...Criminal Acts and Choices Tamara Manning CJA/204 June 16, 2012 Criminal Acts and Choices “Choice theories state that the decision to commit (or refrain from) crime is an exercise of free will based on the offender’s efforts to maximize pleasure and minimize pain.” Choice theories are perspectives on crime causation that states that criminality is the aftermath of conscious choices made by people. There are four basic theories that are considered: Psychological positivism, biological, positivism, rational choice, and sociological positivism. These theories rely on logic to explain why people commit crimes and whether a criminal act is the result of a rational decision, internal predisposition or external aspects. A multitude of factors are considered to play roles in criminal activity. Social, political, and economic inequities, for instance, may create conflict within society. Human development, an absence of “normal” opportunities, failed self-direction, and inadequate social roles, association with defective individuals, or social organization and disorganization may also pave the road to criminal activity. Some theorists say that criminal behavior derives from psychobiological factors such as human DNA or hormones; others say inappropriate behavioral conditioning or a diseased mind contributes to criminal activity. Regardless of the reasons behind crime, this is a very real...
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...September 8, 2014 Solutions to the Problem of Crime in The Bahamas Over the past few years the question “Is violent crime a serious problem in The Bahamas?” has changed from a debatable topic to a rhetorical question because it is certainly clear that violent crime is a very serious problem and is on the rise in The Bahamas. In an article written by Athena Damianos, former editor for the Tribune, titled, “What Will It Take for the Government to Deal with the Violent Crime Problem” it was reported that four people were killed over a 20 hour period on a weekend of 2008 but just recently, on August 12th 2014 to be exact, four people were murdered and two were left injured in five separate incidents within a twelve hour period in Nassau. In addition, the murder count for the year 2007 was reported at 79, but so far for the year 2014, the murder count is at 85. Consequently, the questions concerning how serious crime is in The Bahamas have developed into the question “What are solutions that can be used to solve the abundant crime problem we see today?” Some of these solutions are to increase the amount of government involvement, ensure the expansion of rehabilitation programs in Fox Hill, and to ensure better relationships between citizens and police officers. Athena Damianos wrote that “our governments have either been inept, don’t care or simply lack the political will to get the job done” in regards to the issue of dealing with crime. It seems that now more than ever political...
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...Jail and Prison Kadeeja Philpot 201/CJS 3/18/2016 Dr.Bride Jail and Prison As the populace develops alongside develops crime rates. With the help of community-based programs, jails, and prisons. Criminals are being held accountable for their actions. The criminal justice system is designed for criminals to obtain their punishment as a result of the crime committed. There are different levels of punishment established from jails to prisons. Jails and prisons hold some corresponding attributes yet serve entirely diverse models in the criminal justice system. There are many people who lack knowledge of the difference. Jail vs. Prison There are four sorts of detainment facilities utilized by our courts structure: minimum security penitentiaries, low-security jails, and maximum security prisons. Least security detainment facilities would utilized for those guilty parties with crimes such as nonviolent. Low-security jails would be for misdemeanor violations, and maximum security is for those who commit a brutal crime such as murder. There are a few significant differences in jail and prison. For starter, the lengths of time inmate are confined. Jails are intended to hold prisoners are anticipating trial or serving a short sentence. After being arrested, jail is mainly the first place that criminals are taken to by law enforcement officers. Prisons are designed to hold criminals who are kept for more than a year. Another fundamental difference...
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...society is whether the death penalty serves as a justified and valid form of punishment. Whenever the word "death penalty" comes up, extremists from both sides start yelling out their arguments. One side says deterrence, the other side says there's a potential of executing an innocent man; one says justice, retribution, and punishment; the other side says execution is murder. Crime is an evident part of society, and everyone is aware that something must be done about it. Most people know the threat of crime to their lives, but the question lies in the methods and action in which it should be dealt with. In several parts of the world, the death penalty has been apportioned to those who have committed a variety of offenses from the time of ancient Babylon to present-day America. The Roman Empire made use of the death penalty liberally, as did the Church of the Middle Ages. As history tells us, capital punishment, whose definition is "the use of death as a legally sanctioned punishment," is an acceptable and efficient means of deterring crime. Today, the death penalty remains an effective method of punishment for murder and other heinous crimes. There is debate over the morals and effectiveness of such a harsh sentence. Most commonly, the death penalty is challenged as a violation of the Eighth Amendment, which says that the U.S. cannot use "cruel and unusual" punishment. Due to the fact that "punishment" is a legal infliction of suffering, it must be somewhat "cruel.” As for...
