...Serial Killers, The Media and America’s Fascination Turn on the television in any given evening and you can catch an episode or 20 of any number of crime shows (and all of their spin-offs) that showcases an intricate plot and horrific crimes. It is not uncommon for the viewer to get “sucked” into the storyline and then become personally invested in the outcome of the story. I often wonder what it is about theses crime shows and psychological thriller series that keep the viewer’s tuning in. What’s s the draw? Not only do we become drawn in, but at some point we even become infatuated with the subject matter and long to see more. Have was as a society completely lost all sense of right and wrong or has the media desensitized us to the realities of serial murderers? Defining the Serial Killer. In order to pinpoint the progression of fascination with serial killers, it is important to first establish a working definition of the term. The FBI’s Behavioral Science Unit defines serial killings as “the unlawful killing of two or more victims by the same offender(s), in separate (Morton). Generally the classification of serial murder is accompanied by the length of time between kills, or the “cooling off period.” In addition, the killer is usually a stranger to the victim and the murders appear to be unconnected or random. The FBI is credited with establishing this term, and by doing so, achieved a position of unquestioned authority in defining serial murders. Serial Killers...
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...identity, as X Factor is a contestant based show, and the people start the show as average everyday people, and this is connoted in their interview before their audition where they talk about their current life, and have very casual dress codes in a public and busy mise-en-scene. As the show progresses some of these contestants start to turn into ‘celebrities’ by gaining publicity, and this is connoted due to their change in dress codes, which is now smart and classy compared to casual before. Also connoted through their confidence, as at the start they are very nervous and modest, and as the competition progresses, depending on good results a person will gain self-confidence and gain more and more fans. An example of contestants that used the X Factor as a way to gain fame is One Direction who have toured the UK and America and succeeded heavily in both. This way of gaining fame could relate to the ‘American Dream’ ideology and the idea that normal people (the contestants) can be rich and famous because of the X Factor. Similarly, the CSI franchise can appeal to its audience through personal identity due to the way it uses realism in crime scene investigation. The heavy...
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...Penalties Celebrities Face Should celebrities who break the law face stricter penalties? Tim Allen was arrested for drug trafficking in 1978. He was caught with over 650 grams of cocaine, he pled guilty and received a life sentence. He elected to have his sentence reduced to 3-7 years, in exchange for the names of other dealers. he was released in 1981, after serving only two years and four months. Allen was arrested again in 1997 for DUI, he only received one year probation. Just because celebrities have a lot of attention and money, it does not mean they are any less human. Some celebrities might find it hard to deal with almost every detail in their life being public even though they love their job. Other celebrities might love the fact that they can always get people's attention and get people to look up to them. Maybe others just need a break from all the attention they get. Needing a break, hating or even loving the attention and money they get should not make celebrities any less human....
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...longer. As a result, the defendant who is a celebrity or a political figure avoids some of his charges. Robert Kelly, Rod Blagojevich and Orenthal James ("O.J.") Simpson are...
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...Is There Really Celebrity Justice? Under the United States Constitution it states, that all men are created equal. Numerous, people believe that all are not equal, and all are not treated the same in today’s so-called “equal” justice system. “There can be no equal justice where the kind of trial a man gets depends on the amount of money he has” (Cole 3) In one source, many people argue that our criminal justice system is based on the premise and promise of equality before the law, but at times predicate on the exploitation of inequality (Cole 5) Some feel no matter the crime, the rich and famous will find a way to settle out of court, pay off witnesses or just erase some or all charges against them. Celebrities get the best lawyers and the best chance at justice that money can buy”. (“Times”) There are many court cases that lead people to believe the justice system is unfair. Celebrities, in the eyes of the public, receive less time than the average American citizen for the same crime. Furthermore, celebrities also receive more publicity than the average American citizen. Why do celebrities receive more camera time and less punishment time? However, our judicial system claims that all men are equal in the court of law. For example, in the court case of Marcus Dixon, a high school football player at Pepperell High School in Floyd County, Georgia, the state Supreme Court sentenced Dixon to ten years in prison. He was a black athlete accused of sexually assaulting a 15-year-old...
