The policies during this time show how the public and politicians were supportive of indeterminate sentences and believed in rehabilitation and reintegration. These political and societal beliefs are exactly what came to an end in the 90s due to Polly’s murder and other similar crimes. In the 70s the focus was on rehabilitation and the idea that inmates can reintegrate back into society without detrimental effects. After numerous cases in which serial offenders were paroled early from prison and quickly re-offended the socio-political milieu shifted from one of rehabilitation to one of retribution. The ideas of how to sentence and punish criminals completely flipped from the time of Gacy’s crime to the time when Davis shocked the world by kidnapping …show more content…
Polly’s murder brought back the idea of stranger danger, and caused states to adopt the three strikes laws. The three strikes laws had an enormous impact on offenders and facilitated mass incarceration. Additionally, the United States moved away from rehabilitation and towards retribution due to Polly’s murder. Today, many people still promote these “get tough” penalties like the three strikes laws, but fortunately there has been a resurgence of support for rehabilitation and reintegration of offenders. John Wayne Gacy’s crimes did not have nearly as significant as an impact as Davis’ crime. The lasting legacy of Gacy’s crimes is one of shock. People were shocked to discover someone they knew and respected could be operating in plain sight for so long. Additionally, Gacy’s crimes brought forth the idea that crimes that were related to homosexuality were not being treated the same as other crimes, and this was something that needed to be addressed. Hopefully the lasting impact of Gacy’s crimes was one of equality for all victims despite their sexual orientation. Gacy also contributed to the movement against indeterminate sentences, but his crimes did not leave as significant of an impact as on the criminal justice system and people today as Polly Klaas’ murder …show more content…
The Judge granted the defense’s request to move the trail from Sonoma County to Santa Clara County to avoid the intense media attention that surrounded the case as well as trying to allow Davis to receive a fair trial. The prosecution and defense both relied on physical evidence and eye witness testimony when presenting their cases and it appears that neither side attempted to acted unethically in doing so. It could be argued that the defense was guilty of misconduct by not trying to argue that Davis was innocent of the crimes and rather they only attempted to dispute the charge of attempting a “lewd act on a minor” (176). The most shocking part of Davis’ trial was Davis response to his guilty verdict and sentencing. Davis raised both of his middle fingers to the cameras in the court room when his verdict was handed down. Additionally, after his sentence was handed down, Davis claimed that Polly’s father had sexually assaulted Polly. Davis’ trial was free from misconduct and his eruption in court was the most shocking aspect of the