNA
technology has exonerated almost 80% of those accused by
eyewitnesses” (Duke, Lee & Pager, 2007). Studies have unanimously
demonstrated that surface memory is amazingly short-lived;
consequently, surface memory begins fading within 80 syllables of
hearing (Duke, Lee, & Pager, 2007). Our trial system demands a high
degree of accuracy from witnesses, yet it appears that people are
rarely capable of producing such accounts from memory. Additionally,
there are many people who abuse substances in our society which
would affect their mental acumen, specifically recall. The principle of
the Mosaic Law in Deuteronomy 19:15 or that in Matthew 18:16 is
carried to modern courts by saying that two independent lines of
evidence can be valid witnesses; however, at that time they were not
privy to the technological advancements we experience today.
•
Cross Examination: “The purposes of a person’s heart are deep
waters, but one who has insight draws them out” (NIV, Proverbs 20:
5). The key to a favorable direct-examination is formulating a
•
Did these Scriptures change or confirm your views about how criminal
procedure should operate according to each topic?
•
How does our current system deal with each topic?
•
How could our current system change (or not) to deal with each topic
in a more biblical manner?
•
Provide at least 1 reference and 1 different Scripture (other than
those given above) in support of your post.
narrative; in contrast, the key to cross-examination is to subvert that
narrative, and possibly devise an alternative. In Daniel 13 (part of the
Apocrypha by Protestants), referencing cross examination is the
account of Susanna. In a nutshell, Susanna is a beautiful, faithful
Hebrew wife who is falsely accused by two lecherous voyeurs. She is
accosted by these two lusty elders as she makes her way back to her
house; thereby, attempting to coerce her into having sexual relations
with them, with the threat of adultery if she refuses. Being of pure
heart, Susanna refuses to be blackmailed; yet, is arrested and nearly
put to death before Daniel intercedes. Daniel separates the two men,
questioning (investigative interviewing) them in regard to the details.
Each man gave different information making the elders lie plain to all
observers; thus, the false accusers are put to death and virtue
triumphs.
•
Evidentiary: In ancient Israel, there were no prosecutors or defense
attorneys; accordingly, accuser and accused argued their own cases.
In our courts the burden of proof is on the prosecution; however, in
ancient Israel the burden of proof lay with the defendant. Physical
evidence was presented when necessary; on the whole proving one’s
case depended primarily on testimony and persuasive argument.
Exodus 21: 29-32 deals with a case where an ox gores another person
to death due to the negligence and irresponsibility of its owner. The
sanction is death; although, a provision is made for a monetary fine as
a substitute for execution. It was only in the cases of premeditated
murder that capital punishment was upheld (Leviticus 24: 21).
Similarly, in our day, the so-called law of evidence is made up
principally of procedural administration respecting the proof and
introduction of facts, whether involving the testimony of witnesses,
the submission of documents or physical objects.
Biblical law collections may best be considered as “prototypical compendia
of legal and ethical norms rather than as comprehensive codes” (Fishbane,
1988). “The received legal codes are thus a literary expression of ancient
Israelite legal wisdom: exemplifications of the ‘righteous’ laws upon which
the covenant was based” (Fishbane, 1988). There were no prisons in Israel;
as a result, God actively involved the Israelites in a progressive movement
toward individual and societal restoration. Similarly, in our present judicial
system, the Jewish nation believed that the primary purposes of God’s Law
were restitution, rehabilitation, and atonement. God who is the greatest
Criminal Justice Master in the Universe states in no uncertain terms that
justice is to be equated with and sanctioned in accordance with the crime
committed (Genesis 9) and that swift justice deters crime (Ecclesiastes 8:
11). Presently, the wheels of justice do appear to move slowly due to the
backlog of pending cases; thus, eliminating the probability of swift justice
which diminishes the deterrent effect. Although law enforcement, the
courts, and corrections are not perfect, criminal justice in the United States
is one of the most extensive and complex in the world.
References
Duke, S.B.; Lee, A. S-E.; Pager, C.K.W. (2007). A pictures worth a thousand
words: Conversational v eyewitness testimony in criminal convictions.
American Criminal Law Review. Vol 44. No.1. Retrieved from
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Fishbane, M. (1988). Biblical interpretation in ancient Israel. Clarendon
Press: Oxford, NY. Retrieved from
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