Essays on Sentencing

The term ‘actus reus’ refers to the physical component of the crime, while ‘mens rea’ addresses the mental aspect of the offence. Situations, when the alleged perpetrator has the actus reus, but lack mens rea can be different, and a solution depends on the constituent components of a particular crime. First of all, strict liability offences and a range of other offences that differ across statutes and common law under different jurisdictions do not require proving mens rea. Strict liability often refers to minor offences (e.g., selling alcohol to an under-aged individual), where it is hard to determine the ...

Personal Statement

“Sasha, ihre fahrt ist hier.” At my teacher’s demand, I ran from my seat with such enthusiasm that I have never experienced before, and left behind everything I owned. I raced to the parent pick up line where my mother stood eagerly waiting to inform me of what she thought was good news. My parents were in military, so I spent most of my early life apart from them as they relocated every three years. This day was not only peculiar in that my mother came to pick me up, but it was the last Thursday I would ...

The death sentence is not only unjust but also unethical. I, therefore, believe that it should be abolished. The death sentence is against the human rights, and this makes it be an immoral way of sentencing people. I believe that any administration across the world should abolish death sentence as a form of capital punishment. Capital punishment is the infliction of deaths for capital crimes such as murder, rape and even crime (Theroux& Krasemann, 2014). This form of punishment is just like the eye for an eye sentiment, which is also unjust and immoral. Sentencing people by murdering them ...

Youths are not generally tried in adult court for the crimes that they commit. This is because most of the crimes committed by youths are not serious enough to justify incarcerating them alongside adult offenders. Most youths are tried in juvenile court and are sentenced to serve time in juvenile detention facilities if convicted. However, this does not apply to youths who are convicted of more serious crimes, such as murder. The age at which a person can be tried in adult versus juvenile court differs between states. In forty-one states the maximum age of a juvenile before being ...

Introduction

The security of correctional staff is one of the greatest challenges facing the U.S. prison department due to the risks present in such settings. The safety of the officers on duty can be improved using the relevant technologies and systems as they make them flexible and their work easier. This essay examines the security issues affecting corrections human resources and proposes the Internet Protocol (IP) video surveillance system as one of the best strategies that can be used by prison administrators to deal with such threats.

Security of Correctional Officers

According to the research that was conducted by the Sentencing Project (2015), over ...

Abstract

The issue of how criminals are sentenced and treated is a problem within in the United States and around the world. The sentence given for a crime that is committed is not always equal from one state or region to another. Diversion programs are therefore a method that have been created to offer a second chance to first-time offenders and youthful offenders that are deemed worthy of a second chance. These programs are designed to be supervised and carried out by certified and experienced professionals at the behest of the court, and are meant to curb any and all ...

One of the peculiar aspects of criminal law is the ability to essentially increase, or decrease, depending on the particular factors of a case, the punishment that an offender would normally expect to have imposed after a conviction (Justia, 2016). These circumstances, which are formally known in criminal law as aggravating and mitigation circumstances, are often used to take into account important aspects of the case that may not have been properly addressed during the trial or plea negotiations. Aggravating and mitigating circumstances are normally applied under the discretion of the sentencing judge; however, for some crimes they might ...

Disadvantages of Juvenile Justice System

The primary disadvantages found in the juvenile justice system are both interconnected and based largely on what it fails to do as opposed to what it does. Although it was designed to meet the unique needs of children involved in criminal activity as a means of curtailing recidivism, it has not consistently been able to meet the very standards it has set for itself. Worse yet, in failing to do so, the juvenile justice system has acted to complicate the problem even more. Issues of escalating criminal behavior in adulthood, failure to address mental health needs, and racial bias ...

Question & Answer: Impact of Victim’s Statement

The current case that is worthy of discussion and analysis concerns the case, now referred to as, the "Stanford Swimmer" case. After midnight on January 18, 2015, Stanford student Brock Turner was caught in the act of assaulting an unconscious 23-year-old woman behind a dumpster while on campus. The corroboration of witnesses resulted in Turner's arrest and subsequent trial. He was charged with multiple felonies that could culminate into a 14 year prison sentence. At the trial, the victim had the opportunity to share her victim-impact statement. In total her statement was more than 7,000 words long and ...

