...of punishment is reasonable, it’s the amount of time these convicts are being sentenced under mandatory minimum sentencing that is the root of the problem. Mandatory minimums have been sparking controversy throughout America for quite some time. These sentences have been seen as the most outrageous sentencings for nonviolent criminals. This problem raises a major question: Should criminals charged with nonviolent crimes be given mandatory minimum sentences? Mandatory minimum sentences are sentences that require a criminal, convicted...
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...other parties participate in this process. They include prosecutors, defense attorneys, witnesses, judges, and juries” (Wright, 2013). Let’s take a look from beginning to end. First and foremost there is an investigation by law enforcement officers. The purpose of a criminal investigation is to gather evidence to identify a suspect and support an arrest. An officer tried to gain enough evidence to get a probable cause. A probable cause is the standard of proof required for a search. “Probable cause is sufficient proof that would lead a reasonable person to believe a person has committed a crime” (Wright, 2013). Probably cause deals with crimes that have already been committed and that there is evidence pointing to a certain person. Probable cause allows for search warrants to be issued and suspects to be detained. If there is no probable cause or a crime that has already occurred an officer may act on reasonable suspicion. When it comes to reasonable suspicion officers can solely rely on their training, experience, and understanding of criminal behavior. In the court's language, “We merely hold today that where a police officer observes unusual conduct which leads him reasonably to conclude in light of his experience that criminal activity may be afoot and that the persons with whom he is dealing may be armed and...
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...every country in the world, America has the highest incarceration rate, and the War on Drugs is to blame. In 1971, President Nixon declared a “War on Drugs” following a rise in popularity of recreational use of illicit substances. He largely increased the size of federal drug control agencies, in addition to putting in place mandatory minimum sentences. The amount of people in prison for nonviolent drug offenses increased from 50,000 in 1980 to over 400,000 by 1997 (A Brief History of the Drug War). Moreover, when we look at the demographics of our prisons, there is a large discrepancy. Thus, we are begged with the question: Why are our prisons disproportionately filled with brown-skinned people? The institutionalized racism that...
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...Lonestar College CRIJ1310 Fall 2014 Exam 1 Name________________________________________________________________ 1. An example of a non-criminal wrong is a ___. a. tort b. crime c. violation d. penal act 2. When a ___ occurs, the State brings the action against a defendant. a. tort b. crime c. violation d. penal act 3. ___ crimes are acts that are inherently wrong or evil. a. mala in se b. mala prohibita c. felonies d. misdemeanors 4. ___ crimes are offenses that are criminal only because there is a statute or ordinance that says it is. a. mala in se b. mala prohibita c. felonies d. misdemeanors 5. ___ are crimes punishable by death or confinement for a specific period of time or more (usually one year) and fine. a. mala in se b. mala prohibita c. felonies d. misdemeanors 6. ___ are crimes that are punishable by a fine and or confinement in local jail (generally up to one year). a. mala in se b. mala prohibita c. felonies d. misdemeanors 7. Sources f criminal law include all but, ___. a. codes b. common law c. city ordinances d. public opinion 8. ___ is defined as inflicting pain or other unpleasant consequence on another person a. punishment b. incarceration c. retribution d. deterrence 9. Criminal Punishment criteria includes all but, ___. a. inflicting pain or other unpleasant consequence b. prescribing a punishment in the same law defining the crime c. intentional administration ...
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...In most Federal Criminal cases, if a person is convicted, the sentence will be determined by using the United States Sentencing Guidelines. The Guidelines were created by the U.S. Congress in the 1980′s. The Guidelines were created with the goal of achieving uniformity in Federal criminal sentences across the United States. In other words, if you are convicted and sentenced for participating in a Federal drug conspiracy case in the Eastern District of Texas, your sentence should be substantially like that of a similarly situated person in another part of the country. The Guidelines are formulaic and they operate to calculate a prison term using several criteria. Broadly speaking, these can be broken down into several categories. 1. The nature of the crime 2. The accused person’s criminal history 3. Certain aggravating or mitigating factors that may or may not be present in a particular case. NATURE OF THE OFFENSE The place to begin the analysis is the “base offense level”, which may be found in Chapter 2 of the United States Sentencing Guidelines Manual. Each particular crime is assigned a base offense level. In drug conspiracy cases for example, the base offense level increases with the amount of drugs for which the accused person is responsible. CRIMINAL HISTORY The base offense level is only the first step. In order to properly analyze a likely Guidelines sentence, one must also determine the so called Criminal History Category of the accused...
