Annotated Bibliography

Dezhbakhsh, H., & Shepherd, J. M. (2006). The Deterrent Effect of Capital Punishment: Evidence from a "Judicial Experiment". Economic Inquiry, 44(3), 512.

            This article carries out an experiment on panel data obtained from 50 states to determine the effect of capital punishment in deterring crime. There is a comparison of the data rates before and after some changes were introduced in these states, regarding, laws on death penalty. The study exploits some characteristics that have not been used in other studies; the Supreme Court moratorium’s experimental nature that had been imposed during the last decades. The various changes factors that have an influence on crime rates have little changes over a little period of time. The use death penalty is seen to vary widely across the country with majority of the states not having executed anyone over the last century. States have been passing various laws related to the issue of capital punishment and some of these have been found to be unconstitutional by the Supreme Court. Analysis of the data shows that adopting capital punishment and exercising it has a strong effect in terms of deterring crime in the states that have been studied. The article concludes that there is enough evidence to show that adoption of capital punishment leads to deterrence of crime in the country. It draws the case of states that are considering the re-introduction of the capital punishment such as Massachusetts.

            The article delves into the issue of capital punishment and its impact in deterring crime. It indicates how capital punishment can be used to deter cases of crime in different states. It indicates for the death penalty to be effective it should not only be adopted but exercised.

Kirchgässner, G. (2011). Econometric estimates of deterrence of the death penalty: Facts or ideology? Kyklos, 64(3), 448-478.

            The article discusses the various studies that have been done on the subject of capital punishment and its effect in terms of crime deterrent, with an aim of determining of whether such papers were based on facts or ideologies. It views various papers that have been done, some of which did not consider any methodological problems, and which lacked scientific principles. The paper also considers the econometric estimates and discussion on the possible impact of death penalty as adopted by some articles. It shows that result from these studies was rather mixed, with no clear validity on the results of the various studies. By using methodology and data used in other articles, it is shown how easy it can be to come up with contradictory results. Where the data from difference states are analysed, it is shown that the number of execution carried out cannot be used to show difference in crime between states that exercise death penalty and those that do not, especially in regard to homicides. From the examination of such results, the author notes that it conclusions cannot be drawn about the deterrence effect of capital death penalty. There are contradictions between different researchers in regard this deterrent. However, it tends to conclude that death penalty does not deter crime at all.

            This article shows how the debate about capital punishment has been wrought in the past, and with part of the scholars supporting introduction of death penalty to prevent crime. However, the issue requires concrete conclusions based on facts and not ideologies of the scholars.

Part II: Report to the ALI Concerning Capital Punishment. (2013). Texas Law Review, 89(2), 367-421.

            This article focuses on the influence of states on statutes, which allow the use of death penalties for child rape. The articles has consequently incorporated different articles, in a bid to explain how state statutes are being used as a means of influencing capital punishment. In addition, the article has also contextualized capital rape laws, within a social drive outline. The author has consequently argued that rape statutes can be linked to the following movements: the common movement to embarrassment, terror, and to isolate the sex delinquents; the women's libber movement for total punishment of the sexual offenders; and political movements to forcefully discourage sexual attacks against minors. The Supreme Court and social movements have over the years been contradicting each other, since the Supreme Court has been constantly going against the demands of social movements. For instance, the Supreme Court ruled against the use of capital punishment for the rape of adult women. The Supreme Court provided that, African Americans were being categorized as rapists by white women, thus making African Americans to fall victims of rape, falsely. This law was therefore abolished by the Court, thus only allowing capital punishments for child rape. Feminist movements and political movements, are basically using state statutes as a means of discourage child rape, hence reducing the chances of death penalties. According to this movements, if capital punishment against child rape is abolished, the rates of child rape of child rape will rise, hence affecting the lives of the innocent children. Death penalty according to the movement is the best method of further reducing child rape, hence safeguarding the future of the young ones.

            This article therefore shows how capital punishment, can be used as a means of deterring crime, thus improving the social lives of children. In addition, the article also provides the reasons as to why state statutes have been adopted in order to allow such laws to pass.

Sullivan, J. T. (2014). THE DEMOGRAPHIC DILEMMA IN DEATH QUALIFICATION OF CAPITAL JURORS. Wake Forest Law Review, 49(4), 1107-1172. 

            This article basically focuses on the dilemma which the judiciary faces when administering capital punishment, with regard to race. According to the author, African American’s have been the main targets of capital punishment, particularly if the jury is chaired by white judges. Most African American’s accused of child rape have faced death, after their cases were decided upon by a jury of white judges. This has consequently led to the question of the eligibility of capital punishment, if it’s being used as a means of discriminating and sentencing African Americans to the death row, without proper evidence. According to the author, in order to deal with the issue of rape, an inquiry should be established, in order to look at the causes of rape. In addition, the inquiry should also identify the role of poverty and drug abuse, in child rape, hence coming up with possible solutions of eliminating child rape from the society. Moreover, racial fairness in death penalties has become a very serious issue, making it hard to understand, why death penalties should only be imposed on the minorities. This article consequently provides the reasons as to why the jurors should be just when rendering justice, and this should not be based on racial lines. In as much as the article criticizes the effectiveness of the courts, it does not support and show how death penalties deter child rape. This article basically explains how the issue of racism has dominated over the judiciary, making capital punishment to be effective among a certain group of people.

Charles, K. K., & Durlauf, S. N. (2013). Pitfalls in the use of time series methods to study     deterrence and capital punishment. Journal of Quantitative Criminology, 29(1), 45-         66.

The article is focused on capital punishments and harmful attacks against police. According to this article, apart from the growing concern in regard to the entire populace’s safety and the relating importance in reference to capital punishments police are also attacked in this context a thing that should be treated with more importance. the author, investigated on the general implication that are related to  capital safety based on the safety of those that enforces the set laws and established that capital punishment fails to improve the aggressiveness and atrocities that are committed against those that are part of law enforcement. In addition, the author simultaneously asserted that despite the progress of the issue, no restrictive force has been established in relation to police killings as well as other aggressive acts that are committed in their opposition. It is rather apparent that capital punishment should be implemented in a fair a relative manner without any bias given that the existing laws possesses little or zero effects on the crimes that are to occur in the future on the ground that the enforcers and the public are not accounted for, equally. The authors argues that the laws are lenient to one party while they are aggressive to the other which is inappropriate.

Durlauf, S. N., Fu, C., & Navarro, S. (2013). Capital punishment and deterrence: understanding disparate results. Journal of Quantitative Criminology, 29(1), 103-121.

The authors in this article examined the hypothesis in support and against discouragement by evaluating public responses and succeeding criminal conduct. This was performed on the period when the capital punishment is administered and the debates that follows after the declarations have been delivered to the public via Medias which are either visual or printed. In this context the author relied on the online communications and print Medias such as newspaper in acquiring the direct responses from the public. The authors made the conclusion that the fact that the public is always aware of the postponement or the application of capital punishment but this knowledge does not directly inform on the comprehensive statistics that are related to crimes and therefore cannot be regarded as operative crime restrictive. In addition, the author asserted that crime prevention can best be acquired where accurate statistics in regard to the application of punishment and the associated crimes are communicated fully. However, based on his evaluation of the public responses, it is apparent that the measure is not effective in preventing crimes given that the application is not consistent. According to the author, the approach is a biased one that does not demonstrate any law steadiness.

Chalfin, A., Haviland, A. M., & Raphael, S. (2013). What do panel studies tell us about a deterrent effect of capital punishment? A critique of the literature. Journal of Quantitative Criminology, 29(1), 5-43.

The article explored on the general findings of the studies conducted in relation to capital punishment effects in America in the contemporary society. Based on the results, it is clear that the general utilization of capital punishment in preventing crimes has proved to be ineffective. The authors acknowledged that it is rather unfortunate that individuals are losing their lives without even determining whether the set procedures were adhered to. Innocent lives will continue to be lost on the ground that despite the findings the law has not been improved to address the concerns. The authors argues that applying capital punishment is meant to work based on the principle of punishing based on the crime. The article goes ahead and defines capital punishment as Justice. In that, it states that murder is the worst ever crime which in turn deserves capital punishment. The article argues that human life is to be upheld at all times which demonstrates the suitability of capital punishments. The article concluded that capital punishments deserves and authoritative warning for the potent murders and therefore it should be exercised under caution not to execute those that do not deserve the punishment.

