...Death Row Correctional Officers : Experiences, Perspectives, and Attitudes Kelly L. Brown and Melissa Benningfield Criminal Justice Review 2008 33: 524 originally published online 3 September 2008 DOI: 10.1177/0734016808322323 The Problem: “Living death” as death row is called by some is a horrific experience for not only the inmates, but also the correctional officers who work in the death row unit. The feeling of hopelessness and powerlessness is sometimes transferred to the correctional officers. This study will look at how death row affects the correctional officers that work in the unit. According to Brown and Benningfield (2008) “Correctional officers who are assigned to death row must interact with offenders who experience this “living death” and who have been convicted of such heinous crimes that society pronounces them undeserving of life (525).” Research Design: A total of 40 correctional officers who had worked on death row and 9 who were still working on death row were part of the study. Data collection for this study was done by survey. There were open-ended questions like, “Would you say that working on death row is different from working in other units at the institution? If so, how?” For the closed-ended questions the researchers used a 6-point Likert scale (strongly agree, agree, slightly agree, slightly disagree, disagree, and strongly disagree). Findings: There were more male officers (67.5%) than were female officers. Of these officers, 56% were...
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...Death Penalty Mead Shumway of Nebraska was convicted of the first degree murder of his employer's wife on circumstantial evidence and sentenced to death by jury. His last words before his execution were: "I am an innocent man. May God forgive everyone who said anything against me." The next year, the victim's husband confessed on his deathbed that he [the husband] had murdered his [own] wife (Radelet, Bedau, & Putnam, 1993). There are an uncertain numerous amount of incidents similar to the one depicted above, that have repeatedly occurred throughout the course of history. Two highly distinguishable figures in the area of capital punishment in the United States, Hugo Bedau and Michael Radelet, discovered in 1992, at least 140 cases, since 1990, in which innocent persons were sentenced to death (Hook & Kahn, 1989). In Illinois alone, 12 death row inmates have been cleared and freed since 1987. The most conclusive evidence in support of this "comes from the surprisingly large numbers of people whose convictions have been overturned and who have been freed from death" (Bedau, 1997). One out of every seven people sentenced to death row are innocent (Bedau, 1997). The numbers are disturbing, innocent people are becoming victims of the United States judicial system by its overlooked imperfections. A former president of the American Bar Association (ABA), John J. Curtin Jr., said it best when he told a congressional committee that "Whatever you think about the death penalty...
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...CJ101: Introduction to the Criminal Justice System Lace Jenkins Professor: Gerald Wardrop Unit 9 Final Essay The Correctional System In the correctional system we have two things we look at. The first things we look at is how they punish offenders and the second is how they rehabilitate offenders. We will look at both things throughout this paper. We will discuss how they punish offenders and how they rehabilitate the offenders. We will also talk about which one we think is more effective in reducing crime. There are many ways the correctional system punish the offenders. First we have prison, this is where we send offenders who have committed a heinous crime. Most murders, rapist and child-molester’s get sent to prison usually for life. The offenders that we send to prison lose their liberty and freedom (2014. JusticeAction). We send offenders to prison as a preventative measure to make sure they don’t reoffend (2014. JusticeAction). Next we have jail as a punishment for offenders. Most people don’t realize there is a difference between prison and jail. Jail is a short term sentence, prison is a long term sentence (2014 FindLaw, a Thomson Reuters Business). We put offenders in jail that have been arrested, given a one year sentence and cannot bond out of jail (2014 FindLaw, a Thomson Reuters Business). We also have probation as a punishment for offenders. Probation is usually given to an offender as a second chance if they have not committed a heinous crime. Most...