Exposure to Racial Discrimination in Criminal Justice System

The criminal justice system of the United States comprises several challenges and flaws, while the issue with the spread of the racial disparity poses the most significant problem to the welfare of the citizens of the country. This problem is not new to the criminal justice system as it has roots in the XX century with the consideration of the cases of African Americans in trial. In the beginning of this period of time, African Americans amounted to 10% of the entire population of the United States, while the amount of the sentenced prisoners may be regarded as relatively ...

International Human Rights Law and Prisons in Africa

Term Paper 4500 words

Introduction

The International Centre for Prison Studies’ World Prison Brief, in its report suggested that over 10 million individuals are formally incarcerated in prison and correctional facilities around the world. According to the same Brief, even more are held in either military facilities where they are detained or in security or police facilities without any specific legal process underway. There are three categories that the United States’ (U.S). Government has for humanitarian and human rights concerns as they relate to these individuals who are housed in a detention facility that is; 1. unsafe in terms of ...

The point of peer reviews is to work together to locate what these papers are trying to say and then give informed, respectful suggestions to help the writer say it more clearly. Use these questions to help guide the discussion, but please be brief in answering them. The primary purpose of your peer review is to have a discussion. 1.) What is the thesis claim or question? Is this argument claim arguable (as in, could someone disagree with it)? Is the case claim interesting (in other words, does the thesis claim challenge or shed new light on the “ ...

Introduction

How does the factor of gender impact the concept of violent offending? One of the most commonly held notions is that males have a higher propensity to commit violent crimes compared to women. This holding is one of the most widely held concepts in the area of criminology. However, there is a growing debate as to the scope of the “gender gap” in terms of violent offending has shifted in recent years. A number of commentators hold that the gap is described in terms of its stability; others proffer that there is an observable closing of the gap, particularly ...

Introduction

The question of racial discrimination in the legal system of the United States is a sought after topic despite limited evidence to support its existence at present. Although the nation once participated in discriminatory practices in the past, the majority of the activities ceased during the last few decades. Despite sweeping developments in recent years, the news never grows old while reporting a possible aberration. This research paper examines the evidence of data available in the books against the media reports which claim the rampant existence of racial discrimination. Each section in this research paper will raise question regarding ...

According to Mackenzie (2002) about five million or more individuals are under criminal justice system supervision and authority in the United States of America. Close to 1.6 million are housed in local, state or federal correctional facilities. An estimated 70% of these individuals are supervised in either probation or parole, which are forms of community corrections. The suggestion here is that a large part of the correctional population at any one point is under the supervision of corrections in the United States (Bureau of Justice Statistics, 1997). About 3.8 individuals both men and women are in community parole and ...

Introduction

People commit a variety of crimes on a daily basis. Some crimes are minor incidents that do not have an extensive consequence or sentence to uphold by the offender. There are crimes that are committed that are in a higher bracket and these crimes have a more serious sentence. People often commit a crime for a number of reasons. Some crimes committed were not even done by the person who was charged in the incident. There needs to be proof or evidence that can place the alleged criminal at the crime scene when it accrued. It is important that ...

Yes, I agree with this decision, and the court was right to hold that capital punishment or capital punishment cannot be applied to the case of rape of minors for various reasons which I will set out in the subsequent sections of this paper. The law on the capital punishment in the US is found in the individual criminal codes of each state, but the jurisprudence of the death penalty has largely been shaped by the US Supreme Court. The law in this area was enunciated by the same court when it made it clear in Coker v Georgia ( ...

Reentry is an issue that has social, and public policy implications. Supervision and release as handled by parole has created more intensity among scholars. Many plausible factors have contributed to as to why offenders have a hard time re-entering the community successfully (Nally, Lockwood, Ho & Knutson, 2012). More than 700, 000 individuals are serving time behind bars. One of the main predictors of post-release recidivism is lack of employment (La Vigne, et al., 2008). It is difficult as for most jobs criminal background checks are required, which in itself is an obstacle and challenge in securing employment upon an ...