Chen, D. L. (2016). The Deterrent Effect of the Death Penalty? Evidence from British             Commutations during World War I.

In this article the author begins to justify his claims in support of death penalty as an effective strategy in controlling crimes on the ground that it would modify the intentions of future killers. However, it also argues that with the extensive popularity, the actual notion of deterrence would then be threatened which is additionally discouraged by low discouragement rate statistics. The author argues that death penalty can best be categorized as a suitable option for discouraging crime and justifies its utilization as justice. The use of capital punishment is justified on the ground that it fits within human morality which asserts on protecting lives. The author opposed on the notion that in most cases murder is usually categorized as a passion crime and argued that based on research murders are part of a different crime attempt while others are objected and thoroughly planned. In addition the evolution of issues that are related to capital punishment were also examined. The author, warned that upholding capital punishments has brutal outcomes in that the practice will in turn generate a culture that is oriented on revenge rather than seeking to establish how justice can be exercised and individual’s will learn to repay any occurrence of violence with aggression or killings.

Lee, D. S., & McCrary, J. (2017). The deterrence effect of prison: Dynamic theory and evidence. In Regression Discontinuity Designs: Theory and Applications (pp. 73-146). Emerald Publishing Limited.

The article focuses on the dynamics of felonies that occur in America via examining the current trends and history. In addition, the article investigates how the rising killings might lead to the necessity for the development and application of a more firm punishments strategy in preventing crimes. According to the article, the intensification of felony in the contemporary society would lead to the growth of a much better comprehension of philosophies and standards on prevention and combating of these tenancies. The author determined some major factors that drives criminal conduct as public views and the media which offers more opportunity for debates. The author after reviewing most studies established that forces such as cruelness are highly rated and might result in the intensification of these behaviors. In this context, while discouragement might be effective in impacting capital punishments, its damaging implication cannot be underrated given that it holds some sort of significance. The author, argued against the claim that capital punishment is highly effective in discoursing crimes stating that its efficiency lies on the execution and how different issues are examined in general which is more appropriate in discouraging future crimes occurrence.

Nagin, D., Pepper, J., National Research Council (U.S.), National Research Council (U.S.), & National Research Council (U.S.). (2012). Deterrence and the death penalty. Washington, D.C: National Academies Press.

The authors argued against the claim that capital punishment holds warning effects in reference to criminal conduct on the ground that death will only affect those that are related but will not work on changing behavior. The article asserted that the time, and the modified life’s quality that the criminal is forced to adhere to is more effective in discouraging crime. However, the author acknowledged that it is true that for some potent murderers the punishments can serve as a major warning but it should not be forgotten that most of these criminals are not first time offenders and having a clear understanding of the laws makes it even easier for them to ignore the power of such penalties. The penalty should be improved so that it can focus on changing behaviors rather than just trying to be preventive which has not been effective. The author holds that the punishment works against the Christian norms which are particularly focused on preserving life regardless. Hence, by abandoning the practice that is more focused on preventing crime occurrence by focusing on revenge and aggression the punishment will not only be preventing and discouraging crimes but it will also be creating a desirable culture that is objected on justice.

Argument against the Deterrent Effect of Capital Punishment

Introduction

Capital punishment, popularly known as death penalty can best be described as an authorized legal killing of an offender as a major punishment for a committed crime. Felony activities and misbehavior have been in existence since the commencement of evolution (Charles & Durlauf, 2013). Capital punishment has been a controversial subject since the initiation into the law around the globe and in American particularly in the 19th century (Sullivan, 2014). Most individuals have raised concerns in the proposition of the utilization of capital punishment in discouraging the occurrence of crimes in the society. On the other hand, as significant population claim that capital punishment is not a suitable approach for preventing the occurrence of crime in the contemporary society. It is apparent that from both arguments the arguments against capital punishment use in discouraging crimes in the society are stronger and based on facts and evidence.

It cannot be denied that the execution of death penalty has resulted in the loss of numerous lives that can never be reversed thus causing, even more, pain to the society. The death penalty is unjustifiable to humankind in general which should be substituted with imprisonment given that this strategy is more suitable in upholding life while instilling morals (Chalfin, Haviland, & Raphael, 2013). Apparently, murder is the worst crime and those that kill others are deemed as inhumane and deserves an equal treatment. This is however not usually the case given that death penalty promotes retaliation and a culture that is based on violence rather than seeking for social justice which is against religious and social norms. It cannot be argued that killing is illegal and should never be encouraged at any cost. However, it cannot also be argued on the valuable aspect that is linked to human life (Chalfin, Haviland, & Raphael, 2013). Capital punishment is unjustified and ineffective in discouraging crimes because based on statistics it is very little that has been achieved from the strategy.

The life of the offenders should never be devastated based on their negative conduct gave that behavior is something that can be changed through punishment (Chen, 2016). Capital punishment is ineffective in controlling the rise of crimes because it only instills a sense of fear to the weak populace which is incapable of committing a felony while for the murderers the only thing that can hinder the repeat of these activities is through sentences (Chen, 2016). Every individual has an unchallengeable privilege to live and even for those that commit murder, thus, death sentences and the execution of aggression should serve as a more firm and effective punishment strategy that will discourage the occurrence of crime without focusing on hurting the public. Killing an offender based on the crime conducted is rather inappropriate given that the practice does not imply that the conduct has been corrected rather it only sets pain and anger to those that are affected by the loss (Chen, 2016).

Capital punishment in its execution is not flawless given that those in power tend to misuse their authority in pursuing their self-based objectives. Mistakes have always been seen within the judicial system where eyewitnesses, benches, and prosecutor might not be accurate and consistent which will lead to a wrong conclusion (Dezhbakhsh & Shepherd, 2006). When such basis are accommodated by faults it becomes unavoidable for the innocent people to be killed and with the involvement of capital punishment, such mistakes can never be corrected. Based, on research it has been established that thousands of innocent lives globally have been lost due to flaws related to power execution within the justice system. In this context, capital punishment is unjustified given that it is a disruption of individual’s rights (Dezhbakhsh & Shepherd, 2006). However, it teaching potential murderers that killing is unacceptable the punishment can be exercised with caution particularly to those that are found guilty of participating in mass killing and terrorist attacks. Behinds death sentences there are several other strategies that can be utilized in a behavioral change such as psychological help which will not only be effective in changing individual’s view but also in creating familiarity with the value that is linked with human life and the probable consequences of a felony.

Vengeance is unethical because it is morally inconsistent and unsteady in the theory of practice and concept. It is rather unappropriated that the justice system can focus on teaching that killing is legally wrong by practicing the same killing (Durlauf & Navarro, 2013). Taking a life after another one has been destroyed is a form of retaliation which cannot be categorized as justice. Vengeance is unethical because it is a form of vengeance that is fueled by the violation of the set standards which in turn instills anger (Durlauf & Navarro, 2013). It is argued by most scholars that retribution is utilized in a customized way in reference to the death penalty. Crimes in the exemption of murder fail to acquire a punishment that is reflective or equal to their offenses, for instance, those that are guilty of rape are not punished with being sexually attacked to equate the weight of their crime and this account should also be considered for those involved in murder offenses. Vengeance in reference to the death penalty is unfair because the subjection of the suffering of the offenders prior to the death implementation would in most cases overweight the defensive anguish of the crime’s victim (Nagin et al., 2012).

Capital punishment unlike other sentence and violate punishment is not deterrent given that individuals involved in the committing of murder do it either without anticipating for being categorized as guilty or after a thorough weighing of the distinctions amid the potential execution and the imprisoned period prior to any judgment (Kirchgässner, 2011). In most cases, killings are performed within annoyance, desire, by drug abusers or by repeated criminals and the execution fails to discourage such groups of criminals on the ground that crime is well accounted for or was never intentional. There lacks substantial prove on the general capability of capital punishment to the warning in contradiction of crimes more when equated to death sentences which does not only alter life’s quality and freedom but subjects one to both psychological and bodily punishments (Kirchgässner, 2011). However, it has been apparent that even with the use of capital punishment in some nation’s crime level is still elevating which is driven by modernization.

