...related to drug crimes. The article relates to the core of the issue by recent research and opinions of government officials who support this view. He finds this opinion strongly supported by people in the legal field and some government officials as well, however the article is also of interest to those effected by or with some interest to mandatory minimum sentencing. Many critics find the laws to be unfair for various reasons. The laws target minorities, take discretion away from judges and put it in the hands of police and prosecutors who misuse this discretion and apply punishments that do not fit the crime committed. Senator Cynthia S Creem, D-Newton has sponsored a bill that would allow inmates to be considered for parole after serving two thirds of their sentence. However this proposal was rejected outright by Lt Gov. Kerry Healey. Rep. Anne Paulsen also proposed to make the law even stricter by adding time to their sentence for those who commit drug offenses nearby a school. The article concludes with Chief Justice Mulligan maintaining the law is a problem because it disproportionately targets minorities. In conclusion Monahan has taken advantage of some useful data and opinions of government officials to scrutinize mandatory minimum sentencing related to drug crimes. Monahan was also able to provide research and opinions on alternatives to fix the problem of mandatory minimum sentencing which made the article effective. Lowe, Zach (03 June, 2007) A call for...
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...millions and be subjected to unfair and unnecessarily long punishments” (par.11). If these nonviolent offenders overcrowd these prisons that’s more money out of government budget, which comes from taxpayers. Surely taxpayers do not want to spend more money on people who are placed behind bars, for ten plus years, due to committing a crime that hasn’t ended anyone’s life or threatened their well-being without their consent or knowledge. If these criminals take up room in these prisons, where will the incoming murderers, rapists, and molesters go for their punishment? This will mean more prisons would have to be built to house the criminals who truly need to be locked away for ten plus years. Mandatory minimums give judges little to no discretion in sentencing. That is the very reason why states are calling for prison reforms. These one size fits all sentences are seen as unfair. People are given sentences for small crimes compared to larger crimes such as rape, murder, theft, and other crimes that involve aggressive force. According to Amber Finnegan, “The FJC concluded “there are better alternatives [than mandatory minimum sentences] that can more effectively express our values and accomplish our goals.” It has become clear over the past three decades that mandatory minimums are not only disrupting our ability to carry out our judicial system justly, but are also unnecessarily ruining the lives of people who have made minor mistakes in their past or were convicted of...
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...PRINCIPLES OF SENTENCING: TOWARDS A EUROPEAN CONVERSATION Paper delivered at Conference on “The Limits of the Criminal Law” at Leiden University, January 23, 2008 and subsequently published in Cupido (ed), Limits of Criminal Law (Nijmegen, 2008).[1] Tom O’Malley Senior Lecturer in Law National University of Ireland Galway First, I would like to extend my warmest congratulations to the students of Leiden Law School for having organised this conference. Thanks to their vision and energy, representatives from several European countries have gathered in this historic venue to discuss some key aspects of criminal law and criminal procedure. More often than not, we think of European law solely in terms of European Union law, the jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights or both. Needless to say, the study of European law even in this limited sense is of the highest importance given its impact on our national legal systems and our daily lives. However, growing levels of legal and political integration now demand that we broaden our vision of European law to encompass the domestic legal systems of individual European states. Some work has already begun in this regard,[2] but it is only on rare occasions such as this that we can engage in a meaningful exchange of ideas and information on areas of common concern. Criminal justice is a most appropriate and worthy topic with which to begin. In times past, sentencing would not have featured very prominently...
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...As noted earlier, nonincarceration sentences include economic sanctions, probation, and intermediate sanctions; incarceration sentences include both short-term and long-term confinement. As described in the next two chapters, short sentences are sometimes linked with an intermediate sanction, so offenders spend part of their sentence in jail or prison and part of their sentence under supervision in the community. Finally, there are sentences of death. For sentences of incarceration, indeterminate and determinate sentences are the two primary models used throughout the United States, although there are many variations for each of these. Indeterminate sentences blend the decision by the sentencing judge and a later decision by a release authority to determine the actual time served. At the time of sentencing, judges sentence offenders to indeterminate sentences, with a minimum and maximum amount of time to be served (for example, two to five years or ten to twenty years). After serving the minimum term, offenders are eligible to be released and their cases are reviewed by a parole board. The parole board determines the release date any time between the minimum and maximum sentence. If a parole board never grants parole, the offender serves the maximum sentence and then must be released. The parole decision and postrelease supervision in the community are described in Chapter 6. indeterminate sentences sentences that have a minimum and maximum time to serve; a decision by a release...
