In CrimJ 100 we were talking a lot about how to court system works and the different severities of sentences. I was asked to watch the movie A Few Good Men, I was able to watch it on Popcorn time. The purpose of watching this movie was so I could relate what I was learning in class to this movie. The movie is about two marines; LCcl Harold and PFC Downie were ordered a code red on a fellow marine that was requesting to leave his company. The Commanding Officer Nathan Jessep ordered the code red to “train” the marine to get use to the conditions in Cuba. The code red back fired on the commander when Santiago died from the code red. The commander tried to stay under the radar and erase his name from getting tracked back to him. The protagonist Lt. Daniel Kaffee has to prove the Lt. Kendrick called the code red on Santiago. Another main character in this film is Lt. Cdr. Galloway, she is PFC Downie’s attorney for this case. There are many themes that we have covered in class that occur in the movie. This is great representation of how a real court case would play out. The movie showcase key themes, such as Plea bargains, Responsibilities of the Criminal Defence Attorneys, Responsibilities of the Procsector, Bringing in a witness, and also showcases judges in a courtroom scenario.
In the beginning of the movie we see Lt. Kaffee talking to the
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prosecutor about the McDurmin case. The prosecutor was warning Kaffee that he will charge his client with possession and being under the influence of marijuana. The prosecutor is recommending to Lt. Kaffee that he pleads guilty, he will recommend that McDurmin gets 30 days in the brig room with loss of rank and pay. Lt. Kaffee replays with “if you ask for jail time I will file a motion to dismiss.” Lt. Kaffee is sure he will get it, but if the motion to dismiss is denied he will file a motion in libinia seeking to obtain an evidentiary ruling in advance. The prosecutor realized that he does not want to do all the paperwork involved with the the motions. So he offers Lt. Kaffee B misdemeanor, with 20 days in the brig. The Lt. Kaffee counter offers C misdemeanor with 15 days restricted duty. What Lt. Kaffee is doing is plea bargaining and getting his client a low charge for his offence, if they plead guilty. Lt. Kaffee is LCcl Harold and PFC Downie’s Defence attorney, in one scene you see Lt. Kaffee review police reports and further investigate the details of the event that occurred with the code red. He is asking LCcl Harold what a code red is to understand what Harold and Downies motive was. The fact that Santiago was promising information about an illegal gun fire across the fence line in Cuba. Then LCcl Harold says that his mirror moved that's why he shot at him. But Santiago's letter to the NIS said otherwise, this made it seem like LCcl Harold had a motive to kill Santiago. LCcl said says that the code red was to train Santiago, to make him think of his unit before himself and to respect the code. The marine code is “Unit, Code, God, Country”, Lt. Kaffee was appalled when he heard that was their excuse for assaulting Santiago, and having to take that to the court as their defence. This is one one of the many responsibilities we learned about a Criminal defence attorney, further investigating the details that occurred with the killing of Santiago. Lt. Kaffee also is seen doing other criminal defence attorney responsibilities when he is at the preliminary hearing before the judge and prosecutor representing LCcl Harold and PFC Downie. Lt. Kaffee says that his clients are both not guilty, which then take the court to trial. This is just another way Lt. Kaffee where he was showing another criminal defence attorney responsibility. The movie also shows the responsibilities of the prosecutor, Captain Ross is the representative for the government for this trail. Throughout the movie we see Captain Ross try to make an arraignment for LCcl Harold and PFC Downie. In one scene we see Captain Ross talking to Lt. Kaffee about if he pleads guilty he will drop the conspiracy, and the conduct on becoming. Captain Ross then says they will get 20 years if Lt. Kaffee pleads guilty for them. Lt. Kaffee was saying how LCcl Harold and PFC Downie called the ambulance so they should only get 12 years because of their action. Then Lt. Kaffee asks Captain Rose about code reds, Captain Roses says I'm gonna give you the 12 years so you don't get yourself in trouble. This scene showed Captain Rose to make an arraignment to Lt. Kaffee. In another scene after Lt. Cdr. Galloway and Lt. Kaffee find out that Lt. Kendrick ordered the code red. They both go to find Captain Rose to tell him that their clients were told to give Santiago a code red. Lt. Kaffee and Captain Rose go back and forth and Lt. Kaffee accuses Lt. Kendrick of lying to Captain Rose about what actually happened. This can be the initial appearance