Capital punishment is deemed to be ineffective in preventing crimes because it is unfair given that crimes are mainly driven by socio-economic status which means that certain races and groups are bound to be executed more than others. This strategy fails to discourage crime occurrence despite the fact that it is expensive and emotionally consuming (Lee & McCrary, 2017). The punishment works mainly against certain religions such as Islam based on the perception that they are terrorists and other ethnic communities such as those occupied by blacks who are highly involved in crimes as a result of low socio-economic status. Based on statistics, in American there are more than fifteen thousand killings that are performed every year and only a few hundred of this populace is found suitable for capital punishment which equates to less than one percent. This, therefore, demonstrates the bias nature of the strategy and should, therefore, be avoided to instill a sense of safety and justice in the society (Lee & McCrary, 2017).

In conclusion, capital punishment is not a crime deterrent. It is a system that is characterized by flaws that seek to instill fear rather than focusing on justice. It is a violation of morals and human rights. Capital punishment, suitability in crime warning is the most antagonistic modern issue globally. However, despite the intensifying opposition, this punishment is exercised in a few countries where America is cited to be the leading proprietor of the punishment. Contrary, most social and religious organizations have criticized the punishment by describing it as uncivilized and a cruel activity that is in opposition to religious norms and the privilege to live. These contradict with the sentiments and perspectives in the relation to achieving a more firm and suitable form of justice.

References

Chalfin, A., Haviland, A. M., & Raphael, S. (2013). What do panel studies tell us about a deterrent effect of capital punishment? A critique of the literature. Journal of Quantitative Criminology, 29(1), 5-43.

Charles, K. K., & Durlauf, S. N. (2013). Pitfalls in the use of time series methods to study deterrence and capital punishment. Journal of Quantitative Criminology, 29(1), 45-66.

Chen, D. L. (2016). The Deterrent Effect of the Death Penalty? Evidence from British Commutations during World War I.

Dezhbakhsh, H., & Shepherd, J. M. (2006). The Deterrent Effect of Capital Punishment: Evidence from a "Judicial Experiment". Economic Inquiry, 44(3), 512.

Durlauf, S. N., Fu, C., & Navarro, S. (2013). Capital punishment and deterrence: understanding disparate results. Journal of Quantitative Criminology, 29(1), 103-121.

           Facts orideology? Kyklos, 64(3), 448-478.

Kirchgässner, G. (2011). Econometric estimates of deterrence of the death penalty:

Lee, D. S., & McCrary, J. (2017). The deterrence effect of prison: Dynamic theory and evidence. In Regression Discontinuity Designs: Theory and Applications (pp. 73-146). Emerald Publishing Limited.

Nagin, D., Pepper, J., National Research Council (U.S.), National Research Council (U.S.)., & National Research Council (U.S.). (2012). Deterrence and the death penalty. Washington, D.C: National Academies Press.

Part II: Report to the ALI Concerning Capital Punishment. (2013). Texas Law Review, 89(2), 367-421.

Sullivan, J. T. (2014). THE DEMOGRAPHIC DILEMMA IN DEATH QUALIFICATION OF CAPITAL JURORS. Wake Forest Law Review, 49(4), 1107-1172. 

Types of Evidences

There are different methodologies of evaluating evidence. The method used is as resourceful as the investigator wants it to be according to the seriousness of the matter at hand. For example, there is the expert method and the corroborative method of gathering evidence (Abdallah et al., 2014). When it comes to making the best out of a case, both of this methods are the most used since they ensure that every detail of an issue is well researched and supported by all means. The expert type is the evidence that has been obtained from sources which are very reputable and resourceful. The sources for this type of evidence can be from the academics, researchers or the practitioners in organizations which are acknowledged by the involved parties as leaders in their concerned fields (Abdallah et al., 2014). The expert type of evidence is used in most cases to present court actions take place effectively.

Corroborative type of evidence is one that is supported by other forms of research and which in this case there are multiple sources which are combined together to present a case. With the corroborative type, the evidence collected from the sources is highly regarded due to the fact that it has many players who have contributed to its success. Unlike the expert type, corroborative is very effective and efficient since the multiple sources corroborate on the same idea and bring out the best (Wallach et al., 2014). Both types are resourceful but the corroborative is more convincing based on supportive documented research of all kind. Expert evidence is mostly associated with a particular single mind which is prone to errors, unlike the corroborative which is more of a combined effort which leads to having a conclusive and factual case.

References

Abdallah, N. B., Mouhous-Voyneau, N., & Denoeux, T. (2014). Combining statistical and expert evidence using belief functions: Application to centennial sea level estimation taking into account climate change. International Journal of Approximate Reasoning, 55(1), 341-354.

Wallach, J. D., Sullivan, P. G., Trepanowski, J. F., Sainani, K. L., Steyerberg, E. W., & Ioannidis, J. P. (2017). Evaluation of evidence of statistical support and corroboration of subgroup claims in randomized clinical trials. JAMA Internal Medicine, 177(4), 554-560.

Business Law: Text and Cases

Section 1

Whether the bid made by Brice meet the requirements of an offer is determined by the intention he had of entering into contract, the clarity of the terms of the contract and in case such terms were communicated to the offeree .The bid by Brice met the different requirements of an offer since it followed Levin seeking of the builders to make submissions of their bids. Brice showed a serious intention to build the movie theater only at a lower price than all the other bidders. For an offer to be effective, the offeror must show serious intention to carry to carry out the agreement (Miller, Roger, 240). Brice expressed her willingness to enter into contract and even communicated the intention by submitting the prices that she could charge if given the chance to contract the movie theater. It was a communication that Brice was willing on specified basis, to enter into a contract with Levin. Brice also appeared to be reasonably sure about the offer before Levin requested for the review of the quality of the material at the same price. For an offer to effective, there must be communication by the offeror to the offeree on the same (Miller, Roger, 240). In addition, the terms for the specific offer should be reasonably definite or certain in order for a court and the involved parties can be sure of the expressed terms of that contract. The seriousness of the intention is dependent on what a reasonable person in the position of an offeree would understand the words and actions by the offeror meant but not on assumptions, subjective and the beliefs of the offeror (Miller, Roger, 241). These are crucial aspects of understanding whether an offer is effective or ineffective.

For acceptance of the offer to exist, the offeree must act voluntarily in a way that shows assent to the various terms expressed in that offer. The actions of the offeree may include both conduct and words (Miller, Roger, 241). For the case in point, there was no acceptance of the offer. This is because Levin did not voluntarily act in way that indicates that he agreed to the terms of the offer issued by Brice. In any case, he request to know whether the terms of the offer could change before he could accept, in relation to higher quality of the material at the same price that was included in the terms of the offer. Another important aspect is that acceptance must be communicated by the offeree to the offeror for it to be legally binding. Communication is necessary given that acceptance is not a performance but a promise and a contact comes into effect if a promise is made rather than in performance of an act (Miller, Roger, 241). In this case, Levin did not communicate any acceptance of the offer but only requested for the review of the various terms in the offer. This does not add up to acceptance. Since the acceptance would call for a performance on the part of Brice as the offeror, acceptance would be evident. The only discussion held was the possibility of construction starting and but not that the contract was in place. There was still pending issue on the quality of the sound-proof materials to be used in the construction of the theatre, in order to meet the requirements of the contract.

In case the court rules against the existence of an agreement, Brice is likely the recovery of materials under tort law of negligence. The law involves failure of a person to uphold the duty of care which leads to loss to another person. In this tort, the person who is a tort-feasor does not wish to cause the consequences of their failure and does not believe that such losses will occur (Miller, Roger, 130). In this case, Brice may argue that the failure of Levin to communicate brought about the losses that he underwent after he shelved the plan to construct a theatre even if his intention was not for him to incur the loss. The conduct of the party brings about risk of consequences such as loss on the other party (Miller, Roger, 130). In this case, failure by Levin to communicate on whether he would proceed with the contract created the risk of the loss.

