...Get Prison” we basically read and learn more about the high crime rate in America, and what excuses we make for these high crime rates. We can see that the crime rates have fluctuated over time since the 1900’s, but even at some of the times of the lowest crime rates in America, it was still higher that even the higher crime rates in most other Western industrial societies. When making comparisons with the US and European countries, we learn that there is a much higher rate of lethal violence, such as suicide in the US. Even though the rates of violent crime in America has declined over recent years, author’s believe that this has more to do with changes in America’s economic status rather than law’s and government policies. Some of the changes in the crime rates could have to do with the “imprisonment binge”, but the number of incarcerated criminals does not reduce the number of criminals we have in America, it just reduces the number of criminals we have roaming free in America. We know that crime is not completely avoidable, and the government has been making changes to help reduce the risks and the likeliness of lethal and dangerous crimes happening. Some of the precautions that have been made include: effective gun control, decriminalization if illicit drugs, amelioration of poverty, the prevention of child abuse or neglect, and they also are taking precautions for at-risk adolescents. In America, there are many “excuses” for the high crime rates that we have. Some of the...
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...Unfortunately, none of us can live forever and while eliminating taxes seems like a long shot, we can certainly lower it. To do that, we must have a strong economy. To have a strong economy, we cannot have one of the biggest economic drains in the nation: Illegal Immigrants. There are an estimated number of twenty million illegal immigrants in the United States. These criminals are leeches of our economic system as most of them do not pay taxes. The criminals also drain our economy by taking our jobs. Illegal Immigrants ruin the standard of living for hard-working American citizens and legal immigrants by using our social service programs from OUR taxes. It’s not simply economical issues that make it horrible and preposterous for these criminals to be accepted, it’s moral principle. Illegal Immigrants in general, do not pay taxes. Why is that? These kinds of criminals are virtually invisible to law enforcement. They are undocumented. They don’t have valid birth certificates, social security cards or passports. Since they are about as easy to find as finding Waldo in the bible, they pretty much have simply an option of paying taxes or not and as human nature dictates, we mostly do not spend more than we have to with getting nothing in return. In America today, we have an unemployment rate today of about five percent. Why? It is true that a lot of it has to do with the United States government interfering with our business. However, a large portion of that...
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...Gun Control Research Gun control is an ongoing, heated debate in America. Various states have decided to take action against guns as a deterrent to crime. Nevertheless, are guns really the main factor in causing crimes, or are the criminals themselves to blame? There are two sides involved with the gun debate. The anti-gun campaign with supporters like Coalition to Stop Gun Violence, Cease Fire, and Mothers Against Violence in America are pressuring the government to have stricter laws or ban guns all together. On the other side of the debate, the most prominently heard voice it that of the National Rifle Association or NRA. However, there are others such as Women Against Gun Control and Gun Owners of America. The pro-gun lobbyists are trying to convince the government that outlawing guns will not affect the criminals but leave the honest individual defenseless. Guns are a necessary form of self-protection because the majority of the gun control laws we have are ineffective, criminals are able to obtain guns no matter how many laws we have against it, and the new “smart” technology will only hurt us in the long run. Guns, when used and operated correctly, can be a very effective form of self-protection. “There is only one police officer on patrol for every 3,300 people” (Polsby and Brennen 3). This is probably one of many reasons that “about 83 percent of the population will be victims of violent crime at some point in their lives” (Polsby and Brennen 3). Statistics...
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...The criminal justice system uses a lot of terminology that can be hard to understand, two words commonly used are disparity and discrimination. In this essay I will define and give current examples of the terminology. I will also explain why knowing the difference between the two is important in the criminal justice system. Disparity and discrimination are similar terms. You might be asking yourself what is disparity? Disparity can be defined as a lack of similarity or equality. Diversity can be defined as the condition of having or being composed of differing elements. One current and highly controversial form of discrimination that we are facing worldwide is same sex marriages. No matter if you are for it or against it you have seen or been affected in some way by the topic. By not allowing same sex marriages to be validated we are discriminating against the gay and lesbian community. There are still many forms of discrimination that take place in today’s society; unfortunately a lot of discrimination is racially based. We also see a lot of gender based discrimination; typically men are still paid more than women for the exact same job. America is the most racially diverse demographic nation in the world. Many people working the criminal justice systems are aware of the racial disparity and would like to counteract it. Racial disparity in the criminal justice system exists when the proportion of the racial or ethnic group within control of the system is greater than the...
