...Devin Mayo English 101 03/30/14 Free Mary According to government surveys over one-hundred million Americans have used marijuana in their lifetime, Twenty-five million have used in the past year, and fourteen million use on a regular basis despite the laws against it. It has been reported to be the third most popular recreational drug in America (only behind alcohol and tobacco). It also has been proven to be less harmful than alcohol and tobacco in numerous occasions. Which brings up the question why is this drug not legal. In 1905 El Paso, Texas banned marijuana as a way of discouraging Mexican-American subcultures from developing. By the 1930's it was banned over thirty states in America. Marijuana related arrest for possession sadly affect African-American and Hispanics reinforcing the perception that law enforcement is biased and prejudiced against minorities. According to the New York Times "Minorities were nearly four times as likely as whites to be arrested on charges of marijuana possession, even though the two groups used the drug at similar rates, according to new federal data". The laws against this drug are executed primarily against minorities in this country. On June 18, 1971 President Richard Nixon held a press conference regarding our nation’s drug abuse and prevention, the day that he introduced our country to the term "War on Drugs". On this day he declared drug abuse to be "public enemy number one", stating his devotion to more federal resources to...
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...sources of reclamation in prison and the choice of parole supported reclamation. Captive reclamation, parole, probation, and community disciplines will be outlined along with talking about how captive reclamation strike prisons also as how it bears on general society. Additional subjects to deal include the how parole is dissimilar from obligatory release, how probation equivalences to other cast of condemning, and how community disciplines bear on society. The author will recommend betterments to captive reclamation, suggest a finer resolution to the ongoing probation and parole systems, and make a conjecture about the overall efficiency of community corrections. The final step implies describing prison systems in foreign nations, accosting how other states see captivity and put it into use, and ascertaining what would take place if the U.S. prison system adopted another state's prison system. Prisoner Rehabilitation Prisoner reclamation involves particular programs that assist make a captive a ameliorate individual with the purpose of ceasing their felonious behavior. Reclamation in prisons comprises of educating captives, instructing them vocational skills, providing spiritual and extra activities, and providing therapy. These programs assist captives amend themselves and hopefully put a finish to their felonious behavior. Captive reclamation bears upon prisons as the prisons have to provide the programs essential to better the captives. Prisons target to find the correct...
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...Argument Essay Comp I April 16, 2014 Zoos are Prisons When I was a child I loved going to the oversized Fort Worth Zoo, but now I am older and more aware of the truth about zoos. To the general public, zoos give the impression that they are there to educate and preserve endangered animals while performing beneficial research, but that is not entirely true. The actual truth behind the scenes of most zoos, not all zoos, is very sad and ugly. I will never visit or support another zoo now that I am aware of how those animals have to live when kept in captivity. Zoos are prisons for wild and exotic animals that deserve to be free. The first reason I am against zoos is because of the fact that they are not fully committed to the well-being of the wild and exotic animals they inhabit. I agree with the “Last Chance for Animals Organization” when they said, “While zoos claim to provide conservation, education, and entertainment, their primary goal is to sustain public support in order to increase profits” (“Zoos”). It is a fact that many zoos are aware that baby animals attract crowds so they breed their animals frequently for the sole purpose of making more money (“Animal”). Once these cute babies start to grow up, zoos very sadly begin to discard of them in various ways (“Zoos”). This only shows that zoos are in fact putting profit, entertainment, and the creation of new attractions above the well-being of their animals. Zoos are also guilty of choosing big animals that...
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...Overcrowded prisons are a huge issue that have been plaguing the United States for quite a few years now. There is no certain cause for the overcrowding in our prisons, however there are many suspected reasons believed to be causing the overcrowding. In order to really begin fixing the problem, concern must be given to each and every one of these causes. Overcrowding in prisons is a serious issue because it affects millions of people in the U.S., not just prisoners, but taxpayers and prison staff as well. Illinois, in particular, is suffering from overcrowded prisons quite severely. Nearly every prison in the state is overcrowded. In order to solve this increasingly serious problem, many steps must be taken to begin prison reform and to begin living in a country in which the way we punish our criminals makes more sense and is more effective than how it is today. Everyone seems to know someone that is in prison these days, whether the person has committed a serious, violent crime, or just got caught up in the wrong place at the wrong time, they still end up in some sort of prison facility. In fact the U.S.’s rate of incarceration is 455 people per every 100,000 people (Smolowe, 1994). To put that in perspective, it is the highest rate of incarceration compared to any other country in the world. Even South Africa, our close second, only imprisons 311 people per ever 100,000 (Smolowe, 1994). Due to the harsh punishment of imprisonment for even the most minor...