The goals of retribution, incapacitation, deterrence, rehabilitation, and restoration are all primary goals of those within the criminal justice system. In sentencing individuals charged with specific criminal actions the philosophic principles that such decisions are based upon should be considered. Through the use of methods such as fines, probation, imprisonment, and death the criminal justice system has utilized a variety of measures in order to more effectively enact justice. These measures have, furthermore, been broadly adopted in relation to the financial, social, and international context that the criminal system was established within. Concerns such as the impact that these ...

Several factors have led to the rapid changes in sentencing structures in the United States. According to Latessa and Smith: “Following a very long period of relative inactivity (1930-1974), American sentencing laws and practices began to undergo rapid change, a fundamental restructuring of the sentencing process” (2015, p. 19). This is supported by Phelps (2011, p. 33), who argued that “Scholars of mass incarceration point to the 1970s as a pivotal turning point in US penal history, marked by a shift towards more punitive policies and a consensus that ‘nothing works’ in rehabilitating inmates.” Four main factors have been ...

Historically and to this day, gender has had an overreaching influence on the way people are treated within the criminal justice system, from the initial moment of their arrest, to their prosecution, conviction, and sentencing; throughout the term of their incarceration; to their portrayal in the media. Women and men are viewed unequally, and this has tended to have both advantages and disadvantages for both genders. When it comes to gender politics, the outwardly-fair criminal justice system can be seen to be anything but. In all facets of society, women and girls have historically borne the brunt of the ...

Introduction

The criminal justice system in the United States is complex and has a trove of advantages for the defendant in comparison to several other nations. The rights include the right to an attorney and the right to remain silent during a police interrogation. Apart from these rights, the process to find someone guilty and sentence that person is a tedious process. Unlike justice systems which rely on circumstantial evidence, the American Justice system insists on the presence of physical evidence to corroborate. In addition, a lengthy process ensures checkpoints in different areas to prevent convicting innocent people of crimes ...

[Class Title]

Introduction Established by the Greek statesman, Solon, sometime in the 600 B.C., voting has always been a key feature of democracy. The international community regards it as the most basic human right, which should be protected and guaranteed to all citizens of a country as stipulated by internal human rights laws. A government by the people must have the participation of the people, which is realized through suffrage. Today, voting rights are already universally practiced, yet there are certain circumstances wherein such right is taken away by the state. In the United States, a person will lose ...

(Professor/Instructor) (Course/Major) (Institute/University)

Introduction

Thesis Statement: Kantian ethics, as a utilitarian view, holds that man is the end of the act to be benefitted from instead of the means to achieve the goal. One of the most denigrating crimes known to man, the trade in people is a crime that impacts the global community. Traffickers trick men, women, and children from almost every country and then “sell” them to traders looking to exploit their situation. Though the most prevalent form of human trafficking is for the illicit sex trade, others are sold into slavery, and even at times into syndicates ...

INTRODUCTION

The American criminal justice system is a very complex entity that most people hope to have little interaction with. Most people will tell you that it can also be incredibly confusing. People become most invested in court proceedings when they are high profile cases that garner a great deal of media attention; some that many are familiar with include Amy Fisher, Casey Anthony and, certainly, the O.J. Simpson trial. Another case that became the center of media attention is the trial of Jodi Arias. Jodi Arias is a 32-year-old woman who is currently serving a life sentence, without the ...

1. Define the ways in which each component (police, courts, and corrections) of the criminal justice system administers justice. Which component is most effective at meeting their goals? Police play the role of working with the public in order to enforce legal requirements and protect the privacy and liberty of individuals. In order to do this, however, police rely on the underlying cultural values and norms of the communities in which they function. Police interact with the public in order to ascertain those that are committing offenses and present these individuals to the criminal justice system for sentencing of ...

The get-tough policies focus on punishment as the sole and primary response to crime. It is worth noting that the model countries emphasize the use of get-tough policy in dealing with crime. The model countries include Germany, France, China, Japan, England, and Saudi Arabia (Dammer and Jay 67). These programs include truth-in-sentencing, zero tolerance, mandatory sentencing, three strokes and other harsher penalties. The model countries have experienced a decrease in the crime rate since the implementation of get-tough policies. The effects of get-tough policies are alarming in most model countries. In fact, most of the organized crimes have declined ...

