Crimes against Persons

Introduction

 Under Penal Code 261 in California State the statute describes rape as an action of sensual intercourse with a person under various circumstances such as where a person is incapable as a result of mental or physical disability or where the act is accomplished against an individual by means of force, violence, menace or the person is unconscious in the event of the act. This shows that the victim is not in a capacity to resist (Caringella, 2009). This kind of act threatens the well-being of the victim as a result of pain that can be extreme given the circumstances, bodily injuries or can result in death. This means a victim can be subjected even to untold suffering hence the need to protect every person and make sure that those who are responsible face the full force of law (Davies, 2013).  This law governing rape has changed over time to adapt to the current state of living. This ensures the perpetrators face more strict and tough penalties in order to limit the occurrence of such acts.

Under California historical common law rape has been viewed as sexual intercourse against a victim will. The law did not distinguish rape from non-criminal sexual intercourse as it did not address the victims consent. During those days for a victim to be convicted the defendant had proved through other elements rather than the consent that included the victim resistance and at most crying while being attacked (Siegel 2012). In order to have success in such a case, the victim had to have her story corroborated mostly by a witness who in such scenarios is hard to find. Most of such cases went about unreported to the police due to their complexity and the shame the victims were subjected to. Rape is viewed as a sexual assault mostly to females which came with misconception and the mistrust of female accuser because rape crime was thought to be the same as consensual sexual intercourse act (Kuersten, 2003). This made the female victims not to be trusted in such cases hence there was need of proof. Courts and legal scholars believed that women lied about rape as they either imagine that rape occurred or they desired forceful intercourse so as to use such accusations for revenge and blackmails (Siegel 2012).

During the historical times, rape increased, there were many unreported rape cases and there was the growth of women movement that dispelled the misconceptions of rape. This led to the efforts for reform and redefinition of rape to shed light on the psychological and sociological characteristics of rape as a primary crime of violence rather than a crime of sex (Siegel 2012). Through this time rape was traditionally defined by non-consent that let many women suffering and the perpetrators going unpunished. The rape statute was codified using ancient law where it did not consider women who were married. During these times it was believed that in a marriage that was supposed to happen and no woman could be forced by the husband (Caringella, 2009). Rape was considered to be a serious offense when the victim was only a virgin. This was the only time the accused was seen to have taken something valuable from the victim that could not be regained. When the victim was not a betrothed virgin the act was treated as a minor offense and only a fine could be paid to the victim’s father and then ordered to marry the victim. Historically forceful sexual intercourse was believed to be enjoyed by many women though that is not true. The courts did not only use express consent but also included implied consent that was ambivalence and misleading (Davies, 2013).

With time the laws concerning rape in California have changed over time to cover the loopholes that were not addressed by the historical law. At common law, husbands were exempted for raping their wives and were not subjected to prosecution. These statutes have been modified to criminalize and narrow down the range of these offenses in marriage. The current state law recognizes this crime as marital rape creating a special procedure to deal with the contemporary feminist critics that arise. This is clear indicating that rape can happen to a married couple and one of them is not what to engage in such an act. The law institute’s model penal code offers a more sophisticated defense which explains the rule and the feature of the law of rape (Caringella, 2009). The law addresses the consensual account of concept that was not considered by the historical law providing a useful framework for understanding on the debate of marital rape (Davies, 2013). The current law also addresses the issue of conjugal rights in marriage. As a woman has given up her body to her husband she is not to be by him prostituted to another. The acknowledges the expectation of the husband to control the terms of martial intercourse though women have the right to say what they want in order to have a great cross on their own.

The current law also addresses consent of sex in prostitution. In the early century, it would be meaningless and useless for a woman to say that she was raped and yet she is a prostitute. In this law, there is a clear understanding that a woman should have a free genuine consent during this act. The law further acknowledges that a woman can sue a stranger if their wish is not honored (Davies, 2013). The law elaborates male sexuality to be importantly different from the sexuality of female not denying any gender their sex drive. Historically the law did not recognize rape to be a strong foundation of divorce. With the current law if a man cannot honor his wife wishes the situation breeds a ground for divorce. This is because the law acknowledges and places value in the consent of the act (Caringella, 2009).

