Discuss the different legal constructions of homicide: noncriminal/criminal; first-and second-degree manslaughter, and so on.
Homicide is the leading cause of death among African-Americans and Hispanics ages 15-24. When we think about the term homicide, we automatically associate it with someone being killed. There are many different legal constructions of homicide: two types are noncriminal and criminal. Noncriminal homicide is usually committed in self-defense or in defense of someone else exists under U. S. state law.
Noncriminal homicides usually cover a variety of circumstances which can ultimately lead to the death of an individual. This type of homicide is not felonious; a death can only be considered non-criminal after an investigation has been conducted to ensure that no
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level of criminality arises. On the other hand, criminal homicide is committed when a person intentionally or knowingly or with criminal negligence causes the death of another person. Criminal homicide may be justifiable if it was done to prevent a more serious crime from happening. Crimes that are considered criminal homicide include: murder, capital murder, manslaughter or criminally negligent homicide. Non-criminal cases where the killer is insane MUST include the courts while self-defense cases may or may not require the courts involvement. According to, murder is the unlawful premeditation killing of one individual by another. Murder can be categorized as first and second degree. First degree murder is an unlawful killing that was willful, deliberate or premeditated. In many states, “felony murder rule” exists if an individual commits murder whether accidentally or not while violent crimes were happening. Such violent crimes include: arson, burglary, rape and robbery. First degree murder can be punished by life sentence or the death penalty. Second degree murder is the intentional killing of a person but was neither premeditated nor committed in the “heat of passion” or a killing caused by dangerous conduct. The punishment for committing second degree murder may be 10 years in prison depending on the state. Manslaughter is the killing of an individual in a manner less culpable to murder; the killer does so without malice.
There are two main variation of manslaughter which is referred to voluntary and involuntary. Voluntary manslaughter occurs when a person is strongly provoked or kills in the “heat of the passion.” In order for “heat of the passion” to exist the killer must not have had time to cool off and the crime isn’t consider first or second degree murder. The perfect example of this would be if a husband came home early from work and finds his wife cheating on him. The husband in that moment could be provoked into “heat of passion” to kill. Involuntary manslaughter often refers to an unintentional homicide committed from criminal negligence or reckless behavior; it can also refer to an unintentional crime committed through a crime other than a felony.
Most killings happen when a person’s mental state no longer functions properly; they can easily become outraged, aggressive, hostile, paranoid, insane, etc. Negligence which is also considered involuntary manslaughter is unintentional careless acts. The most common type of negligent manslaughter often results in drunken driving
deaths. 2. Outline the social correlates of homicide and assault rates according to geographical regions of the country and urban variations among and within cities. Geographical regions play a major role in whether or not the homicide with increase or decrease. In 2012, violent crime rates in the U.S. were 0.7% higher than those in 2011. Violent crimes statistics showed a big decrease in the Northeast and the South whereas there was an increase in West and Midwest. According to some statistical analysis, age adjusted homicide rates were found to be higher among black males than white males. Statics show that large urban have higher homicide rates than many rural areas. Many factors such as unemployment rates, overcrowding, single parent homes and income inequality could be the result of increased homicide rates. The cycle of such heinous crimes continues to happen because they are a product of their environment. If the behavior of these high crime communities would change then the mindset of the people will change. Children would no longer have to see their friends and family members being killed. It is interesting to note is that “almost 750 million people live in countries with high homicide levels, meaning that almost half of all homicides occur in countries that make up just 11 per cent of the global population.” Out of other countries such as Europe and Africa, the United States continued to have higher homicide rates. Geographical regions also play a part in what types of people commit homicide. Areas that have a lot of gang violence tend to have higher homicide rates than those areas who do not. Data shows that males commit more homicide than females; more often than not females are the victims. High homicide rates are affected by geographical regions and it is important for these communities to be aware of the problem in their communities so that they can be instrumental in decreasing homicide rates.