Question 3

Some individuals and organizations argue that prisons should be abolished because most people who are locked are poor ethnic minorities. Furthermore, they suggest that the prison system does not help in rehabilitating criminals (Edge 43). Many people who are accused of committing various crimes and end up being incarcerated are often unable to hire good lawyers to represent them in court. Imprisonment results in the restrictions of a person’s liberty. Inmates also suffer physical, sexual, and psychological abuse while serving time in prisons. However, unless better alternatives to the prison system are established, prisons should not be abolished ...

Indeterminate sentencing and parole received a fair share of criticism that led to their ultimate abandonment by some states. The sentencing system, for example, was seen to be an unnecessary burden to the tax payer through allowing prisoners to overstay their due term even after a successful change of behavior (Rikard & Rosenberg 2007). Secondly, the shifting of prisoners from one jail to another due to overcrowding in jails led to confusion over the assessment of change of behavior by prisoners since, at times, prisoners were sent to jails that could not continue the rehabilitation program they were on (Ball ...

Is the War on drug policies a major factor in racial profiling?

Introduction My name is ( ) and the topic I shall discuss is whether the war on drug policies stand as a major factor in racial profiling or not, and I believe that war on drug policies are not a major factor in racial profiling. This issue is important to be because there are many minorities in the country who live under the burden and impression as the supreme targets as drug addicts and racial profiling against them is a major problem. I have friends who feel living amongst the rest of the people are always afraid that they might become ...

Policy making processes can be long and arduous. Nevertheless, they play a very important role in determining the way a country should be governed (Anderson, 2015). One of the issues that needs urgent attention from public officials is the crowding in correction facilities. A correction institution is a place where people who have been convicted of crime are kept and housed in an environment of limited freedom. The amount of time one spends in prison depends on a number of issues and the nature of crime committed. Convicted felons are transferred to places that suited to hold them according ...

Insanity defense, as it is known in many jurisdictions refers to the assertion by a person accused of criminal prosecution that at the time of committing the criminal act(s) they were not in the right state of mind as to appreciate the wrongfulness of their acts. Insanity has been invoked in many jurisdictions to reverse legal decisions or acquit people accused of crimes and it comes forth as the perfect defense. Whenever it is applied, it permits a person who is factually guilty to escape punishment and incarceration. Canadian laws have numerous circumstances exempt individuals from criminal responsibility ...

Question 1

According to Tregeagle and Orr (2003), they argued that there are many Australian children that at one point or another, during their influential years, are not be cared for adequately. For many, this is a brief period that passes however for some; this maltreatment lasts beyond theirtender years and impacts their life. The abuse of children can be defined as any non-accidental behaviour by any adult in the child’s life that causes physical or psychological harm. The behaviour can be intentional, such as abuse, or unintentional, such as neglect (Bromfield, 2005; (Christoffel et al., 1992). It was meant ...

Criminal Justice

Introduction Criminological perspectives encompass several arguments that explain the cause of crime. Understanding the cause of crime is relatively important in solving criminality, which the various criminological theories tend to clarify. The discussion will highlight the three criminological perspectives namely trait, social, and classical theories. Each perspective will be discussed followed by an argument regarding the two sentencing models and determine, which of the models is a more effective approach in addressing crime. Lastly, the discussion articulates the sentencing model, which is likely to have the most potential in reducing crime while linking to the discussion on the various ...

Innocence

Introduction The Innocence Project is a nonprofit organization which operates with the sole goal of freeing the wrongfully convicted in the United States. It was the result of a study in the late 1980s which revealed that a vast majority of eyewitness testimonies were inaccurate and identification by eyewitnesses resulted in seventy percent of the wrongfully convicted population. In the United States, one out of every seven convicts is innocent. Hence, with the advent of DNA technology in the early 1990s, the Innocence Project came into existence with Barry Scheck and Peter Neufeld heading the initiative from the Benjamin ...