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...Within the prison system there are various key issues that surrounded the operations of the daily activities as well as the administration of the judicial system. Some of these key such as prison violence, prison rape and the drug policy issues are negative and does affect the prison. On the issue of prison violence, over the years, prison violence has been on the rise. This has causes major changes within the prions system, such as implementing strategies to control the prisoners and their criminal behaviors. Prison rape also has continues to rise. This issue has been will probably continue to exist. This is because the prison officials have yet to be able to control this kind of activity. Another issue that has been affects the prison system is the sentencing that are being handed out for drug charges. This has cause the prisons to be overcrowded. Prison Violence on the Rise Prison violence is on the rise, many prison conditions are a recipe for violence, by being overcrowded, understaffed, insufficient staff training, excessive solitary confinement, insecure facilities, mistreatment of mentally ill inmates, policies that weaken family ties, a culture of disrespect between staff and prisoners, and little accountability for wardens. These facilities are causing concern not only for inmates but, for those employed to supervise the convicted offenders. Inmate population continue to grow, staffing levels in most facilities either have stopped or decreased. Violence has increased...
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...Noah Messersmith English Comp 101 4/14/14 Persuasive Essay First Draft Did you know that due to mandatory minimum sentencing, the U.S. federal prison populations have almost grown 800 percent in the last three decades? What is mandatory minimum sentencing you ask? Well it is the set sentencing that is given to someone that the judge cannot shorten because it is a set time and they can’t shorten it, even for extenuating circumstances (“What Are Mandatory Minimum Sentencing Laws”). The U.S. Supreme Court should review the mandatory minimum sentences, weigh the positives and the negatives, look at the possible advantages and disadvantages, and then do what they need to do to enforce what they decide. Although many people are for mandatory minimum sentences and think that they are fine and don’t need to be refined and changed, there are many reasons why they should be shortened. One reason is that it will make the prison system is overpopulated and it will make it a safer place for the inmates and for the prison guards. It will make it safer for the inmates because there won’t be as many inmates in there for long periods of time and they don’t have to worry about their safety as much because right now, there are so many inmates that the guards are losing some of their control over them. It will make it safer for the prison guards because they won’t have as many people to look over and they will feel like they have more power and authority because they won’t feel as overwhelmed...
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...Mandatory Minimum Sentencing A Review of Literature With America's recently increasing problem with illegal substances; a war on drugs has erupted. American drug use has exponentially grown over the last 60 years, causing law enforcement agencies to crack down on drug use, trafficking, abuse and possession. President Nixon stated that the United States' War on Drugs was "public enemy number one" (Jarecki, Barnes, 2013). In response to this growing issue, the United State's criminal justice system began sentencing criminals to jail for a "mandatory minimum" period of time in drug related offenses. With hopes of making a dent in the drug war and of taking the guess work out of sentencing, the courts adopted the law. These longer more harsh sentences have had a positive outcome on the war on drugs. It has helped by getting offenders off the streets and the substances out of the hands of Americans. The criminals that are being sentenced to these long terms deserve the time they are given because they chose to break the U.S. law and came into contact with illegal controlled substances. By giving these mandatory minimum sentences, the criminals are off the streets and away from the pressures of drugs and crime where they used to live, and have the chance to regain a new life through prison rehabilitation. The mandatory minimum sentences are given not only to help punish criminals individually, but also to help the judicial system by way of giving the judges a guideline and a standard...