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...Day-to-Day Mass Shooting cannot be prevented By Katherine Zelaya Mass shootings have caused many controversy in our American community. People should stay at home safe instead of going to shopping centers, movie theatres, and other public places risking the danger due to all the violence and massacres going on in America. Throughout the decade there has been many cases involving interactions with people in possession of guns. Since as long as I know, mass shootings have become a global issue that has increased within the years. In addition, mass shootings have doubled within the past 10 years, not to mention, these crimes have resulted in numerous deaths, due to the wrong people in possession of firearms. Occurrences like...
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...have denounced the practice as criminal (“100 Countries”). Why have so many legislations ruled prostitution as illegal? Because in today’s society, the majority believes that prostitution takes away women’s control over their own bodies, subjects them to abuse and violence, and spreads sexually transmitted diseases. However, if we dig deeper into the issue, we find that legalizing prostitution may actually be more beneficial than not legalizing. What’s the Common Argument? The common argument supported by most Americans is that prostitution should be illegal due to its negative implications on women and society. Prostitution Takes Away Women’s Rights According to a report on human trafficking and prostitution funded by the U.S. Department of Justice, 80% of prostitutes feel that they have been involuntarily coerced into working in the industry (Guttery). Prostitution forces women to sell their bodies into slavery—once they enter the industry, they are subject to their buyer’s every will and whim. Prostitution Causes Violence and Abuse Furthermore, due to the nature of their work, women in the prostitution industry suffer many injuries, including broken bones, concussions, chronic pelvic pain, and extreme stress and trauma (Raymond). The severity of the injuries that these women experience is similar to those who have been raped or sexually assaulted, but on a magnified scale since they are exposing their bodies to the same abuse over and over again every single day. According...
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...1.Explain why individual rights and public order perspectives are such contentious issues in contemporary American Society.. In America advocates for individual rights feel that it is extremely important that no rights or freedoms should be given up to ensure order for society. Many of these individual rights are guaranteed to us in the constitution and with that being said that would mean that everyone has these rights including the criminals in society. These rights often are one of the reasons that the justice system is always so tied up and court trials can take many years. One of the hot topics with individual rights and public order currently is the many protests and demonstrations that are going on in America of the past several months. This is a good example of individual rights versus public order....
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...Why Gun Free Zones Are Not Safe Since the year 2007, there has been over three major public shootings in the United States. On April 16, 2007 Cho-Seung-Hui shot and killed over thirty two students and faculty members at Virginia Tech College. On December 14, 2012 Adam Lanza shot and killed twenty students and six adults at Sandy Hook Elementary school. On January 18, 2013 James Holmes shot and killed twelve people an injured fifty at the Century 16 Movie Theatre in Colorado. (Center for American Progress Action Fund, 2013). These public shootings all have one thing in common with one another. Each shooting was conducted in a ‘gun free zone.’ With the exception of one, the attack on Congresswoman Gabrielle Gifford in 2011, every public mass shooting since the year 1950 occurred in a ‘gun free zone.’ When an area is rendered ‘gun free’ a false sense of safety for the surrounding citizens is provided. Many people assume that ‘gun free zones’ are safe places but in reality they create an optimal environment for a mass shooter looking for a place where they would not be faced with and resistance from their defenseless victims. In most criminals’ and mass shooters’ minds, there is no better place to open fire than one where their victims cannot fight back. There was an enormous issue recently and that is still ongoing today about rather to add to the gun control laws in the United States or not. In many states there are laws in place that prevent citizens carrying...