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...Objection! How High-Priced Defense Attorneys, Celebrity Defendants, and a 24/7 Media have Hijacked Our Criminal Justice System Nancy Grace with Diane Clehane Does our Justice System Seek the Truth, Or Does It Protect The Defendant? Publication Date: June 8, 2005 336 Pages Publisher: Hyperion In Objection!, the author confirms that our justice system is not infallible. This book specifically details celebrity defendants found innocent by our justice system when it is very likely they were actually guilty. These celebrity suspects are handled with kid gloves, booked at their convenience, and arrive chauffeured in limousines. Nancy Grace sets out to prove the impact 24/7 media coverage of these scandals and highlight the faults in today’s justice system. Do defense attorneys seek to find the truth and provide an equitable defense for the wrongly accused, or is it about winning and finding their clients innocent at any cost? The author cites her own experience when her fiancé was gunned down and killed in a random drive by shooting. This event motivated her to pursue a legal career and fight for the side of good against evil. She was a prosecutor in Atlanta’s Fulton County Court and later became a regular on Court TV. Nancy Grace feels that celebrity defendants receive special treatment at trials and sentencing. The book focuses on cases involving the rich, famous and infamous including Michael Jackson, Kobe Bryant, Scott Peterson, Jayson Williams, Martha...
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...pictures on the photos. However, the Vanity Fair only inquiries from Jennifer why she had the nude pictures. The Hacker achieved his goal by taking advantage of a security flaw which then existed in the iCloud. The reason why the celebrities keep nudes has been associated with their frequent travels and long distance between them and their partners. The latter has been told by the two commentaries which give it credence. However, such violations are permanent. It is hard to delete an item once it leaks on the internet. The choices of these female victims, including their private lives, are most likely to be dissected. Being women does not mean that they must be judged. On the contrary, the society believes that since they are women, they must be...
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...1. Celebrity Justice Lindsay Lohan, Nicole Ritchie, Paris Hilton, Tiger Woods, Nicholas Cage - the list of celebrities who have been arrested or charged with a crime is a long one. Drug possession, lying to investigators, driving while intoxicated, shoplifting - the list of offenses is also a long one. When arrested, are celebrities held to the same standards of justice as the rest of us, or do they receive special treatment in the legal system? If convicted how, do their sentences compare to those of a majority of those in our justice system? In this paper, I argue that celebrity status does give a defendant a number of major advantages, the most important being that they can hire the kind of legal representation that the average person could never afford. Where most people arrested for DWI, drug possession, public indecency or shoplifting have to use a public defender, go into debt to hire a lawyer or accept whatever deal prosecutors offer, rich people can afford the best defense that money can buy. Their careers may even benefit from the publicity surrounding their cases. The difference is not just because of their celebrity status, but also because celebrities have wealth. In many ways celebrities get special treatment by police, prosecutors and judges. While young rappers or sex stars may have their careers enhanced by publicity, others 2. have been able to use their star status to keep proceedings and the terms of settlements private or to escape jail...
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...committed this crime and in the American legal system, the prosecution has the burden of proof to which prove the defendant committed a crime. The evidence collected in the Simpson case was sufficient for prima facie case to be presented to a Grand Jury for indictment. In other words, prima facie, or first look at the evidence was enough to prove that Simpson was involved in the murder of Nicole Simpson and Ron Goldman. From the beginning the Simpson case had many different undertones, such as political in regards to jury selection, which is why the prosecution choose to pursue the case in Los Angeles as oppose to Santa Monica. This became a pivotal decision that would probably affect many future cases where race could be involved. The list of evidence such as 911 calls to police by the victim Nicole Simpson six months before occurrence of actual crime is in a way, testimony to the fact that Simpson’s behavior was not civilized and that Nicole Simpson was feeling threatened. The “trace evidence” found at the crime scene near the body of the victims, such as bloody shoe prints, which were from a size 12 Bruno Magli shoe, and the blood from the gate, matched genetically with Simpson. Police also noticed a cut on Simpson’s left middle finger that could have dripped blood, proved significant to confirm the presence of Simpson on the crime scene. Police provided important evidence of presence of Simpson at the crime scene by stating that the blood dripped on the crime scene with...
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...took some items from the person’s house and stole the person’s car. Robbing celebrities’ homes in Los Angles soon became the targets for burglarizing without the celebrities being aware that they were being robbed. After just the two of them robbing celebrities homes they expanded the gang by including Nikki (Emma Watson), Sam (Taissa Farmiga) and Chloe (Claire Julian). Rebecca and Marc were the leaders in the group constructing who would be...
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...overlooked, while the poor have to fall to every hardship in justice and there wrongs are obviously seen and ridiculed. While some people may believe this others may not. Celebrities are put in the wealthy part of the society and believed they can do whatever they want. In the news you will hear about celebrities getting arrested for drinking and driving or even doing drugs. These people though they are not sent to jail they are sent to rehab. If someone that was poor was to be arrested for drinking and driving they will go to jail no thought about even possibly going to rehab. Now why is that, because they are able to afford going to rehab and they can hire lawyers that aim for it. They use their money to get what they want; celebrities don’t want to go to jail. Poor people though don’t want to go to jail also, but they don’t have a choice because they can’t afford to go to rehab. Celebrities use their money to get out of the rightful justice. It not only celebrities that use their money to get out of the correct justice, you never hear about lawyers or judges going to jail or even getting in trouble. Why is that? They can’t be perfect and never get in trouble, but lawyers and judges make money so is possible to just pay off individuals for your crimes and make people believe that you have no done a crime. Yes it is possible, and it is done. You don’t hear about them going to jail or getting in trouble, but you do hear them involved in scandals for paying off people or their...