With the historical law, rape was considered to take place when there was full penetration and that required prove that it did occur. With the current law under California Penal Code 261.5 a victim is supposed to prove that there was sexual intercourse regardless of how slight the penetration was which was not the case with the historical common law or the fact that one used to be married does not excuse one from the liability of the offense (Murray, 2012). With the historical law, there was a statute of limitation but it was limited and not flexible to gather enough evidence. With the current law even with limitations of certain time period, there are sexual abuse lawsuits that can be allowed even after the limitation period has expired.

The current law recognizes rape against minors (Caringella, 2009). Unlike in the historical law where a man was expected to marry and pay a fine to the victim’s father the current law articulate the offense in a serious manner where one is jailed. A minor is considered not to be fully aware of the act even when she always it to happen. It is considered that the minor was tricked or forced to engage in such an act as they are considered not to make the right decision. This is because they are still under the care of the parents or guardians during this time.

The current law tried to correct the loophole regarding rape cases in order to have a smooth and a better system of ensuring the victims get justice will the offenders get punished and rehabilitated if required (Caringella, 2009). The changes have been greatly attributed to the people knowledge about their rights. The changes have also been brought by the nature of historical law not been able to cover a wide range of rape through various dimensions. Based on the society’s needs today it would be wise to also consider rape against men. It is uncommon for the male gender to experience this but there should also be some laws made to safeguard their safety especially the minors. This will ensure that their rights and sexual consent are not violated by the opposite sex (Murray, 2012).

Conclusion

With woman’s rights movement, there have been several remarkable trends that have made women more strong. These movements have advocated for free love that makes the concerned parties act in a willing manner. The right movements have also contributed to a strong voice of women empowering them to report rape cases that in the past were the most unreported cases. By the changes regarding rape, the stigma has also gone down as women are ready to make sure that their rights are not infringed whether a virgin, married or not. The law also recognizes the importance and elaborates self-restraints and self-interest to all persons regardless of the age.

Reference

Caringella, S. (2009). Addressing rape reform in law and practice. New York: Columbia University Press.

Davies, M. C. (2013). [Cali] fornication by False Pretences-No Penalty for Partner Personation    under California's Penal Code. Journal Of Criminal Law, 77(4), 325-336.            doi:10.1350/jcla.2013.77.4.856

Kuersten, A. K. (2003). Women and the law: Leaders, cases, and documents. Santa Barbara,        Calif. [u.a.: ABC-Clio.

Murray, Y. M. (2012). Rape Trauma, the State, and the Art of Tracey Emin. California Law         Review, 100(6), 1631-1710.

Siegel, L. J. (2012). Criminology. Belmont, Calif: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning.

The issue on capital punishment

            Over the years, crime has been a constant factor in all aspects of society. There have always been few individuals in a community who opt not to abide to the status quo and choose to engage in ways that are considered criminal depending on the laws in use at that given time. Since crime has always been in existence, society has come up with various ways of punishing those who break the law and ensuring that justice is served. While most modes of punishment have been generally accepted by the public, capital punishment has received a great deal of controversy as to whether it is an ideal form of punishment. Since there is a significant number of people on contrasting sides of the issue, it raises the question as to whether capital punishment should be used as an acceptable form of punishment. This paper will thus focus on answering the question by highlighting the benefits of using capital punishment and why it should be implemented.

            In this day and age, technology has taken over and anyone can accesses information from the media on various devices. With such advancement, one is able to get news on various occurrences among which is the issue of crime. This topic matters to me because I believe that the prevalence of crime deteriorates society and all measures possible should be taken to eradicate it. Often times, people commit heinous crimes and in some cases get away without facing punishment for their crimes. Other times, the punishment given is too lenient and does little to make the criminal to change their ways and go back to a life of crime (Brady, King & Nelson, 2016). Law enforcement agencies and the judicial system have a responsibility to ensure that they do all they can to make the community a safe place and one way of doing so is deterring, if not completely doing away with crime. While various methods have been used over the years, I believe that the use of capital punishment will go a long way into reducing the amount of crime, if not doing away with it completely.

             Before commencing with my research, I thought that capital punishment as an option had been outlawed and no longer practiced. I was of the notion that the various methods currently in use for punishing criminals were ideal and thus capable of not only punishing criminals but also deterring them from crime. While evaluating the various issues that could be addressed in relation to crime, I discovered that these methods were not only ill suited for meeting the purpose they were intended for, but also that they contributed, to some extent, to the issue of crime being prevalent in society. Prison sentences only led to the housing of inmates who would either commit crimes while in prison or go back to their life of crime soon after they had served their sentences (Kramer, 2011). This raised the question of why capital punishment was not considered as an ideal form of punishment especially for those who commit heinous crimes such as rape and murder.

