...Wrongful conviction, often referred to as miscarriages of justice, can be defined as those who have been arrested on criminal charges, who have either pleaded guilty to the charges or have been found guilty, and, notwithstanding, their guilty plea or verdict, are actually innocent (Huff & Killias, 2010).While it may say like these situations are very rare, in fact there are many cases where innocent people are incarcerated, or even executed, because of errors in the criminal justice system. For example, as Dr. Michael Naughton, founder of the Innocence Project, which a non-profit advocacy group that works to free the wrongly convicted, said, “People think that miscarriages of justice are rare and exceptional . . . But every single day, people...
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...General changed his sentence to life after Truscott’s appeal to the Ontario Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court of Canada. On November 29, 2001, Truscott appealed to the Attorney General of Canada and his case was taken into Ontario Court of Appeal where his conviction was declared a miscarriage of justice. Afterwards, he was compensated $6.5 million. On June 9, 1959, Lynne Harper was reported missing near Clinton, ON. She was found raped and murdered 2 days later. Truscott was last seen with Harper and was suspected as a result.The court had said that rather then dropping Harper off, which Truscott had testified, Truscott...
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...Forensic Pathology and Miscarriages of Justice: a Journal Article Analysis Merlyn Arostegui Prof. Sigal CRJU 443 | Forensic Pathology and 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...
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...Canadian rider Tiffany Foster was disqualified before the team show jumping final on Sunday because of hypersensitivity in her horse's front leg, a decision team captain Eric Lamaze called "a complete miscarriage of justice". Veterinary officials check for heat and sensitivity in the legs of all equine competitors under rules set up in 2005 in part to keep riders from purposely making their horse's legs tender so they would jump more carefully. However, the rules acknowledge that injury and infection can also produce heat. Foster said her horse Victor had a nick in the coronary band immediately above the hoof that was "like a paper cut". International Federation of Equestrian Sports (FEI) President Princess Haya Bint Al Hussein of Jordan emphasised that Foster's disqualification was not the result of any suspected cheating. "I do want to be very clear with you all that there is absolutely no accusation of malpractice here," the former show jumper told a news conference held to discuss the decision. "As a former competitor, I just totally empathise with what Tiffany is going through ... It's absolutely crushing for her to experience this in her first Olympics." Foster shook with sobs throughout the briefing, comforted by visibly angry team captain and defending individual Olympic champion Eric Lamaze. "I just want to say that I would never do anything to jeopardise the welfare of my horse and what happened today was obviously very disappointing and devastating to me," Foster...
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...dropped her off before they parted ways. Lynne was reported missing later that night, and two days later, her body was found on a nearby farm. She was sexually assaulted and strangled to death. The community was horrified by what happened to this young girl and everyone was determined to find the killer. Immediately, investigators became fixated on Truscott as the prime suspect since he was the last person to see Lynne. They didn’t consider any other suspects, even though there was no physical evidence linking him to the murder. He was arrested 24 hours later, and stood trial as an adult. (Steven Truscott | Murderpedia). The entire case was based on circumstantial evidence, and Truscott was found guilty and became the youngest person in Canada to be sentenced to death at the age of 14. The Crown’s theory was that Truscott committed the murder sometime between 7:15 and 7:45PM. The theory was supported by conflicting testimonies from child witnesses, testimony from the pathologist, Dr. John Penistan, and evidence on Truscott’s body (Harland-Logan). Four months after his conviction, Truscott’s sentence got commuted to life in prison. After spending 10 years in prison, Truscott was paroled in 1969, where he began a new life under a new name and started a family. This never changed the fact that Truscott had lost many of the good years of his life. Throughout his whole life he maintained his innocence, but he still remained a convicted killer with the possibility that his parole...
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...Abortion can be quite the controversial topic, many countries with some people even getting killed for having them. Abortion is the act of ending a pregnancy before the fetus (unborn child) can live independently outside the mother. If an abortion happens spontaneously before 24 weeks of pregnancy, it is called a miscarriage. An induced (or "therapeutic") abortion is caused deliberately in order to end the pregnancy. The question is, where does Canada stand in accordance to the issue? Looking at legal issues, social constructs,medical aspects and personal reflection will help determine the answer to the popular question, “Which is better “pro-life” or “pro-choice”?” A glance at where Canada stands in a legal aspect can determine where Canada is as a nation on the question at hand. In the year 1969 the act of abortion...