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...making sound decisions alone or with little or no supervision. This is the heart of police discretion ( The Rynard Law Firm, 2007). Discretion is the quality of having or showing discernment or good judgment within certain legal bounds (Merriam-Webster, 2012). Although regular routines and protocols should be followed by officers to make sure that they abide by the law as well as enforce the law, often situations arise that force officers to decide or act according to their own judgment. Even though the Chiefs of police are not in the field, they still have to use discretion in making very important decision that affects the department and the community as a whole. In the DC Sniper case, Chief of Police Charles A. Moose use discretion in the investigation by deciding what information should be shared with the public. As the Chief of Police one of his most important duties is to reassure the public of their safety. While trying to keep the public informed without causing panic, Chief Moose limited the details of the investigation in order not to alert the snipers. With this being one of the most tumultuous killing sprees within the DC, Maryland, and Virginia (DMV) area, crucial decisions were made by Chief Moose in an effort to save lives. At the crime scene of the eighth victim a tarot card and a note were recovered as evidence with a specific message directed to law enforcement. Chief Moose decided to use his better judgment and not release the latest finding at the crime...
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...Subordinates play a major role in the exercise of legitimate power. If subordinates view the use of power as legitimate, they comply (Gibson, Ivancevich, Donnelly, & Konopaske, 2012). That is, legitimate power covers a relatively narrow range of influence and, therefore, it may be inappropriate to overstep these bounds (Greenberg, 2011). For example, a boss may require his secretary to type a company document. However, it would be an abuse of power to ask that secretary to type his doctoral dissertation. The secretary may decide to complete the task, but doing so would not be within the scope of the boss’s formal authority. Legitimate authority is a person’s authority to make discretionary decisions as long as followers accept this discretion (Barnard, 1938: McShane & Von Glinow, 2012). To...
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...perpetrators. Robert Rizzo hired as City Manager in September 1994 is the accused as master mine behind the fraud. Angela Spaccia, Assistant City Manager hired in March 2003 is considered to be second in command to Robert Rizzo. Randy Adams, City of Bell Police Chief. Oscar Hernandez, Mayor for the City of Bell. City Council members who were part of the fraud are George Cole, George Mirabal, Luis Artiga and Victor Bello. Fraud Detection: In 2010 two Los Angeles Times reporters were investigating possible malfeasance in Maywood California. During their investigation they revealed that the Bell City Council members were receiving extremely large salaries. These salaries were the highest in the United States. According to our textbook Fraud Examination 4e, the fraud triangle examines the potential, opportunity, and rationalization to commit fraud. The above concepts will be used to exam the fraud perpetrated by City of Bell Chief Administrative officer Richard Rizzo, his Assistant CAO Angela Spaccia and the members of Bell’s City Council. The charges allege the officials misappropriated more than $5.5 million, including being paid for phantom meetings. The fact that the CAO for all intent and purposes had complete control and discretion of all administrative functions. Gave him access to the necessary documents and accounts to commit embezzlement using the city’s...
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...Chief Executive Officer in TESI Company Setting vision, principles and values in one company is the main task for one CEO. Questions such as: Which markets will the company join? What products? Where the company will be in 5 years’ time? How the company gets there? ... Have to be decided by him. The CEO chosen will ensure the development and the implementation of a strategic plan for the Company TESI to maximize shareholder’s profits, he will recommend it to the Board for review and, in the Board’s discretion, approval. He will report to the Board in a timely manner on deviations from the strategic plan or any parameters established by the Board. The CEO’s second duty is building culture of ethical conduct and integrity. Work gets done through people, and people are affected by culture. Culture is built in dozens of ways, and his every action sends cultural messages. He will need to set the ethical tone for the Company TESI and its Management, including activities such as but not limited to: overseeing the administration and implementation of, and compliance with, Company policies and procedures; and taking all reasonable steps to satisfy the Board as to the integrity of the CEO and other senior officers create a culture of integrity throughout the organization. Team-building is the CEO’s third duty. The CEO will develop a strong organization with the right people in the right positions. He will be able to hire/ fire non-performers and he will lead the senior management team....
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...Summary John Baker, chief engineer of the Caribbean Bauxite Company was promoted to production manager of fast-expanding Canadian enterprise. His final task is the assessment interview with the successor, Matthew Rennalls, the able young Barracanian. Final interview didn’t have a success. Rennalls asked to accept his letter as a resignation.. The problem The Company productivity may fall down because of staff misunderstandings. Cast of characters • John Baker, chief engineer, 45 years old, 23 years served the Caribbean Bauxite Co. British. • Matthew Rennalls, 40th years old, talented engineers old. native Barracanian. Chronology • John Baker has a promotion preparations to leave the island. • John Baker’s and Matthew Rennalls met for an assessment interview. • Matthew Rennals writes a resignation letter. 1. Issues • On the one hand, Rennalls is a talented engineer, on the other hand he has a conflict with expatriates. • On the one hand Rennalls can influence the policy of the Co by his father, but on the other hand he is not the only candidate. • On the one hand Baker wants Rennalls to work for the Co, but on the other hand the Co can’t risk his image. 2. Options 1) Hive apologizes to Rennalls and invite him back to the company. Advantages: • Rennalls is a professional worker. He can influence the policy of the Co...