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...Law enforcement in the nation is a state’s responsibility. Police are on the front line of society’s efforts to resolve conflict. That’s why police brutality is such a betrayal of our peer’s sense of safety from its state law enforcement systems. Police brutality is when the police uses excessive force, usually physical, but also forms of verbal attacks and intimidation, against any person. Police brutality is nothing new to the American people. No matter what state you’re in, what race you are, or your gender, everyone has seen or experienced some type of police brutality. Attitudes towards the police is not the sole function of race or class; they are also affected by the resident’s perceptions of the community’s social capital. Over the...
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...Broken on All Sides October 7, 2014 When you think of something that is “Broken on All Sides,” it’s close to falling apart, crumbling, and isn’t stable. You wouldn’t stand in a building that was broken on all sides and you wouldn’t drive car that is broken on all sides. It’s a term that refers to a structure that is unstable, having trouble staying together and is near disaster. In this case “Broken on All Sides” refers to the poor area of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and its prison system. Not only does it relay a message of the Philly area but also relates to our entire countries problem with crime and imprisonment. "Broken On All Sides is a compelling documentary addressing racial inequities within our criminal justice system and its devastating collateral consequences. It is an excellent resource to use in educating, motivating, and empowering your group, organization, or community on this critical issue." - James E. Williams, Jr. One of the major reasons the country struggles with crime and imprisonment is because it continually targets the same areas of cities and the same type of people. Those who live in poor ghettos around the country including Philadelphia are targeted every day for crimes they commit. They feel as if they are targeted daily for crimes and cant get away from the police because of the way they live and where they live. The people in the ghettos are frustrated and feel as if they have no help from the law; the law is just against them. Instead...
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...Laurie Mosley Ethics Mrs. Kauffman May 30, 2015 Juvenile Capital Punishment The youngest offender ever executed in the United States was James Arcene, a ten year old Cherokee, who was hanged in Arkansas in 1885 for participating in a robbery and murder (James Austin, 2000). Juvenile capital punishment has always been a highly controversial and publicized matter. As a society we recognize that children, those under eighteen years old, cannot and do not function as adults. Because children do not function as adults, the law takes special steps to protect children from the consequences of their actions and often gives them a second chance. The law prohibits people under eighteen years old from voting, serving in the military, and serving on juries. Majority of the criminals are male offenders over twenty years old, but this is changing rapidly. Not only are adults committing capital offenses, but children who are under eighteen years old are committing such heinous offenses. A child that commits a heinous crime is not mentally capable of comprehending the crime he or she commits. The system of values in the age under eighteen is not built yet, other people can easily influence children, and the psychiatric processes are not yet stable. Under these conditions a child should never be sentenced to death or a life in prison because their mind is not fully developed. Children still have a chance to change and be rehabilitated. ...
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...Team C: Jury Nullification CJA/344 October 15, 2012 Team C: Jury Nullification Jury nullification has been a growing concern throughout the years for many Americans. Jury nullification is a constitutional doctrine that allows juries to acquit guilty defendants but who do not deserve punishment. Many believe that when this sort of action takes place the jury racially identify with the criminal defendant. There have been several cases for an example: the O.J Simpson case or the police officers in the Rodney King beating. The evidence was visible, but the verdict was not guilty. This paper includes how and if ethnicity influences courtroom proceedings and judicial practices, arguments against ethnicity-based jury nullification, contemporary examples of ethnicity based-jury nullification, and by choosing a position for or against ethnicity-based jury nullification. Ethnicity Influences and Judicial Practices There have been plenty of attempts to advance equal justice in the United States (Ward, Farrell, & Rousseau, 2009). In the criminal justice administration disparity still remains a concern. Criminal justice research on sentencing has found disparity based on defendant characteristics as gender, race, and class. There have been two changes by many individuals to secure equal justice in the court system. Implementations of sentencing guidelines, reduce bias, and increased racial and ethnic group representation among arbiters...