An offer can be terminated through the actions of parties involved or by law’s operation. The parties may reject an offer through rejection, revocation or counteroffer. Revocation involves an offeror withdrawing their offer even after he or she made a promise of keeping it open, as long as communication on the same is made by the offeror before the offeree accepts it(Miller, Roger,246). It can be through expressly repudiating the offer or acting in a way that is not in line with the offer and the offeree is aware of such acts. A counter offer involves rejection of the initial offer and replacing it with a new one. The offeree may reject the offer by conducts or words which lead to termination and any other attempt to accept it will be viewed to be a new offer (Miller, Roger, 246). An offer can be terminated through the law’s operation due to occurrence of various events which include lapse in time, where a given subject matter of this offer is destroyed, where the offeror or offeree dies or become incompetent and if such offer is seemed to be illegal (Miller, Roger, 246). If Levin did not communicate to Brice about his decision to terminate the offer, its termination would occur at the end after a period of time that is considered reasonable as depending on the offer’s subject matter.

Section 2

 Specific performance involves an equitable remedy and normally requires the carrying out of the specific promise in a contract. To be specific, personal service contract calls for one party to perform a task personally on behalf of another party (Miller, Roger, 333). The case in point involves the personal services that are to be rendered by Zinatra on behalf of Grony Music Studio. In this case, both parties are to benefits when Zinatra sings for the subject album. However, it takes the willingness and judgments of Zinatra to performe the contract and especially if he is certain the marketing approaches for his album will be beneficial to his course. As a contract involving personal services, it will be impossible for Grony Music Studio to seek specific performance for this contract. Courts usually declines to compel specific performance where the contract involves providing personal services since ordering a person to offer personal services when he or she is not willing can be seen as a kind of involuntary servitude (Miller, Roger,333). Hence, in the case the court will decline to monitor an agreement for personal services since this needs the exercise of one’s talent or his or her personal judgment.

Singing for this album requires the talent or willingness of Zinatra and it would not be reasonable to force him to utilize his talent to the fullest against his will or judgment. Doing so will mount to involuntary servitude. This will go against the public policy whose expression is made clear in the 13 Amendment. The refusal by the court to grant specific performance on behalf of Groyn Music Studio may driven by the fact that the set up of the court does not allow it to operate as a supervisor of any given performance. In addition, the Studio cannot seek specific performance because the person because the party is entitled to get some compensation due to the breach of this contract and the judgment of the singer makes him incapable of freely performing the essential part of the contract due to the disputes on the marketing strategies that are to be used. The circumstance in which a party fails to perform the promise is relevant and material and has to be put into consideration by the court in the case of specific performance (Miller, Roger, 340). In determining whether a person is willing to perform the part of the contract he promised, the court has to consider the behavior of the plaintiff, in this case the Groyn Music Studio before and after filing of the compliant along with other surrounding circumstances. In the case of Zinatra, the circumstances surrounding include the heated argument and disagreement on the marketing strategies for the album and which could have made him unwilling to perform. Since his singing involves utilizing his talent to fulfill the contract, the court cannot require his specific talent to fulfill the contract.

In accordance with limitation of liability clauses provisions, whether such a clause can be enforced by a court will be determined by the kind of breach that the provision excuses (Miller, Roger, 348). After being served the tea, Zinatra loses his voice through the action of the Grony’s employee. The contract provided for exclusion for liability for only nominal damages to Zinatra while he is recording for his album with the company. This means that Grony Music Studio does limit the kind of exposure from law suits arising from the contract in relation to the singer’s injury. It does not cap the kind of damages that the firm is exposed due to the injury caused to Zinatra by the actions of the employee even if such actions were not intentional. Therefore, court is not likely to enforce a limitation of liability clause since the contract entered between Zinatra and Grony does not provide injuries that would result to substantial losses. The injury in this case involves loss of Zinatra’s voice which can lead to financial loss where recording will not take place as planned. This in turn will lead late completion of the recording and may not take advantage of the holiday shopping season and hence the loss will not just be nominal.

In determining whether the $10 million liquidated damages provision constitutes valid damages or is a penalty, the court would consider how the payment to be in case of a contract breach is characterized. The court would look into the estimation of the damage and whether the amount stipulated in the contract is reasonable. The structuring of the contract should have been done within the limits that have been put into place by current statute. This involves providing specific damages that are to be paid by Zinatra in case there is violation of the contract on his part. The court would, therefore, consider whether the contract specified whether the payment is a penalty or liquidated damage. On the other hand, if the amount termed as liquidated damage is of gross disproportional in relation to the actual loss incurred, the court is likely to consider it a penalty and hence, refuse the enforcement of that provision. This means that a court will put into consideration the reasonableness estimation of the damage on the basis of real loss during the violation of the contract. 

 According to special damages provision, Zinatra could seek damages for the profits he will have lost from sales in the holiday season. Consequential damages are brought about by results of violating the contract (Miller, Roger, 352).  In this case, Grony failed adhere to the contract provisions, with full knowledge that Zinatra was counting on the holiday season in order to gain substantial revenue from the sale of the album. The violation of the contract meant that the album would not be released into the market at the right time and the Grony knew that if that season passes by without the album production, Zinatra will have lost that profit. This means that Zintra can seek special damages for the lost profit.

Works cited

Miller, Roger L. R. Business Law: Text and Cases: the First Course. , 2014.

White Collar Crimes

1. A white-collar crime is an offense committed by either a government or business professionals who are motivated financially, and it does not involve violence. One of the key elements of white-collar crimes is that a fraudulent scam is usually involved (Ferguson, 2010). This can be through giving out a company’s passwords or information to the attackers. Secondly, money is also another element, since it is the motivating agent of white collar crimes (Payne, 2013). The third and final element is planned crime. This is whereby the workers of an organized may plot on how to commit a crime without being noticed.
2. The government uses specific strategies when convicting white-collar criminals. Sarbanes-Oxley Act which was enacted in order to respond to a series of high-profiles monetary scandals which transpired in the early 2000s affecting investor assurance (Ferguson, 2010). This act was stablished in order to improve business governance and accountability. All companies are therefore supposed to abide by the dictates of the Act. The Antitrust Act is also used, as it rules against entry into a contract in order to control the trade (Payne, 2013). These two statutes are therefore significant for the government, since they outline the rules and regulations which organizations should follow in order to avoid fraudulent crimes such as white collar crimes.
3. There are a lot of costs which arise from white collar crime. The most common types are the following: financial harm, physical harm and social cost. Financial harm cannot be estimated however, it is estimated that $1.7 trillion every year (Ferguson, 2010). Physical crime can result to death, through harming a person, hence leading to serious injuries which may lead to death. Social costs tend to bring sociological harm to businesses. This consequently results in poor social relationships and the loss of trust (Payne, 2013). The three types of costs are not good at all, since they can affect relationships, and may also to bankruptcy.

Reference

Ferguson, J. E. (2010). White-collar crime. New York: Chelsea House.

Payne, B. K. (2013). White-collar crime: The essentials. Thousand Oaks, Calif: SAGE Publications.

Gangs: Should they be giving stiffer penalties for crimes committed.

Hammond, Sarah. "Gang Busters." State Legislatures, vol. 34, no. 6, June 2008, pp. 20-21. EBSCOhost, 165.193.178.96/login?url=http%3a%2f%2fsearch.ebscohost.com%2flogin.aspx%3fdirect%3dtrue%26db%3dtfh%26AN%3d32548052%26site%3deds-live.

This article talks about the increased rates of crime in the city of New York, where it is estimated that there are about 30,000 gangs in the US, with a total of 800,000 members. Gang members recruit high school teenagers, through offering them huge sums of money, thus encouraging them to join these gangs. After joining the gangs, teenagers who seem innocent, are used to carry out criminal activities. The government has therefore issued stiff penalties, to those found guilty of recruiting children into gangs.