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...Introduction Would you ever admit to committing a crime that you didn’t actually commit? Of course not, says common sense. Naturally, it is difficult to understand why anyone would confess to a crime they didn’t commit. However, false confessions are one the leading causes of wrongful convictions.1 As the Supreme Court of Canada noted in R v. Oickle, innocent people are induced to make false confessions more frequently than those unacquainted with the phenomenon might expect.2 In North America, we can trace the existence of false confessions back to the Salem Witch Trials, where a number of women were persecuted for witchcraft on the basis of confessions that were obtained through torture and threats.3 More recent false confessions have been obtained under psychological duress and not with torture or threats of physical harm.4 Nevertheless, with the developments in law and policies in place to control interrogation methods, false confessions continue to persist.5 This begs the question, are interrogation methods solely responsible for false confessions, or does some of the responsibility fall on the confessor? Scholars and social scientists agree, that it is not solely harsh interrogation tactics that lead to false confessions but it is the combination of these tactics with psychological factors such as, intelligence and personality, which contribute to the likelihood of a suspect providing a false confession.6 While there are currently solutions for avoiding false confessions...
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...DOUBLE JEOPARDY A review of the Law Lovetta Smith CJUS 220 Professor Jeff Sexton October 13, 2013 INTRODUCTION This essay will provide detailed information on the Fifth Amendment which is very important in the United States. It will explain and give understanding of the importance of the Double Jeopardy Amendment and how it is used in the system of Law. Also it will discuss case in which involved the Fifth Amendment and how it was used to protect the citizens of several cases and how the people were protected with the Fifth Amendment rule inside the system of law. Double jeopardy is a procedural defense that forbids a defendant from being tried again on the same charges following a legitimate acquittal or conviction. In most countries with the common law rule most criminals are allowed to enter a plea of not guilty or autrefois acquit, which is a French law meaning a person has been found not guilty of the same charge in a previous trial with the same evidence and cannot be retried for the same crime regardless of what new evidence that has surfaced. Double Jeopardy is a procedural defense that protects a person from being tried again for the same crime. Double Jeopardy is the oldest legal concept of western civilizations. Double jeopardy is the prosecution of a person for an offense for which he or she has already been prosecuted. The double jeopardy clause, which is in the Fifth Amendment of the United States Constitution, was designed to protect an individual...
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...Introduction: Like most people, we already know that smoking and drug addiction is bad for your health. But we do not know how dangerous smoking and drugs really are. Tobacco contains nicotine, a highly addictive drug that makes it difficult for smokers to kick the habit. Tobacco products also contain many poisonous and harmful substances that cause disease and premature death. Did we know that out of a group of 1000 smokers (age 30), that a full quarter of them (250!) will die of smoking-related illnesses prior to completing middle age, an additional quarter will die prematurely from smoking-related illnesses shortly after retirement age, and another large group will develop debilitating chronic illnesses as a result of their smoking? Most people don't know the odds of getting sick as a result of smoking are really that bad, but when you do the numbers, that is how they come out. People usually take drugs because they want to change something in their lives. Here are some of the reasons young people gave for taking drugs: * To fit in * To escape or relax * To relieve boredom * To seem grown up * To rebel * To experiment They think drugs are a solution. But eventually, the drugs become the problem. The consequences of drug use are always worse than the problem one is trying to solve with them. For many people, truly understanding the very real dangers associated with smoking and drugs becomes the motivating factor that helps them to quit. Although...
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...______________"I believe that a womans place is in the home for several reasons. To begin with, women are excellent caretakers, and having them at home to raise children and tend to their husbands bolsters everyone around them..." "I believe that women don't solely belong in the home, because they are able to contribute a great deal to society that they wouldn't have the ability to do at home. Women politicians, doctors, etc are a large part of what makes our society great because..." "A woman's place is in the home." This is a very old saying, and has today I think come to mean something very specific. When people use this expression today, it is usually in ridicule of someone else, and suggesting that they have very old-fashioned and reprehensible beliefs. The notion is that people who actually believe that the saying is true, believe that all women should be forced to stay in their homes, and not go out to work, or have careers, and that they should busy and content themselves with tidying up and decorating the home, to make it a pleasant place to be for their husbands who will appreciate this. On top of this, they must do the cooking and washing. If this is what the saying means, then I disagree with it. The saying refers to a very large and complicated topic: that of people's roles in society, and if I were forced to state that I either agreed or disagreed with the statement, then whichever answer I gave would be a simplification so great that it would be untrue. However...
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...Contents Concept of Natural Justice ................................................................................................... 1 Definition ......................................................................................................................... 1 History of the growth of Natural Justice .......................................................................... 2 Two Rules of Natural Justice .............................................................................................. 3 Right to a Fair Hearing ..................................................................................................... 3 At a Glance ................................................................................................................... 3 Scope of Fair Hearing ................................................................................................... 5 Aspects of a fair hearing ............................................................................................... 6 Rule Against Bias ........................................................................................................... 12 At a Glance ................................................................................................................. 12 Scope of the Rule against Bias ................................................................................... 12 Forms of bias .........................................................................................
