Articles on the Criminal Justice System and Criminal Homicide: A Comparative Analysis

The Felony Murder Law of Colorado states that a person is guilty of first degree murder if he or she participates in, or is fleeing from, some other crime and a death results, intended or not2. This statute is the reason a 21 year old Colorado resident, Lisl Auman, was sentenced to life in prison without parole at the Colorado Women's Correctional Facility3. This case has drawn national attention and while appealing her conviction, has gained support from actors Sean Penn, Benecio Del Torro and Johnny Depp and the late writer Hunter S. Thompson.

Snyder analyzed law enforcement homicides as his study’s dependent variable because doing so emphasizes, on a smaller scale, a theory that usually focuses on the macro-level. While increased numbers of police does not always reflect greater strains between the police and civilians, homicides have life-altering consequences for all those involved. Thus, number of law enforcement homicides arguably represents a more qualitatively useful variable than police force

Chapter 11 Article 1 The Supreme Court could soon deliver a crushing blow to the Sixth Amendment

The official statistics are particularly useful in that they have been collected since 1857 and so provide us with an excellent historical overview of changing trends over time. They also give us a completely accurate view of the way that the criminal justice system processes offenders through arrests, trials and punishments. However, official statistics cannot be taken simply at their face value. They only show crimes which are reported to and recorded by official agencies such as the police. They account for only those crimes which are recognised as such by victims and those detected by the police. Sociologists have argued that there exists a ‘dark figure’ of unrecorded crime. This may be due to social agencies ignoring crimes committed by the ruling class such as white-collar and corporate crime and their views and stereotypes that they have against certain individuals, such as the working-class and ethnic minorities. Arguably, another reason why police recorded may be seem as inaccurate is due to the increased problem of reporting issues. There is evidence that a number of individuals choose not to report a crime on the basis that they have little faith in social agencies or that they feel that the crime may not be serious enough. Positivists favour the official statistics as they believe that they are functional for society, whereas interactionists and Marxists go against the police the statistics as they argue that they are bias. In this essay, I will discuss the

You arrive at the crime scene of a multiple homicide (more than one victim) and see that it's already been roped off from the public by the police. You see that the soil's been disturbed in such a way that suggests a one-person grave. You skip additional searches and begin collecting evidence. Then you map the scene, taking plenty of photos, and begin careful excavation of the

In the article, Is Capital Punishment a Short-term Deterrent to Homicide, McFarland addresses the deterrent effect capital punishment has on homicides. The author explains that based on his study, homicide rates drop slightly for about two weeks, after an execution takes places, but then returns to normal after two weeks (McFarland, 1983). The threat of someone being executed after their conviction, does not carry the same weight as someone who actually gets executed (McFarland, 1983). Even though homicide rates do drop following an execution, the results are only marginally significant, and do not have a lastly effect (McFarland, 1983). Once a criminal realizes that the threat of being executed is minimal, then the idea that the most severe

or she did not nee to record it. If the Government do succeed in the

The topic this research paper will focus on is the crime of homicide. Because homicide victims are those left behind, the criminal justice system is an important tool for them to seek justice and to have the resources necessary to deal with the horrific circumstances of the crime. The victimology of this paper will be to establish the origin of the victimization, determining the possible links between the victim and the offender, and defining the suspect pool. The victims’ rights will look at both the laws of the jurisdiction the crime is being investigated and the allowance of a person affected by the crime to exercise these rights on behalf of these victims. Lastly, this paper will examine the reasons behind trends in the criminal justice

The next topic we discussed was in what way’s he believes that our criminal justice system is not working. The first thing he stated was how some of the prisons are max facilities. He knew first hand of one. When he attended the Charles County Dentation Center they are not allowed outside at all. He was under lock and key for 14 months with no chance of getting just the tinniest bit of fresh air. He would like for all prisons to change from max facilities. People need exercise and fresh air, it is good for their bodies. He believes that everyone should be able to have some time outside. That there should be different programs for everyone. He believes that depending on the crime that the person committed he or she should be able to go outside

Criminal Justice in America is something that is getting a lot of controversy today. Due to personal crimes such as murder and assault & battery by police officers, Americans are losing faith in our criminal justice system.

Community Courts could very well be one of the best things to happen to not only the criminal justice system in the past 10 years or so but for the community also. Rather than sending people for mild offenses to prison for their crimes, such as minor drug crimes, they get the opportunity to rehabilitate back into society and contribute to society as a citizen. Personally, community courts are a fantastic attribute of the criminal justice system. They keep people that shouldn’t be in prison (people addicted to drugs, people who made mistakes in life such as vandalizing or burglarizing a home) out of prison and give them a second chance. Regional treatment courts (drug courts) often play a large role in getting people off of drugs and out of prison. People shouldn’t be in prison for petty things such as having a small amount of marijuana, or any drug at that. Drug addiction is a psychological issue, not physical issues, and drug courts help bring a realization to this to the criminal justice system.

Despite their methodological and theoretical difficulties, interactionist studies have played an instrumental role in bringing the criminal situation as a unit of investigation in the study of crime and deviance. Moreover, IMA’s emphasis on the subjective role of the offender serves to criticise both prior and ongoing research ignoring such factors (e.g. Cloward & Ohlin, 1960) It is clear on the basis of interactionist research that violent criminal acts are not a one-sided event with an unaware victim undertaking a passive role. Rather, they are the outcome of a dynamic interchange between an offender and

A person may experience internal conflict in trying to decide which set of values, attitudes, and codes of behavior to accept and internalize. For example, to a kid living in a neighborhood that has many criminal types, these people may be symbols of economic and social success because they have money, expensive clothes, fancy cars, and other material possessions that inspire respect and jealousy. The kids may draw to the criminal life-style of these people because they want the same symbols of success for themselves. At the same time, several youths in the neighborhood may have good relationships with parents or other adults who are noncriminal in their life-styles and who try to instill non-delinquent values in them. A young person exposed to both types of influences must balance out their merits and decide whether to accept the values of one set of associates or those of the other. Between 1990 and 2002 there were 13,504 males and 3,168 females who died as a result of homicide. This showed that males, ages 12 through 17, were four times more likely than females to be murdered. Arrests of adolescents for violent crimes are reported by police headquarters

In the above calculations it is important to note that once again assumptions were made. I assumed the pleasure of paying less taxes would be more intense than the pain of knowing that no crime was being prevented from lack of intense punishment (death). It is cheaper to keep an inmate alive until they die naturally when compared to the cost of sentencing an inmate to death, and thus I considered it a monetary pleasure for tax paying citizens when an inmate is kept alive. “The punishment of death punishes taxpayers and drains away precious resources from the criminal justice system” (Costanzo 62). Now that any underlying assumptions within the data have been addressed, one is able to easily compute the aggregate utility for this option, and

With so many different cultural and historical perspectives, it can change the way the criminal justice system works. Two types of criminal justice systems in which bring a lot of historical and cultural perspective include Iraq and Italy. Both countries also have legal tradition in which help in the way the criminal justice system works. In addition, both politics and legal issues can also cause the criminal justice system to change. However, the answer to the question relies on how this all does play in to the criminal justice systems for both Iraq and Italy.