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Banality Of Evil

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We are given the right of free will and to act as autonomous, but in exchange for this, we must take responsibilities for our actions. Whether or not there is intent, a person could be still culpable for a crime. Their actions, no matter how minor they may be, may still hold the individual accountable for the contribution to the crime. This concept of the “banality of evil” is the idea that we, as individuals, occupy and share an awkward space with others in which our actions are involved in the commission of a crime that we did not intend to comment. This involvement cannot go unpunished and it is at this point that the court decides how much culpability the individual is responsible for. There are, of course, legal defenses that either reduce …show more content…

Arizona, it examines culpability and the free will of individuals in a different manner. Three brothers: Ricky, Raymond, and Donald Tison enter the Arizona State Prison with an ice chest of guns to break their father and his cellmate from jail. They were fortunate enough to break out their father, Gary Tison, and his friend, Randy Greenawalt, out of prison without firing a single shot. They managed to use their getaway vehicle to escape but a few days later, their car gained a flat. They flagged a passing car with the plans of stealing it and a family, the Lyons, stopped by the road. The Lyons were removed from their vehicle and placed into the car with the flat tire, where they were then driven into the desert. The Tison brothers went out to fetch water for the family and while they were out, Gary and Randy shot the Lyon family. When the brothers returned, they were surprised, but they did not attempt to turn in their father or his cellmate. Instead, shortly after, they engaged in a shootout with the police, resulting in the death of Donald and Gary; the latter escaping into the desert where he died of exposure. The remaining Tison brothers and Randy were arrested and tried for a number of offenses, including murder. They were originally convicted of the murders, but the Tison brothers later appealed their sentences. They appealed their decision with respects to the Enmund v. Florida case which determined that one “cannot be sentenced to death unless it’s been proven beyond a reasonable doubt that they committed or intended to commit a murder” (Culbert 208). It was agreed in the Supreme Court that the Tison brothers did not have the intention or motive to kill the Lyons, much less be the one to pull the trigger that killed them. However, the court did not commute the brothers’ death sentences due to the standard of culpable mental

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