Literature Review

The paper reviews the existing literature on the efficacy of incarcerating criminals in prisons and the associated expenses that the government incurs to jail them and maintain the prisons. According to Gilgan (2015), the expenses, which are substantial, are funded by the taxes collected from the citizens. His opinion is that a prison sentence for every criminal is neither rational nor an economically viable solution for the U.S. Government. The crucial question that the paper will explore is whether using tax dollars to imprison criminals is the ideal way to utilize the money gathered, and how might they be ...

Inductive Thematic Analysis

Introduction Drug crimes are increasingly becoming a major concern on both local and global fronts. Current research (Braun and Clarke, 2012) suggests that the thematic analysis of important data sources such as sentencing remarks would facilitate the efficacy of available strategies in these crimes. The purpose of this assignment is to analyse the themes that comprise the societal understanding of the occurrence and penalties of drug-related crime. The researcher uses information from seven courtroom sentencing remarks from Adelaide, Southern Australia. This inductive thematic analysis identifies overarching themes that are evident across all seven documents. The themes include “gender and ...

[Class Title]

Introduction Death, as a form of punishment, is being practiced even in the earliest days of human civilization. The people of ancient Mesopotamia, during the time of Hammurabi, have been observed to perform death sentences on certain transgressions and immoral acts, as determined by their codes . Similarly, the Hebrews has also been using death as a capital punishment for several transgressions under their law. The traditional Law of Moses, which can also be read in the Christian bible, is, in fact, a relic of the age old tradition of exacting death penalty that has been practiced for ...

The New York Times

Professional and Business Ethics: Managing Ethics Programs in the Workplace. This article explains how organizations should manage their working areas. In every workplace, the organization must ensure that there is an existing ethics management plan. The Association for Practical and Professional Ethics Executive Secretary, Brian Schrag explains that a good ethics plan contains corporate values making use of policies and codes to help in decisions and behaviors. They can also involve extreme training and evaluation according to the organization. They offer guidance when ethical dilemmas occur since it is very hard to have two similar programs. The article gives ...

Juvenile Murderers: A Second Chance or Death

Introduction The question over treatment of juvenile murderers creates a major debate in the social and political circles. There are proponents of public supporting punishment in the form of a life in prison without parole called LWOP, many believe that capital punishment is needed, and others support the implementation of life in prison with work and restitution called LWOP + W/R (Moon, Wright, Cullen, & Pealer, 2000, p. 663). One common aspect is the belief of the public is the need for bringing people to justice by either jail time or capital punishment. Another important aspect of the juvenile punishment system ...

Federal Sentencing Guidelines

First, the court determines the guideline applicable to the offense committed by convicted defendant. In cases where the defendant offers a plea that establishes the commission of a more serious offense, the defendant is deemed to have committed extra offenses. However, the guidelines are not applied to misdemeanors and infractions. The base offense level is then determined according to the characteristics of the committed offense and any special instruction in the specific guideline applied. Adjustments are then made according to the harm done to the victim, the role played by the defendant in the offense, and any obstruction of ...

The United States is a very large and complex entity filled with diverse races, cultures, ideologies, philosophies, belief systems and perspectives. That said establishing a societal structure that encourages diversity and autonomy, but also establishes standards, rules and laws that outline the nation, is no easy feat. The American criminal justice system has been praised as one of the most ethical and just in comparison with other such systems across the globe. While that may have been true many years ago, many modern thinkers and American citizens, today feel that the criminal justice system is highly flawed and is ...

Introduction

Alternative sentencing makes way for committers of minor crimes and those with no criminal records to transform and comply with varied ethical standards as laid out by the state. With enhanced supervision as an alternative to incarceration, court administrators are involved in monitoring activities such as substance abuse treatment, random drug testing and community services performed by the offenders. The probation officers have to work closely with the Office of Community Corrections to ensure that the benchmarks set by the judges are met and that the offenders are able to contribute to long term growth and stability of the ...