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...prevailing wages. This act applies to contractors and subcontractors who perform on federally funded or assisted contracts in excess of $2000 for construction, alteration, repair, painting, and decorating of public works. 3. Norris-LaGuardia Anti-Injunction Act 1932: A United States federal law that created a positive right of employers not interfering against workers joining trade unions. Also, it banned yellow dog contracts and barred the federal courts from issuing injunctions against nonviolent labor disputes. 4. National Labor Relations (Wagner) Act 1935: A statue of the United States labor law that allowed private sector employees to organize into trade unions, bargain for better terms and working conditions collectively. 5. Walsh-Healey Public Contracts Act 1936: This act established overtime pay for contractor employers who worked more than 8 hours per day or 40 hours per week. It also set the minimum wage equal to the prevailing wage determined by the Secretary of Labor. It also prohibits employment of children younger tha16 and current convicts in prison. It set standards for convict labor, job health, and safety standards. 6. Hatch Act and amendments 1939: Under this act Executive Branch members of federal government, federal state and local employers, and the District of Columbia government are restricted from political activity. It was amended in 1993...
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...Introduction to Criminal Justice Assignment 8_08 Part A 1. Describe the loss of the right to vote for inmates who are incarcerated. Prisoners are citizens too. They may have committed a felony, but they are still citizens of their home country. Some people think prisoners should not have the right to vote, but many others think they should. About two million people in U.S. are in prison. All those people do not get to cast a vote in the election. They are not able to decide who runs the country they live in. Imagine not being able to have a say in our country. We are a democracy, which means everyone has the right to vote in our government. Prisoners should be allowed to vote because they still are citizens and still have rights. Prisoners should be able to vote and influence the outcome of an election . If all the prisoners were allowed to vote it may have an impact on the election. Prisoners want the chance to vote. As of February 2011 the United States was in the lead of number of prisoners with 2,019,234. Prisoners do not have a say in the government. In New York people who are on parole cannot vote. As of 2004 thirty-five states forbid people who have just been released from prison to vote. In the constitution it states everyone is given the right to vote. Amendment 15 is the voting rights act. In the first section of this amendment, it states the right to vote cannot be taken away from people based on their color, race, or what has happened previously in their...
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...BAIL DISPARITY Racial disparity in the United States can be traced to the birth of the nation. The disparity is evident on a daily basis in our criminal justice system. In fairness to the United States, racial disparity is unique to no one country on the planet. The following information was gathered to answer the question about the bail system, “What can be done to prevent arbitrary and potentially prejudiced decisions from being made?” In order to answer that question I will cite information contained in the U.S. Constitution, United States Attorneys Manual, and documented research done in conjunction with the Federal Bureau of Investigations U.S. CONSTITUTION First, the Constitution of the United States says that “excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted." The wording allows judges and justices to interpret and apply this rule as they see fit. UNITED STATES ATTORNEY’S MANUAL The manual states that the United States Supreme Court has made clear this amendment to restrict the imposition of excessive bail without establishing a right to bail in criminal cases stating "the eighth amendment does not grant an absolute right to bail," United States v. Salerno, 481 U.S. 739, 754-55 (1987). The subject of bail and detention also entangles the Fourteenth Amendment's Due Process Clause, requiring that laws requiring pretrial detention must "serve a compelling governmental interest." In federal...