            Normally, my process of research involves conducting general searches on various websites. This method is ideal as it leads to the discovery of various materials that contain helpful information for any topic I am researching on. For this paper, I combined my usual research method with a resource provided for in the course material. It gave me a better understanding of how to best utilize the online database and widened by research area as I was able to access various journals, books and other relevant materials. The materials were very helpful as they provided vital information which was useful in supporting the implementation of capital punishment.

            According to Elsworth (2003), capital punishment is ideal as it helps the victims to find closure. A death sentence sees to it that the victims feel a sense of justice being served and they can finally move on with their lives because the criminal is no longer alive to remind them of the harm brought to them on his or her account. Bedau and Cassel (2005) add on this stating that capital punishment is the most suitable way to close the chapter on the crime committed and thus helps the victims to find closure. Philips (2000) also supported the idea of implementing capital punishment on the basis that it is a deterrent to crime. According to Colucci and Tyner (2015), criminals engage in crime to benefit themselves as it is faster than working for what they desire. The existence of capital punishment will therefore deter crime because it will discourage people from engaging in crime out of fear of losing their life.

            In relation to the CARS model, I was able to evaluate the sources I used to ensure that the material used for the paper was factual and accurate. All the sources used were credible in that the authors were qualified for writing on the topic in question. They were also affiliated to credible organizations known for the quality of work they produce. The sources were accurate in that, other than being recent, they were not biased and told both sides of the issue on capital punishment. This made them reasonable in that they not only proved facts that I already knew but also provided new information both positive and negative. They also had citations which indicated other sources that were used to support ideas presented in the materials that I used as the source of my research.

References

Bedau A. H and Cassell G. P. (2005) “Debating the Death Penalty: Should America Have            Capital Punishment? The Experts on Both Sides Make Their Best Case” Oxford     University Press

Ellsworth P. C (2003) “Public opinion and capital punishment: A close examination of the views             of abolitionists and retentionists” Crime & Delinquency

Kramer, M. H. (2011). The Ethics of Capital Punishment : A Philosophical Investigation of Evil and Its Consequences. Oxford: OUP Oxford.

NELSON, K., BRADY, T., & KING, D. (2016), “The "evil" defendant and the     "holdout"         juror: unpacking the myths of the aurora theater shooting case as we ponder the future of            capital punishment in         Colorado” Denver Law Review

Philips, (2000) “The deterrent effect of capital punishment: New evidence on an old         controversy” American journal of sociology

Tyner, J. A., & Colucci, A. R. (2015). Bare Life, Dead Labor, and Capital(ist) Punishment.          ACME: An International E-Journal For Critical Geographies

Unintentional tort

From my understanding of the unintentional tort, bob’s injury resulted from his negligence. He did not intend to break the trespass rule because he had seen others pass through the route before. In addition, the school had not put up a warning against trespassing. The harm that befalls on him nevertheless results as an accident which no one could be liable over it except himself. The school management is therefore justified to accuse Bob for failing to use his common senses because if he had considered using them, the accident would not have victimized him. The blame automatically falls of Bob for having trespassed without considering any possible consequence.

Various companies usually have a trade mark and a slogan.

Google for instance is the most worth trademark in the world and its slogan is “Don’t be evil”.

Microsoft’s trademark is also powerful and its slogan is “Be What’s Next”.

Lastly the trademark of Walmart is entitled “Save money live better”

In my opinion, slogans are useful because they can easily be remembered. Most people treasure quotes and slogans and therefore their play a significant role in improving the brand’s recognition.

Responses on chapter 5

It is correct that an act can be legal but unethical at the same time. The example of Pharma Company’s incidence reflects exactly what it means to be ethically wrong but legally right. The example of Blakely also supports the claim and from these instances, judges apply the legal law to decide on who is guilty and who is not.

Response on chapter 6

The explanation is eligible because it precisely answers the question exactly how I would have answered. Road rage is in fact a criminal offence and the punishment should be based on breaking the rules of safety. It is true that the most effective way to prevent road rage is through the observance of safety rules. Penalties on careless drivers could also prevent but the most efficient is through educating the drivers on the need to observe safety rules.

