...Everyone says they want to reduce prison populations, but here comes the hard part, are politicians and big corporations willing to reform criminal sentencing policies? The silenced sentencing reforms pursued by states include allowing offenders to shorten their prison time by participating in different penalty methods, such as rehabilitation programs, thus decreasing the ever-growing overcrowding rates. Moreover, prison would be more effective if the time in prison was used to prepare the individuals for life outside of jailhouse walls, following release. Marc Levin, Vice President of Criminal Justice Policy at the Texas Public Policy Foundation, emphasizes,”Once you reach a certain rate of incarceration, you start to have diminishing returns...
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...Prison Overcrowding Prison overcrowding is a problem largely attributed to the increase of drug convictions. Decades of tough-on-crime laws coupled with minimal financing for treatment programs have left prisons overcrowded and under funded. With the advent of crack cocaine and the response of a scared nation President Ronald Reagan declared a war on drugs in 1982 (Clear, Cole, & Reisig, 2009). In 1987 congress implemented mandatory minimum sentencing effectively increasing the time served for drug offenses. The war on drugs has succeeded in increasing the amount of drug offenders incarcerated. In 1985 the average state drug offense sentence was 13 months, in 2002 that number jumped to 48 months. The government’s efforts to succeed have come at a high cost. State budgets and prison populations have exceeded their respective maximums, although crime rates and drug abuse numbers have dropped, the number of inmates incarcerated continues to rise. A possible solution to the overcrowding issue within prison is to insist a mandatory minimum law reform. This solution would be aimed at not only reducing the amount of time spent in the corrections system but also increasing the amount of drugs needed to qualify for the offense. Currently in the state of Kentucky if you sell a half a gram of cocaine you could get a possible sentence of 5-10 years for a class C felony; a possible alternative to this sentence is currently being considered. Under the possible new policy...
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...In today judicial system, many criminals are getting away with very little or no punishment for the crimes they are committing. You could be walking down the street in your very own neighborhood looking for their next victim and you do not even realize it. These criminals have no remorse on what they do; they are just waiting to strike again. However, if someone asked what your thought is on the death penalty, most would probably say that they are against it that is until a family member or someone you love is walking down the street and that man who was looking for their next victim found them. It was a family member and you will never see them again. Capital punishment has been a topic of debate for a very long time and it still has no certain solution. The Supreme Court, in 1972 said that it was unconstitutional and had made it legal after the Furman v. Georgia case. They said that it was in violation of our eighth and fourteenth amendment citing cruel and unusual punishment (Shaw, 2001). They then reinstated the death penalty after the Gregg v. Georgia case in 1976 (Shaw, 2001). As of September 2010, fifteen states that do not have the death penalty ("Death penalty information center," 2010.) Today about seventy percent of Americans who support the death penalty (The pros and cons of the death penalty in the USA, 2011). While thirty percent are against the death penalty (The pros and cons of the death penalty in the USA, 2011). When seeking the death...
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...dramatically increases the chances of psychotic breakdowns. (D) WHO: Hillary Clinton issued a press release and said that “The people need a president that will be tough on crime but smart about it too.” The american psychiatric association did research on this topic and concluded that “As many as one in five inmates were mentally ill, and 5% could be psychotic at any given moment.” Crime victims united of california created television ads accusing the government of abandoning crime victims and endangering california people by easing up on punishments for people on parole. (C) President Barack Obama said that reforming the criminal justice system is a huge priority for him in his remaining time in office and hopes to be able to grant more pardons and commutations of sentences. (F) How: The senate is considering a prison reform bill that will; Remove the “three strikes” law that enforces mandatory life sentences Allows 6,500 crack cocaine offenders to challenge their sentences Reduce solitary confinement in juvenile facilities Empower judges to use more discretion by abandoning sentencing guidelines (F) The corrections corporation of America laid out what was at stake for a prison reform; legislation has been proposed in many jurisdictions that could lower minimum sentences and make more prisoners eligible for early releases. (C) The past and today are not much different except for the amount of inmates in prisons and how they are being treated; abuse, education, living conditions, and...