The reason as to why I have picked this source is because it is objective, thus it does not favour any sides. In addition, the source has clearly explained, with the aid of statistics, the reasons as to why stiff penalties against gang crime have been issued. Furthermore, the source is scholarly, hence providing evidence based information. On the other hand, the article has not explained clearly the type of stiff penalties which the government has imposed on gang crimes.

This source will be of help, thus I will use to explain the reasons as to why gang crimes are on the rise in New York. In addition, the article will also help me to explain why the government has decided to take legal action against crime in the country.

DUR, ROBERT and JOËL VAN DER WEELE. "Status-Seeking in Criminal Subcultures and the Double Dividend of Zero-Tolerance." Journal of Public Economic Theory, vol. 15, no. 1, Feb. 2013, pp. 77-93. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1111/jpet.12010.          

This article offers an argument for the reason as to why strict enforcement of petty offenses may result in double results, as it bars both petty and serious crimes. The article also develops a model of criminal subgroup where people gain common status among a group, due to being tough, through committing a lot of crimes. Issuing zero tolerance is often the best choice, as it discourages crimes in the country.

I have chosen this source, because it is objective, and the way it has distinctively provided the reason for zero tolerance. In addition, the facts are well documented, thus making it easier to understand how zero tolerance was reached at. Moreover, the source has also been written in a scholarly manner, hence the information has been backed up by a lot of evidence.

This information is consequently important, since I will use it to explain why gangs should be given stiffer penalties, based on the information provided. In addition, the source will also enable me to clearly explain how giving gangs’ stiffer penalties will help in drastically reducing crime rates in the country.

Elizabeth, Roberts. “Stiffer Penalties to be handed out to Gangsters” The Royal Gazelle. 20, July, 2017.

This article basically talks about the imposition of stiffer penalties on gangsters. It consequently provides information regarding the escalation of crime in the country, and the actions which the parliament took in order to reduce high rates of crime. In addition, the article provides the Criminal Code Amendment Bill of 2012, as a means of backing up the information provided.

The reason as to why I have chosen this source, is because of the way it has provided facts. Similarly, the article has also provided evidence based on the parliamentary debate which was conducted in order to reduce the rates of gang crimes. Finally, the article is not scholarly, however the information provided is clear and evidence based.

This source is of significance to me, as it provides evidence, on the reason as to why gangsters should be given stiff penalties. Secondly, the article has provided evidence based on the amendment act of the year 2012. I will consequently use this source to prove my argument that gangsters should be given stiff penalties.

John, Adamson. & Amanda, Morrison. “Law for Business and Personal Use” Amazon. 2016, Print.

This article talks about gang crimes, and why they should be given stiff penalties. In addition, the article provides a case study, where a person by the name of Murdock, together with his gang, stole batteries from wheelchairs and handicapped people. The court could not however issue stiff penalties on the gang, since under the criminal code, they could only be charged with transgression stealing and unintentional manslaughter. The article provides the reasons as to why the court should give stiff penalties to the gang, based on the above scenario.

I chose this article, because it is brief, direct and provides clear evidence based on the scenario. In addition, the source explains why the gang should have been given a stiff penalty, as opposed to the criminal code. Finally, the information provided is not bias, as it looks at both sides of the case, thus providing relevant reasoning behind giving stiff penalties on the gang.

The information provided in this source, will be used in providing a concise argument, into the reason as to why I support giving stiff penalties on gang members. Using the above scenario, I will be able to provide an evidence based argument, which will be responsible for allowing me to back up my argument. Finally, I will use the article as my reference point in my argument, as I explain the reason as to why I think stiff penalties should be given to gangs.

Bobby Delgado. “Gangs, Prisons, Parole $ the Politics behind them” . Amazon. 2009, Print.   

This book basically talks about the high levels of gang crime in the country, and the close relationships which gangs have with political leaders. The author has also explained how gangs are becoming widespread while the police say they know what there are doing. When gang related crimes are tabled in the house, politicians do not come up with stiff penalties on gangs, thus leading to the growth of gangs in the country.

I chose this source, because of the way it has clearly explained why gangs are growing, while the government is taking no action. The source has clearly outlined, how gangs are benefiting from political leaders, who seem to take action, but in real case they are not taking any action. The information provided is not bias, thus making this book to be a good source.

This information is relevant for explaining why stiff penalties should be issued to gangs. The source provides information which is more detailed, thus opening the eyes of the reader into understanding why gangs are growing. I will consequently use this information to provide the logic, as to why gangs are on the rise, whereas the government has the necessary resources to deal with gangs.

Work Cited

Hammond, Sarah. "Gang Busters." State Legislatures, vol. 34, no. 6, June 2008, pp. 20-21. EBSCOhost, 165.193.178.96/login?url=http%3a%2f%2fsearch.ebscohost.com%2flogin.aspx%3fdirect%3dtrue%26db%3dtfh%26AN%3d32548052%26site%3deds-live.

DUR, ROBERT and JOËL VAN DER WEELE. "Status-Seeking in Criminal Subcultures and the Double Dividend of Zero-Tolerance." Journal of Public Economic Theory, vol. 15, no. 1, Feb. 2013, pp. 77-93. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1111/jpet.12010.    

Elizabeth, Roberts. “Stiffer Penalties to be handed out to Gangsters” The Royal Gazelle. 20, July, 2017.

John, Adamson. & Amanda, Morrison. “Law for Business and Personal Use” Amazon. 2016, Print.

Bobby Delgado. “Gangs, Prisons, Parole $ the Politics behind them” . Amazon. 2009, Print.   

Age Discrimination Act

The artifacts I have provided in my portfolio are the laws which have been developing in order to protect the old from being discriminated at their work place by their colleagues or their bosses. According to the act of age discrimination, every person has the right to equal employment opportunities whether old or young. Basin individuals according to their level of knowledge is very wrong and many times brings the act of being subjected to less concern and also the lack of morale in life (Brownell & Kelly, 2013). Embracing diversity especially at work place signifies that the general society appreciates the hard work of another person is it the senior staff or the junior staffs. According to the act on older workers developed in the 1990s, equal treatment of the workers is a necessity and not an option.

Previously, older workers were discriminated on the basis that they have no capability in building the economy and this leads to the workers being left to strive with poverty (EEOC, 2017). Many older people who are discriminated at the work place prefer to just quit their jobs and maybe look for somewhere else to work instead of facing the harsh treatment at work. Based on the signed discrimination in the employment act of 1967, age should not be a reason as not to employ or employ a person. As long as the person has the capability and the willing including the qualification levels, then he or she should be considered. From both of these acts, it is clear that age is just but a number which should not determine whether to offer someone a job. The older people should also be included in the employment since they bring certain new skills which are essential in the work place.

References

Brownell, P. J., & Kelly, J. J. (2013). Ageism and mistreatment of older workers: Current reality, future solutions. Dordrecht: Springer.

EEOC (n.d).The Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967.Retreived from: https://www.eeoc.gov/laws/statutes/adea.cfm

EEOC. (2017). Old Workers Benefit Protection Act 1990. Retrieved from https://www.eeoc.gov/eeoc/history/35th/thelaw/owbpa.html

Judicial Selection

The selection process for a judge in the state of Missouri takes place through a merit selection and specifically the assisted appointed methodology. Missouri is the first state to have the merit selection method in the section of judges and the method is called the Missouri plan and has been operating since the 1940s. In other states, the method has been used by more than 34 states but with a different variation. The selected judges run for a retention election on a yes or no vote though at the same time they hold their status and offices (Fortson & Knudsen, 2015). The circuit judges are chosen through the method of partisan elections and are expected to run for re-election if they want to serve any additional terms. As from January 1^st, any judge that is elected in the state of Missouri will start serving immediately as per the constitution.  

In Florida, there are 7 justices in the Supreme Court and at least 32 justices from the districts courts of appeal and are all selected in a similar manner of the Missouri method. Commission from the judicial nominating section check out any potential judicial prospect and submit a list of only 3 nominees to the seating governor (Goelzhauser & Cann, 2014). The governor is now tasked with choosing the most suitable from the list. During the next general elections, the elected judges who still have the interest of serving will be expected to run in an election and when they win they will hold the office according to the law for 12 years. The Supreme Court chief justice serves a period of two years term and then elected through rotation of the peer vote.