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...Administration TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. Table Of Contents…………………………………………………………2 2. Executive Summary………………………………………………………..3 3. Scope and Statement of the Problem………………………………………4 4. Literature Review………………………………………………………….5 5. Methodology………………………………………………………………7 6. Analytical Results………………………………………………………....8 7. Discussion………………………………………………………………...10 8. Bibliography………………………………………………………………16 9. Appendix………………………………………………………………....17 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY In summary, the cost of housing an incarcerated inmate does affect the budget of the United States. Whether, the inmate is sentenced to life imprisonment or the death penalty. The facts in this research paper leans heavily in favor of life imprisonment as a cheaper form of punishment verses an inmate being sentenced to death row. The judicial system and politicians have formed several alternatives to assist our country with the ability to lower the cost of housing an inmate in our prison system. For example, the United States detaining systems are concentrating more on issuing a fair sentence to nonviolent offenders, such as, substance abusers and prostitutes. They realize that the majority of the inmates are in need of drug rehabilitation and have a mental illness. Also, the research shows that women offenders are the most affected with drug addiction and substance abuse. They also have the greater risk of recidivism and mental illness, due to, the drug addiction and substance abuse...
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...In death, as in life, Ariel Castro remains an unsettling mystery. There were more questions than answers yesterday as prison officials scrambled to explain how Castro, the Cleveland man sentenced to life in prison for holding three women captive for nearly a decade, was able to use a bedsheet to hang himself in his prison cell at the Correctional Reception Center in Orient, about 20 miles south of Columbus. It was the seventh suicide in an Ohio prison this year and the 35th since 2008.Ohio prisons Director Gary Mohr appointed a “review team” yesterday to look into Castro’s suicide. Mohr said Ed Banks, managing director of organizational development for the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction, will lead a team drawn from the agency’s legal, medical, mental-health, security and operational divisions to compile a report by the end of the month. The agency will “thoroughly review all pertinent medical- and mental-health-care records concerning inmate Castro and information surrounding the incident,” Mohr said in a statement. “ These professionals will determine whether applicable policies and procedures concerning the delivery of medical and mental-health care were followed for inmate Castro.” Castro was found hanging in his cell at 9:20 p.m. Tuesday. Prison medical staff performed CPR before Castro was taken to Ohio State University’s Wexner Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead at 10:52 p.m. Details came out slowly yesterday, beginning with Franklin County...
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...inmates in Missouri are there a lot longer than they are in Arkansas. Both states have the death row. Currently Arkansas has 37 or more inmates on death row. Missouri on the other hand, has over 5,000 inmates on death row. I personally believe the reasoning for the difference is because Missouri can’t afford to preform execution. But Missouri really can’t afford to keep these prisoners alive either. Arkansas recidivism rate is very sad, in 2007 46.7% of the inmates released, returned to prison. In Missouri the rate is quite lower. In 2010 5,480 inmates were released, out of that number only 9.2% of them returned in a six month period. I am not really good when it comes to math, but the numbers seem to say that Arkansas inmates don’t learn the first time or even the second time. Where in Missouri, the inmates try harder not to have to return to the prison system. Both Missouri and Arkansas require inmates that don’t have their high school education to take a G.E.D. course. By doing this, it will help the inmates get jobs when they are released. Being a criminal makes it hard as it is to get a job, but add no education and it is an almost guarantee that inmates will start stealing or dealing to get money to live on. If they have their education it helps them get jobs, and keeps them off the streets. Some jobs that are available in Missouri and Arkansas are chaplain, correctional officer, food preparation, and...
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...Bad Year in Goodyear The foundation of the Arizona Department of Corrections correctional model is the designation of Arizona State Prison Complexes by security level and prison population. The Arizona State Prison Complex at Perryville, located in Goodyear, Arizona, is one of the ten facilities operated by the Arizona Department of Corrections. Once a men's prison, it was converted in the year 2000 to house women offenders. A score classification system is utilized to assess an inmate's custody level within Perryville and also the level of threat that they may pose to the community, with scores ranging from 1 to 5 (5 being the most serious risk). ASPC-Perryville is a minimum, medium, maximum, and close custody institution, with Lumley Unit housing all female Death Row inmates; maximum security inmates; closed custody inmates; the Women's Treatment Unit (referred to as WTU, it is a substance abuse program that is only offered to a few select women who meet the strict criteria); and Reception and Administration. Referred to as R & A, this is the yard where all inmates are initially housed for anywhere from one to ninety days, and are locked down 23 hours a day. They are then assessed by a counselor (called a CO III, or Correctional Officer III) and classified, and given their release date(s), the first being the inmate's TR. Temporary Release can be earned by participating and completing programs such as SB1291, offered only to those convicted of a drug crime. The second...
