...Dear Sara, After speaking with you a few weeks ago and talking about your career in criminal justice, and discussing wrongful conviction cases. How many cases are there of wrongful conviction and can any lessons be learn from each case? I am sure there are many different responses that you could give me to those questions because I am sure there are new cases every day that are added. I had been reading different articles lately about wrongful convictions and how (Radelet)”old evidence is being used to exonerate inmates, and clear their name”. I find it very difficult to hear about victims that have been in prison for many years and had absolutely nothing to do with the case they are being charged with. In the articles I have been reading...
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...[Type the company name] | What You Can Do With A Degree in Criminal Justice | Help Prevent Wrongful Convictions | | Shamone Salter | Kaplan University | 11/6/2014 | This paper which is a letter to my fellow criminal justice students will inform potential criminal justice graduates of what type of employment opportunities that are available to them after graduation that will aide in the effort of preventing American citizens from being wrongfully convicted. | As your Criminal Justice Club Vice President, I have been informed that many of you who are studying criminal justice have been question what you can do after graduation with a degree in criminal justice. Many of you think that the only possible jobs available for you are as corrections officers or police officers. However that is not true, you can become a forensic science technician, a police officer, a private detective, and a crime scene investigator and even a paralegal. More importantly, due to the recent discoveries of many people having been falsely arrested and convicted reinforces my belief that these field or should I say career paths are very important one’s that need to be filled by my fellow graduates recent graduates who have I know have the drive and want to become successful individuals within the criminal justice field. Did you know that between 1972 and 2007 nearly one hundred and twenty inmates have been released from prison because it was found that they had been wrongfully...
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...Miscarriages of Justice: a Journal Article Analysis The article chosen for analysis is titled “Forensic Pathology and the Miscarriage of Justice” written by Michael S. Pollanen of the Centre of Forensic Science and Medicine, University of Toronto in Toronto, Canada. The article was published in Forensic, Science, Medicine, and Pathology in 2012. The main purpose of the article was to present the fact that in order for the criminal justice system to operate in a safe and fair manner, any evidence presented in the duration of a prosecution must be accurate and objective—especially medical evidence. If either the accuracy or objectivity of evidence presented is compromised, there lies the possibility of unsafe prosecution which can lead to wrongful convictions or other forms of miscarriages of justice. Main Purpose There has been an increased awareness in the number of cases that have experienced a miscarriage of justice due to compromised medical evidence being presented during trial. Although there are legal tools available to regulate the types of evidence admissible in court as well as the “experts” allowed to present said evidence [such as Daubert hearings], these tools are only partially effective because forensic pathology is a discipline that grows and develops over time. The accepted view in pathology [or any field of science, for that matter] is always subject to change—by new discoveries or revision of theories, which can cause flawed evidence if outdated knowledge and/or...
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...The death penalty needs to be abolished globally. It is an outdated, unfair and often inhumane punishment. In addition to the fact that many television shows and movies have been made about people wrongly convicted on death row, the whole “an eye for an eye” from the Bible is completely outdated. (BIBLE GATEWAY) Furthermore, there have been numerous incidences where prisoners who had been convicted and sentenced to death, while being administered the lethal injection or on the electric chair, did not actually die the first time around. Many who are convicted and sentenced to death row are mentally disabled, having an IQ of 70 or less. One reason the death penalty should be abolished is that the cost of the death penalty far outweighs the cost of incarcerating a prisoner for life. A study of Indiana death penalty trials concluded that relative costs of incarceration with the addition of a death penalty sentence and direct appeal rose 38%. (JANEWAY) And a report by the Comptroller of the Treasury for the State of Tennessee concluded that when prosecutors sought the death penalty in murder cases, the average cost of the trial rose 48%. (MORGAN) Many states are finding that with rising budget costs and deficits it is better to abolish the death penalty than to sink further into debt. (BISSONNETTE) Another reason the death penalty should be abolished is that is an inhuman practice that is outdated. The old adage, “an eye for an eye”, no longer applies in the modern world. In addition...
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...wildlife in the area. After reading this report you will realize BP’s CEO Tony Hayward, all the way down to the engineers in charge of everyday operations were to blame for the worse oil tragedy in our history. Sincerely, Executive Summary This is a report on how British Petroleum has failed in many areas of business communications. It’s going to include 3 main points that will explain in detail on how British Petroleum had bad communication and how it ended up creating history’s biggest oil spill in the United States in the Gulf of Mexico. The 3 main points include: 1. Pre-Event Planning a. Anticipate, Prepare, Practice b. “Safety” Not a Core Value c. Responsibility of Employees 2. Expressing Concern and Wrongful Focus a. Slow in Expressing Concern b. Lack of Sympathy to Affected People c. Accountability 3. Company Truthfulness a. Alarm Negligence b. Learn From Mistakes Table of Contents Introduction 5 Figure 1: BP Oil Spill Statistic………………………………………………………………….5 Purpose 5 Procedure 5 Organization 6 Pre-Event Planning 6 Anticipate, Prepare, Practice 6 "Safety" Not a Core Value 6 Repsobsiblty of Employees 6...