One of the most senior among the judges and who has in any case not been a chief justice is selected as the head chief judge. A peer vote is used to elect a chief judge amongst the combined courts of appeals in the district. The length of each term will be heavily dependent on the three court of appeals district (Fortson & Knudsen, 2015). For one to serve in either of these courts as a judge, one must have been a citizen of united states for 15 years or more, for the court of appeals he or she must have been a district resident, licensed law practitioner in the specific state, a qualified voter for 9 years and above, be aged above 30 years but below 70 years since this is the retirement age. If one is interested in continuing with holding office while above the age of 70 years and in any case has not been on the bench for 12 years, a petition can be made to the responsible commission so as to be allowed to continue until the age of 76 years.

Circuit courts have more than 100 judges who are expected to hold the office for a period of 6 years following a partisan election and if one is interested in the office again, a reelection is done (Fortson & Knudsen, 2015).  From any court, the judges are selected through a circuit from the judges. For one to serve as a chief judge, he must have a citizenship of United States for more than 10 years, a voter for 3 years and above, resident for more than 1 year, licensed law practitioner and above the age of 30 years. In case there is a midterm vacancy, the circuit courts which use the partisan method of election are expected to replace their judges through the appointment from the governor (Neubauer & Meinhold, 2016). The judges are expected to run for re-election in the next general election if they are interested in serving the full term.

In Florida State, the judges are also selected in two methods and depend on the court level. The judges from the appellate will be subjected to a process popularly known as assisted appointment whereas those in the trial courts are subjects of a nonpartisan election. The term for the judges in this section starts on the first Tuesday which is after the first Monday in the month of January. There are 7 justices from the Supreme Court and at least 60 justices from the districts courts of appeal and are all selected in a similar manner. Commission from the judicial nominating section check out any potential judicial prospect and submit a list of between 3 and 6 nominees to the seating governor (Goelzhauser & Cann, 2014). The governor is now tasked with choosing the most suitable from the list. The judges who are appointed will serve for the next one year and after this period, they will appear for an election of yes or no which is held in the next general election and if one retains the seat, he or she will serve for the next 6 years.

In order for a person to serve as a judge for any of the courts, he or she must have some qualifications. These qualifications include but not limited to state resident, a qualified elector, under the age of 70 and must be admitted as a law practitioner for at least 10 years before being a judge (Neubauer & Meinhold, 2016).  If a vacancy occurs at the midterm, the vacancy is filled just like it would have been filled at the end of the term. The commission for the judicial recommends between 3 to 6 candidates to the governor who is qualified to fill in the vacancy and the governor appoints the best to occupy the seat. The newly appointed judge serves for a period of not less than 1 year prior to running for a yes or no election for retention.

It is a mandatory requirement in Florida for a judge to retire once he or she is at the age of 70 and any judge who reaches this age and has already served half the term is allowed to complete his full term. Circuit courts in Florida are at least 597 and each is elected through an election of the nonpartisan (Fortson & Knudsen, 2015). They all serve a term of at least 6 years prior to running for a re-election if one wants to retain their seat. In case there is a midterm vacancy, the judges selected will serve for the next 1 year and after that, they run for a mandatory re-election of office. The chief judge is appointed through peer votes and serves for the next 2 years. The judicial qualifications are also very identical to the court of appellate except that they serve for 5 years instead of the requisite 10 years.

According to the data in terms of the selection of the judges in the state of Florida and Missouri both have almost similar qualification levels but differ in the selection process. For one to be a chief judge in the state of Missouri, one must have a citizenship of United States for more than 15 years whereas in Florida there are no such qualification levels (Neubauer & Meinhold, 2016). The candidates for both states must be qualified voters but in the case of Missouri State, the person has to have 9 years of experience as a voter compared to Florida where there are no such qualifications.

For both cases, a candidate has to be a practitioner of law for more than 10 years and above the age of 30. The retirement period for both states is 70 years of age. In Florida, a judge can be removed from office through an impeachment. Through two thirds voting from the House of Representatives and another two-thirds vote from the senate, a judge can be removed from office in Florida (Fortson & Knudsen, 2015).   In Missouri, the impeachments are usually vetted by the Supreme Court or through a special commission for the case of the governor or the justice from the Supreme Court. Florida State can be considered to possess the best system of both selection and that of removal from office. When removing a judge from office, there is the need to vote to see how many want to retain him compared to Missouri where the judge is just tried at the Supreme Court. If many fall for the support of the judge, then the impeachment is not valid at all.

References

Fortson, R., & Knudsen, K. S. (2015). A Survey of Studies on Judicial Selection. Alaska Just. F., 32, 1.

Goelzhauser, G., & Cann, D. M. (2014). Judicial Independence and Opinion Clarity on State Supreme Courts. State Politics & Policy Quarterly, 14(2), 123-141.

Neubauer, D. W., & Meinhold, S. S. (2016). Judicial process: law, courts, and politics in the United States. Nelson Education.

Owens, R. J., Tahk, A., Wohlfarth, P. C., & Bryan, A. C. (2015). Nominating Commissions, Judicial Retention, and Forward-Looking Behavior on State Supreme Courts: An Empirical Examination of Selection and Retention Methods. State Politics & Policy Quarterly, 15(2), 211-238.

 Redish, M. H., & Aronoff, J. (2014). The real constitutional problem with state judicial selection: due process, judicial retention, and the dangers of popular constitutionalism. Wm. & Mary L. Rev., 56, 1.

Human Resource Laws

Companies with a similarly big number of employees can face very many challenges and legal issues with regards to employee management. Integrity is one of the major and likely issues that a business can face while in operation. Every employee has his or her own responsibility that is expected to handle at any particular instance. In this way, some can be competitive and others very reluctant to perform their duties and this can lead to some integrity issues amongst the employees. The hardworking employees in many cases are always awarded while those who are reluctant but still in the same sector are not rewarded (Crane & Matten, 2016). Such cases can bring about the issue of favoring others which will lead to low employee turn out and eventually the lack of productivity. There are other employees who will go an extra mile to report such cases as being discriminated at the work place and worse when it comes to a person who is of a different racial background.

Legal issues are bound to face the company in the case such a case is taken to a court of law and this might affect the organization in a very negative manner. Lawsuits might be developed and when a business comes to having such issues the worst could happen. Some of the legal issues that an organization might face include the victimization, discrimination especially in terms of race, and unlawful business competition (Phillips, 2016). The organization is profit type of an organization and therefore hard work is measured individually so the need to have internal competitions (Blanpain & Bisom-Rapp, 2014). Certain laws such as the newly implemented law of health care are a law that every organization is required to have in place. To understand such a law for the human resource department is a difficult task making it hard for the department to implement such an act in the organization.

At such an organization that deals with the objective of reaping too many profits, there can be a problem of conflicts amongst the employees and this can lead to legal issues. Employees can be faced with the issue of lack of adequate security in the workplace. This can be attributed to the fact that many of them who will be working in the manufacturing plants where accidents can happen are in danger. Employees in the machinery section can cite the issue of having low-quality knowledge and understanding on how to handle any dangerous material or equipment. Employees working in such a busy organization are supposed to be equipped with the best protective gears that will reduce the effects of harm (Phillips, 2016). In the case an accident happens to one of the employees, claiming that the organization is responsible can be very difficult. One must have signed an agreement contract with the company to cater for such issues and this can be a way to protect the employee from harm. The organization should formulate policies that will protect the employees from being harmed by either other employees or the staff members.

In many cases, employees can be subjected to discrimination by the organization and this requires rules that forbid any discrimination whether based on race or physical body appearance (Carroll & Buchholtz, 2014). There are labor laws which have been developed to deal with the issues that employees face in their work places. Many of these laws are not adhered to or even available in this organization and this is very critical. The age discrimination act is not in operational in this organization and therefore the employees are not protected under this law (Crane & Matten, 2016). Age should not be a consideration when it comes to treating the employees equally. As long as a person has the right skills and manpower to perform his or her duties, then working in the organization should feel comfortable. Such an essential law does not apply in this organization and therefore employees can be discriminated and others forced to retire before their time in the future by the management.