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...Life without parole is the harshest punishment given to juvenile delinquents. Since minors are still developing, it is argued that life without parole is only used as punishment for extenuating circumstances such as felony homicide. The Supreme Court has ruled that it is unconstitutional to give life without parole to juveniles that commit “non-homicide” crimes (Kaiser 2012). In a recent Supreme Court ruling, a 5-4 vote opposed the mandatory sentencing of life without parole for children ages 18 and under (Savage 2012). This means that state laws need to take age and the nature of the crime into consideration before issuing a life sentence without the possibility of parole. Because of the harsh permanent nature of this punishment, other alternative sentences should be considered when handling juvenile cases. Life without parole should only be used as a last resort based on the individual case. Criminal sentencing is based on the “moral wrong committed” and the debt owed to society (Kaiser 2012). The basis of the law is to gain retribution for the actions, deter future crimes and to rehabilitate existing inmates (Kaiser 2012). Ideally the thought of life without the possibility of parole should be enough to deter anyone from doing a heinous crime. However, many of the prison cells are occupied by inmates with no possibility of parole. This penalty is setting a moral example by making sure that the person is unable to commit the offense again and to decrease the likelihood of...
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...The United State Constitution CJ 310-02 Criminal Law April 7, 2011 In Criminal law, there is an ancient proposition saying,” no crime without law, no punishment without law. That in criminal law is based on the principle of legality. The ancient saying means that no one can be convicted or punished, unless there is a law that defines it’s as a crime. The case of Treva Hughes, Ms Hughes was driving while under the influence. She ran into Ms. Reesa Poole and killing her unborn child and was convicted. The Appeals Court reversed her conviction because the law didn’t give Ms. Hughes fair warning that it included the unborn in homicide stature. An Ex Post Facto Laws criminalizes an act that was innocent when it was committed. It is the clearest example of ex post facto laws, they’re also the rarest. Ex Post Facto also increases the punishment for a crime after the crime was committed. Just as clear an rare like the first one. An example is raising the age of statutory rape form 16 to 21. Finally it takes away a defense that was available to a defendant when the crime was committed. The Ex Post Facto ban is protect private individuals by ensuring that legislature give them a fair warning about criminal and that they can rely on that requirement. The other purpose is to prevent legislators form passing arbitrary and vindictive laws. The Void-for-Vagueness Doctrine takes aim similar to the ban on ex post facto. Void laws fails to give fair warning to individuals...
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...and the decision has been made in this case. The judge now take the arguments in to consideration and pass down a judgment on the sentence the defendant will face. The defendant is charged with Homicide, kidnapping, burglary, assault of a police officer, and possession of drugs. The facts that lead to homicide are Uma Opee was stabbed 13 times and the skin particles under the victim’s nails matched the DNA to Stu Dents. The facts leading to the assault on a police officer comes when he punched Officer T. Chur in the face and yelled "Alien". Kidnapping comes from the fact that Mr. Dents used rope to tie the victim and he stuffed her mouth with cloth. Burglary charges are result of Mr. Dents entering the victim’s apartment without permission to be there and having the intent to commit a crime within that residence. Mr. Dents is also charged with possession of drugs because in his house was drugs that were found, the same drug ecstasy with the "thumbs-up" imprint found at the victim's apartment. In the State v. Stu Dent case the charge of Homicide carries the most weight of any of the charges. Mr. Dents is charged with Murder due the fact that the victim was stabbed 13 times and evidence supported the fact that Mr. Dent was guilty of such crime. Mr. Dent showed no regard for human life in his horrendous act of killing another person. The sentence that Mr. Dent should receive should be the maximum allowed by law. The main evidence is placing the victim in the same area as the...
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...issues surrounding the content of Bill C-10. This essay will examine issues that affect the criminal code and provide evidence that the Bill is not progressive for Canada to deal with crime and the judicial process. By looking at the issues such as mandatory minimum sentences and the proposition of the bill we will look at the challenges that will be faced and met. The bill also introduces eliminating conditional sentences and eliminates double credit for time already served as well as introduces changes to the Youth Criminal Justice Act to impose harsher sentences for young offenders. This essay will delve into information that will bring the various issues to light. Firstly an explanation of Bill C-10 will be provided to understand what changes will be made to the Criminal code and who it affects. The dissection of the Bill will open the dialogue for this essay for appropriating topical issues with the concept of progress in a manner that reflects the trouble that this Bill brings to Canadian society. Bill C-10 was introduced by the Minister of Justice on the 20th of September 2011. The Act includes the enactment of the Justice for Victims of Terrorism Act and amendments to the State Immunity Act, the Criminal Code, the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act, the Corrections and Conditional Release Act, the Youth Criminal Justice Act, the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act and other relevant legal documents (parl.gc.ca). Bill C-10 is also titled the Safe Streets and Communities...
