...issue is very wrong and should be done away with immediately, which is my reason my choosing this topic. In this research paper, I plan to find reasons for wrongful convictions, the actual number, statistics, of individuals that have been wrongful convicted, and those individuals who have stepped up to make a difference in this dilemma. Although there aren’t any statistics kept by the Criminal Justice Department on the number of crimes that were recorded as wrongful convictions, research has estimated about 5% of the cases that are tried annual result in a false conviction. Since 1989, 1,241 people have been wrongfully convicted and later cleared of all charges based on evidence that they were innocent, according to the National Registry of Exonerations, a project of the law schools at the University of Michigan and Northwestern University (Clark 2013). The Michigan Innocence Clinic was the first clinic of its kind to work on non-DNA exonerations. Their work has revealed particular circumstances far too often seen in cases of wrongful conviction. These cases show us how the criminal justice system is in need of much repair and how the Michigan Innocence Clinic can combat troubling trends of the system. In each case that have been worked on, the Michigan Innocence Clinic have uncovered overlapping causes of wrongful convictions. There are many causes of wrongful convictions, but there are a few common causes that the Michigan Innocence Clinic have found:...
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...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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...capital sanctions are imposed on the state level for murder. Currently, thirty-two states have death penalty statutes. Of those thirty-two, only seven states carried out executions in 2014 (Bureau of Justice Statistics 2015). Those executions total 35 (Bureau of Justice Statistics 2015). As a result of the low number of executions carried out, experts in the United States have examined the efficiency of the death penalty. To accurately assess the economic costs of the death penalty, the difference between the costs...
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...Ethical Issues Paper 2 There are certain rights that criminal defendants involved in the criminal justice system have. These rights are in place to ensure that criminals are not receiving a punishment that is not conducive to the crime. Sometimes though the justice system fails and innocent people are required to spend time incarcerated for crimes they did not commit, and for extended periods. There are many reasons for wrongful convictions including mistaken eyewitness testimony and suggestive lineups; false confessions; perjury by perpetrators, witnesses, jailhouse snitches, and forensic examiners; “junk science;” sloppy laboratory procedures; “tunnel vision” by police and prosecutors and failures to obtain exculpatory evidence; prosecutor...
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...There have been over 300 post-conviction DNA exonerations in the history of the United States. Although the number is high, there are still many more wrongfully convicted people who’s still incarcerated and have yet to be considered for retrial. Unaddressed wrongful conviction cases show the weaknesses in the U.S. justice system. This paper will touch on the causes that lead to wrongful convictions and discuss possible solutions. The main factors of wrongful convictions are eyewitness misidentification, misleading/unreliable forensics, false confessions (coerced/intimidated), witness perjury, prosecutorial misconduct, insufficient lawyering, racism and implicit bias. Since the first DNA exoneration conviction in the United States case that...
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...punishment is the legal process whereby a person is put to death by the state, as a means of punishment for having committed a capital crime. In this essay, I will discuss some of the main advantages and disadvantages of capital punishment and whether capital punishment is a morally and ethically viable approach to punishment. I hold a firmly retentionist position and believe that the most just and fitting punishment for one who has committed a capital offence would be the death penalty. I will support my position with statistics showing that capital punishment has successfully been used to deter people from committing capital crimes. As well, I will discuss various philosophies regarding the morals of execution and punishment in general. My goal in writing this paper is not to force abolitionist thinkers to change their position with regards to capital punishment, but rather to show abolitionist thinkers that there is another way to look at capital punishment. Two of the main principles that are used to support the retentionist philosophy are deterrence and retributivism. Deterrence is the theory that the death penalty is morally just because it will deter would-be murderers from committing capital crimes, which carry a sentence of execution. Retributivism is the idea that criminals should be punished because they deserve to be punished, a robber must return what he stole while a murderer deserves to be put to death for having killed someone. The concept of deterrence is based...
