...Criminal Justice Trends Evaluation University of Phoenix Contemporary Issues and Future in Criminal Justice People in society continuously change therefore people continue to evolve as our perceptions change. In this paper the student will assess the past, present, and future trends in the interface between elements of the criminal justice system. In the assessment the student will evaluate the criminal justice connections with surrounding society. The student will identify the recent and future trends affecting the criminal justice system. Last, the contemporary issues and the value of the criminal justice system in a changing society. Interface between Components The American Justice in the 1800s was quite different in the aspect of how the laws have changed. In the 1800s there were not enough law enforcement officers to enforce the laws. Therefore, many people believed it necessary to take the law into his or her own hands. An example of vigilante justice in the 1800s was the lynching of Henry Smith. This is a sad example of how people were treated; in 1893 Henry Smith was tortured and burned alive in front of a crowd of 10,000 people. People were executed for crimes not committed and trials were not an option (Keene, 2012). In the 18th century B.C.E. the first know death penalty was in the Code of King Hammurabi of Babylon. A person could have 25 crimes before the sanction of the state for the death penalty. Capital punishment in the 18th century...
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...SOCIAL JUSTICE This is a sample paper for Dr. Matthew Robinson’s class … CJ 5150, “American Justice System and Social Justice” at Appalachian State University The paper is not be used for any purpose other than illustration for students in the 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...
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...Introduction The criminal justice system is a necessary aspect of the American society that includes the Constitution and the bill of rights. The value of the laws is to protect the innocent and punish the guilty, to ensure safety, and equality treatment for all. In protecting the society, the criminal justice system has evolved with society when making changes in technology; this change is to detect growing trends. When changes takes place criminal justice system is keeping up with the society as a priority because society is always changing. Criminal Justice Trends Evaluation Most everyone has different views or opinion of the criminal justice system, such as harsh, too lax. favor one side, or the other. Trends have been there for many years but the main issue has been the capital punishment. Capital punishment has been around for centuries but was cheap in those days where they use an axe or a sword to behead a criminal, and this was the method used, and the tools used were always readily available. Throughout the history capital punishment has been an aspect within the criminal justice system, but not accepted by many. Capital punishment is still used but there has been so much controversy, different methods has been used in the past and present, and have advanced with technology, with lethal injection and electrocution. When creating the new method, there were many items being viewed to forbid cruelty and barbaric. Today these methods are used in certain...
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...Deterred Should capital punishment be used in a justice system to deter the level of serious crimes in a society? There have been arguments that capital punishment is the best way to deter crime and arguments that say it is not all over the world. The justice system is in place to keep societies functioning proper, and punish those who hurt that goal, capital punishment is one of the ways that have been aiding in the success. If capital punishment does act as a deterrent for crime, shouldn’t a society use it as a tool for the justice system? However, if capital punishment does not act as a deterrent for crime, then should it be scrapped by the justice system and emphasis be placed on looking for a new way to deter crime? This is more than just a crime deterrent issue because it involves taking a life to save a life. This is an ethical issue of whether capital punishment is the best way to solve the problem, and this has been argued by millions of people all over the world for decades and it is still a highly debated topic to this day. Capital Punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the practice of sentencing a person to execution as punishment for a capital crime after a proper legal trail. It is typically only used as a form of punishment for people who commit serious types of murder. It may not be known, because many countries never actually use it, but there are 58 countries that currently have a form of the death penalty (Unknown, 2010). Capital punishment is a topic...
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...Cultural Diversity in Criminal Justice Brent Weaver Cultural Diversity in Criminal Justice, CJA/423 Torria Richardson 5-30-11 Cultural Diversity in Criminal Justice Society has shown racial diversity among communities. Racial disparity can be found in the criminal justice system. A system designed to be fair and equal to individuals is not existent. Racial diversity can be found at the time of arrest to the time of sentencing. The purpose of this paper is to focus on the diversity in sentencing. Case studies will be discussed throughout this paper. Leaders of criminal justice are not exempt of racial diversity. Racial diversity has changed over the years, but racial diversity remains strong in sentencing minorities. Diversity is not biased of offenses. Racial diversity can be seen in the smallest of charges, such as a traffic stop to the most serious sentence of the death penalty. Most of the sentences are because profiling an individual of minority. African Americans are likely to be the targeted racial group. Hispanic individuals are likely to be another racial group profiled for harsher sentencing. Racial disparity in the criminal justice system should always be considered a violation of ideas of the forefather’s of this nation as equal treatment under the laws of the United States Constitution. Many reasons for racial disparity can be identified in the sentencing process. The sentencing process is a difficult process, and adding racial bias may create a...