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...Death Penalty In today judicial system, many criminals are getting away with very little or no punishment for the crimes they are committing. You could be walking down the street in your very own neighborhood looking for their next victim and you do not even realize it. These criminals have no remorse on what they do; they are just waiting to strike again. However, if someone asked what your thought is on the death penalty, most would probably say that they are against it that is until a family member or someone you love is walking down the street and that man who was looking for their next victim found them. It was a family member and you will never see them again. Capital punishment has been a topic of debate for a very long time and it still has no certain solution. The Supreme Court, in 1972 said that it was unconstitutional and had made it legal after the Furman v. Georgia case. They said that it was in violation of our eighth and fourteenth amendment citing cruel and unusual punishment (Shaw, 2001). They then reinstated the death penalty after the Gregg v. Georgia case in 1976 (Shaw, 2001). As of September 2010, fifteen states that do not have the death penalty ("Death penalty information center," 2010.) Today about seventy percent of Americans who support the death penalty (The pros and cons of the death penalty in the USA, 2011). While thirty percent are against the death penalty (The pros and cons of the death penalty in the USA, 2011). When seeking the...
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...How Marijuana Legalization Would Effect the Economy Table of Contents Introduction ................................................................................................... Page 3 Economic Growth …..................................................................................... Page 3 Policing Efforts …......................................................................................... Page 4 Illegal Immigrants …..................................................................................... Page 6 Tax Revenue …............................................................................................. Page 6 Conclusion …................................................................................................ Page 7 Bibliography …............................................................................................. Page 9 Introduction Marijuana is known to be the most used illegal drug in the world, with 17.4 million past-month users in 2010 (National Survey on Drug Use and Health, 2010). The topic of legalizing marijuana is one for the masses, because almost everyone has an opinion on it, or at least something to say about it. The debate about whether to legalize marijuana has been going on for quite some time, but in the last could years, people have been beginning to understand the effects it could have on our economy in a positive way. The debate that many people bring to the table is one more related to the criminal...
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...punishment such as methodology, effectiveness and its effects on behavior. It will review the effectiveness of punishment methodology by studying the variables such as age, gender, socio-economic status and exposure to crime. In the direct context of speeding, contemporary punishment includes ‘positive punishment’ whereby giving the offender a fine and ‘negative punishment’ by suspension of their license. This essay will also assess the effectiveness of punishment. Attempts to neutralize the issue of speeding include implementing warnings showing the severity and consequences of speeding. However, many young irresponsible drivers cannot relate to the seriousness by influence of their peers whom they value higher than authority figures of the law. Golias, J., Kanellaidis, G., & Zarifopoulos. K. (1995) shows that the major reason for speeding is the belief that speed limits are unreliable with a mean grade of 6.67 thus; this supports the idea that people do not perceive road authorities as an influential figure. At a younger age, influential figures are not ones that are necessarily responsible, but they appeal to them in anintrinsic way. In many cultures, speeding is acceptable; growing with this idea leads many drivers to have a habit of speeding (Blincoe, K.M., Jones, A.P., Sauerzapf, V., Haynes, R. 2006). In the essay’s context, the aim of legal sanctions is for the subject to associate punishment with the unwanted behavior of speeding. (Stafford, M. C., & Warr, M. 1993)...
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...Research Proposal On Judicial Corruption; The Great Hindrance Towards Ensuring Justice: A Critical Evaluation In The Present Context Of Bangladesh SUPERVISOR Biswajit Chanda Associate Professor Department of Law University of Rajshahi RESEARCHER Md.Salauddin Saimum Roll: 10119019 LL.B(4th Year) Department of Law University of Rajshahi University of Rajshahi DEPARTMENT OF LAW UNIVERSITY OF RAJSHAHI Introduction: Judicial corruption refers to corruption related misconduct of judges, through receiving or giving bribes, improper sentencing of convicted criminals, bias in the hearing and judgement of arguments and other such misconduct. Judicial corruption pertains to acts or behavior or attempts that impair either the search for or the submission of the truth in the delivery of justice. It covers any act or omission from any source, whether bribery, intimidation or any other act committed with the intent or reasonably foreseeable result that judicial or quasi-judicial orders, judgments and other issuances and judicial treatments will result in corruption. Judicial corruption includes the acceptance of patronage offered by people in power leading...