Causation is the cause of death, and in criminal law it is the connecting of conduct and physiological behaviour with a resulting effect, typically a serious injury or death. The analysis of the actus rea and mens read of the accused will assist the investigators in pinpointing the causation of the murder. In criminal law it is absolutely necessary to prove causation in order to convict an individual for first degree murder.
Murder at the Margin is a murder mystery involving various economic concepts. The story takes place in Cinnamon Bay Plantation on the Virgin Island of St. John. It is about Professor Henry Spearman, an economist from Harvard. Spearman organizes an investigation of his own using economic laws to solve the case.
Under MPC/State Statutes, Murder must have the element of willful, deliberate, and premeditated killing (Criminal Law Outline – Homicide, 2009). The MPC provides that a person is guilty of criminal homicide if they take the life of another person being purposely, knowingly, recklessly, or negligently. MPC divides criminal homicide into three rather than two offenses: murder, manslaughter, and negligent homicide. Under MPC there must be extreme mental or emotional disturbance.
Imagine yourself going out to a neighborhood party trying to relax after a stressful week. You might want to socialize, drink, or watch television. Now try to think about the penalties that can occur when the party gets out of control such as loud outbursts, fighting, and physical behavior. Depending on the setting of the party, there could be a possible chance of violence happening. In this case, the violent actions can result to homicides, shootings, and suicides. Homicides can vary based on age, gender, race, and methods of killing the victim. Shootings are quick reactions to dealing with victim. Suicides result to choosing to kill one’s life. Overall, there are different reasons to why individuals feel the need to kill someone else. It
In 2012, there were an estimated 14,827 murders and non-negligent manslaughter crimes reported by all agencies in the United States according to the Uniform Crime Report at the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Murder and non-negligent manslaughter are defined “as the willful (nonnegligent) killing of one human being by another.” A 1.1 percent increase occurred from 2011 to 2012. But it should be noted, this is a 9.9 percent drop from the figure for 2008 and a 10.3 percent decrease from the number of murders recorded in 2003. Of the murders that occurred in 2012, it is estimated that 43.6 percent were reported in the south, 21.0 percent were from the Midwest, 21.0 percent were accounted from the west, and 14.2 percent were from the northeast of the United States. There were 4.7 murders for every 100,000 people in 2012. The murder rate went up 0.4 percent from 2011 to 2012. It went down in 2008 by 12.8 percent and dropped 16.9 percent from 2003. The majority of offenders were over the age of eighteen and they accounted for 9,096 of offenders in 2012. According to the Uniform Crime Report, the number of offenders who murdered in 2012 totaled 14,581. The majority of these offenders were male, totaling 9,425. Female offenders totaled 1,098, and 4,058 were unknown offenders. Black males topped the list as far as race was concerned with 5,531 committing murder. White males followed with 4,582 offenders. There were 4,228 classified as race unknown regarding offenders who murdered in 2012. The victim data reported was 9,917 male victims and 2,834 female victims. Of those victims, 11,549 were over the age of eighteen.
This crime can be classified as manslaughter and murder as well. There is about 426 incidents of non-negligent homicide, males are more of a victim than females are when it comes to this crime of a rate of 74% for males and 25% for females which is huge for males not by surprisingly. The most often ages of people that is a victim (1,062) or an offender (1,509) of non-negligent homicide crimes are between the ages of 20-29. The (UCR) which is the FBI uniform crime report says that agencies don’t classify suicide, traffic fatalities and etc. as death of non-negligent
* Involuntary euthanasia: death administered without the recipient's consent, commonly known as "mercy killing," as in the case of children or incompetent adults.