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...in people’s hands. Therefore I believe there should be tighter gun control laws in place. We do have the rights to bear arms but I do believe it should be monitor and restricted to some degree. This will help in decreasing the number of homicide and other gun related accidents. Gun control is a serious issue that most believe is saying take guns away from citizens; do not allow them to protect themselves. This is not what gun control is about. Gun control is “law controlling gun ownership: legal measures to license, control, or restrict the ownership of firearms by members of the public” (Encarta World Dictionary) This is why gun control is a topic people try to stay away from, because they don’t actually know what gun control really is and how it works. Gun control is so important because of the fact that it can tell who can control guns and who can’t. It enables us to know what can stop guns from going in the hands of convicted felonies and killers. This can be adjusted though because guns still make their way into felonies hands, and allow them to commit more crimes and use fire arms such as hand guns or worst assault rifles. A way of altering this is by putting people that want to purchase fire arms through mental test, background test and family history test. In china they don’t have the problem we have because they do not allow private citizens to either own or sale guns. However in China, gun crime is rare, as private citizens are forbidden from owning...
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...12 April 2012 Capital punishment also known as the death penalty is the process by which convicted criminals are executed by the federal government. The death penalty has always been part of human history; there is archaeological evidence that proves executions were practiced as early as the 8th century BCE. The first execution in the American colonies took place in Virginia in 1608 when George Kendall was accused of espionage. By 1612, many colonies approved the method of execution by hanging or firing squad; the executions were made public in an effort to increase fear of committing a crime (Issitt, Micha L.Newton, Heather). Executions were abolished in 1972, by the Supreme Court during the Furman v. Georgia. The court ruled that death sentences are handed down arbitrarily, violating the 18th amendment of the U.S. constitution and where “cruel and unusual” (Farley Matchett). The United States did not perform any capital punishments for five years. Then, in 1976 the death penalty was reinstated and Gary Gilmore was the first person to be executed after this hiatus (Issitt, Micha L.Newton, Heather). In a modern society that values life, righteousness and justice, the United States is still part of a decreasing number of countries that still use this sort of punishment. The death penalty is a highly debatable topic since it makes it hard for an observer to pick a side, because for every point there is a counterpoint. From where I stand, after making extensive research, the death...
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...United States Prison System: The War on Drugs The United States of America is no longer the home of the free. It is the home of the locked up and caged. How can this nation embrace the concept of freedom when over 2.4 million of its citizens are locked up in prison? How can Americans have the nerve to utter the words, “racial equality” when over 10% of all African-American men is incarcerated? How can we take pride in a nation that locks up its citizens that suffer from the disease of addiction? This should be an embarrassment to all Americans. The criminal justice system must be reformed and surrender the “War on Drugs.” According to the June 2008 Bureau of Justice Summary, Americans make up only four and a half percent of the world’s population yet boasts twenty-two percent of the world’s incarcerated population. According to the same report, the American Criminal Justice System imprisons six times more of its population than other free nations such as Canada, Australia, Germany, Spain, and Italy. America incarcerates ten times more of its population than Japan, France, and Finland. We have the highest rate of incarceration in the world, much higher than China, Russia, Iran, Cuba, and North Korea whom we consider fascias police states. The 2009 statistics reported in the Prison Index showed that one third of African-American men will serve time in prison at some point in their life. The Bureau of Justice statistics reported, “The number of inmates in...
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...United States are committed with guns and so it’s with that statistic in mind, that guns do without a shadow of a doubt, sound dangerous (Agresti & Smith). As a matter of fact guns are very dangerous, but that does not mean that our constitutional rights should be stripped. Just because a chain saw is dangerous doesn’t meant we can’t use it to cut down a tree. We drive cars on a daily basis and more fatalities are caused by cars than any other thing in the USA excluding sickness and diseases (Hitti); we use lots of things that our dangerous in our everyday lives and we should not single out guns just because they can be harmful. People advocating gun control would dispute that firearms raise the risk of fatal accidents happening in households across the United States. Accidents do occur, and sadly they take away our family and friends. With that in mind, fatal firearm accidents are responsible for only 0.5% of all fatal accidents in the United States each year on average. It ranks 16th on the list of the 20 leading causes of fatal accidents in the United States (CDC). Guns are not toys and should be kept in safe places in households; gun owners take on a responsibility once they bring a gun into their home and should know how to take proper care of...