“Poor single mother on welfare tell me how you did it?” rings the famous lyric of the late Rapper-Activist Tupac Amaru Shakur. The son of a former Black Panther, this ode to his mother provides a glimpse into the conundrum of surviving in the wake of being poor and black on public assistance. What Shakur unknowingly reveals is the image of welfare in a more empathetic and realistic way that illuminates instead of ignoring the lived realities of its recipients. While Shakur’s lyric is compassionate in it’s depiction, conservative lawmakers are less considerate in their elucidation of ...

A 19-year-old high school girl was shot twice and buried while still alive in 1998 and Clayton Lockett was convicted of her murder (“Clayton Lockett” 1). After conviction, he was given the death penalty to be imposed by lethal injection and fifteen years later, his execution was botched when drug dosage was not adequate for death, finding veins for giving the drugs required multiple attempts, and the medications leaked into his muscle tissue (Connor). Witnesses to his death described it as agonizing and the response of the public again stirred the debate concerning using government sanctions to kill in ...

The defendant, Minnie Wright has been the focus of investigation involving the murder of her husband, John Wright. Her guilt in his murder has been determined due to a body of evidence suggesting this to be the case. Minnie's murder of her husband has resulted in her going to trial. In assessing the circumstances of Mr. Wright's death, it is evident that there were a variety of extenuating psychological and emotional circumstances that led her to act in such an irrational way. The events occurred on a cold day in the winter. When visiting the Wright's farmhouse, Mr. Hale ...

Reduction of crime is the dream of any criminal justice system. In the era where the rate of crime has significantly increased due to the use of sophisticated weapons and technology, there is an increasing necessity for the government and other stakeholders to ensure that such crimes are minimized. Having strict punishment mechanisms is one of the strategies geared towards the reduction of crimes. In Canada, this approach is the most common. Its proponents give a two-fold argument about its role in reducing crime. First, they argue that the offender is ‘locked behind bars’, hence temporarily separated from the ...

The Fair Sentencing Act

On August 3, 2010, President Barack Obama signed into law the Fair Sentencing Act of 2010, for the first time in the History of the U.S (Grindle, 2010). This law was a response to the then claims of racial biases of the law in convicting drug dealers. This Act established new quantity thresholds, which were meant to trigger statutory mandatory minimum and maximum penalties for offenses related to cocaine. By so doing, this law amended the Controlled Substance Act and the controlled import and export of substance. This new law saw to it that the quantities of cocaine that ...

Introduction

Correctional reforms are an important part of the criminal justice system. The reforms can reduce recidivism or have the opposite effect depending on its implementation based on cultural beliefs. Every region of the world has its unique philosophies. Despite changes in political paradigms, the cultural values find their purpose even in the new laws. Eventually, all penal systems aim to achieve an intolerance for criminal behavior from their respective civilian population. The success of any reformist drive must have the potential to derive a law that will work for the entire community. Although this criterion might seem difficult, it ...

Afilliation:

There are three major considerations in discussing comparatively the difference between prisons and alternative sentencing which are the psychological and mental stress undergone by the individual, the philosophy and innate goal of prison and alternative sentencing and lastly the financial and human resource of the place. A correctional facility can be, in principle, a description for both prison and alternative sentencing. A prison is traditionally a special building or structure built in order to isolate an individual from society and pave way to the reckoning of his/her mistakes. More than the isolation itself, a certain environment causes the individuals ...

The sentencing of youths after trials to adult prison has continued in the United States for quite some time now with an estimated 250, 000 youths being incarcerated as adults and hence landing into Adult prison annually. This has been attributed to the changes in laws across forty-nine American states in the ‘90s that increase the number of youths being given adult trials. However, CDC (Center for Disease and Control) and the US Department of Justice stated in 2008 that sending minors to a criminal justice system that is specifically designed to handle adults does not reduce or protect ...

Criminal Justice: Women in Prison

In this paperwork, I am going to discuss issues in the incarceration of women such as mental illness, pregnancy, substance use, separation of family, as well as the environment. When the term Prisons is mentioned, we automatically switch our mind to young men, since approximately ninety percent of inmates are male, according to the Federal Bureau of Prisons. It is important to note that the proportion of imprisoned women is small, but this proportion consists of hundreds of thousand women, at present, living behind bars in the United States. Currently, the number of women wedged in the criminal justice ...