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...Professor Gil Stern In this essay I will be describing the alleged war on drugs along with its effect on all of us whether it be from a financial stand point, emotional, or its overall effect. I will also be writing about the possibilities of decriminalizing recreational drugs and the effects that would have on everyone. Lastly, I will discuss why I believe this is the best course of actions along with why I believe that it has not been done already. The simple fact of the matter is more people die each year from alcohol, tobacco, and prescription drugs than any other cause of death in the world. That includes cancer, aids, and many other prominent diseases combined. Benefits I will start off with the pros of legalizing drugs which are the following, tax dollars earned from sales, less tax dollars spent on housing inmates for drug possession, and less broken homes from people being hauled off to prison. Two senior lecturers at the University of Harvard have conducted studies to show how much revenue would come from legalizing drugs. In their findings they saw that there would be over 40 billion dollars in tax revenue. Over 8 billion from marijuana alone, and 32 billion from cocaine, heroin, and other drugs. It’s said that right now that marijuana is a bigger cash crop than wheat or corn. Now that is the money coming in from these drugs. Imagine how fast we could decrease our national debt, not to mention the tourist attraction that would come from this. Amsterdam...
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...PRISON IN AMERICA Since the beginning of time there has been good and evil, as man developed modern society he found that a need existed to separate the bad from the good. Society needed to find a way to protect the weak and defenseless citizens from the dangers of mankind. The use of confinement to punish offenders began in Europe in the early eighteen century. The concept of incarcerating offenders for long periods of time as a way of punishment for crimes is fairly new development in America. (McShane, Williams 1996) Before 1770’s with a few exceptions serious offenders received fines, corporal punishment, death, and banishment, but they were not incarcerated as a form of punishment. (McShane, Williams 1996) Jails were made to only hold people awaiting trail and minor offenses. This was in accordance with Puritan views that man was born into sin and punishment was God’s way of dealing with sin and evil deeds. This type of thinking was thrown out due to changing ways of criminal behavior. Now enter the modern institution designed to deal with this new breed of criminal behaviors. The first prison in America is supposed to be the Walnut Street Jail in Philadelphia (1790) There is however another, an abandoned copper mine in Connecticut which was converted into a prison. In 1773 Newgate prison accepted its first inmate by the 1820’s it was closed due to rising costs. (McShane, Williams 1996) This was the first institution designed to incarcerate offenders with...
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...and Society Brian Jackson Final Essay Policing Illegal Immigration Illegal immigrants are criminals and should be treated as such. Immigrants crossing the border are putting innocent lives in jeopardy. Not only are illegals crossing the border, they are bringing weapons, illegal drugs and other harmful objects into our country. When illegals come into our country they are somehow getting jobs that some of the legal Americans are not granted. This could be some of the reason why our unemployment rate is high. The border control should have the ability to anything in reason to keep these criminals out of our country. Crossing the border illegally is a crime, therefore, the people that do so should be treated like criminals. If an officer pulls over someone and they do not have a licenses he should have the ability to ask the person for their green card. If the person cannot show their legal status in American, the officer should have the right to obtain the person and take him in to make sure he isn’t illegal. The border control has cracked down in the past few years and have many more arrest and have apprehended more drugs. It is getting better but there are still far to many illegals entering the US. If immigration continues at this rate, the nation's population will increase from 301 million today to 468 million in 2060. If we start treating illegal immigrants as criminals, it will send a message to the people who are thinking about crossing the border and will help cut...