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...contributed to his assassination. I will discuss the implications of his assassinations from a sociological perspective. All through the discussions, I will explore his life and journey as freedom leader and his will to gain justice via nonviolent and peaceful protest against racial discrimination and oppressions. Martin Luther King Jr. was born on January 15, 1929 in Atlanta, Georgia. He was destined to be a preacher like his father and after seminary became the pastor of Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama at the age of 25. King believed that black and white people should resist laws that they thought unjust. If necessary, he thought, they should disobey such laws. But King also said that they should be ready to accept punishment for breaking such laws. In some cases, they should even go to jail. He had grown up with the injustices in the South, and it did not take him long to join in the fight. He led the Montgomery Bus Boycott in 1955 in response to Rosa Parks’ arrest for refusing to give up her seat. He was arrested, but ultimately ended racial segregation on Montgomery Public Buses. Now he was not the first person to champion civil rights, but he was arguably the best known. It is difficult to say his name without including the words civil rights “leader” in the same sentence. When we think of Martin Luther King as a leader, the first thought that comes to my mind was his ability to make stirring, emotionally arousing speeches. I think we need...
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...Al Capone Alphonse Capone is the son of Neapolitan immigrants Gabriel and Teresa Capone. They had nine children. He was their forth, born January 17, 1899, in Brooklyn, New York. This is where he attended Public School 7 from age 5 to 14 until an incident with his 6th grade teacher, he gave her a beating and was then beaten and expelled by his principal, never to return. Beatings were a typical form of punishment for public school in this age and young Al was known to challenge authority. Expelled from school and transplanted to a different neighborhood, Capone met notorious criminals like; Johnny Torrio and Lucky Luciano when he joined two street gangs, the Brooklyn Rippers and the Forty Thieves Juniors. Within a few years he was regularly involved in organized crime. Capone worked at a night club called the Harvard Inn for the crime boss Frankie Yale. One night at the Harvard Inn, Capone insulted a young woman which led to fight. The brother of the woman gave Al a beating and a new nickname “Scarface”. This incident also led to Capone’s first arrest “disorderly conduct”. Al met Mary “Mae” Coughlin, a young Irish woman at a dance in 1918. It must have been a tumultuous, whirlwind of a romance because she gave birth to their son Albert “Sonny” Capone on December 4th, 1918 and then they married on December 30th, 1918. Capone was the prime suspect of two murders and the brutal beating of a rival gang member that led to an extended hospital stay. Frankie Yale knew that the...
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...Congress debated on the wording of the Fourth Amendment, they had an extreme importance of needed protection from government encroachment. The Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution was designed and written specifically to protect citizens from illegal searches and seizures: “The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.” [1] The exclusionary rule excludes evidence that was collected from an illegal search from being presented to convict someone of a crime. It is asserted to reject illegitimate police behavior by not allowing unlawfully seized evidence from being allowed in court. [2] When defense lawyers use the exclusionary rule, properly, it consistently damaging the district attorney’s case. This is why the officers are constantly being reminded not to violate the rights of the accused. In the latter part of the twentieth century, the use of the exclusionary rule became confused between the costs and benefits of implementing the rule. [3] When a defendant has allegedly committed a crime, how far should the courts proceed in order to protect the rights of the accused against illegal searches and seizures? When the...