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...Statistics about domestic violence Incidence and prevalence of domestic violence: General There are no reliable national data on the general incidence of domestic violence in the UK1. In 2011/12, 7.3% women (1.2 million) and 5% men (800,000) report having experienced domestic abuse2. 31% women and 18% men have experienced domestic abuse since the age of 16 years. This amounts to 5 million women and 2.9 million men3. Domestic violence has repeatedly been identified as a major factor leading to death in or related to pregnancy and childbirth: see below. In 2011/12, the police reported nearly 800,000 incidents of domestic violence4. Domestic violence accounts for 10% of emergency calls5. Domestic violence has consistently accounted for between 16% and one quarter of all recorded violent crime6. There has been a 65% increase in number of domestic violence prosecutions between 2005/6 and 2010/11 and a corresponding 99% increase in number of defendents convicted7. Despite this, domestic violence conviction rates in the five years to 2011 stood at just 6.5% of incidents reported to police – though a much higher proportion of around 70% of those charged8. Women are much more likely than men to be the victim of multiple incidents of abuse, of different types of domestic abuse (partner abuse, family abuse, sexual assault and stalking) and in particular of sexual violence9. Hester, 2008. Office for National Statistics (ONS), 2013. 3 This is a smaller proportion...
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...Introduction Human beings as a rational animal set laws, rules and regulations which can enable them to maintain the smooth running of their associations and/or states. Members of a given society, however, may violate the law because of political, religious and ideological interests while others can act against it to satisfy their material and emotional needs. In this case, the state has the responsibility and the legal authority to punish the criminal or groups of criminals based on the given law. The punishment of the criminals may vary from simple fines and imprisonment to sever torture and the deprivation of life. Capital punishment or the death penalty has existed as part of the human justice system since ancient times. In these earlier periods people were sentenced to death as a punishment for crimes considered as first degree offenses by the state. These crimes were most of the time political as well as religious and the method of execution, in addition to different brutal ways, was mainly beheading. With additional types of crimes resulting in capital punishment and more sophisticated methods of execution, the death penalty has continued to be practiced in the 21st century. However, capital punishment, especially after the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948, has became an issue of greater debate among states, human right organizations and other nongovernmental organizations. Since 1948, the number of countries employing death penalty is decreasing and currently...
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...The Innocent Man: Murder and Injustice in a Small Town From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to: navigation, search "The Innocent Man" redirects here. For a South Korean television series, see The Innocent Man (TV series). The Innocent Man | | Author(s) | John Grisham | Country | United States | Publisher | Doubleday | Publication date | October 10, 2006 | Pages | 368 | ISBN | 978-0-385-51723-2 | OCLC Number | 70251230 | The Innocent Man: Murder and Injustice in a Small Town (2006) is a nonfiction book written by John Grisham, and his first outside the legal fiction genre. The book tells the story of Ronald 'Ron' Keith Williamson of Ada, Oklahoma, a former minor league baseball player who was wrongly convicted in 1988 for the rape and murder of Debra Sue Carter in Ada and was sentenced to death. After serving 11 years on death row, he was exonerated by DNA evidence and other material introduced by the Innocence Project and was released in 1999. Contents * 1 Synopsis * 2 Book edition * 3 References * 4 External links | Synopsis Ron Williamson has returned to his hometown of Ada, Oklahoma after multiple failed attempts to play for various minor league baseball teams, including the Fort Lauderdale Yankees and two farm teams owned by the Oakland A's. An elbow injury inhibited his chances to progress. His big dreams were not enough to overcome the odds (less than 10 percent) of making it to a big league game. His failures lead to, or aggravate...
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...The Emerging Issue of Crystal Methamphetamine Use in First Nations Communities A Discussion Paper First Nations Centre May 2006 TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION PART I CRYSTAL METHAMPHETAMINE: WHAT IS IT? WHO USES CRYSTAL METH HOW CRYSTAL METH IS USED HOW CRYSTAL METH IS MADE HOW CRYSTAL METH AFFECTS THE BODY, MIND, RELATIONSHIPS AND THE ENVIRONMENT PART II GOVERNMENT, ORGANIZED CRIME AND THE PHARMACEUTICAL INDUSTRY IN THE UNITED STATES CRYSTAL METH AND ILLEGAL DRUG STRATEGIES IN CANADA FIRST NATIONS AND CRYTAL METH TREATMENT STRATEGIES PART III TALA TOOTOOSIS’ STORY CRYSTAL METH ON THE NAVAJO NATION CONCLUSIONS APPENDIX A 1 INTRODUCTION Crystal methamphetamine 1 use among people in some First Nations communities (both in Canada and the United States) has evolved into an issue that is requiring more and more attention. Indicative of this, in July of 2005, the Assembly of First Nations (AFN) in Canada passed a resolution specifically directed at this emerging issue. 2 As a result of this resolution, the AFN has identified the need for the development of a First Nations National Task Force on Crystal Meth to develop a Strategic Action Plan to Address the Emerging issue of Crystal Meth in First Nations Communities. Generally speaking, this paper provides basic information about crystal methamphetamine as well as information that is First Nations specific. The first part of the paper discusses: what crystal meth is; who is using it;...
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