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...Death Penalty 1 The Death Penalty in the United States Rebecca Bartley ENC3211-Report Writing Professor Johnson June 8, 2013 Death Penalty 2 Abstract Death penalty has had so many changes in the last 300 years many states still use the death penalty. There are many states that are abolishing it for any number of different reasons. Many now believe the death penalty is unconstitutional and also cruel and unusual punishment and it should no longer be used. Many believe life in prison is a better remedy than putting someone to death. Keywords: Death Penalty Death Penalty 3 The Death Penalty in the United States: How it has changed over years. The death penalty policies and ideas have changed from state to state over the last ten (10) years. Each state is now making the chose on whether to have or use the death penalty, or to abolish it for any number of reasons. There are a couple of reasons that the death penalty is being abolished: (1) the first would be that many states are starting to believe that it’s unconstitutional; and (2) the death penalty is being used less and less, there are more inmates who are sitting on death row for many years. “New Mexico repeated the death penalty in 2009, and replacing it with a sentence of life without the possibility of parole” (NM repeal, 2012).”With this new Mexico was the last state to implement true life without parole, and in the last five (5) years, five (5) states have repealed the...
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...Sociology 205 Week 1 Assignment 1 Denise M Shaffer Strayer University First degree murder is defined by federal and state laws as a killing which is deliberate and premeditated. Many states define it as a killing committed in connection with felonies such as rape, burglary, arson or involving multiple deaths, the killing of certain types of people ( such as a child or police officer), or certain weapons particularly a gun[1]. First and second degree murder are distinguishable by the fact that second degree murder usually does not require premeditation. Under federal law each of the following elements must be met: The defendant unlawfully killed the victim. The defendant killed with malice and aforethought (either deliberately and intentionally or recklessly with extreme disregard for human life). The killing was premeditated. The killing occurred at the location stated in the indictment. On December 24, 2002 Laci Peterson, pregnant wife of Scott Peterson, was reported missing in Modesto, California. Her husband was reportedly the last person to see her alive. After months of searching on April 14, 2003 the body of a fetus washed ashore in the San Francisco Bay. The next day a partial torso washed ashore around the same area as the fetus. They were identified as Laci and Conner Peterson.[2] On April 18, 2003 after a long investigation, Scott Peterson was arrested after a single piece of hair found in a pair of pliers...
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...With an increasing population, there was an increase in demand for officers. In the early 1800’s many police stations had a morning and night shift, to enable a 24 -hour police force. Many jobs of those police officers are jobs that still exist today in our society, there jobs included having to chain the prisoners, guard the jails, and patrol streets and neighborhoods to prevent crime and maintain order. In Clive Emsley’s article, “ Crime in 19th Century Britain”, he explains how the increasing population caused an economic depression, which lead to many turning to drinking to help ease people's pain. “In the 1870’s, the problem with drunkenness had become problematic and one police officer would bring in 60-70 drunk men and women on a Saturday night.” (Emsley 1). With the drinking rate at an unsafe level, the economy failing, and many people committing crimes to just stay above water, the police force was stretched out far too thin, which negatively not only impacted the police force, but the citizens. Allowing more crimes slip, giving more opportunities to criminals to commit crimes knowing there wouldn’t be any law...
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...capital sanctions are imposed on the state level for murder. Currently, thirty-two states have death penalty statutes. Of those thirty-two, only seven states carried out executions in 2014 (Bureau of Justice Statistics 2015). Those executions total 35 (Bureau of Justice Statistics 2015). As a result of the low number of executions carried out, experts in the United States have examined the efficiency of the death penalty. To accurately assess the economic costs of the death penalty, the difference between the costs...