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...criminal sanctions (Punishments) Prof. Dr. Ayman Elzeiny A - Introduction : "Punishment, "is a concept; criminal punishment is a legal fact." At the heart of all attempts to handle offenders are systematic images of human life and culture, including knowledge, beliefs, and attitudes regarding the human condition and the meanings, purposes, and ethical foundation and rationale of punishment. These ideologies or philosophical approaches provide explanations for the past behavior of the offender, guidelines as to what ought to be done with or to him, and bases for predicting his future after return to the free world. A sentence is an authorized judicial decision that places some degree of penalty on a guilty person. The responsibility for administering this judicial decision is placed with corrections. (1) If we take a historical and global view, the philosophy of punishment has been embodied in four major theoretical positions: vengeance, deterrence, rehabilitation ,and prevention. These positions overlap and intertwine with each other, but a degree of evolution is also evident. The comments made below on these four positions must be understood simply as broad generalizations. ___________________ (1) Gregory Zilboorg, M.D., The Psychology of the Criminal Act and Punishment, Greenwood Press, New York, 1968 , p. 97. - Ernest van den Haag, Punishing Criminals ,New York: Basic Books, Inc., Publishers, U.S.A, 1975 , pp. 14-15. When punishment is justified on...
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...* there must be some proof and not mere opinion in the shape of a statement. * ---Names of accused were not mentioned in F.I.R. nor description of their features or their stature was given---Accused had not been identified and their identification test took place two- months after incident---Alleged identification of accused was based on flashing of torch light which was a weak form of identification. * When material on record was not showing as to which accused caused fatal injury leaving room for consideration regarding common intention of other accused, such case called for further enquiry- * ---Assessment of evidence ---Principle---Deeper appreciation of record cannot be gone into at bail stage, but only its tentative Assessment is to be made just to find out as to whether the accused is, prima facie, connected with the commission of crime or not. * ---No final findings could be given regarding plea of alibi at bail stage, as same would require recording of evidence ---Tentative Assessment of such plea, could be made, if it was found that accused had succeeded in establishing an opposite version then the case of accused would become one of further inquiry and on that score, accused would become entitled to the concession of bail. * one of accused was shown as armed with dagger, while other with Kalashinikov---Injuries sustained by the complainant were blunt which could be the result of danda attributed to absconding accused---No role seemed of accused persons...
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...Most safe place for women :-Is India As compare to the other countries INDIA is only country where women got the respective position .Here women has not only gone to the space , in fact they are worshiped as a lord.In one of the village of India ,there is still PANCHAALI PRATHA is going on,where a single woman can get marry to many men but man's are not allowed to get marry with more then one woman, also for getting married with a girl ,the BROOM family has to pay huge amount of money i.E. Dowry. Secondly from the ancient time , tribal area of INDIA is still given all decisional authorities to women. Like A Woman can choose their BROOM ,She can live with a man without getting marriage and she can leave the man according to their wishes. In some of the places of Harayana have women dominating area's. So in this way it is proved that India is save for women any only country which respect to the women as compared to men Posted by: AnshulAkashSao Report Post Like Reply Challenge02 Only in some places It depends where you are. For example, in South India, places like the very liberal state of Kerala are much safer than places like New Delhi (the capital). In New Delhi women traveling alone are not very safe, even if they don't get full out assaulted there is still some "feeling" of danger for women. Posted by: toinfinityandbeyond Report Post Like Reply Challenge01 Biased media reporting India is not much more unsafe as any other country. But our media is obsessed with reporting...
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...The Capital Punishment Controversy Author(s): William O. Hochkammer, Jr. Reviewed work(s): Source: The Journal of Criminal Law, Criminology, and Police Science, Vol. 60, No. 3 (Sep., 1969), pp. 360-368 Published by: Northwestern University Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1141991 . Accessed: 31/01/2013 08:39 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at . http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp . JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org. . Northwestern University is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to The Journal of Criminal Law, Criminology, and Police Science. http://www.jstor.org This content downloaded on Thu, 31 Jan 2013 08:39:08 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions THB JOURN« OFCRIMINGLAW, CBIMINOLOGY POLZZSCIXNCE AND Copyright 1 1969by Northwestern University School of Law Vol. 60, No. 3Prsnted in U.S.A. CRIMINAI COMMENTS CASE IAW AND NOTES Prepared studentsof Northwestern by UniversitySchoolof Law underthe directionof the student members the Law School'sJournalEditorialBoard. of JULIAN ESPOSITO D STEPREN SELIGER G. Editors-in-Chief...
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