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...Anthony Soares Professor Minnis English 1A November 9, 2013 The Decriminalization of Drugs It goes without saying that America faces a drug addiction that is beyond anything we could have ever anticipated. It is reported that an estimated 22.5 million Americans suffer from a dependency from a drug of some sort, whether it may be stimulants, depressants or hallucinogens (NIDA 2). However these victims of addiction are often demonized for their condition and are treated as criminals by the infallible U.S. Government. As a result there is a trend of 1 in every 100 adults will end up incarcerated for a drug related offense such as possession (Drug Policy Alliance 1). So instead of treating addiction itself, many politicians decide that it is necessary to place these undesirables into prison in an effort to reform their ways. This trend of mass incarceration gained momentum in the early 70’s during the Nixon Administration with his “War on Drugs”, but in reality over the past 4 decades we have only seen the increase of drug addiction, overdose and any hardly any progress as a result. So where do we go from here? Well many liberals would whole-heartedly suggest that we legalize all controlled substances for recreational use, but that is a pipe dream reserved for a utopian society in a novel. Therefore I suggest a similar yet more conservative approach to this problem: the decriminalization of drugs. Instead of legalizing, which involves taxation and regulation of controlled substances;...
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...Punishments NIC / Executive Leadership June 2013 Evidence-Based Practice in the Criminal Justice System The phrase “because we have always done it that way” universally is no longer acceptable as it pertains to working in many sectors of the work-force, especially within the criminal justice system. Constant financial pressure to streamline budgets, coupled with ever-changing political climates have forced criminal justice organizations to embrace evidence-based concepts and practices. Evidence-based practice is defined as the use of practices that have been scientifically tested and proven effective. In simple terms, doing what works. This has led to drastic changes in various sectors from police operations, probation, sentencing, etc. When examining capital punishment the first question that must be asked is why do we do it? Is it simply a universal response to an atrocious act committed by an offender? If so, then there is no need to look any further. However, thousands of capital offense convictions are handed down annually in the U.S., yet most do not result in death penalty sentences. Therefore the only logical conclusion is that there is much more complexities in play once the state hands down capital punishment. Possible Effects of Capital Punishments at a Glance By and large, capital punishment in the United States is handed down to those offenders that are found guilty of homicide. Although not limited to strictly homicide, the overwhelming majority...
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...Mirjan Damaška, Sterling Professor of Law at Yale Law School and a prominent authority for many years in the fields of comparative law, procedural law, evidence, international criminal law and Continental legal history. Professor Damaška’s work is renowned for providing new frameworks for understanding different legal traditions. To celebrate the depth and richness of his work and discuss its implications for the future, the editors have brought together an impressive range of leading scholars from different jurisdictions in the fields of comparative and international law, evidence and criminal law and procedure. Using Professor Damaška’s work as a backdrop, the essays make a substantial contribution to the development of comparative law, procedure and evidence. After an introduction by the editors and a tribute by Harold Koh, Dean of Yale Law School, the book is divided into four parts. The first part considers contemporary trends in national criminal procedure, examining cross-fertilisation and the extent to which these trends are resulting in converging practices across national jurisdictions. The second part explores the epistemological environment of rules of evidence and procedure. The third part analyses human rights standards and the phenomenon of hybridisation in transnational and international criminal law. The final part of the book assesses Professor Damaška’s contribution to comparative law and the challenges faced by comparative law in the twenty first century. Crime...