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...Denied: The Effects Being Ignored Death by lethal injection, death by electrocution, or any form of the death penalty given that people find to be fit for capital crimes is not a human’s right. We as humans do not have the right to end someone’s life based on the fact that they committed a crime. We have to take into accountability the countless amounts of lives that are impacted by this. Even on the international level, there are hundreds of countries who have abolished the death penalty completely. There is more to this than others think, yet they do not take the time to research or study the adverse effects of what this kind of punishment can cause. The death penalty violates the human right to life and causes a ripple effect that destroys the lives of the families of the individuals being executed. Death penalty supporters can be very profound with their opinions on what they believe is an excellent crime deterrent. In an article written for the Journal of Criminal Justice between May and June 2009, one of the authors by the name Shanhe Jiang stated, “Supporters of the death penalty argue that sentencing criminals to death deters others from committing a similar crime in the future.” He states that future crimes could indeed be deterred because of the continued support for the death penalty. In many cases, people see the death penalty as a form to punish those who commit murder, mass murder, rape and any other crime that warrants death. Supporters of this crime deterrent...
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...The Death Penalty Capital punishment is putting a condemned person to death. When one reads history of the world, it is seen that many people were sentenced to death because they raised a voice against the king. Ending a person’s life without giving him a chance to repent is not the best of the correctional methods. It might serve as deterrence for others but to what extent is that entirely true will be examined in the paper. The “cruel and unusual” clause in the eighth amendment states that “cruel and unusual punishment” such as torture or lingering death can not be inflicted on anyone as a form of execution. It is however permissible under the 8th Amendment to execute a convict by means of hanging, shooting, electrocution, and lethal gas. There is still confusion about what is actually constitutes “cruel and unusual punishment.” There have been several court cases of interest that have challenged and redefined this concept. In Louisiana ex. Rel. Francis v. Resweber, a convicted murderer was subject to a botched execution, and subsequently argued that a second attempt at execution would be a violation of the Eighth Amendment constituting cruel and unusual punishment. Previously the forms of execution were very painful. Many were beheaded while many were crucified. Crucifixion was the method used to execute Jesus according to Christianity. Such methods aimed at prolonging the pain before death. “Some may attempt to argue that there is scriptural authorization for the death penalty...
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...individuals who want to abolish the death penalty. Capital punishment may be a controversial subject; however, it is a critical issue that must be addressed in today's violent society. Many people can not decide if the death penalty provides the necessary punishment and deterrent effect that is needed for criminals but, capital punishment is an aspect of criminal sentencing that needs to be evaluated. The United States Supreme Court judgment in Furman vs. Georgia in 1972 came to the decision that the death penalty was a violation of the eight amendment because of the inconsistent manner by which it was carried out. However, in the 1970s, 34 states across the nation ratified new legislation on capital punishment that met the standards set by the Supreme Court. The most significant change in the history of death penalty cases transpired when United States legislators and the Congress passed what is now know as the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act .This made a capital punishment sentence possible for various federal crimes. Across this Nation there were approximately 15,000 legal executions of convicted inmates; and more than 7,700 of the legal executions have occurred in this century. As of today, 38 states have statutes involving capital punishment for convicted criminal offenders. An over whelming 3,610 inmates are condemned to death row in prisons throughout our Nation. Opponents of capital punishment consider the death penalty the...
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...class!!! Social Justice versus Criminal Justice Appalachian State University Social Justice versus Criminal Justice In this paper I will discuss how different aspects, policies, and procedures of the United States criminal justice system are inconsistent with the principles of social justice posited by John Rawls and David Miller. The criminal justice system does not promote socially just outcomes or practices. First of all, the criminal justice system is not really a system at all; it is a network. Second, criminal justice places greater emphasis on crime control, rather than due process rights. Our system encourages punishment rather than rehabilitation. Finally, criminal justice policies such as the death penalty and the war on drugs reflect prejudices within the system, resulting in unequal treatment. Before beginning to explain these flaws within criminal justice, I will first define social justice and explain the essential social justice principles suggested in Rawls and Miller’s theories. Social Justice Justice is based on two supposedly equal conceptions. First, guilty offenders are held accountable for their actions and second, that criminal justice processes are implemented fairly, without being affected by personal bias. In order for justice to occur, a balance must be achieved between the crime victim and the offender’s acts. This is usually attempted through retribution, or trying to rectify an offender’s wrongdoing through punishment...
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