ABSTRACT

The juvenile crime rate has made a significant increase in America as children as young as eight years old are committing violent crimes. The juvenile justice system was first created to keep children out of adult prisons and to rehabilitate the children so that they will become productive non-criminal adults. This system has not been effective. Children are impacted by many factors when faced with decisions in today’s society. They are not as developed and lack the reasoning capability like adults. Thus, new approaches to juvenile justice must be instilled throughout the country in order to prevent more ...

1. Mandatory Minimums Mandatory minimum sentencing has been used for hundreds of years to lock those who commit crimes away for a guaranteed amount of time or to guarantee that the person in question receive a minimum fine. Initially, mandatory minimum sentencing conventions came about at the same time federal crimes were invented, with the passage of the 1790 Crimes Act (“History of Mandatory Minimum Penalties and Statutory Relief Mechanisms”). The modern version of mandatory minimum sentencing laws have come to only be applied to certain types of crimes, such as drug crimes, weapons charges, criminal possession of pornography, ...

The U.S criminal justice system faces a myriad of challenges, particularly within the last two decades. The prison and penitentiary population reached its optimal level and parole and probation numbers over-doubled. For instance, in 2009 seven million Americans were put under supervision either by federal or state criminal justice systems. These high numbers of offenders under supervision are an indication of the systemic failures in the criminal justice system (Robinson 31). There are two main classifications of criminal justice systems in America, the state and federal criminal justice system. These two systems play a role in identification and prosecution ...

While the Civil War may have legally ended slavery, remnants of slavery and racial animosity continued to exist, and perhaps still do, in many parts of the country. Even after the passage of the Reconstruction Amendments, which attempted to empower newly freed African American slaves and give them equal rights of citizenship, states managed to find ways to disenfranchise blacks from exercising their newly acquired rights of citizenship. Racial prejudice was especially pervasive in the South. The era of Jim Crow laws, which controlled nearly every aspect of Southern public life, maintained strict separation of whites and blacks (Welke, ...

Clayton Lockett was a 38-year-old murderer of a 19-year-old girl whom he shot twice and then buried while she was still alive (Connor, 2015). Following his conviction, he was sentenced to death in Oklahoma by lethal injection. Fifteen years later in April 2014, his execution was botched when inadequate drugs, an inability to find an adequate vein for instillation, and inappropriate administration into muscle tissue resulted in an agonizing and prolonged death. The public’s response to the news releases ignited again the debate over the use of the death penalty for punishment of the worst offenders in society. ...

The rebuttal of the presumption of innocence amongst under-aged children is done in cases when a child commits a serious crime. Thus, when a child between ages 13 and 16 commits a serious crime like murder or aggravated sexual assault, such a child is charged like an adult. In spite of this, such a process leads to serious consequences for these underage offenders who are often below their formative years. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the impacts of charging minors who commit serious crimes like adults. This will include the review of the implications and possibility ...

Abstract

Rising rates of recidivism in the United States have developed concerns pertaining to the effectiveness of prisons as correctional facilities. In this study, the focus is to assess the suitability of faith-based correctional methods in promoting inmates reentry into the society. Some discussed methods include Inner change programs, prison chaplaincy, and meditational strategies. Several studies have indicated significant declines in recidivism rates among inmates who participated in these initiates. For example, Duwe & Johnson (2013) found that inmates who engaged in Inner change programs in Minnesota were less likely to be arrested by at least 8% compared to their counterparts ...

What are 5 variables evaluated by judicial authorities to sentence offenders?

Judicial authorities must consider each individual criminal case based on the facts of the crime when determining the type and length of punishment. Included in the facts are variety of variables that must be evaluated. The judge will consider whether the defendant is a first time criminal offender or a repeat offender. The judge will also consider the role the defendant played in the crime. The motives behind the offense may also be considered, as well as the extent of injuries suffered by the victim. Additionally, the judge will consider whether the defendant is remorseful about the crime committed. ...