The criminal justice process

The criminal justice process comprises of various steps which start from the moment an investigation is launched against an individual, a group of people or an organization to the point where they are either convicted or released by the court of law. Although all stages are important and play a crucial role in the success of the process, there are those that are of the outmost importance throughout the entire process. They include the investigation stage, arrest and the arraignment stage.

            The investigation stage is important because it is in this stage that evidence is collected and is later used to charge the culprit in a court of law. The stage is important because without evidence, there is no way of proving in a court of law that the accused committed a crime and thus force their release. Caution should be taken in this stage because use of poor investigation skills could result to the culprit being set free even if a crime was committed (n.a, 2016).

            Another important stage is the arrest stage where law enforcement officers apprehend a culprit or culprits suspected of having committed a crime. Due to the various procedures stipulated for conducting an arrest, among them being the reading of mar ender rights, arresting officers must ensure that they follow the correct protocols to avoid the culprit being set free on a technicality. The third stage that is of great importance is the arraignment stage. Here, the suspect is brought forward and the charges against the suspect are read to him or her. If a guilty plea is made, the suspect is charged accordingly. If not, a trial date is scheduled where the case will be heard and evidence presented so as to determine whether the suspect is guilty or not (n.a, 2016).

Reference

n.a, (2016) “The criminal justice process” retrieved from, http://criminal.lawyers.com/criminal-    law-basics/the-criminal-justice-process.html

The prison experiment

The video ‘The Stanford Prison Experiment’ illustrated an experiment aimed at trying to explain whether prison guards were naturally violent people or it was the poison environment that forced or led them to engage in such behavior. For the purpose of the study, a group was selected upon careful evaluation and given the role of either being the prisoners or prison guards. The roles which the volunteers played were determined through a simple coin toss and this ensured there was no bias when assigning roles. Observing the video revealed various ethical issues that the characters had to deal with for the purpose of the study.

One of the purposes of jail sentences is to ensure that prisoners are punished for the crimes that they had committed. Other than maintaining peace, the prison guards are tasked with the responsibility of ensuring that prisoners who go out of line while in prison are punished accordingly. In the case of the video, the prison guards faced the dilemma of deciding what amount of punishment was ideal and to what extent were they expected and allowed to punish the prisoners. Another dilemma faced was on the side of the prisoners. Since a lot of torture was inflicted on them by the guards, they faced the ethical dilemma of whether to accept it as punishment for their crimes or to rebel against that kind of inhumane treatment.

Such dilemmas are experienced today by criminal justice employees especially when dealing with dangerous criminals. Since they have been given the authority to use all measures necessary if given cause when dealing with criminals, they face the dilemma of deciding the appropriate amount of force or violence to exercise. This is especially because criminals tend to be violence and will do just about anything to ensure that they are not apprehended and taken to jail.

Reference

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sZwfNs1pqG0

Criminology

Introduction

            There are numerous cases or notorious crimes that are facing the world each and every new day. However, justice must be served to the affected people by punishing those responsible for committing these crimes. In order to be able to be able to get to the root cause of these crimes and so as to catch these violators of crime, some professionals are tasked with the responsibility of getting them. the criminologist are professionals with the role of collection of data and analyzing it so as to find out the rationale behind which the crime was committed and to determine the ways to be used to deter and control further criminal activities. Therefore this paper will major it’s argument on one of the case study of Michael Devlin and its background, the theory behind this case and how it relates to the case study and a final summary of the entire paper.

Case study

            Michael Devlin was born in 1965 and was raised and lived in Webster in Missouri with his parents and siblings. In the year 2007, Devlin was taken into custody where he was charged with the crime of kidnapping a thirteen years child William Benjamin who had gone missing for four days.  It is in the process of this discovery that the law enforcement administrators found another boy, Shawn Hornbeck who had gone missing for four years. The last time he was seen was while he was riding a bike in October 2002 and since then he was never heard of not until he was rescued from the hands of Devlin. The discovery of the two boys was aided by the finding of a white truck a pickup model which was a match of what was described as the vehicle that was involved in the 2002 kidnapping (Sauerwein 2008).