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...Name Professor U.S. History 08 October 2012 A Letter to My Dearest Friend John Smith September 15, 1616 Dear John, Since I have met you I, Matoaka (Pocahontas), have matured into a great woman. Most people know me as "the most dear and well-beloved," but other people (Powhaton Tribe Members) still think of me as "the devil child or playful-one." In my opinion I am just a strong, resilient, self sacrificing, and overly caring lady of the Tidewater Region. Therefore embracing my new lifestyle as a Christian wife and mother is easy. When I was growing up in Werowocomoco which is about twelve miles outside Jamestown, Virginia I learned what I thought were necessary skills to being a good wife and mother but not how to be a colonial wife and mother. Being a colonial wife and mother means cooking, cleaning, sewing, making clothing, and assisting in raising baby Thomas to be a great man. In contrast to my tribes way of life where the good wife and mother constructs the house and everything associated with it, cooking and preparing food, gathering firewood, collecting water, rearing children, making clothing, planting, harvesting, making useful items (baskets, pots, wooden spoons), processing meats, tanning hides, and collecting plants. Apparently being a Powhaton mother and wife is harder than being a colonial one. I am really enjoying all the free time. In regards to my feelings I think I am finally in love with my husband John Rolfe. Even though I was forced to marry...
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...A&W – Discount varies, simply ask and have a valid military ID with you. Advance Auto – 10% off with military ID Agentsource.com – Up to 40% off standard real estate closing costs for Active duty men and women moving in the United States or Canada All State – Allstate Funding proudly offers all U.S. Military personnel a $250 credit towards the appraisal of a residential property. Ends 12/31/2010 American Airlines – Discount varies, requires military ID American Video Productions -10% off to active duty, retired, families of military and dependents. Call and ask for the discount http://www.americanvideoproductions.net/ Amtrak – 10% off Anheuser – Busch Amusement Parks – Discount varies, simply ask and have a valid military ID with you. Anna’s Linens - 10% off any purchase with Valid Military ID in store only Apple Computers - The discount varies, you need to sign up here – http://www.apple.com/r/store/government/ Applebee’s – Discount varies per location, simply ask and have a valid military ID with you Arby’s - Discount varies per location, simply ask and have a valid military ID with you. Ashford University – Discounted tuition at $250 a credit, books are covered for all required courses, waived application fee, waived technology fee and more! Benefits apply to all Active Duty, National Guard, Reservists and spouses, dependents eligible for survivor benefits, plus civilian DOD employees & separated vets/retirees still using their GI Bill. ASMBA – Armed Services...
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...Verse1 You can the peanut butter to my jelly You can be the butterflies I feel in my belly You can be the captain I can be your first mate You can be the chills that I feel on our first date You can be the hero I can be your side kick You can be the tear That I cry if we ever split You can be the rain from the cloud when it's stormin Or u can be the sun when it shines in the mornin' B sec Don't know if I could ever be W/out u cause boy u complete me And in time I know that we'll both see That we're all we need Chorus Cause you're the apple to my pie You're the straw to my berry You're the smoke to my high And you're the one I wanna marry Cause you're the one for me (for me) And I'm the one for you (for u) U take the both of (of us) And we're the perfect two We're the perfect two We're the perfect two Baby me and you We're the perfect two Verse2 You can be the prince and I can be your princess You can be the sweet tooth I can be the dentist You can be the shoes and I can be the laces You can be the heart that I spill on the pages You can be the vodka and I can be the chaser You can be the pencil and I can be the paper You can be as cold as the winter weather But I don't care as long as were together Don't know if I could ever be W/out u cause boy u complete me And in time I know that we'll both see That we're all we need Cause your the apple to my pie You're the straw to my berry You're the smoke to my high ...
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