because Captain Rose tells Lt. Kaffee what his clients will be charged with if he pleads not guilty. Another example of Captain Rose showing responsibilities for being a prosecutor in this trial. In the scene when Captain Rose has to give the opening statement in the courtroom. He opens up by saying “The facts of the case are these” he is opening his first sentence which emphasizes that these fact can not be fought or disregarded. Then Lt. Kaffee says his opening statement defending his clients. He first starts out by saying “There was no poison on the rag, and there was no intent to kill, and any intent to prove otherwise is futile because it just ain’t true.” This is a great opening statement for both sides. This is a great example of the prosecutor trying to convince the jury that the two defendants are guilty. He is trying to prove guilt of the accused beyond reasonable doubt. There is another key idea and that's bringing in a witness to be questioned in trail. There is a scene where Captain Ross calls their first witness, R.C Migwire. When called in Mr. Migwire has to raise his right hand and is asked if he solemnly swears that the testimony he will give this general court martial, will be the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth so help you god. His occupation is special agent naval investigative service. This witness was involved with reading Santiago's letter, and informing Commander Jessep that he will be investigating the illegal shooting. After investigating the shift, that only one century had returned with ammunition missing. The century was LCcl Harold that Santiago was talking about in his letters. This is a great example of a witness. There is also an example of an expert witness, in the scene when Dr. Sadon was called to the stand. He is an expert in the medical field and is explaining how lactic acid was produced with the Santiago's case. That the rag was poisoned and that is the reason why Santiago's lungs began to bleed, because his muscles were burning sugar instead of air. This cause his muscles to produce lactic acid and make his lungs bleed. The movie also shows what the judge can do in a courtroom and how people show respect to them. The first scene with the courtroom is the preliminary hearing when Lt. Kaffee pleads not guilty to the judge as he represents his clients; LCcl Harold, and PFC Downie. The court bailiff announces the arrival and departure of the judge. Both the prosecutor and the attorney have to address the judge as your honor everytime they talk to judge. There is one scene where Colonel Jessup was being questioned in trial. Lt Kaffee does not address Colonel Jessup as “Sir” or “ Colonel”. Then the Colonel Says to the Judge, “What kind of unit you're running here?’ The Judge then says the witness will address the court as judge or your honor, I believe I have earned it. He means that he should show respect to him by showing that he is a higher rank and address him as the right name. Throughout this entire course I have learned a lot of criminal justice key terms.
I have heard a lot of these terms already due to Law and Order or from, my high school Criminal Justice course. Watching the movie definitely helped show a lot of key terms come to life and show how it is used in a real life scenario. This was accomplished by having the main protagonist play the defense attorney, so the viewer witnesses the point of view of the defence attorney. This assignment also contributed to the overall learning process of this course because it incorporates a lot of ideas we have went over throughout this entire
course.
Comparative Analysis: A Few Good Men In the movie A Few Good Men, the director Rob Reiner follows the story of Lance Corporal Harold W. Dawson and Private First Class Louden Downey a couple of marines charged for the murder of their fellow soldier Private First Class William Santiago. Contrary to their lawyer Lieutenant Daniel Kaffee’s assumptions, these men strongly believed that they are not guilty, or at least not fully responsible, for Santiago’s murder. As Dawson would later tell Kaffee, “I'll accept whatever punishment they give. But I believe I was right, sir.
Released in 1967, “Cool Hand Luke” continues to be one of the most popular movies in American history. (Belton, 2008) The movie starred famed actor Paul Newman and was based on the trials and tribulations occurring inside a Florida prison camp. One of the main reasons why Cool Hand Luke continues to be relevant today is due to its incisive observations regarding the criminal justice system. While the movie was released over forty years ago, the relevance of Cool Hand Luke continues today. This paper will provide a synopsis of the movie and character analysis of Cool Hand Luke; in addition, the paper will analyze the movie from the perspectives of someone unfamiliar with the criminal justice system as well as a professional in the criminal justice system.