They were however there to give out an unrelated warrant and it was when they discovered the pickup in the parking lot.  Over those years Devlin stayed with Shawn, he presented him as his own son. According to him, he stated clearly that he did not have any plan against Shawn after abducting him but after one month that’s when he decided to kill the boy but the boy begged for his life in exchange for silence and this made the boy powerless and kept quiet till he was rescued. Later is when he decided to kidnap another boy and that’s when he started following school buses and that’s how he was able to abduct William after he alighted from the school bus (Sauerwein 2008). Devlin sexually abused the boys and even had made pornographic tapes of Shawn and also took him across the state lines where he engaged in sex acts. Devlin was therefore charged for attempted murder against Shawn, kidnapping of the two boys, making pornographic materials from the boy and sexual harassment.

Power control theory

             The theory was originally established by John Hagan as it aims at explaining criminal behaviors. The deduction is that the being of power and lack of control results to criminal behaviors. This theory argues out that the gender distribution of criminal behavior is originates from the stratification of gender relations within the family (Hagan 2002). The theory further explains the variation of gender in relation to the rate of criminal behavior by attributing them to the level of the social or parental control activities. It goes on to argue that the type of family makeup, class and gender influences the strictness of both social and parental control which ends up setting the accepted norm for the individual children. It is this norm that in turn controls the level of criminal behaviors by the child or the individual person (Hagan 2002). This theory is somehow unique since it has its unique characteristic as it argues out that crime is not caused by low social status.

However the theory has its own limitations as it efficiently explains the common criminal behaviors of the normal youth but fails to explain on the repetitive as well as violent crimes and hence the theory is unable to detect such problems (Collett et al 2009). The theory however is not only applied in the family setup but it has been developed and extended to cover the social roles of adults. Stratified characters are characteristically associated with males and especially the ones in the authoritative levels are currently being seen often in females acquiring powerful roles. However, just like their male equivalents, their power is utilized on controlling those people in the subordinate level. This is evidenced by the increasing reports on the number of sexual harassment cases. According to Hagen, the theory involves an inclination to take risks because of lack of self control. The self control is believed to have come from the nature of parenting in the family setting (Hagan 2002).  The theory focuses more on the power-control balancing which is demonstrated through two main types of families, that is the patriarchal and egalitarian family.  In patriarchal family, the father is believed to be the overall command and hence he is the one who gives out orders to the rest of the family members. While in egalitarian family setting both the parents are working and hence they apply obey or command roles.

Application of the theory on the case study

            Michael Devlin after kidnapping Shawn, in his attempt to kill him, as Shawn begged for his life, Devlin felt like he had the power and control over the boy. He thus decided to spare him in exchange for silence. Devlin is viewed as the commander who is in total control of Shawn who happens to be powerless and has to obey and follow all the commands of Devlin. Even when he forces him to lie of his name and of his relation with him, the boy innocently agrees to this command and agrees to go by the name Shawn Devlin ad even lied that he was his father.

The boy therefore inclines to take risk of living with his kidnapper day in day out without saying anything to anyone since he had already lost his self control. The kidnapper had total power on him to a point that he even harassed the boy and violated him but yet the boy did not escape at all for the fear of being killed. The fact that every day went by and he was not caught made him feel so powerful and in total control as everything happened in accordance to his will. This drove him to even wanting to kidnap another boy. The gender of the kidnapped children influenced the ruthlessness of the kidnapper’s control who in this sense acted as the parent. As a result this led to the accepted norm for the kidnapped children ((Hagan 2002).  It is quite evident that the power and control in which Devlin had over Shawn was quite excessive. This is evidenced by the fact that Shawn had the access to computer but he did not communicate to anyone. Analyzing the case one can clearly state that the root cause of Devlin criminal behavior was the lack of self control that drove him to undertake an unlawful, ruthless and risky behavior of kidnapping Shaw where in controlling the boy he got power and was able to give commands and he gained back his self control.  The feeling of being in power and also in control drove him into kidnapping another boy with an aim of gaining more power and control (Hagan 2002).

Conclusion

            It is quite true that no one can really understand what the kidnapped people go through in the duration that they get to spend with the kidnappers.  But one thing we can all learn from the case of Shawn and William is that the kidnapped are in most cases powerless as their kidnappers are in total control of the situation. Due to the fear of more violation by kidnappers the kidnapped tends to follow each and every command with an aim of staying alive.  However with the help of criminologists and law enforcers, justice is served and such cases are controlled never to happen to anyone.

References

Collett, J. L., & Lizardo, O. (2009). A power‐control theory of gender and religiosity. Journal      for the Scientific Study of Religion, 48(2), 213-231.