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...THE EMPLOYER AND THE EX-OFFENDER: THE DISCRIMINATORY EFFECTS OF CRIMINAL BACKGROUND CHECKS TABLE OF CONTENTS I. INTRODUCTION………………………………………………………………………… 3 II. OFFENDER AND EX OFFENDER HISTORY IN THE UNITED STATES………….. 5 A. LEGAL HISTORY OF EMPLOYMENT DISCRIMINATION AGAINST EX OFFENDERS ……… 5 B. THE NUMBER OF EX OFFENDERS IS RAPIDLY INCREASING .............................................................................8 C. IMPACT OF CONVICTION ON EMPLOYABILITY OF EX OFFENDERS ................................................................. 10 III. CRIMINAL BACKGROUND CHECKS AID IN THE DISPROPORTIONATE EXCLUSION OF MINORITIES ………………………………………………………………………………… 13 A. EMPLOYERS ARE PREJUDICED UPON FINDING CRIMINAL CONVICTIONS .................................................. 13 B. BLACKS AND LATINOS ARE EXCLUDED FROM THE WORK FORCE DUE TO STIGMAS OF MINORITY STATUS AND CRIMINAL RECORD ....................................................................................................................... 15 IV. HEIGHTENED SCRUTINY TURNS ON EMPLOYER HIRING PRACTICES INFLUENCED BY CRIMINAL BACKGROUND CHECKS………………………………………………………………………………………… 18 A. THE EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY COMMISSION ATTEMPTS TO PROVIDE MUCH NEEDED GUIDANCE ON CONDUCTING CRIMINAL BACKGROUND CHECKS AND SUBSEQUENT HIRING PRACTICES ..................................................................................................................... 18 B. NOTABLE LEGAL ACTION STEMMING...
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...giving the death sentence as rarest of rare cases. The Court moves its eye also for other aspects of society. The landmark cases where death sentences were awarded in India are Ranga Billa case2, Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi Assassination case, Laxman Nayak case 3 and the lastly, it was awarded to Dhananjoy Chatterjee on 14th August, 2004 in connection with Hetal Parikh case of West Bengal after the Supreme Court affirmed the death sentence awarded by lower courts and President also refused to grant him pardon. In the year 2003, Government laid a bill in the Parliament which proposed to add a provision of the punishment, like death sentence in the Drugs and Cosmetics Act as also it was |LL.B. Entrance Examination, Universal Law Publishing Co., New Delhi (2007), p.510 | |AIR 1981 SC 1572...
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...Criminal Records in the Digital Age: A Review of Current Practices and Recommendations for Reform in Texas Helen Gaebler, Senior Research Attorney William Wayne Justice Center for Public Interest Law The University of Texas School of law March 2013 TABLE OF CONTENTS I. INTRODUCTION .............................................................................................................................4 II. THE PROBLEM: CRIMINAL RECORDS AND COLLATERAL CONSEQUENCES .........................................5 Collateral Consequences Overview ......................................................................................................... 5 Who’s Affected? A Look at the Numbers in Texas .................................................................................. 8 Disproportionality and the Criminal Justice System .............................................................................. 10 Reaching Across Generations and Communities ................................................................................... 11 III. AN OUTDATED SYSTEM: OPEN ACCESS TO CRIMINAL RECORDS .................................................... 12 The Background Checking Industry........................................................................................................ 12 Common Practices and Pitfalls............................................................................................................... 13 Past Calls for Reform .....................
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...CALIFORNIA CALIFORNIA An Interpretive History TENTH EDITION James J. Rawls Instructor of History Diablo Valley College Walton Bean Late Professor of History University of California, Berkeley TM TM CALIFORNIA: AN INTERPRETIVE HISTORY, TENTH EDITION Published by McGraw-Hill, a business unit of The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., 1221 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020. Copyright © 2012 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Previous editions © 2008, 2003, and 1998. No part of this publication may be reproduced or distributed in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior written consent of The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., including, but not limited to, in any network or other electronic storage or transmission, or broadcast for distance learning. Some ancillaries, including electronic and print components, may not be available to customers outside the United States. This book is printed on acid-free paper. 1234567890 QFR/QFR 10987654321 ISBN: 978-0-07-340696-1 MHID: 0-07-340696-1 Vice President & Editor-in-Chief: Michael Ryan Vice President EDP/Central Publishing Services: Kimberly Meriwether David Publisher: Christopher Freitag Sponsoring Editor: Matthew Busbridge Executive Marketing Manager: Pamela S. Cooper Editorial Coordinator: Nikki Weissman Project Manager: Erin Melloy Design Coordinator: Margarite Reynolds Cover Designer: Carole Lawson Cover Image: Albert Bierstadt, American (born...
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