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Critique the current rehabilitation options and how it affects recidivism
Punishment and sentencing in the criminal justice system
Critique the current rehabilitation options and how it affects recidivism
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Ethan Couch, a 16 year old boy, caused an accident that involved more than 14 people, killing 4 of them and injuring another. After the police arrived, Couch was later taken to court, and was sentenced to 10 years probation. In addition, he was mandated to a rehab center. Once Couch left the rehab center, he worked with his father in his place of business. This didn't last long resulting in he and his mother being caught and arrested in Mexico. The decision by the justice system wasn't very through. Their initial decision made many question the justice system to include myself. As I read the article, I question why a man who killed four people and injured a another would merely receive probation. This is honestly an unfair decision made
My concern is what made the court decide that Alanza Thomas deserved to be tried as an adult with no past criminal record. I believe that the appropriate sentencing for Alanza would have been probation and detention because in this way, the courts can monitor the juvenile as well as make him “pay” for what he has done. I feel like the detention he should have received should have been juvenile where they provide intervention programs for problem children experiencing behavioral problems. At a detention home, the juvenile will at least spend their days receiving counseling, individual therapy, and learning how to with fellow peers and
Capital punishment and bias in sentencing is among many issue minorities faced for many years in the better part of the nineteen hundreds. Now it continues to spill into the twenty first century due to the erroneous issues our criminal justice system has caused many people to suffer. In the book Just Mercy authored by Bryan Stevenson, Stevenson explains many cases of injustice. Stevenson goes into details of numerous cases of wrongfully accused people, thirteen and fourteen year olds being sentenced to death and sentences of life without parole for children. These issues Stevenson raises bring to question whether the death penalty is as viable as it should be. It brings to light the many issues our criminal justice system has today. There
It is sad to see youth with so many energy and potential get sent to jail at an early age. The crimes most of the young children commit are usually something that could have been prevented. Adnan Syed, a high school student in Baltimore in 1999 had a different case than the other young children that get sent to jail every day for drug and theft majority of the time. He is sentenced for life in prison because the judge believes that he have murdered his ex-girlfriend Hae min Lee. Adnan Syed is not guilty for the murderer of Hae min lee because there is no proof that he did nor is there a motive for him to kill her.
This is surprising because the legal system in the United States is “innocent before guilty”. If an innocent man is found guilty then I believe the court should provide their resources to that individual. For example, the United States main form of government is democracy but when the court system makes a fatal error they are not responsible for their own mistakes. Additionally, in the film After Innocence, they focus on questions that ask about human rights and society moral
Racial representation on death row proves that the justice system consistently shows bias, primarily through crime victim treatment. Though originally the Supreme Court upheld that assessing the character of a homicide victim in court was unconstitutional, eventually that ruling was overturned a mere three years later in Payne v. Tennessee in 1991(Stevenson 141). For one, unlike Ian, he was convicted and found guilty of a non-homicide crime, yet still also found himself in a life sentence. For better or for worse, Joe wasn’t confined but “was [instead] repeatedly raped and sexually assaulted,” the trauma from which eventually caused him to develop multiple sclerosis (Stevenson 259).
A crime being committed is the first event to initiate our criminal justice system. On June 12th 1994 a double murder was reported at the residence of Nicole Brown Simpson the ex-wife of the then beloved Orenthal James (OJ) Simpson. It was discovered that Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman had been brutally murdered and the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) began their investigation, this being the second step in our criminal justice system.