Hagan, J., McCarthy, B., & Foster, H. (2002). A Gendered Theory of Delinquency and Despair   in the Life Course. Acta Sociologica (Taylor & Francis Ltd), 45(1), 37-46.

Sauerwein, K. (2008). Invisible chains: Shawn Hornbeck and the kidnapping case that shook the             nation. Guilford, Conn: Lyons Press.

Elements of the Legal System

Criminal courts are a very important arm of exercising democracy the American society. Their work is to give confidence to the citizens that their rights can be upheld and justice prevails. Criminal courts ensure that the society is protected and every difference or dispute can be solved with respect to the law (Crespo, 2016). This is the overall function of the courts which is accomplished through various sub-functions such as enforcing the criminal law and upholding the rights of each individual in the society. The other role is solving disputes amongst citizens and the state and also ensuring that all the state agencies are bounded within the law. In this case, the role of the criminal court is to ensure that the victims receive justice by penalizing the two accused teenagers. The independence of the judicial arm of the government ensures that no external influence can affect the way rulings are made and makes the judges stick strictly to the law (Crespo, 2016).

Attorney prosecutors play a crucial role in the trial process of the accused. Their work is generally to represent the plaintiffs in the criminal courts of the United States.  During the trial in the courtroom, their work is to prove that the accused is guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. This is done by presenting enough evidence collected and also presents the witnesses to a case to deliver their evidence until he convinces the jury that the accused is guilty (BERNAUER & VATTER, 2012).  With this regard, it is the role of the attorney prosecutor to ensure that the court has any relevant evidence before sentencing. The prosecution attorney, in this case, presented the gathered evidence such as tattooing, and the correlation between the scene and the accused before the court.  They also present the accused circumstances, the background information as well as any previous convictions which are meant to help the court to determine the kind of sentence fits the accused. The attorney prosecutor also provides assistance to the court in referring to the relevant legislation and ensures that the prosecution process is error free (BERNAUER & VATTER, 2012).

The defense attorney, on the other hand, advocates and represents the accused throughout the trial. His work starts by hearing and firmly understanding the case and plans ahead about the defendant’s side. If the evidence presented is obtained illegally or maybe it is false, the defense attorney claims the accused rights and may find a way to escape the conviction like in this case the defense attorney confirms that the investigators never had a written permission of interviewing the parents of the teenagers. The defense attorney usually advises the accused on the best options, especially when handling pleas. It is also his responsibility to let the accused make his or her final decision on whether to continue with the appeal or not (BERNAUER & VATTER, 2012).

This case is driven by the consensual model of ruling because the two sides; the prosecution and the defense perfectly know and understand the typical crime and their corresponding sentences. The consensual model is usually very fast and that why the judges make an immediate rule despite the efforts of the defense attorney. The evidence against the teenagers is so strong to be debated upon and therefore the defense and prosecutor have worked cooperatively to establish the criminal justice. Considering that the accused had other planned murders, the rulings of the court were based more on crime control failure to which more incidences would be expected. The life and death sentences are criminal penalties that the court uses to deter the two teenagers from committing other murders on the permanent basis (BERNAUER & VATTER, 2012).

The jury is usually considered as one of the most important and essential parts of the legal system which deals with minority cases. It is commonly referred to as the finder of fact because its main role is to determine the truth and falsity to prove whether a defendant is guilty or not. Its role is centered at making special verdicts or general verdicts based on the findings that are gathered (Valente, 2016).

The overall duty or the function of the jury is to decide whether or not the accused is guilty on the basis of facts about the case. The jury is responsible for ensuring that the verdicts of the court rulings are dependent on only the present evidence introduced before the court. This ensures full satisfaction of the jury that the accused is guilty and beyond reasonable doubt he or she deserves the penalty. In reference to its obligation in the court rulings, jurors are bound to observe various aspects the all the predicaments. First, they must outline and decide facts about the case respond by taking directions from the law and remain uninfluenced to uphold independence.  It is also the duty of the jury to maintain a high level of confidentiality (Valente, 2016). In the United States, it is the obligation of the jury to respond to the judge when called upon to dig deeper in making factual and reliable findings concerning certain specific cases. In some cases, juries are required to make suggestions for the sentences and penalties to the judge as an advisory jury but still the overall power to rule out is in the hands of the judge. In the United States, juries in some states like Tennessee and Texas are charged or obligated to find guilt or innocence of a defendant (Valente, 2016).

