Guilty Death And Death Of Prison Essay

The death penalty is a controversial topic in the United States today and has been for a number of years. The death penalty was overturned and then reinstated in the United States during the 1970's due to questions concerning its fairness. The death penalty began to be reinstated slowly, but the rate of executions has increased during the 1990's. There are a number of arguments for and against the death penalty. Many death penalty supporters feel that the death penalty reduces crime because it deters people from committing murder if they know that they will receive the death penalty if they are caught. Others in favor of the death penalty feel that even if it doesn't deter others from committing crimes, it will eliminate

Capital Punishment is an issue that has been argued over from the dinner table in

This paper takes a leap into the corrupted side of the criminal justice system. After analyzing several articles regarding wrongful conviction cases in the Unites States, it is apparent that wrongful conviction cases occur more often than society believed. It has come to surface in recent years that wrongful convictions are a big problem with our criminal justice system. Researchers have discovered the causes of wrongful convictions to be bad lawyering, government misconduct, informants, false confessions, flawed forensic science and eyewitness error. Furthermore, this paper explores the affects victims face due to a wrongful conviction. As society has begun to steadily realize that miscarriage of justice is a possibility, researchers have considered reforms to the criminal justice system.

The brain can be affected by damage and cause behavior to be expressed differently in every person. Events such as a car crash or childhood abuse can affect brain development and function. Damage to certain areas of the brain can have a variety of effects. The hippocampus controls emotions and is associated with memory, and the frontal lobe is a brain cortex that controls motor functions, problem solving, memory, language, judgments, social and sexual behavior and impulse. When the frontal lobe or hippocampus is affected, a person’s emotion can be out of their control. In criminal cases, brain damage can affect the sentencing of a violent criminal, but to what extent should these abnormalities play a role in their conviction? Much research has been conducted in order to determine the effect that brain abnormalities should have on the conviction of violent criminals. A psychiatrist at New York University, Dr. Lewis, has conducted a study on death-row inmates, how their brains work and what affect the damage had on their conviction. By doing so Dr. Lewis paved the way for other researchers, such as Kent Kiehl and Jonathan H. Pincus to study the brains of violent criminals looking for a answer as to whether or not these criminals should be incarcerated. Over time research has been conducted focusing on mental illnesses and brain damage as the cause of violent acts instead of it being just premeditated murder. Many believe brain damage or mental illness should have no affect on

It has been reported that millions of crimes is committed in the United States of America which violates and harms the individual rights, properties, and freedoms that are not only guaranteed to American citizens of this country. It has been highlighted that justice is dealt with according to the crimes committed based on the findings and principles of our country, which derived from the Constitution of the United States. While it has been argued justice may not always be fair due to certain rights given to those who may be charged with crime sometimes an error is made. A simple mistake, a missing or broken link in the chain that represents the investigation and trial processes causes an innocent bystander to become caught up in an investigation. More importantly, in many cases can result in a wrongful conviction. This error can rise from many forms like a mistaken eyewitness identification, a false confession, misconduct of the governing authorities, improper forensic investigation, or including staff that neglect to make efforts or unskilled litigation by the defense attorneys. Those whom are affected endure years in prison, deal with lost wages, isolation from friends and family, scrutiny from potential employers, and isolation from their community.

In conclusion wrongful convictions are subject to many decisions. Not only by a judge or

The rising number of overturned cases and exonerations, be that as it may, and developing mindfulness that people succumb to such tyranny acts that happy each day in American courts, raises significant questions about the exactness and decency of the criminal equity framework. This comprehension is upheld by significant research. This surge in mindfulness and maturing research has inspired a developing number of honesty ventures, which work to excuse wrongly indicted detainees, to likewise propose equity approach changes intended to diminish the quantity of wrongful feelings or to lighten their belongings. Wrongful conviction has turned into an unmistakable issue, the extent of the issue, its causes, and change recommendations.

Certainly, the studies of wrongful conviction have been able to generate press coverage especially when the findings tell the story of an innocent defendant who narrowly escaped a death sentence. Due to the fact that much of the American public assumes that it is not at risk for a wrongful conviction, few of those stories have “legs” to breed sufficient interest in reform. In this assumption the public is correct. Notwithstanding the claims of some reformers that anyone of us could be subject to a wrongful conviction, the research actually suggests that most individuals have little to fear. Indeed, the most recent national study of wrongful convictions shows that individuals with a prior criminal record are at the greatest risk of being wrongful convicted (Gould et

A paper published on Hoftra Law’s website claims that only six percent of cases involved prosecutorial misconduct as a predominant factor resulting in wrongful convictions. This suggests the bulk of the problem may begin with police and investigators who are the first responders to arrive on-scene. The desire to close a case often trumps aggressive and coercive tactics that are widely endorsed in the law enforcement community. Sadly, this leads to false confessions. In a third of all exonerated cases, evidence has shown there was no crime ever committed. Furthermore, in 16 percent of exoneration cases, the defendants finally pleaded guilty after being worn down and illegally interrogated by law enforcement officials. Reporter Zusha Eilson states that “Thirty-eight percent of exonerations for crimes allegedly committed by youth under 18 in the last quarter century involved false confessions.” (www.journalistresource.org) Flawed forensic work and tampering of evidence, including inaccurate collection of evidence at crime scenes is another issue on the investigation front that contributes to false