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...gun control side believe that gun ownership is a Constitutional right backed by the Second Amendment. The anti-gun believe that you should be able to posses and own any firearm. They also believe that gun laws only restrict the law abiding citizens. Pro-gun control believe that guns are the backbone to our crime problem. They also believe that gun laws help keep guns of the street and deter crime. The Second Amendment reads," A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed" (Caplan p32). "Underlying this amendment are two goals of an individual and collective defense from violence and aggression, which have been recognized by Congress" ( Caplan P.32). The second amendment should help secure right of the people to have a gun in their home. " The government should not be permitted to declare who would or would not be able to bear arms on the basis of vague religious tests or any other nebulous standard or artifice" ( Caplan p.39). The first infringement on the Second Amendment came on November 30, 1993 when President Clinton signed Brady Bill I. The law required that there be a five day waiting period on all hand gun purchases. The Brady Bill also banned semi-automatic rifles and other military type weapons. ( Moore 1994 p.434) The five day waiting period is suppose to stop felons...
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...Part 1 - Weimar Germany 1918-1929 1) The Treaty of Versailles ▪ Kaiser abdicates November 9th 1918, Armistice (cease-fire) signed November 11th ▪ Treaty of Versailles signed June 1919 ▪ It is a DIKTAT – something forced on to Germany. Allies say that they will carry on the war if Germans do not sign. ▪ For many Germans the defeat in WW1, national humiliation, the Treaty of Versailles, the Weimar constitution & democracy are all linked – helps explain why democracy is weak in Germany ▪ Terms of the Treaty – ▪ Germany has to pay REPARATIONS (fixed in 1921 as £6600 million) ▪ Germany loses all its COLONIES (overseas parts of their empire) ▪ German army limited to 100,000 men with no air force & a small navy with only 6 battleships and no submarines ▪ 13% of Germany is now transferred to neighbouring countries as the map is redrawn ▪ Germany loses land to France (Alsace-Lorraine), Belgium, Poland (Posen & West Prussia) & Denmark ▪ 15% of German coal mines are lost in map changes ▪ Many Germans blame the defeat in the war on “the stab in the back” (DOLCHSTOSS) – i.e. the Socialists / Communists / Jews betrayed Germany & the army was never defeated. This myth makes it harder to accept the Treaty ▪ Treaty weakened democracy in Germany and the German economy ▪ Friedrich Ebert appointed Chancellor in October 1918 2) The Weimar Constitution ▪ A National Assembly was elected to write this new constitution ▪ It met in Weimar because Berlin was...
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...Through the example the Anti-Saloon league, one would find it rather easy to see just how influential the presence of finance in political elections is. Such limitless vote-buying erodes the very ideals of democracy that were integral to the founding of this nation, taking away from the idea that every citizen should have a say in public policy rather than faceless corporate conglomerates who desire augmented profit and cost marginalization above all else. The Supreme Court case of Citizens United in 2009 marked a loss for the general citizenry against special interest groups and lobbyists. Jeffrey Toobin and John Blake highlight the factors contributing to limitless campaign financing, their effects, and historical events which may give us some insight as to how our contemporary system is functioning...
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...with the word “terror.” One of those names is Joseph Stalin. He served as the General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union for a period of 30 years from 1922 until 1952. During his reign, millions perished as the result of his totalitarian terror machine. He eliminated all those who he saw as a threat, whether they were actually a threat or not. Stalin’s uses of propaganda were crucial in maintaining power. The totalitarian state controlled education; making sure that the subjects were in line with what Stalin wanted. History books were rewritten to overplay Stalin’s part in the Revolution of 1917 and his relationship with Lenin, who was a father of the revolution. Many previously printed books were banned and the new ones were censored. Stalin, just like Hitler, developed a cult of personality. Many people blindly believed everything that Stalin and the Communist Party put out. This blind belief coupled with fear gave Stalin the ability to use state terror against his own people. Many were executed and many more sent to perish in the vast emptiness of Siberia. In order to better understand state terrorism in The Soviet Union, it is important to understand what lead up to it, how and why the state used terrorism, how the international community viewed the situation, as well as what was the final outcome. In order to comprehend state terror under Joseph Stalin, it is important to recognize what conditions led up to it. Vladimir Lenin was first...
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