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...The Death Penalty The death penalty is a form of punishment in which a person who has been convicted of a serious crime is executed under the precept of the criminal justice system. The death penalty has been in existence for thousands of years and has gained wide acceptance in the United States since early colonial times. Even those who framed the Constitution specifically the Fifth Amendment approved of it though implicitly (McCord and Latzer 9). Despite the growing acceptance of the death penalty as an appropriate punishment for certain kinds of crimes such as first degree murders, there are still some people who argue against it on certain grounds. The debate as to the justification of the death penalty has raged on for a long time. On one hand, there are those who are of the opinion that the death penalty is a cruel punishment which is morally wrong and a violation of the right to life for its victims. Others defend their opposing views by citing the wave of abolition of other types of corporal punishment such as branding and flogging and propose that imprisonment should also replace the death penalty (McCord and Latzer 9). However, the death penalty has proved to be a punishment befitting certain crimes such as horrific murders as it is the ultimate punishment. It has taken many harmful elements off the streets besides acting as a deterrent for both the convicted criminals and other potential murderers out there. In essence, it has saved many innocent lives that otherwise...
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...The Death Penalty The death penalty is a form of punishment in which a person who has been convicted of a serious crime is executed under the precept of the criminal justice system. The death penalty has been in existence for thousands of years and has gained wide acceptance in the United States since early colonial times. Even those who framed the Constitution specifically the Fifth Amendment approved of it though implicitly (McCord and Latzer 9). Despite the growing acceptance of the death penalty as an appropriate punishment for certain kinds of crimes such as first degree murders, there are still some people who argue against it on certain grounds. The debate as to the justification of the death penalty has raged on for a long time. On one hand, there are those who are of the opinion that the death penalty is a cruel punishment which is morally wrong and a violation of the right to life for its victims. Others defend their opposing views by citing the wave of abolition of other types of corporal punishment such as branding and flogging and propose that imprisonment should also replace the death penalty (McCord and Latzer 9). However, the death penalty has proved to be a punishment befitting certain crimes such as horrific murders as it is the ultimate punishment. It has taken many harmful elements off the streets besides acting as a deterrent for both the convicted criminals and other potential murderers out there. In essence, it has saved many innocent lives that otherwise...
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...Crime is everywhere. Wherever we look, we find criminals and crime. Criminals have become a part of our daily lives. Does this mean we let them be the darkness of our society? No, definitely not. Eliminating crime and criminals is our duty, and we cannot ignore it. Getting the rightly accused to a just punishment is very important. Some criminals commit a crime because they have no other option to survive, but some do it for fun. I do not advocate death penalty for everybody. A person, who stole bread from a grocery store, definitely does not deserve death penalty. However, a serial killer, who kills people for fun or for his personal gain, definitely deserves death penalty. Death penalty should continue in order to eliminate the garbage of our society. Not everybody deserves to die, but some people definitely do. I support death penalty because of several reasons. Firstly, I believe that death penalty serves as a deterrent and helps in reducing crime. Secondly, it is true that death penalty is irreversible, but it is hard to kill a wrongly convicted person due to the several chances given to the convicted to prove his innocence. Thirdly, death penalty assures safety of the society by eliminating these criminals. Finally, I believe in "lex tallionis" - a life for a life. Deterrence means to punish somebody as an example and to create fear in other people for the punishment. Death penalty is one of those extreme punishments that would create fear in the mind of any sane person...
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...is the death penalty. It has been used throughout history to punish a variety of offenses committed. Whether or not there should be a death penalty is one of the most debated issues in the Criminal Justice system. It is polled that approximately 62% of Americans support the death penalty. Behind that percentage is poorly based reasons like revenge or misrepresented facts, such as cost and a sense of justice. The United States had a 2012 murder rate of 4.8 victims per 100,000-meaning that nearly 15,000 people were victims of homicide that year. (Benoit) These criminals, it appears, are not fearing capital punishment as a consequence of their crimes as much as people hope they would. The death penalty should be abolished because criminals are not deterred from committing crimes, millions of dollars are wasted, and innocent people may be executed. Attorney General Janet Reno stated, “I have inquired for most of my adult life about studies that might show that the death penalty is a deterrent, and I have not seen any research that would substantiate that point.” (J Donahue and J Wolfers) While many would like to believe that the death penalty would be more of a deterrent than a long prison sentence, criminals rarely consider the consequences of their actions. A crime of passion is exactly that, where they would not think about what would happen if they went through with a crime. These criminals, who commit these heinous crimes that would lead to the death penalty, can have...
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...look at capital punishment a completely different way. I have very mixed emotions on the death penalty; a part of me believes that if a person takes another person’s life that they should get the death penalty and than there is the other part of me that believes that the person should spend the rest of their life in prison without parole, so they can suffer the consequences of there actions. There are numerous families and loved ones of murder victims that support alternatives to the death penalty for many reasons. For instance, the death penalty process has a traumatizing experience on the families, which is often requires them to relive the pain and suffering of the death of their loved one for many years. Having life without parole provides certain punishment without the endless reopening of wounds. “There are hundreds of millions of dollars that are spent on the death penalty each year. If we were to replace the death penalty with life in prison without parole, we would save million of dollars which than could be spent on violence-prevention efforts, solving unsolved cases and increasing the victims services.” (Death Penalty ProCon.org) On the other hand there are numerous families and loved ones of murder victims that support the death penalty. The criminal gets caught, is tried and convicted of the crime. While the punishment is going to be severe, the person's life the criminal has taken can no longer...