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...AMS Psychology 4/17/13 -Compare and Contrast essay- Topic: An average person, and the life of a celebrity. Breaking the first, and second Commandment While celebrities are just people, they eat, sleep, and operate the same as everyone else, their charm drew them in the spotlight, then on into the limelight for public scrutiny. When we compare two aspects of the same realm, who generally operate under the same conditions, but two different lifestyles. We assume they are held to the same standards, given equal treatment, respect, and privacy. Instead someone decides off the record, that a person who's become a celebrity, an interest to the public eye, for making their intimate relationships public knowledge, and ultimately objectify them to exposing ever secret, in return, they receive leniency for injustices, and destructive behavior. Such as public intoxication, driving under the influence, public indecency, possession of controlled substances, etc... Continuously wiping ones slate clean, leaving little to wonder why celebrities don’t learn from run-ins with the law. Do we see what is happening? Their private rights are revoked, in return, they get to unabide by the law. What should of landed them in prison for 5 years, was reduced to a slap on the wrist, meanwhile paparazzi invade their personal lives, and their complaints go unheard. What has really become of our views, and our wholesome standards? To...
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...started as a small newspaper back in 1903 with Yellow Journalism and now there are magazines, television networks, websites, and phone applications. Fascination with celebrity lifestyle has always been around and because of the mass amount of tabloids it is easier for the average American to receive information. Keywords: Tabloid, Journalism, Society, Culture, Celebrity, Yellow, Sensationalism, Magazine, Newspaper, History. “Bill Clinton: I Screwed up with Monica” is what the headline on the National Enquirer website read yesterday morning, should we care? If so, why do we care? Celebrity tabloids have become a standard to individuals in society whether it is liked or disliked. While standing in line at the grocery store, waiting at the checkout, it is hard not to notice the headlines on the magazines next to us reading absurd things such as “Michael Jackson Found Alive At Disneyland” or “Male Able to Give Birth” and although we know how crazy these things look, we still find ourselves flipping through the pages and let our curiosity get the best of us. Tabloids are found in just about every vehicle of media, television, print, radio, and of course, the Internet. According to Miriam Webster Dictionary, a tabloid is compressed or condensed into small scope featuring stories of violence, crime, or scandal presented in a sensational manner (Tabloid, 2012). It’s come to a point in our culture where a person is completely unable to avoid the gossip that is...
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...I will be introducing you to stalking from the State and Federal perspective and the penalties that are involved for committing this crime. Stalking is a crime of terror with a beginning, but seemingly no end. It's a crime of fear that leaves no physical cuts or bruises at least not unless the stalker becomes desperate and acts out in violence, which is often the case. According to a nineteen hundred and ninety three and nineteen ninety four U.S. Department of Justice study, women are the victims in ninety percent of the cases nationwide and one in twenty of them will be stalked sometime in their life.( National Center for Victims of Crime )Thirty eight percent of stalking victims are single women between twenty and forty five years old, but teens and older people can be targets too. More and more of them are being caught up in terrifying web of obsession, a terrifying pursuit of the victim. (National Center for Victims of Crime) The difference between harassment and stalking is a distinction of the law. Stalking occurs when harassing behavior is repeated, is threatening, is purposefully directed at a specific person, and would cause a reasonable person to fear bodily injury or death for themselves or a family member(AARDVARC) Sometimes, it's just surveillance; everyplace you go, the stalker is there. Without a doubt it's emotional terrorism. The victim can't get away. Then there are telephone calls twenty to fifty a day, notes on the windshield, or they're in the grocery...
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...out. Nobody realize the risks local television stations and radio stations are doing by broadcasting school shooting. Could the media be at fault for creating mass shooters? Yes, because when events like this occurs, all major television stations drops their current duties and focus their attention on the shooting, and suddenly it becomes a major media event. Because they want to be the one who has the breaking news first. And that is what the perpetrator is aiming for; to become famous. The perpetrator now a name for him or herself and instantly he/she becomes an overnight celebrity. All major television and radio stations will talk about nothing else but him/her, the spotlight will primarily be on the shooter. There will be experts and police trying to figure out what went wrong and what the perpetrator was thinking that led to this event. The media makes an unpopular disturbed individual a celebrity overnight. After the Sandy Hook incident, we knew of Adam Lanza’s life in extensive details. What better way for an inexistent person to get the attention he/she been secretly...
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