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...ABSTRACT This research paper tries to expound the conundrums of Causation and Remoteness and the role played by them in tort law. They are two closely linked topics and are, more often than not, contingent upon each other. Through this paper, I have tried to discern the line of distinction between the two while explaining how and why they have become topics for contention among legal scholars. The focus of this paper has been on understanding the concepts and the importance they hold in the process of identifying a tortfeasor. The various tests which have been used in the past for identifying the cause and the ‘closeness’ of the cause have also been taken up. They have been discussed in detail using various case laws. The limitations of these tests have been explored as well. Under what condition does a cause, which may have been proximate, gets ignored has also been deliberated and discussed. Finally the paper is summed up with a general solution which can help law courts to decide on the matters in question without getting involved in the technicalities which currently persist. CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION 1.1 INTRODUCTION In order to understand the role of causation and remoteness in tortious liability it is imperative that we have a clear idea of what the term causation and remoteness imply in tort law. Very simply put - In a tort case, it is essential to discover whether there was some act or omission by the defendant which caused damage to the plaintiff...
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...two words together, you get witness misidentification which has been referred to as the single greatest cause of wrongful convictions nationwide, with nearly 75% of the convictions overturned through DNA testing. There have been 260 exonerations across the country based on forensic DNA testing with 3 out of 4 involving cases of eyewitness misidentification. (Innocence Project 1999) In 1907 or 1908, Hugo Munsterberg published “On the Witness Stand”; he questioned the reliability of eyewitness identification. As recent as 30 or 40 years ago, the Supreme Court acknowledged that eyewitness identification is problematic and can lead to wrongful convictions. The Supreme Court instructed lower courts to determine the validity of eyewitness testimony based on irrelevant factors, like the certainty of the witness, the certainty you express in court during the trial has nothing to do with how certain you feel two days after the event when you pick a photograph out of a set or pick the suspect out of a lineup. It has been said that you become more certain over time. (The Confidential Resource September 15, 2010) An eyewitness viewing a simultaneous lineup tends to make a judgment about which individual in the lineup looks most like the perpetrator relative to the other members of the lineup. This is particularly problematic when a lineup only contains innocent people. Research has shown that the effective use of fillers when composing a lineup can help combat the tendency for the relative...
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...What is death penalty? Death penalty is a form of punishment that involves the act of revenge to those people that commit a serious crime. Originally, death penalty viewed as an action that makes the criminal to pay the price to what they committed at the past. Death penalty is an irreversible form of punishment (Debate.org, 2013). It usually implement on person who commit on espionage, murder, or dealing drug crime. In the previous time, the methods to execute death penalty are very terror and cruel compare to now. This is because during past, death penalty normally does not see as the punishment but must be executed to ensure person was executed had to be painful (wisegeek, n.d.) Some of the common means of execution included crucifixion, boiling alive and etc. Until today, death penalty had been executed in more humane way. For example, electric chair, death by hanging or injection that can reduce the time of suffering for criminal. Recently, most of the country has executed death penalty as a form of punishment. The country with the most population among the world which is United State, China, India and Indonesia still practiced capital punishment. However, execution of death penalty is a very controversy form of punishment among the world. Many people started arguing whether the execution of death penalty is wrong since a long time ago. Although execution of death penalty is considered mandatory to deter criminal activity, there is several strong reason that death penalty...
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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 Use of the Death Penalty A Paper Presented by the National Policy Committee to The American Society of Criminology National Policy Committee James Austin, Chair Kitty Calavita Roland Chilton Jeffrey Fagan Calvin C. Johnson Delores Jones-Brown Mark Moore Ira Schwartz Linda Teplin Franklin Zimring November 2001 The findings and opinions contained herein are those of the National Policy Committee and do not necessarily reflect the official position or policies of the American Society of Criminology. Ronald Weitzer, Professor of Sociology, Dana Coleman, Research Assistant, and Sarah Benatar, Graduate Research Assistant at the Institute on Crime, Justice, and Corrections at George Washington University provided substantial assistance in the preparation of this document. Introduction Capital punishment is among the most hotly debated issues in American politics. Passions run high for both those who want the death penalty abolished and those who seek to preserve or expand its use. What follows is a summary of key issues in the death penalty debate, research findings on the application of capital punishment, and a discussion of policy considerations. The American Society of Criminology (ASC) is greatly concerned with the death penalty and its application in the United States. This year, ASC President Ronald Huff and the ASC Executive Board authorized the ASC’s National Policy Committee (NPC) to develop a policy paper that would focus on...