Laws are very important in an organization since they ensure that the employees do not harm or get harmed while in the organization. Such laws are important as they help keep the organization free from being summoned in a court of law for having ineffective laws in place. Currently, the organization has laws such as the fair dismissals, equal opportunities for promotions, civil laws, privacy rights, equal pay, and the pregnancy right law (Kadushin & Harkness, 2014). The organization has a policy that protects the employees against being dismissed without a viable reason. Being dismissed from a work place without a prior notification is a mistake and the organization has agreed to be sued if the case has no equal basis. Equal opportunities when it comes to promotions are highly accepted in the organization. Employees are given the privilege of being promoted on equal grounds as long as the person has what it takes to be considered in the promotion.

Promotions are very important as they are the ones that make an employee be motivated to work more and more. Without equal opportunities, the organization could lose out on the best-skilled manpower that will opt to move and look for other organizations that promise higher benefits. This could be disastrous to the organization since developing new skills every now and then will slow the rate of productivity of the organization. Every employee is assured of privacy while at the workplace (Crane & Matten, 2016). This is a law that forbids other colleagues and unauthorized staff members from evading the privacy of other employees. It is against the company policies to look into and sneak into another person’s privacy without their permission as this will amount to prosecution or immediate dismissal.

As a human resource director, there are many challenges that come with heading a big organization that has numerous numbers of employees. Some of these challenges will need ample judgment to make the best decision which will impact positively to the organization. Certain laws such as equal promotional opportunities can be used in the case there re issue regarding this section. Promotions are based on the capability of an employee to show good results. At such a point relying on the organization's policies is beneficial since it will eliminate the issue of discrimination and implicate the company of being biased. Relying on the company policies is very important as they cover the decisions made timely and in the right way (Kadushin & Harkness, 2014).

If a decision is made and which does not give an impression of the being objective oriented, then the outcome of the decision could cause harm to the organization. Also in regards to the issue of privacy, many employees are subjects to diverting the company resources and using them for their own personal gain which is a violation of the company policies. At this point, it will need a combined effort of the company other policies such misuse of company resources to breach the privacy act. Breaching the company policy means that the privacy of the employees will not be considered when going through their work place job allocation equipment (Blanpain & Bisom-Rapp, 2014). In many occasions, emails are used to communicate outside the company boundaries but others can use the company internet to video call and talk with friends outside the company which is a misuse of resources. This will now force a go alone strategy since it is wrong and expensive to the company and as a holder of the docket to deal with expenditure, this is appropriate.

The most anxious human resource law is the law on overtime or the minimum wage law. Many employees in an organization work to their level best to ensure that they have awarded promotions. Considering these activities, it is exciting to see the level of contribution and working together with the various personnel’s who have the determination of making an impact in their specific job allocation sites. This working together makes it easier to socialize and know what others are thinking in regards to the management. In this field, one requires having the best working relationship in order to develop strategies which can be equal to both the employees and the management (Blanpain & Bisom-Rapp, 2014). Quality working relationship and engaging with some employees will develop trust and in the case of an emergency or an issue, one is able to get it timely and prevent the issue from happening and harming others. This way, the anxiety will be maximized to higher levels and eventually create a lasting impact.

References

Blanpain, R., & Bisom-Rapp, S. (2014). Global Workplace: International and Comparative Employment Law Cases and Materials. Wolters Kluwer Law & Business.

Carroll, A., & Buchholtz, A. (2014). Business and society: Ethics, sustainability, and stakeholder management. Nelson Education.

Crane, A., & Matten, D. (2016). Business ethics: Managing corporate citizenship and sustainability in the age of globalization. Oxford University Press.

Kadushin, A., & Harkness, D. (2014). Supervision in social work. Columbia University Press.

Phillips, J. P. (2016). Workplace violence against health care workers in the United States. New England journal of medicine, 374(17), 1661-1669.

Mortuary Law

Charles, A. Corr, Donna M. Corr. (2012). Death and Dying, Life and Living: Amazon.com

This book focuses on the disposition of human bodies, and who has the authority of disposition. According to the author, different states have different laws regarding the disposition of dead human bodies. However, as stated in the law, a dead human body should be disposed by the relatives of the deceased. In addition, the law protects the deceased against any harm from the mortuary attendants. A corpse should consequently be disposed in the right way, as stipulated by the law. The law also prevents institutions which take care of human bodies from contamination, a move which aims at protecting the lives of other people.

In Brennan, M. (2014). The A-Z of Death and Dying.

This book focuses on the laws of disposition of dead bodies, and who has the authority to direct how dead bodies should be disposed off. In addition, the book also provides information regarding mortuary science studies. According to the author, states are the common regulators of the disposition of departed human bodies according to the law. Morticians are tasked with the mandate of taking care of dead bodies, according to the wishes of the deceased. Moreover, they also have the authority to dispose the body, either through earth burial, or through cremation. However, different states have different laws regarding the mode of disposition of dead bodies, which morticians are supposed to work under.

COPELAND, L. (2015). Who Owns the Dead?. New Republic, 246(7/8), 14-22.

This article focuses on the tumour of funeral homes in the US, and the people who are employed to facilitate them. The article also outlines the historical undertakings which are linked to the care of dead bodies. In addition, it also looks at the growth and development of funeral homes in the 20^th century. The topics discussed in the article consequently include the following: transport and supervisory issues which affect those who prepare a dead body of a family member at home, female mortuary workers, and the costs of cremation as compared to that of traditional burial.

Searcy, E. (2014). The Dead Belong to the Living: Disinterment and Custody of Dead Bodies in Nineteenth-Century America. Journal Of Social History, 48(1), 112-134.

This article basically looks at the relationship between family members and the control they have over their dead relatives in the 19^th century. The author consequently argues that families during this period did not have total control over their dead relatives, since mortuary attendants had total control over dead bodies. Even as courts came up with laws regarding the disposition of dead bodies, families maintained a close relationship with their dead family members. Family members of the dead bodies wanted to be granted the right to dispose their family members’ bodies, but the law could not allow, hence making them to maintain a close relationship with their dead family members even after the disposition of their bodies by the mortuary departments.

Aurora P. (2013). The Law and Ethics of Medical Research: International Bioethics and Human Rights: Amazon.com

This book focuses on the ownership of property and dead bodies. According to the book, people can own anything in this world, and they have the right to do whatever they want with them, without being question by anyone. However, the author argues that, when it comes to the human body, no one has the authority to own a dead human body. As it is stated in the law, when a person dies, the body should be disposed according to the dictates of the law. A human body cannot consequently be owned, thus a dead body should be disposed according to the law, failure to which it will be a crime. A corpse should be buried, or cremated, according to the wishes of the deceased. Whoever is given the task of disposing a dead body should consequently do so according to the rule of law.

Reference

COPELAND, L. (2015). Who Owns the Dead?. New Republic, 246(7/8), 14-22.

Searcy, E. (2014). The Dead Belong to the Living: Disinterment and Custody of Dead Bodies in Nineteenth-Century America. Journal Of Social History, 48(1), 112-134.

Charles, A. Corr, Donna M. Corr. (2012). Death and Dying, Life and Living: Amazon.com

In Brennan, M. (2014). The A-Z of Death and Dying.

Aurora P. (2013). The Law and Ethics of Medical Research: International Bioethics and Human Rights: Amazon.com

Criminal Law

The actus rea and the mens rea are both important terminologies in the United States criminal law. These terminologies signify that an act cannot implicate a person to be guilty unless the mind is guilty also. Actus rea is the concrete criminal act while the mens rea is the psychological part of committing the crime. Before a physical criminal act is done, a mental crime must have taken place according to the principle of actus rea and mens rea as a comparison between the two principles. In every criminal case, an action including the intention must always be established for that particular person to be charged with the particular crime. The degree of the kind of action taken must also be established to determine the cause and the action to be taken for the crime (Dressler, 2015). Crime can be intentional and unintentional, for example, a person can intend o shoot another person but misses the shot, later some years the same person runs over the other accidentally and dies (Ashworth & Horder, 2013). The first occasion would be murder while the next is manslaughter and both have different punishments. Therefore, the principle is beneficial to the defense rather than the prosecution.