Life on death row is not pleasant so inmates neither is jail. “North Carolina’s death row inmates live in 11x7- foot cells and have access to a community room with stainless steel tables for playing chess, writing, watching a small TV or listening to music on their see-through audio paler. Outside each death row pod, prison guards sit behind dark-tinted glass monitoring inmates… Two days a week… they get to spend one hour in an exercise yard” (Life on death row: 'Am I going to be next? ') They only get two hours a week to be able to get out of there cell less than most offenders in maximum security prisons that get an hour a day outside. Although they will be able to exercise, workout, they can still make some money doing janitor work they will only get a few cents though. “They can also receive one visit a week with a maximum of two visitors” (Life on death row: 'Am I going to be next? '). Mainly the only good part about this is they can visit with one or two people a week so not all their freedoms are taken away even though guards are watching they get to spend time with their loved ones if anyone decides to visit. I cannot imagine having almost all my rights taken away. Although these offenders are considered highly dangerous they are still human, and you can never be sure that one committed a crime or not. Nowadays with new technology man people are taken out of jail after spending half their lives in confinement are set free, but most are set free with nothing but the

This research is based on several journal articles, online databases, and textbooks. The information extracted from these sources of content is used for the analysis of this study. Furthermore, the information gathered from this research is specifically used to focus on the difficulties that juveniles face when sentenced to life without parole. Instead of having the opportunity to serve their sentence through probation or parole, some juveniles are sentenced to face irreversible damages. Thus, it is imperative to understand that there are programs through community corrections that benefit juveniles far more than life without parole. The information gathered provides society with a better understanding of the sanctions in the Juvenile Justice

Although the criminal justice system prides itself on keeping criminals locked up, approximately 10,000 innocent people are convicted each year (Kyle and Pippa’s presentation). There are several factors that enable an innocent person to be wrongfully convicted of a crime, including mistaken witness identity, false accusations, false evidence, and official misconduct. For example, in Mario’s Story, one witness incorrectly identified Mario as being one of the shooters and there was no further evidence against his case. Furthermore, his attorney did not conduct a proper investigation and Mario did not get his right to adequate legal counsel. Additionally, aggravating factors such as low socioeconomic status, unemployment, being argumentative in

Earlier in 2015, a man named Brock Turner, aged 20, was convicted on three counts of sexual assault after he was found sexually assaulting an unconscious woman behind a dumpster outside a fraternity house on the Stanford campus (Knowles 2016). Two Swedish students witnessed the event and pulled Turner off the young woman, holding him until the police arrived and in March 2016, the jury found Turner guilty (Knowles 2016). The case would have been forgotten, thrown under the immense pile of campus rape incidents in the US, had it not been for Judge Aaron Persky and his decision to award Turner a sentence of six months in a county jail and probation rather than the ten years in prison his conviction warranted (Knowles 2016). Outrage ensued surrounding this decision and the fact that Persky justified his choice by citing that, “a prison sentence would have a severe impact on him, I think he will not be a danger to others” (Fantz 2016). As if the victim of his crime hadn’t already been severely impacted by his actions, and will continue to be impacted for the rest of her life. Her suffering was compounded when she did not receive a simple apology or acceptance of responsibility, and also failed to receive the justice that the system should have awarded her. It is here that we see white male privilege and the culture of victim blaming coalesce with horrifying outcomes. The attention that Brock Turner has brought to this cultural issue is the reason for which he should remain a

"On April 29, 2014, Oklahoma prison officials administered an untested mixture of 3 drugs to Clayton Lockett, a convicted murderer and rapist” (Greenberg 1). “The execution went immediately and terrifyingly wrong. Following administration of the first drug, Lockett, obviously conscious, started to writhe and groan, and then went into convulsions” (1). This is one example of the many botched executions that have occurred in recent history. With the possibility of an execution going as badly as Lockett’s, we must ask if we are violating the US constitution. The 8th amendment states, “Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted” (amend. XIII). considering the possibility of an execution going as badly as Lockett’s, we must ask if we are violating this amendment. The execution of an inmate is also likely to bring up issues of faith, Romans 12:18 states “leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the lord” (Rom. 12.18). Morality should determine where we go as a country, including the punishments we invoke.

Crimes in prison have been a part of our prisons since prisons themselves have been developed. It is almost certain that the criminals who end up in an institution in the first place will commit crimes while incarcerated. Prisons have come a long way over the years and with trial and error they have discovered many effective ways to help drop crime rates. Mail is monitored and read on occasion and is a privilege for inmates that can be taken away. Though many of the new policies and procedures have been effective, it is the well- trained staff that keeps crimes down. Crimes in our prisons have been declining, having the proper staffing in these institution’s plays a crucial part in keeping crimes down.