Essay on Intro to Criminal Justice - My Cousin Vinny

There are three significant issues concerning law enforcement, namely enacting the law, police discretion, and assessment of criminal behavior. Different entities create and enact laws that are specific for the societies those laws represent.

My mother has always asked me what I wanted to be when I get older. For so many years I was not able not able to answer this question. She is not the only one that have asked me this question. I have found that this question has become to be common to many of us. On the other hand, after working for fifteen years as a security officer, I know exactly what I want to do with my life. I want to further my education and skills to pursue my career. I have chosen Criminal Justice as my choice of studies. I have already obtained an Associate Degree in Criminal Justice from Ashworth University. My intention is to continue to go to college and obtain a bachelor degree in this field and work hard in order to gain as much information as I can. I am a

My Cousin Vinny is a hilarious rendition of the American criminal justice system. It taps into various elements of the system as a whole. Most people probably never realize the formality that goes into actually being convicted of a crime. My Cousin Vinny explores many of the steps such as pretrial stages, key actors in the court process, and the criminal trial. There are some difference and similarities between what the movie portrayed and the actual criminal justice process which will be explored.

The criminal justice system is composed of three parts – Police, Courts and Corrections – and all three work together to protect an individual’s rights and the rights of society to live without fear of being a victim of crime. According to merriam-webster.com, crime is defined as “an act that is forbidden or omission of a duty that is commanded by public law and that makes the offender liable to punishment by that law.” When all the three parts work together, it makes the criminal justice system function like a well tuned machine.

10.  Discuss what is required for mistake to be a defense. How does this relate to the types of culpability in the Model Penal Code? Be sure to discuss the debate over whether to call mistakes a defense.

Causes of crime are arguably criminology’s most important and largest research topic. In this process of research, criminologists and academics have used numerous theories in attempts to explain how and why people resort to crime (Ellis, Beaver, Wright, 2009). The purpose of this paper is to examine a case study first with the use of strain theories (ST), followed by social learning theory (SLT). The first section will involve a summary of the case of R v Mark Andrew HUGHES (2009) NSWDC 404 involving an outline of the offender’s personal life, of his crimes, and his punishment handed down by

In order to keep a safe society, it is important to establish a nation with

In the case of Robinson v. California, 370 U.S. 660 (1962), the Supreme Court ruled that a law may not punish a status; i.e., one may not be punished to being an alcoholic or for being addicted to drugs. However, of course, one may be punished for actions such as abusing drugs. The question becomes; What if the status “forces” the action? What if a person, because of his/her addiction to drugs, is “forced” by the addiction to purchase and abuse the illegal drugs? Would punishing that person be unfairly punishing a status?

The first process would be an arrest, Miranda rights and booking. All perpetrators are considered suspects. The suspect is arrested by warrant when probable cause is present. When the suspect is placed under arrest they are read their Miranda rights. After the accused is taken into custody they are booked into jail. The defendant must appear before a judge within 48 hours of arrest unless it transpired on a weekend. (“Arrest, Jail,

Prior to taking this course I wouldn’t be able to explain the differences or even be able to compare it to the criminal justice system. However, I now have a better understanding of how the criminal justice system works. This movie takes place in the southern state of Alabama and revolves around two teenagers accused of killing a store clerk. Throughout this essay I will explain the legal processes that appeared in the film as well as the processes that did not appear in the film.

Pretrial Release is a common practice approximately fifty-seven percent of all state-level felony criminal defendants and sixty-six percent of all federal felony defendants are release before trail. At state level, forty-three percent of all defendants are detained until the court disposes of their case. Murder defendants are eighty-eighty are the most likely to be detained.

The movie My Cousin Vinny follows two young men, Bill and Stan, as they embark on their journey to UCLA. Along the way, they become hungry and decide to stop at the Sack Of Suds, an unassuming little convenience store in Alabama, to buy a few refreshments. After leaving the store, Bill discovers that he has accidentally forgotten to pay for a can of tuna. Soon following his realization, the men get pulled over by a cop and are arrested. After a short interrogation by the police, Stan confesses to what he thinks is shoplifting. However, it is quickly realized that their charges are much more serious than that and the boys now face the ultimate capital punishment, death. As it turns out, shortly after they left the Sack of Suds, the store clerk was murdered. Having been the last persons seen at the crime scene, Stan and Bill are now the number one suspects in the clerk’s murder. Unable to afford a lawyer, they enlist the help of Bill’s cousin, Vinny Gambini. Vinny is not your average lawyer, though, as an injury attorney who has only been at work for six weeks, has never been to trial, and, who, took six attempts to pass the bar, odds aren't in his favor for winning a murder trial.

This paper will describe my understanding of the text and of the lectures provided in the class. Unlike most classes, where I understood only my view of the text, this class was geared so each student would understand each other’s view. 3 An organization is a collective that has some boundary and internal structure that engages in activities related to some complex set of goals. Members of organizations attempt to meet their psychological, ego and emotional needs within the organization. Criminal justice organizations are particularly unique compared to other public or private sector organizations because of the governmental granted authority. Management within these organizations can be defined as the process by

1. The steps that are involved before trial but after arrest include; The first appearance, which is done before a magistrate or a lower-court judge and occurs when defendants are brought before a judge to be given formal notice of the charges against them, to be advised of their rights, to be given the opportunity to retain a lawyer or to have one appointed to represent them, and perhaps to be afforded the opportunity for bail. Some aspects that are a part of the first appearance involve; a pretrial release, in which the accused person is released from custody, for all of part of the time before or during prosecution, on his or her promise to appear in court when required. Bail Bonds, which usually involve cash deposits but may be based on

Before going into college to study Criminal Justice, I had the same opinion as most people had when it came to criminals or deviant behavior. The classic “if you can’t do the time, don’t do the crime,” phrase was mentioned many times throughout my youth, whether it be for something as simple as an explanation for grounding me or to explain why doing the wrong things will give you a one-way ticket to prison. My life was surrounded by crime. I managed to separate myself from the “wrong-doers” with the help of my mother, but I still spent most of my life around law enforcement. To me, police officers were always the ones doing everything right. In my mind, if someone died at the hands of a police officer it was probably their fault, if they were beaten they deserved it, the police were only doing what they had to do to make our communities a safer place.