The stereotype that exists for individuals who commit serial murder is one that mainly includes males of a specific race. However, it is now known that white males are not the only individuals who commit serial murder. Men and women from all racial and ethnic backgrounds and socio-economic statuses have been found to be serial murderers. Although this information has been presented to society, the cultural schema of the white male serial killer is still prevalent. The assumptions that involve serial murderers often include two aspects, the serial murderer is male and the serial murder is a type of “lust murder”, often involving sexual crimes by a sadist (Keeney and Heide, 1995). Keeney and Heide (1994) define serial murder to be the premeditated murder of three or more victims committed over time, in separate incidents, in a civilian context, with the murder being chosen by the offender.
to a request from that person. Involuntary Euthanasia is used to describe the killing of a person
What is homicide and what are homicidal offenses? Homicide has been defined as the taking of the life of one human being by another. Homicidal offenses vary by degrees of the offense, penalties, and manor in which the offense occurred. These offenses include: First-Degree Murder, Second-Degree Murder, Felony, Justifiable and Excusable Homicide. These are some of the main topics and can be broken down into subcategories within and amongst themselves. Some of the earliest recorded cases of murder date back to the 12th century with the King’s Bench or Queen’s Court in England; we will cover some of the earliest establishments of these laws and/or cases in history.
Some of the perpetrators are the caregivers to spouses who are chronically ill. Another involves marriage, lovers who have lived together for many years. The main question, which remains unanswered is “why can some wake up one morning and decide to take away another person’s life”. According to Chermack & Taylor (1995), most of the perpetrators are usually mentally ill and challenged with extreme psychological problems. They may be suffering from strong stress and depressive disorder that affects their perception and feelings towards life. Although these people face blame for their undesirable actions, it is beneficial to make an effort to understand their problem (Kaukinen, 2002). Solving their alarming problem would significantly reduce the crime rates in the society and encourage the realization of a better environment.
“Euthanasia is defined as a deliberate act undertaken by one person with the intention of ending life of another person to relieve that person's suffering and where the act is the cause of death.”(Gupta, Bhatnagar and Mishra) Some define it as mercy killing. Euthanasia may be voluntary, non voluntary and involuntary. When terminally ill patient consented to end his or her life, it is called voluntary euthanasia. Non voluntary euthanasia occurs when the suffering person never consented nor requested to end a life. These patients are incompetent to decide because they are either minor, in a comatose stage or have mental conditions. Involuntary euthanasia is conducted when it is against the will of the patient (Gupta, Bhatnagar, Mishra). Euthanasia can be either passive or active. Passive euthanasia means life-sustaining treatments are withheld and nothing is done to keep the patient alive. Active euthanasia occurs when a physician do something by giving drugs or substances that ends a patient’s life. (Medical News Today)
Property Crime can be defined as the unauthorized taking or damaging of an individual’s personal belongings. This is not limited to robbery of any kind, fraud, or even arson, but all of these crimes have several coinciding traits that group them under this term. While property crimes are meant to take something that is not ours and use it for our own advantage, violent crimes are used to harm or even kill another rather than using for ones self. This includes hate crimes, murder, rape, and abuse. Hate Crimes are unique because they usually target someone who’s different than the race or sex of that individual committing the offense whereas murder and assault are not always gender or race defined. Therefore, property and violent crimes are influenced by social inequalities that are caused by gender, race, income and age; thus why the legal definition of crime cannot cover all possible scenarios without taking each individual case and studying social behaviors in these of why or what was the cause of the crime committed.
Murder is considered a serious crime in our country. The loosely defined term of murder implies that a person who kills another human being with intent is known as being the worst kind of violent crime we see in our society. Any unlawful killing requires that a living person be killed and it does not mean that the guilty person feels any hatred or spite in order to plan and execute the act of murder. Moreover, the destructive acts that end peoples lives are classified as homicides which include manslaughter and first and second degree murder. More important, the justice system has put different labels on such crimes, but it also allows room for criminals to get away with murder.
Michael Sanders, a Professor at Harvard University, gave a lecture titled “Justice: What’s The Right Thing To Do? The Moral Side of Murder” to nearly a thousand student’s in attendance. The lecture touched on two contrasting philosophies of morality. The first philosophy of morality discussed in the lecture is called Consequentialism. This is the view that "the consequences of one 's conduct are the ultimate basis for any judgment about the rightness or wrongness of that conduct.” (Consequentialism) This type of moral thinking became known as utilitarianism and was formulated by Jeremy Bentham who basically argues that the most moral thing to do is to bring the greatest amount of happiness to the greatest number of people possible.