lu i P oru ani ) O bserver • F ebruary 19, 1997
P age A3
Capital punishment jurors may not understand their task
People called
ed upon to sit on juries
juries
for capital crimes often do not un
derstand the language o f the law, the
factors they are supposed to weigh in
considering a sentence, or even that
they have final responsibility for
imposing punishment.
New research funded by the Na
tional Science foundation (NSF)
seeks ways to improve the judgment
o f jurors who literally make life and
death decisions.
Richard L. Wiener, a psycholo
gist at Saint Louis University who
by
D axxv B ell
studies how juries
juries make decisinn«
decisions,
has received a three-year research
grant for almost $200,000 from NSE
to identify the most pervasive and
problematic errors jurors commit
which may influence deliberations
and final sentencing in first-degree
murder trails.
Earlier research shows that po
tential jurors do not reliably com
prehend instructions which direct
them to weigh “ aggravating” and
“ M itigating” factors to determine
whether to sentence a defendant to
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life I in f Y rx
prison
or to z4
death.
Wiener says many jurors are not
clear about the legal definition o f
these terms, and are often confused
about the difference between "count
ing” and “ w eighing" these critical
factors. Many misunderstand what
it means to find a defendant worthy
o f the death penalty “ beyond a rea
sonable doubt,” he says
Not only do many jurors not com
prehend legal terms; they may not
understand legal procedures.
"Some jurors may base a decision
a
. I
* ■
.
to impose the death penalty on the
belief that the final responsibility o f
imposing a sentence rests with the
judge, 'says W iener;"however,pun
ishment in first-degree murder cases
is the responsibility o f the ju ry .”
In the first part o f his NSF-sup-
ported research, Wiener w ill inter
view potential jurors to assess their
understanding o f the legal process,
such basic terms as “ m itigating,”
and what the law in their states
expects o f juries in capital cases.
Wiener and his team o f researchers
w ill develop modifications to com
mon court procedures to help jurors
better understand their responsibili
ties and make decisions that are
more consistent with the law
Wiener intends next to test his
innovations with potential jurors
During ju ry simulations, he plans to
show volunteers videotapes o f the
guilt and penalty phases o f re-en
acted murder trials and allow them
to arrive at their own decisions
Wiener's modifications include
presenting jurors a list o f common
conceptual errors to avoid in court,
and using a diagrammed flow chart
to trace the procedural path for jury
decision-making rather than rely
ing on a traditional description in
legal language
Evaluating the resulting decisions
o f mock juries should “ contribute to
a better understanding o f how to
improve the present process o f guid
ing jurors in America’s courtrooms,”
says Hannon Hosch, who directs
NSF’ s Law and Social Science Re
search Program.
The Gift Program addresses gangs affected youth
In an era in which the perpetra
tors of violence, drug traffic and
gang activity has been traditionally
associated with young males, there
has evolved a program initiated by
M ultnom ah C ou nty and im p le
mented by various Portland agen
cies to address the needs o f young
women and girls who are affected by
gang related behaviors.
Due to the fact that 100% o f the
gang shooting were in three geo
graphic regions o f Portland's City
lim its in 1994, The G ift Program
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was
those
North
Northeast and Southeast. The De
Launay Fam ily o f Services G ift
Project works w ith young women in
North Portland. They provide ser
vices to clients ranging between the
ages o f 16-20.
Among the services is case man
agement. A case manager along with
support components in the commu
nity provide: individual and fam ily
counseling; life skills development;
education, including high school
completion or GED, and college or
vocational programs; job training
I
I
....
and employment; parenting skills
development; health services; recre
ational activities and childcare
In practical terms this may mean
literally rescuing a homeless young
mother o f f the street or from a shel
ter and finding them a more stable
place to stay.
Case manager Sandra Johnson o f
the De Launay Family o f Services
comments that “ Sometimes we have
taken a young woman o ff the street
or negotiated with a landlord who is
w illin g to take someone without ref
erences or work history, in order to
find them a place to stay.”
Johnson also states “ we have a
program that is volunteered (par
ticipation o f young women) and our
mission is to build life skills, parent
ing skills, any skills that are neces
sary to move within and access the
community and to understand the
system.”
Under the life skills development
there are a number o f objectives;
academic progress and monitoring;
employment skills development;
knowledge and a b ility to access
health care services, including fam-
Geared to work with people with
disabilities, St. Vincent de Paul Staff
ing Services began in 1991 as the
temporary services division o f the St.
Vincent de Paul Rehabilitation Ser
vices. After receiving their first con
tract from the State o f Oregon a sec
ond office opened in Portland due to
the rapid expansion o f serv ices.
I odate, St. Vincent de Paul Staff
ing Services is the largest provider
ol temporary services to the state; St.
Vincent also has contract with county
government and most recently with
the Port o f Portland.
St Vincent de Paul Rehabilita
tion Services employs permanent
personnel and St. Vincent de Paul
Stalling Services employs tempo
rary personnel which has no a ffilia
tion w ith de Paul Drug Treatment,
The St Vincent de Paul Society, or
St Vincent Hospital. During its evo
lution St. Vincent Staffing Services
has become a model throughout the
United States fortem porary services.
Employing 300-500 people a week
in which 75 percent o f the tempo
rary jobs fall under the category o f
clerical workers, ranging from data
entry to administrative assistants and
secretaries. The other 25 percent o f
the jobs available are labor jobs such
as janitorial jobs available at all Port
land Community College campuses.
St. Vincent offers m ultiple job
related experiences and free tutorial
opportunity. A person can get on the
jo b experience, improve their re
sume and get introductions to hiring
managers.
There is no buy out fee, no employ
ment contracts, and an applicant can
utilize the computer lab as long as
needed while upgrading their skills.
The staffing services also o ffe r a
comprehensive benefit package for
their temporary employees. Medical
benefits are offered to employees
after they have worked 260 hours
and maintained at least 80 hours o f
work per month at which time they
becomeeligible formedical benefits
w ith P acifiC a re or Kaiser St.
Vincent de Paul pays h alf and the
employee pays the other h a lf Vaca
tion is available after 1500 hours in
a calendar year; employees w ill re
ceive 5 paid vacation days. St
Vincent de Paul contributes 5% o f
employees annual salary into a retire
ment plan. Other benefits include:
weekly paychecks, employees may
join Costco and sign up for credit
union privileges; employees are also
covered by workmans compensation.
Anyone with a documented disability
may apply at St. Vincent de Paul
Staffing Services, located at 500 NF
Multnomah. Suite 240 or phone 2 32-
8807 for more information.
partake o f the program succeed, there
are a number o f successes as well. A
case in point is Marty Johnson, a
young woman who completed her
high school education while on the
program and who w ill be complet
ing the G ift Program this year In the
w ords o f her m oth er Tam m y
Johnson...’ The most rewarding part
that I get out o f this whole thing is
my daughter. Her life has totally
flipped and totally turned around. I
no longer see her with the gangs., she
finished school and that was some
th in g !”
F un , F ood & Music
T he T ower of P ower
C oming M arch 22 nd
St. Vincent de Paul,
the caring temporary service
BY D \ \ BEL!
ily planning and well baby care;
independent living skills; personal
safety and violence prevention and
parent-youth relationship building.
Among the activities that the pre
ceding agenda may entail are going
to the library, cooking classes, rap
sessions, looking at community bul
letin boards to find things to do
about what's happening in the com
munity. "W e usually have babies
w ith us a ll the tim e ,” says
Johnson..."we like to observe the
babies with the moms parenting."
Although not all the clients who
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