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...TITLE: FALSE IMPRISONMENT AS A TORT AND ITS REMEDIES BY: HARI PRIYA NALSAR UNIVERSITY OF LAW, SHAMIRPET, R.R. District, HYDERABAD-500 078. HARI PRIYA NALSAR TABLE OF CONTENTS TABLE OF CASES: ............................................................................ 2 Chapter 1: INTRODUCTION.............................................................. 3 1.1 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY ............................................. 3 1.2 RESEARCH PLAN .................................................................. 3 1.3 AIMS AND OBJECTIVES OF THE PROJECT ..................... 4 Chapter 2: PREAMBLE ...................................................................... 5 1.1 WHAT IS FALSE IMPRISONMENT ..................................... 5 1.2 WHO IS LIABLE FOR FALSE IMPRISONMENT ............... 8 Chapter 2: FALSE IMPRISONMENT AS A TORT ........................... 9 Chapter 3: INGREDIENTS OF TORT OF FALSE IMPRISONMENT ............................................................................. 15 Chapter 4: REMEDIES ..................................................................... 17 Chapter 5: CONCLUSION ............................................................... 20 Chapter 6: BIBLIOGRAPHY ........................................................... 22 1 haripriya91@gmail.com HARI PRIYA NALSAR TABLE OF CASES: A. K. Gopalan v. State of Madras .................................................................... 10 Altken vs Badwell (1827) Mood &...
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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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...Johnny J. Stewart Jr. Strayer University SCI 110 Professor Nina Walker July 21, 2014 ABSTRACT There are many different reasons why the reliability of eyewitness testimony in the United States judicial system today is all but flawed. There is only one way a witness can identify a suspect who has committed a crime, and it is called face to face recognition. Just getting a glimpse, bad weather, and bad lighting can hinder what a person can truly see. There have been several accounts of individuals that have been convicted, imprisoned, and put to death off of flawed testimonies by an eyewitness. In this I will attempt to show you my discussions of several statistics, convictions, exonerations, and key cases that will test the views of anyone when eyewitness testimonies are concerned. Within the past 30 years crimes were committed, and the people who witness these crimes made the cases have different outcomes. It used to be when a crime was committed, and someone came forward saying, “They have witnessed a crime”. History shows us when it comes to a traumatic experience dealing with crimes; the victims are different and as such react in many different ways. Most individuals panic, some are very calm, while others have no reaction whatsoever. The question has been raised about how reliable an eyewitness testimony truly is. Those who follow crime and courts trials know the stories are familiar and unnerving. Here is one case Cornelius Dupree spent 30 years Texas prison due...
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...The CPOE paper Toya Jacobs April 20, 2014 HCIS/255 The computerized physician order entry system formed by the Physician Order Team (POET) , permits doctors and other medical professionals to enter medical orders into an electronic database. Although there was much precaution in implementing the system, medical professionals have found that entering the medical information into a computer has reduces the number of errors in medical records. Since some medical professionals handwriting is hard to read and maybe confused which could prove to be fatal for patients. The system also assist physicians in making plan of care decisions for patients based off medical evidence that is access through the system. Computerized physician order entries allow permits the authorization of procedures and send referrals for patients. Many were hesitate about converting over to the CPOE system because it was thought to be very costly. The system initially cost the United States an estimated $1.1 billion dollar but it is projected to save money in the future. The benefits of the CPOE system is a reduction in medical errors and medication errors. The system has built-in alerts that will sound if an error is detected in the system, giving the medical professional a chance to correct it before it proves to be troublesome. Even though the startup of the system may be expensive ranging from $3- $10 million dollars depending on the size of the medical facility, it could save a medical facility...
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