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...Lethal Justice?: Is Capital Punishment right or wrong Capital punishment and the practice of the death penalty is an issue that is passionately debated in the United States. Opponents of capital punishment often view the sentence to be cruel because it is ethically unjust. For example, ethical problems involve the moral issues in addition to whether it is ever right to execute another human. On the other hand, pro death penalty supporters regularly claim that the punishment is just because it may provide closure to the victims loved ones and it is the direct answer to a murder. Additionally, it is argued that as a result of the injection the supposed criminal may never commit further crimes. Both sides of the issue have strong claims to support...
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...Business law 100 Death Penalty Death penalty The death penalty, the hardest punishment that can be implemented by the states. Person is sentenced to death, executions, a person's life in accordance to the law (often in prison) occurs when the end. Historically, criminals and political opponents of the law to be executed by almost all societies, and to punish the crime has been used to suppress political disputes. Capital punishment is applied in most locations, premeditated murder, espionage, treason, or used within the scope of military justice. The majority of Muslims in some countries, sexual crimes such as adultery and sodomy, apostasy and religious crimes such as illegal behavior involving the death penalty takes place between. In many countries, drug trafficking or the person sentenced to death for a crime shall be deemed sufficient. In China, human trafficking and serious fraud can result in death penalty cases. Around the world in the military, military courts cowardice, desertion, insubordination, and was implementing the death penalty in crimes such as rebellion. Capital punishment is a controversial issue. Those who support the death penalty, the person committed a crime in certain crimes, such as withdrawal from and murder has been given the penalty argue. Opponents of capital punishment, life imprisonment with no difference in deterrence is not an issue, human rights were violated, that lead to incorrect execution, those in the...
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...Is the Death Penalty a Fair and Effective Deterrent in the United States? Abstract The death penalty is the most severe punishment that may be imposed on an individual by the United States government. It denies a person one of their most basic human rights, which is the right to live. One of the purposes of the death penalty is to serve as a deterrent for other would-be criminals. There have been studies conducted to determine if the death penalty is effective in this regard. There is another point of disparity surrounding the death penalty related to the equality of its application. Are all citizens treated equal? This paper takes a closer look at the equality in the application of the death penalty and its effectiveness as a deterrent. Is the Death Penalty a Fair and Effective Deterrent in the United States? The death penalty came to the United States with the first European settlers and continued until the 1960’s. “The 1960s brought challenges to the fundamental legality of the death penalty. Before then, the Fifth, Eighth, and Fourteenth Amendments were interpreted as permitting the death penalty. However, in the early 1960s, it was suggested that the death penalty was a "cruel and unusual" punishment, and therefore unconstitutional under the Eighth Amendment.” (Bohm, 1999) Since the 1960’s courts have been battling the issue of the death penalty. Currently there are 38 states that have provisions for the death penalty. What is the purpose of the death...
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...The criminals who deserve it have done incredibly evil crimes. The death penalty serves to honor human dignity by bringing justice to innocent victims and treating the defendant as a free citizen able to control his own destiny, for better or worse. For my second contention, The Declaration of Independence states that people have the right to life, liberty, property and the pursuit of happiness. The Death Penalty is often said to be unconstitutional, but for a criminal to murder an innocent victim is unarguably against everything Americans stand for. Deserved punishment protects society by restoring an order of justice, making the criminal pay a price equivalent to the harm he has caused. This is retribution, and should not be mistaken with revenge, which is guided by a different motive. Stating my third contention, according to deathpenaltypro.org, there is no credible evidence to show any innocent person has been executed since the death penalty was reactivated in 1976. Even so, the inevitability of a mistake should not serve as a valid reason to eliminate the death penalty any more than the risk of having a fatal car accident should make driving a car illegal. An article from The Chicago Tribune, dated January 12, 2011 states that twenty people have been exonerated from death row in the last 30-plusyears after the criminal justice system found their sentences to be incorrect. In fact, this is proof that the system works. In our modern day criminal justice system, no...
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...and Against the Death Penalty from http://deathpenaltyinfo.msu.edu/ ARGUMENT 1 DETERRENCE The death penalty prevents future murders. Society has always used punishment to discourage would-be criminals from unlawful action. Since society has the highest interest in preventing murder, it should use the strongest punishment available to deter murder, and that is the death penalty. If murderers are sentenced to death and executed, potential murderers will think twice before killing for fear of losing their own life. For years, criminologists analyzed murder rates to see if they fluctuated with the likelihood of convicted murderers being executed, but the results were inconclusive. Then in 1973 Isaac Ehrlich employed a new kind of analysis which produced results showing that for every inmate who was executed, 7 lives were spared because others were deterred from committing murder. Similar results have been produced by disciples of Ehrlich in follow-up studies. Moreover, even if some studies regarding deterrence are inconclusive, that is only because the death penalty is rarely used and takes years before an execution is actually carried out. Punishments which are swift and sure are the best deterrent. The fact that some states or countries which do not use the death penalty have lower murder rates than jurisdictions which do is not evidence of the failure of deterrence. States with high murder rates would have even higher rates if they did not use the death penalty. Ernest van den...
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