In 1992, Cameron Todd Willingham was convicted of arson murder, where a fire that was presumably started by him, killed his three children, and in 2004 he was put to death. Later, the Texas Forensic Science Commission, established in 2005, found that none of the evidence used while prosecuting Mr. Willingham was valid, and that the fire was in fact, accidental. Unfortunately, many cases like this have occurred in our nation’s history, where human error was to blame for convicting an innocent person. The American Justice system will only be as accurate as the science and technology that we have in place to remove human error during the process. The movie The Wrong Man is a perfect example of human error in the justice system convicting an innocent
Acclaimed author and lawyer Bryan Stevenson depicts his crusade against an unjust and unlawful criminal justice system in his story Just Mercy. Throughout the book, Bryan depicts his progression from a confused freshman at Harvard law, into a criminal defense lawyer and founder of the Equal Justice Initiative. Unfortunately, his journey would unveil the truth America’s justice system: a system plagued by corruption and racism. Bryan Stevenson is an African American lawyer, who began his career after law school working for the SPDC, an organization that attempts to provide legal aid to prison inmates throughout southern states. While returning home from work one night, Bryan notices a SWAT car park near him. Soon he is held at gunpoint by a
There are major problems with our criminal justice system. In the last one hundred years, there have been more than 75 documented cases of wrongful conviction of criminal homicide. According to a 1987 Stanford University survey, at least 23 Americans have been wrongly executed in the 20th century. For this very reason, the State of Illinois imposed a moratorium on the state?s death penalty in 2000 when it was discovered that 13 inmates on its Death Row were wrongly convicted. Anthony Porter, one of the 13, spent 15 years on Death Row and was within two days of being executed, before a group of Northwestern journalism students uncovered evidence that was used to prove his innocence.
Throughout the years there has been limitless legal cases presented to the court systems. All cases are not the same. Some cases vary from decisions that are made by a single judge, while other cases decisions are made by a jury. As cases are presented they typically start off as disputes, misunderstandings, or failure to comply among other things. It is possible to settle some cases outside of the courts, but that does require understanding and cooperation by all parties involved. However, for those that are not so willing to settle out of court, they eventually visit the court system. The court system is not in existence to cause humiliation for anyone, but more so to offer a helping hand from a legal prospective. At the same time, the legal system is not to be abuse. or misused either.
The media plays a big role in shaping the people’s perceptions about the court system. Without media we would remain uneducated to the occurrences outside our social groups. Media and especially news coverage provide us with important point of contact with the rest of society. In debunking popular myths about our court system we will look at the “facts” (the truth, the actual event, a real thing). With a myth being based upon “exaggeration” or heightening of “ordinary” event in life. Myths become a convenient mortar to fill gaps in knowledge and to provide answers to questions social science either cannot answer or has failed to address. Myths tend to provide the necessary information for the construction
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.
The American Court System is an important part of American history and one of the many assets that makes America stand out from other countries. It thrives for justice through its structured and organized court systems. The structures and organizations are widely influenced by both the State and U.S Constitution. The courts have important characters that used their knowledge and roles to aim for equality and justice. These court systems have been influenced since the beginning of the United State of America. Today, these systems and law continue to change and adapt in order to keep and protect the peoples’ rights.
Echols won a district wide writing contest, he worked in the community with at risk youth. He received a two decade sentence for having drugs, money, and an unloaded rifle. In his case Echols was forced into selling drugs by the poor economy and not being able to find a job. He sold drugs to take care of his family and to put himself through school. He was nonviolent, did not have a record, and was a model in the community but due to his circumstances which left him no other choice but to sell drugs. If there was more money put into communities like Echols community, and not into prisons, Echols would have had a chance to a better life with his family. The judge was forced to by these sentencing laws to sentence Echols to 20 years after finding 44 grams of crack, almost 6,000 dollars to pay for school, and a rifle that had never been loaded. His lawyer argued that his case could have resulted in a probation term, but the Mandatory Minimums sentenced Echols 10 years for the drugs and another 10 years for the rifle. A heartbreaking case where a man who wanted to provide for his family, go to school, fell into tough times, and had no other choice but to sell drugs. His wife also spent all their savings in legal fees and lawyers. Mandatory Minimums not only sentenced him to 20 years, but also his family. His daughter is going to be without a
The present system of justice in this country is too slow and far too lenient. Too often the punishment given to criminal offenders does not fit the crime committed. It is time to stop dragging out justice and sentencing and dragging our feet in dispensing quick and just due. All punishment should be administered in public. It is time to revert back to the "court square hanging" style of justice. This justice would lessen crime because it would prove to criminals that harsh justice would be administered.