The motion picture A Few Good Men challenges the question of why Marines obey their superiors’ orders without hesitation. The film illustrates a story about two Marines, Lance Corporal Harold W. Dawson and Private First Class Louden Downey charged for the murder of Private First Class William T. Santiago. Lieutenant Daniel Kaffee, who is known to be lackadaisical and originally considers offering a plea bargain in order to curtail Dawson’s and Downey’s sentence, finds himself fighting for the freedom of the Marines; their argument: they simply followed the orders given for a “Code Red”. The question of why people follow any order given has attracted much speculation from the world of psychology. Stanley Milgram, a Yale psychologist, conducted an experiment in which randomly selected students were asked to deliver “shocks” to an unknown subject when he or she answered a question wrong. In his article, “The Perils of Obedience”, Milgram concludes anyone will follow an order with the proviso that it is given by an authoritative figure. Two more psychologists that have been attracted to the question of obedience are Herbert C. Kelman, a professor at Harvard University, and V. Lee Hamilton, a professor at the University of Maryland. In their piece, Kelman and Hamilton discuss the possibilities of why the soldiers of Charlie Company slaughtered innocent old men, women, and children. The Marines from the film obeyed the ordered “Code Red” because of how they were trained, the circumstances that were presented in Guantanamo Bay, and they were simply performing their job.
In Paul Tillich’s 1957 work Dynamics of Faith, he mentions that there are six major components of faith. These six components of faith describe the Franciscan perspective of “faith”. According to Tillich, the first component of faith is “the state of being ultimately concerned”. The second component of faith is that it is supposed to be at the center of all of our personal lives and everything that we do throughout our own individual lives. The third component of faith is that we should have an awareness for “infinite” things such as God himself. The fourth component of faith is that we need to understand that faith can act as fear, fascination, or both of these qualities at the same time. The fifth component of faith is that doubt is a major product that will always exist with faith. The last component of faith is that we need a community in order to have a “language of faith”.
The story of A Good Man Is Hard to Find begins as a family road trip, but tragically ends when a family of six cross paths with an escaped convict. Set in rural Georgia around the 1940s, Grandmother, her son Bailey, daughter-in-law and three grandchildren plan a vacation to Florida. While en route, they’re involved in a car accident that leads to a chance encounter with a murderous convict, The Misfit, and his two companions. Confronted with their own mortality, can this somewhat dysfunctional family escape with their lives from these unfavorable circumstances? Dictionary.com defines the word mortality as the state or condition of being subject to death; mortal character, nature or existence. The idea of mortality in this story not only signifies physical death, but also calls into question the condition of the character’s virtue. The writer of A Good Man Is Hard to Find, Flannery O’Connor, explores the concepts of mortality and salvation through her use of foreshadowing, characters, and symbolism.
In the short story Good People by David Foster Wallace, Lane Dean and his girlfriend Sheri Fisher are two Christians with a troubling choice ahead of them, and finds himself questioning his own ethics as a Christian. The question on whether or not they should abort their baby is making the main character question everything he has ever known and believed in. While his girlfriend is described as a model Christian and a good hard-working woman, he is described as a man who would be stuck outside of the Dante’s Inferno chased by hornets for all time. He has not the conviction to stand and speak on what he thinks is right or even to decide on what he believes is right in the first place. He is ruled by fear and never stops questioning his own convictions. Not once in the story does the character make a concrete decision and leaves his girlfriend alone in a time of uncertainty. If only for this reason alone his actions are unethical to the standards of what a man in our society should act like. Any action taken out of fear is hardly ever an ethical one. As the narrator explains his
This report is on a movie called, “12 Angry Men.” The movie is about 12 men that are the jury for a case where a young man is being accused of killing his father. A major conflict that is very obvious is the disagreement on whether the young boy was guilty or innocent. After court when all of the men sat down to begin their discussion Courtney B. Vance (#1) Took charge and respectfully was now the leader. He asked what everyone’s votes were and all of the men except for Jack Lemmon (#8) voted the young man was guilty. Because Jack was the odd one that chose differently than the rest of the men, all of the other Jures, were defensive about the evidence just because they were all so confused. Courtney B. Vance took charge once again and calmly stated that everyone has their rights and lets have everyone explain the reasons why they thing the child is guilty or not guilty. Ossie Davis (#2) explained why he voted guilty. While explaining this he was very calm and wise. HE handled conflicts in the same way. Next was George C. Schott (#3) He also voted guilty. George was very st...