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...control over our actions and decisions. We control our own fate because it ultimately comes down to the decision we make everyday. Many people think that outside sources determine what we do or that our fate is already paved for us, but I think we get to choose. In A Lesson Before Dying by Ernest J. Gaines, Grant, an African American teacher, is obligated to go see a black boy in prison due to wrongful conviction. His assignment was to make him a man before he was sent to the electric chair. Grant was obligated to go but, It came down to him making the decision to visit him. Throughout the book, Grant faces many people who either feel superior to him or more educated than him. When Grant confronts these people, it makes him want to leave town. Grant never left Bayona because he knew that he had to be their for the kids and Jefferson because he he committed to seeing him. Matthew Antinone, a mulatto (a person of mixed white and black ancestry, especially a person with one white and one black parent) teacher, who taught Grant says...
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...Is the Death Penalty Unethical? 18 March 2014 Kyle Parks Mr. Bagley Accounting 1 18 March 2014 According to an Ohio State University study, "As many as 10,000 inmates are wrongfully convicted of serious crimes each year" (Spring). Some of these convictions result in sentences of the harshest possible punishment in the United States, the death penalty. This means that in this country that claims to be equal and free, a person can still be killed for a crime he/she did not commit. On top of this, it is both highly immoral and costly to execute criminals on death row. For these reasons, the death penalty is unethical and should be discontinued in the United States. The Bible states in multiple places that humans are forbidden to kill other humans. Matthew 5:21 says, "You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, You shall not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment"("Shall Not Murder"). The Bible simply states that, as humans, one does not have the right to kill another human. There is no fine print saying whether it is right or wrong to kill someone after one has committed a crime. Humans have just been taking this matter into their own hands. God also states in the Ten Commandments that one shall not murder. In Mark 10:19, Jesus says, "You know the commandments: You shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not give false...
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...Harper Lee’s classic novel To Kill a Mockingbird is one of the most renowned books of all time, centering around young Scout and her family (her brother, Jem, and her father, Atticus,) as both Scout and her older brother mature through the events that occur in Maycomb county along the three years the novel spans. The aforementioned events include: the wrongful conviction of a black man (who Atticus defended brilliantly in court) for no other reason than the racism the Maycomb citizens harbored in their hearts, the death of this man by seventeen gunshot wounds when he attempted to escape prison, the attempted murder of Scout and Jem, the appearance of a neighborhood recluse for the first time in years, the slow death of a morphine addict who...
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...Although morals are an indication of a person’s perception of right or wrong, there is a fundamental thread that connects morality to everyone. Whether these morals are in relation to a religion, culture or the law, society has developed universal moral standards. However, individuals are capable of abandoning morality as a whole, resulting in significant repercussions. William Shakespeare and Arthur Miller show evidence of this in The Merchant of Venice and The Crucible, when their characters step away from their morals and carry out wrongful actions. Although the underlying reason for the characters’ social demises is similar, the motives for their actions are specific and personal. By carrying out actions fueled by revenge, both Abigail...
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...1. Getting started It is a matter of some interest that logic and the law should share so many of their foundational concepts – concepts such as proof, evidence, truth, inference, probability, plausibility, presumption and reasonableness – and yet should have had very little to say to one another within living memory. It is not especially surprising that logic and the law should have suffered (I use the word in its Latin sense) this alienation. With regard to its foundational concepts – for example, the concept of proof beyond a reasonable doubt, the concept of the balance of probabilities, the concept of the reasonable person – the law embeds am implied epistemology of implicity. There exists among practitioners, especially judges, the view that definitions and formalizations of such notions are both unnecessary and is liable to conceptual distortion. But definitions and formalizations are mother’s milk to logicians. Where the law favours approximation and contextually sensitive nuance, logicians thrive on exactitude and rigour. So why wouldn’t the lawyers and logicians go about their business without the regard of the one for the other? It would be wrong to leave the impression that there is no analytical exactitude in the law. It would also be a mistake to suggest that there has been no contact with the formal disciplines. Trials are often complex and judgements often embed exhaustive and detailed analyses of relevant points of law. In recent years probability theorists have...