The three strikes laws are very important in the criminal justice system as a person who is regarded as a criminal for more than three occasions is sentenced to life imprisonment, therefore, saving the community many years of peace once the criminal is sentenced. The criminals who are subject to this law will definitely spend most of their lives in prison serving the jail sentences as the law will implicate them to more serious convictions (Glenn, 2016). Criminals might also be deterred from engaging in any criminal acts as the three strikes law could end their free lives. In this way, crime has reduced significantly in the states where the law is active. For example, in California crime has reduced since the criminals fear the impacts of being subjected to the three strikes law.

References

Ashworth, A., & Horder, J. (2013). Principles of criminal law. Oxford University Press.

Collins, S. J. (2015). Three strikes. Overland, (220), 108.

Dressler, J. (2015). Black Letter Outline on Criminal Law. West Academic.

Glenn, D. (2016). Three Strikes Laws. The Encyclopedia of Crime and Punishment.

Judge Selection Process

State and federal courts are the main courts in the United States which are developed under the constitution of United States. Federal courts are of two types, Article I and III. In article III kind of courts, the judges can listen to any kind of a case and the judges are nominated by the head of states after confirmation by the Congress (Owens et al., 2014). They include the Supreme Court, federal trial courts, and appellate courts. Article I are formed by the Congress for the administration of the laws written by the Congress. Such courts include tax courts, certain military courts and bankruptcy courts and the judges are appointed by congress.

State judges are selected in different ways in every state. The selection can be done either by appointment by the governor, merit selection, Non-partisan elections and the partisan elections. Judges selected through the appointment criteria are almost similar to the judges selected under the merit selection criteria (Owens et al., 2014). The legislature is involved in selecting a judge to represent them through the appointment of the best person. The legislature can also check the performance outcomes of a judge through a committee and decide the best performer to be the judge. For example, a governor can appoint a judge while the legislature can vet to identify the best judge.

The nominee is vetted by the white house including the background checks. The employment background, drafted opinions, financial situation and the liabilities are cross-checked by the judiciary. The nominee is also done a background check by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the senatorial Judiciary appointees (Mason & Stephenson, 2015). Once the nominations are presented to the judiciary, the leader of the majority in the Senate conducts a voting session and the nominee is appointed for confirmation and this is the most persuasive process of judge selection process. The president now signs the confirmation of the nominee to be a judge. This is done to ensure that the person chosen to represent the court system is truthful.

References

Mason, A. T., & Stephenson, G. (2015). American constitutional law: introductory essays and selected cases. Routledge.

Owens, R. J., Walters, D. E., Black, R. C., & Madonna, A. J. (2014). Ideology, Qualifications, and Covert Senate Obstruction of Federal Court Nominations.

CAPITAL PUNISHMENT SHOULD BE ABOLISHED

 For centuries, capital punishment has existed, yet questions on its justifications have been raised over time. Even though capital punishment was seen as necessary in dealing with crimes that were seen as having grave implications on the society, the question as to whether one should have the right to take away one’s life over crime has made this a major judicial policy debate. More than ever, the modern day society has seen more and more nations doing away with capital punishment, yet a number of countries still hold on to its inclusion in their penal code. For such countries, there are reasons to support the implementation of capital punishment, even with the detriments that can be attributed to this penalty. Prominent judges have also called death penalty to be abolished since it has barely beneficial. In the words of Retire Justice Stevens, he called for its abolishment due to “the risks of executing the innocent, its high costs relative to its questionable benefits, and the lengthy time defendants spend on death row” (Death Penalty Information Center n.d). Capital punishment should be abolished within the judicial systems as its application is against the principles of justice and the sanctity for life.

Capital punishment should be abolished as its overly contradictory when considered in light of the need for reform. The criminal justice system provides that every other person found to have committed crime ought to be subjected to a fair process (Moore, Sandys & Jayadev, 2015). In this case, a fair process would, in light of conviction, provide room for reform and or behavior change. Convicts are incarcerated in order to provide room for behavior change while serving their terms (Messner, Baumer & Rosenfeld, 2006). Whereas this ought to be the case for all the other crimes, capital punishment does not provide room for behavior change. In order for one to have a chance to changing their behavior, they ought to be alive. The fact that capital punishment involves execution, the convict would have no chance to making the decision to change as they take responsibility for the crimes they may have committed (Messner, Baumer & Rosenfeld, 2006). For one to have a chance to reform, it would be better off to have life imprisonment for heinous and grave crimes than have a person executed. Doing so would amount to double standards in giving justice trio convicts. Simply put, the judicial policy and system would be unfair to such convicts when the ultimate intention of the judicial system has to be considered.  

Capital punishment should be abolished as in itself is more of a revenge penal measure more than it is a measure that should be used in bringing crime under control. The reasoning behind capital punishment is in such manner that revenge would stand out as justified (Messner, Baumer & Rosenfeld, 2006).  In this case, many of the countries that have embraced and or entrenched capital punishment in their supreme laws have specifically set it out for those that have committed murder. The fact that crimes of murder have been attached to execution or capital punishment in the penal code is clear indicator that this punishment is not meant to change but to do the same to those that have committed crimes under this penal code (Messner, Baumer & Rosenfeld, 2006). One would, therefore, have to ask the question as to whether it’s fair to only have a penal code that seeks revenge instead of standing out to the crimes committed and need to have significant change in the behavior of those that have been committed. If this is to be extended to other crimes, the cat of mob justice would also be justified. In essence, capital punishment does not go in line with the principles of justice and the need to have an effective alternative penalty to crimes committed. Moreover, there is no evidence that capital punishment has an effect in deterring crime especially murder. For instance, it has been observed that in United States, murder cases are more prevalent in those states where capital punishment is applied in the judicial process (Lamperti, 2008).

The question of sanctity to lie would definitely not stand in support of capital punishment. There is a need to look at capital punishment in the context of the sanctity to life and the importance of human life (Fieser, 2010). Unlike animals, human life is scared and should be treated as such. In this case, many of the supreme laws across the countries agree to this fact. The fact that the law would teat murder with the seriousness that is enshrined by the law is to demonstrate that life cannot be taken by another person, regardless of the circumstances. There is the justification to argue that capital punishment should never be included in the penal code since it amounts to contradicting all the laws on the human rights chapter that declare that human life is important. Even in cases where one has committed murder, it cannot be justified to argue that the gravity of the mistake would definitely needs a similar measure (Fieser, 2010). In any case, it would not make sense to kill in the name of stopping the killings. Dealing with a crime would never provide any justification for committing a similar crime as this would never be seen as the right measure to curing the crime.

Capital punishment ought to be abolished as it not only brings out the debate ion life and the sanctity of life, but creates a slippery slope to murder and disrespect for life. There is need for one to look at sanctity of life from an actions or policy perspective. One cannot argue that they do support the sanctity of life while at the same time stand in support of capital punishment (Fieser, 2010). In this case, the question of whether capital punishment is justifiable ought to be analyzed in terms of the implication of having the penal code provided for in the constitution. The fact that one would have legislation that supports murder is in itself a clear indication that sanctity to life is not well protected by the same law that claims to be doing so (Fieser, 2010). In this case, the thought of having a loved one, friend or relative executed would definitely create a sense of life not being too important or sanctified, as it should be. The resulting effect is that it could easily result to more harm than would help cure much of the grave crimes.

Conclusively, capital punishment should be abolished within the judicial systems as its application is against the principles of justice and the sanctity for life. Though those that commit many of the grave crimes out to be accountable for the crimes they have committed, this would never at any pint justify the inclusion of exception in the penal code. There is need for stakeholders to do evaluation of these. By doing away with the capital punishment provision, the law would be implemented effectively as it would do away with any kind of contradictions that would have existed before. This would be the only way out to ensuring the judicial processes are effective and that sanctity to life is respected no matter the circumstances. Even in cases where one has committed murder, it cannot be justified to argue that the gravity of the mistake would definitely needs a similar measure. In any case, it would not make sense to kill in the name of stopping the killings.

References