In society, fear is a very prevalent reality. Everyone is fearful of something or someone. Day to day something terrible happens causing people to become more cautious and distressed. The real difference in people’s fear, is what stimulates it. It could be insects, heights, small spaces, war or even a certain someone. In the movie A Few Good Men directed by Rob Reiner one can see the pattern of how rank can trigger fear throughout the unfolding of the story. Lt. Daniel Kaffee defends two U.S Marines who are charged with the killing of a fellow marine. Lt. Cdr. JoAnne Galloway convinces Kaffee that there is a case to be told. She believes the accused marines were ordered to give a Code Red to Pfc. William T. Santiago. Throughout the movie,
Media portrayal of crime and criminal justice has become incredibly widespread in the last decade, with crime often considered both a source of news and entertainment. As a source of entertainment, crime and criminal justice have emerged as central themes across various sources of media. Most individuals do not have any direct experience with the criminal justice system, so their only source of information on this topic is the media. Particularly in television shows, portrayals of crime and criminal justice can be seen in everything from courtroom dramas to nightly news programs. Indeed, the popularity of crime shows has lead to some of television’s most enduring series, such as Law and Order and CSI. Because of this, fictional
The change in the nation reflected in a growing sense of national pride and identity. The following events have happened after the War of 1812 in America because the United States got a sense of nationalism, due to the U.S. winning the war. After the War of 1812 the Era of Good Feelings accrued due to the U.S. gaining nationalism, and the Republicans took full control of the government. Andrew Jackson became the 7th president, after the Era of Good Feeling, which soon became known as The Age of Jackson. The national bank was vetoed by Jackson, and the money went the the state banks.
Flannery O'Connor writes a short story about a family and a misfit whose moral compasses stand at opposite poles. A story that takes us on a trip literally from Atlanta, Georgia to Florida, yet figuratively as there lies a story within this story. One simple journey leads to a tragic event that questions the moral compass of the main characters. Can a misfit, loner, and nonconformist have a moral compass or are only the typical everyday doers of society the ones that have true moral compasses? Each character in “A Good Man is Hard to Find” considers their personal moral compass to be true, but the Misfit, that just escaped from the federal penitentiary exhibits the truest moral compass of all.
In A Few Good Men, by Rob Reiner, both Demi Moore’s character, Commander Jo, and Jack Nicholson's character, Colonel Jessup, outrank Tom Cruise’s character, Danny, yet he only obeys to Colonel Jessup. Why is this? In the article, “Obedience” by Ian Parker and movie, A Few Good Men, both discuss the concept of obedience to an authority figure. An aspect of obedience they both analyze is the idea that the gender of an authority figure produces a different level of obedience in their counterparts.
In “A Good Man Is Hard to Find” the readers are lead to believe that the Grandmother is a good Southern woman who lives her life by God’s grace, and the Misfit is a horrendous, murderous, mad man that believes in nothing. Although these first impressions seem spot on at a first glance, the actual characteristics and traits of these characters are far more complex. The Grandmother and Misfit have a very intriguing conversation before he murders her, but in the short time before her death, the readers see the grandmothers need for redemption and how the murderous Misfit gave her the redemption she so desperately needed,
Heroism can show itself in many shapes and forms from ordinary people to heroic and courageous people something to think about is that anyone can show heroism. A lot of people have shown heroism just by doing the right thing such as just helping someone or not acting mean towards others. heroism can show itself in many different forms but sadly some ordinary people don’t get recognized for the heroic acts that they do. Many different people just don’t recognize heroism from ordinary people as they just think of superheroes and supervillains. In reality anyone can achieve heroism as long as they strive for it. While ordinary people can sometimes not be recognized for acts of heroism, these heroes are courageous and can defeat all of the challenges
The main protagonist of the story, Elizabeth Bennet (nicknamed both Lizzy and Eliza), is the second daughter in the Bennet family. Second only to her elder sister in beauty, Elizabeth’s figure is said to be “light and pleasing,” with “dark eyes,” and “intelligent…expression” (24). At 20 years old, she is still creating her place in society. Known for her wit and playful nature, “Elizabeth is the soul of Pride and Prejudice, [she] reveals in her own person the very title qualities that she spots so easily” (“Pride and Prejudice”) in others. Her insightfulness often leads her to jump to conclusions and think herself above social demand. These tendencies lead her to be prejudice towards others; this is an essential characteristic of her role