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...Do Illegal Immigrants Threaten American Unity? Oscar Banuelos English 221 N1 Diane Williams 07/25/2013 Abstract: Immigration stems from multiple factors all converging including; getting pulled over just by their skin color, stereotypes that are not true like just because they are Mexican they are criminals, but also immigrants have a big effect on the economy. Whether the effect of illegal immigrants is positive or negative they still contribute a lot to the U.S. and also reflect on how immigrants take the jobs that Americans probably won’t take like working on the fields with the extensive heat, or be worried about going outside because they are scared that maybe they can get arrested and be deported. I think its time to put an end to this because families are being harmed with the current immigration situation. The government has to pass an immigration reform soon because this is a major problem in the whole country. Because immigrants are in America, we should be treated equally as U.S. citizens, because we are hardworking people. Illegal Immigrants came here to start a better life. Illegal Immigrants are not a threat to American society. America was founded by Immigrants. Even though some citizens don’t want us here, we are their support with the economy; we have invested billions of dollars in U.S. soil. Mexican Immigrants should be allowed to immigrate illegally and stay in the U.S. without being separated from their families or be afraid in their daily life...
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...is clearly one of the most contentious and controversial issues in America today and the battle over gun control is now being waged through intensive media campaigns from both sides of the political spectrum to influence public opinion and to assert pressure on policy makers. It is a debate that has not been resolved and will never be. “The right to bear arms”, an amendment prioritized by our founding fathers, which earned the very second spot on the list of birth rights as Americans. However, with constant tragedies striking the United States, such as massacres in public high schools and universities, mall shootings, and attempted assassinations on state representatives, it’s no wonder law makers are constantly debating the topic of gun control. Given the strong evidence that the level of gun violence is related to “relaxed gun laws”, why don’t we do more to enact stiffer gun laws? In America guns have been a part of the country’s society since its birth. Throughout history, the citizens of the US have used firearms to protect the nation, protect their families, to hunt for food and to engage in sporting activities. Criminals on the other hand, they don't listen to laws, and will take advantage of the newly unarmed law abiding citizen. As shown in statistics and studies, cities with more gun control have more gun murders, due to the fact that a law abiding citizen can't carry a gun with him, but a criminal will. Even if the government tries to enact stiffer laws, there are...
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...Control: Deciding Who’s Pulling The Trigger Many tragedies have transpired through the past few years in America, and as Americans we know there are new methods needed on gun control. The main concern consisting of the government restricting the ability of individual citizens to purchase weapons. The different types of gun control vary from waiting periods between when you purchase the gun and when you actually get it, background checks so that high-risk people can't purchase guns through legal channels, and completely banning certain types of guns. Although, there are countless ways for criminals to avoid government regulations, through the “private sales” loophole. This access to firearms has large effect on the crime rate in America and the protection of innocent people. The process of purchasing firearms through black market sales needs to be stiffly regulated to contain less crime. To purchase a gun in the United States of America, can vary because each state has their own laws to abide by. What we can do as one nation is try to regulate the sale of guns through the private loopholes, or illegally. Raising the federal penalty on unlicensed gun sales might make the dealers think twice about the unlawful deeds they are committing. Someone selling a firearm through private sales can, in a way, be an accessory to what the buyer does with that firearm. This brings up a reason why the government has a waiting period for a person to able to purchase a gun. The "waiting period" method...
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...and lower class American in many ways. Jobs are being cut down, gas prices are not constant, and the money that America once had is rapidly vanishing. One issue in particular has much to do with our prison population in Texas and every other state. As of June 30, 2009 there are 2,297,500 people including women incarcerated in the United States of America (Sabol, 2009). The US is 5 percent of the world's population and shockingly has 25 percent of the world's prisoners. Over the last 30 years, the US criminal justice system experienced the second largest increase in government investment, health care being the first. Last year, as state budget shortfalls emerged, 31 states cut education budgets while increasing money for incarceration (Rooks, 2010). This causes problems for states including Texas at the local, state, and federal. Drugs are an issue in every country in the world, but here in the United States we make it a primary issue, which is why we have so many people incarcerated. Drug offenses, account for two-thirds of the federal inmate population. This is virtually affecting the poor and minorities in our society. Because of this, money for incarceration increases and cuts down education budgets, thus also affecting our students who will be the future of our country. Policy makers in Washington D.C. must address these issues if they want the future of America to be respectable, as it has always been. This problem has been brought into the public’s eye because of the...
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