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...Pathos Essay – The Abolishment of Capital Punishment Desmond Tutu, a South African activist, once famously said, "To take a life when a life has been lost is revenge, not justice." I cannot emphasize enough how much I concur with his statement, and how much I feel against the death sentence. After all, it clearly sends out the wrong message: Why kill people who kill people to show that killing is wrong1? The use of capital punishment, frequently known as the death penalty, has extended to the beginning of recorded history. Used by nearly all societies, it has served as a punishment for the most heinous of crimes; ranging from murder to rape, from treason to espionage and even corruption2(Yes, in China!). Through the years, capital punishment has evolved and there were extensive movements towards a less painful and more humane execution. However, can the use of capital punishment ever be justified? There is no doubt it has served its duty of crime deterrence(partly), but I deeply believe that it is time we walk out of the dark history of mankind and into civilisation. As a Singaporean, I am ashamed to say that capital punishment is still legal in my country. Just last year, four people were sentenced to the gallows; two for murder and the other two for drugtrafficking. Despite pressing calls from the public to abolish the death penalty, the government has repeatedly reiterated its position, saying that ‘it is only reserved for very serious crimes3.’ Until the time when capital...
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...Areiann Johnson Final Paper April 16, 2012 False Confessions She was killed Mr. Cope. She was raped and murdered! You are in shock. You are confused. You feel indescribable, unbearable pain. This pain is so emotional that it affects you physically too! Someone has ripped your heart out of your chest and made you watch as they relentlessly take a knife to it. All hope is lost. You will surely die from this ordeal. At least you wish you could! Your heart is weak; it drops into your stomach making you nauseated. How will you ever heal? You have been broken. Now every thought that runs through your mind is consumed with your desire for revenge. You want nothing more than to catch the person that has taken someone so precious from you; to make them suffer as you have. Police ask you to come in for questioning. You want to help them do their job and find the perpetrator. You have no idea that the real reason they asked you to come in is because you are their main suspect. They believe you did it. They think that you have taken your own daughters life and have sexually abused her, your little princess…impossible! Billy Wayne Cope is a religious man and has spent numerous hours in church activities with his twelve year old daughter Amanda. On November 29, 2001 Amanda was found on her bed raped and strangled to death. Billy Wayne Cope became police detectives’ main suspect. He initially thought he was helping catch the person that has done this horrific thing...
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...The juror recalled that Lee had said that ‘There is something wrong here’, when referring to the prosecution’s DNA evidence. Cryer continued that Lee ‘had a lot of impact on a lot of people. A lot of people were in agreement that there was something wrong’ with the prosecution’s case. At least as far as this juror was concerned, the relevant lesson was not that the controversy about DNA evidence was irrelevant to the verdict, but that credible experts had created reasonable doubt about its reliability” (Lynch and Jasanoff...
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...This article is published in a peer-reviewed section of the Utrecht Law Review The Use and Influence of Comparative Law in ‘Wrongful Life’ Cases Ivo Giesen* 1. Introduction** 1.1. Comparable stories of great grief In 1993, a South African boy named Brian Stewart was born severely handicapped. He suffers from ‘spina bifida’, a congenital defect to the lower spine, which negatively affects the nerve supply to the lower limbs, bladder and bowel. He suffers from a brain defect as well.1 In 1994, a Dutch girl named Kelly Molenaar was also born severely handicapped. By the time she was two-and-half-years old she was diagnosed as being retarded, autistic, not fully grown, not able to walk or talk, suffering from heart disease, bad hearing and poor eyesight and she was not able, at that time, to recognize her parents. She had been admitted to hospital on nine occasions due to continuous crying, believed to be caused by pain.2 Comparable stories about severely handicapped children can be found in several other countries as well. Both Brian and Kelly were not supposed to have been born in the sense that their mothers would have chosen for an abortion had they known in time about the birth defects their children would suffer. Brian’s mother would have undergone a termination of her pregnancy had the obstetrician and gynaecologist she consulted detected any abnormalities in the foetus and advised her thereof. Kelly’s mother had asked the obstetrician she consulted to carry out some...
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...INFORMATION ABOUT THE NOVEL Classification- To Kill a Mockingbird is embodied by Atticus Finch, who is virtually unique in the novel in that he has experienced and understood evil without losing his faith in the human capacity for goodness. Atticus understands that, rather than being simply creatures of good or creatures of evil, most people have both good and bad qualities. The important thing is to appreciate the good qualities and understand the bad qualities by treating others with sympathy and trying to see life from their perspective. He tries to teach this ultimate moral lesson to Jem and Scout to show them that it is possible to live with conscience without losing hope or becoming cynical. In this way, Atticus is able to admire Mrs. Dubose’s courage even while deploring her racism. Scout’s progress as a character in the novel is defined by her gradual development toward understanding Atticus’s lessons, culminating when, in the final chapters, Scout at last sees Boo Radley as a human being. Her newfound ability to view the world from his perspective ensures that she will not become jaded as she loses her...
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