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...Number: Courts Graded Project Examination Number: Summary Number One Link: Article Title: “Montana Appeals Former Teacher’s One-Month Sentence for Rape of Teen” By: Karen Smith, CNN http://www.cnn.com/2013/11/30/justice/montana-rape-30-day-sentence/ Opinionated Summary Number One: In the year 2008 Cherise Morales, a fourteen year-old female from Montana, was allegedly raped by her 47-year-old teacher, Stacy Dean Rambold. This crime came with a great price, not for Rambold, but to the family of Cherise Morales when she committed suicide in 2010. Rambold was charged with three counts of sexual intercourse without consent in 2008, pled guilty in August of 2013, and was sentenced to just thirty one days incarceration by District Judge G. Todd Baugh. As if Judge Baugh didn’t realize the sentence he imposed would seem unfair to the family of the victim and create massive amounts of controversy he went on to say that Morales, “Seemed older than her chronological age,” and a court document said, “The circumstance of a 47-year-old teacher having sexual intercourse with his 14-year-old student is precisely such a circumstance warranting a mandatory minimum sentence.” A few days more than two months after Judge Baugh imposed this sentence he now claims to have made a blunder in his previous ruling and was unaware the minimum sentence was two years. In an apologetic statement Judge Baugh said, “I made some references to the victim’s age and control. I’m not sure just what I...
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...to introduce the recreational use of marijuana to the American culture. The drug and its effects along with the fear and prejudice about the newcomers...
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...Introduction. Historically, castration has been often used as a punishment to sex offenders. However, by late 19th Century, most of the castration sentences were disallowed upon appeal (Spalding, 1998). For this reason, legislative systems have made into law legislations that will revive the ancient castration method to condemn such men. However, this procedure has not escaped criticism from psychological, medical and psychiatric professionals. Some critics, such as the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), believe that mandatory chemical castration of sex offenders due to court order is unconstitutional (Spalding, 1998). The opponents of castration also argue that side effects associated with chemical castration such as serious allergic reactions...
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...with the intent of having all the employees working by July. On May 15, Carl’s Supervisor, Monica Carrolls, informed him about organizing the employment issues, for example, training schedule, policy booklets, orientation, manuals, policy booklets, drug tests, and a host of other issues. He guaranteed all arrangements were complete in a timely manner. When reviewing the new trainee’s records numerous problems surfaced. For example, Robins witnessed incomplete paperwork was unfinished, not one trainee went to the clinic for mandatory drug test, and the trainee orientation manuals were piecemeal or had pages missing. Discouraged, Carl took a quick walk, returns to work, checks the scheduling of the training facility for use in trainee orientation, and discovered that Joe had reserved the room for the entire month of June from technology services. He comes back to his office astonished and puts his head down on his desk thinking what he was going to do now. Carl Robins’ first recruitment effort, Carl faced many difficulties that needed addressing to decide the new hire orientation scheduled to occur June 15. These difficulties were incomplete trainee applications and transcripts. None of the trainees went to the clinic for mandatory drug screening tests; there was a shortage of trainee’s orientation manuals...
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... Company Management By Name Presented to ------------------------ Date Plea Bargaining A plea bargain is a negotiation between the defense attorney and the prosecutor that is presented to the defendant. Plea bargaining is vital in keeping the courts from being overwhelmed with trials. There are two different types of plea bargaining: charge bargaining and sentence bargaining. There are advantages and disadvantages to both the defendant and the prosecution in plea bargaining. Crime control advocates and due process advocates do not see plea bargaining in the same fashion. A guilty verdict doesn’t always result from a trial. It mostly results from a voluntary plea by the defendant. A plea bargain is when a prosecutor offers the defendant the opportunity to plead guilty to the original charge or a lesser charge for a lesser than the maximum sentence. For a plea bargain to be negotiated; the prosecutor needs to offer the defendant a reeducation of severity of the charges, reduction of the number of charges or a reduction in sentence. Unless one or more of these items are met, there will not be a plea bargain. A plea bargain is between the prosecutor and the defense attorney. Once the prosecutor presents the offer to the defense; it has to be taken to the defendant for approval. Once the pros and cons are discussed and the defendant agrees and accepts the plea, it is presented to the judge. Plea bargains often occur when the defendant...
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...local and state courts to implement truth-in-sentencing and alternative sentencing concepts to lessen the burden of overcrowded prison systems. The grants divided in half for building prisons to increase the bed space for violent offenders, and the other half for alternative solutions to incarceration. The incentive funds used for more alternative solutions; prison islands, or barges, or closed military bases. Sentencing Drug Statistics The Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) reported four to one ratio of prisoners showed under the influence of drugs, or alcohol while committing the current crime, or at the time of the violation (Langan, P, & Levin, D, 2002). The BJS showed detailed statistics report of 400; 000 people arrested for drugs, or drug-related offenses; 70% sent to state prisons, 40% drug-related offenses, 32% alcohol-related offenses, and 20% other violent crimes. The survey researched by the Department of Justice (DOJ) along with the (BJS) report shows out of 100 inmates surveyed 70%, agreed when doing criminal activity under the influence of drugs or alcohol. These nonviolent, low-level women and juvenile offenders need alternative solutions to incarceration for treatment, and re-training; educational and social skills (Langan, & Levin, 2002). Rehabilitation v Prison Differences The differences between rehabilitation and...
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