The American community is a democratic one and therefore the jury trial is very important. Among the many reasons why the jury is important to the American society, the most standing reasons are discussed. First, the jury trial is a constitutional right. It prevents tyranny whereby the government’s oppressive power is limited. Being a constitutional right, the jury is able to lead the rulings into a thorough consideration which one judge could be biased. Jury trials are at times referred to as the voice of people in the American society because it allows the citizens to take part of the governing process (Valente, 2016). Secondly, the jury in the United States is a unique part of democracy. Considering that only a few countries have the jury system in the judicially, juries make the American society be unique and an aspect to be proud of. Lastly, the jury is an important system to the American society because it offers a peaceful way of resolving disputes. The peacefulness comes in due to the fact that jury cannot be corrupted. It would be easier to corrupt a judge but would be very difficult to corrupt 12 jurors. The Americans have therefore considered the jury system as a just and peaceful methodology to which issues like divorce and employment would be best finalized (Valente, 2016). 

From various cases when a jury makes the final decision, I am inclined to doubt the perception of effectiveness in court rulings by the jury systems. This is because juries may at times be carried away by the current prejudices in the American society and make decisions that are unlawful (Valente, 2016). Since the jury involves a decision of 12 members, the group pressure may influence the decision made which may be biased. I also consider them as less successful because complex cases require expertise knowledge to rule out and the jury may not reach the required standards of professionalism. In this case, the jury was not successful because the facts about the incidence were not clearly outlined and the witnesses lack enough and reliable evidence. It was, therefore, hard for the jury to decide on the case on the basis of facts (Valente, 2016).

During the trial, both the prosecutor and the defense attorneys had done a good work because the case was ruled from the little evidence that was available. However, the appeal of the convictions was disgust to the legislation arm of the government (BERNAUER & VATTER, 2012). The acceptance of Alford plea made by the two defendants was unwise because the court did not consider some implications those results from such kind of a plea. The public is likely to lose trust with the judicial system in other future cases because the failure of caring guilt transfers the liability of the incidence to the victims. The release of these teenagers was a sign of ignorance to the witnesses’ claims which were supposed to be investigated up to prove their reliability (BERNAUER & VATTER, 2012).

The ruling of this case shows that the attorneys are not reliable people whom citizens can depend on. The prosecutor attorney is seen to have an imbalanced intellectual curiosity when he strongly holds that the accused is guilty (BERNAUER & VATTER, 2012). The acceptance of the appeal, on the other hand, show the uncertainty of the original decision and this creates mistrust in the legal system. The defense attorney also demonstrates a sense of weakness because he could not defend the accused despite the prosecutor lacking enough evidence against the teenagers. The last negative implication about attorneys is less qualification. The court rulings of the case show some inaccuracy because neither of the attorneys is sure of what the facts are. The fact that the court accepts their plea means that the initial sentence was not based on valid facts concerning the murder incidence (BERNAUER & VATTER, 2012).

On a positive light, the public may develop trust in the public due to effective communication of the prosecutor attorney. This is because he could easily win the case without sufficient evidence just because of how effective he communicated against the accused. The public may also appreciate the integrity of the two attorneys whereby they were able to represent the interests of the clients in an amazing way (Bibas, 2003).

The Alford pleas would be favored by the prosecutor on the basis of advantageous implications such as fastening the rulings and saving on the cost for the defendants. On the other hand, the favoring of the defense attorney would be favored by the facts of innocence, reformation of the defendants and other social norms of the society (Bibas, 2003). The Alford pleas, however, should not be accepted in the criminal courts because those held responsible will utilize it to escape liability. Even the procedural approached may be biased and I scarcely agree that it could play any significant role in restoring justice to the victims. For the sake of the future similar cases, the court should not allow the Alford pleas because they will undermine justice and liability of everyone’s actions (Bibas, 2003).

References

Manuel Crespo, A. (2016). SYSTEMIC FACTS: TOWARD INSTITUTIONAL AWARENESS IN CRIMINAL COURTS. Harvard Law Review, 129(8), 2050-2117.

BERNAUER, J., & VATTER, A. (2012). Can't get no satisfaction with the Westminster model? Winners, losers and the effects of consensual and direct democratic institutions on satisfaction with democracy. European Journal Of Political Research, 51(4), 435-468. doi:10.1111/j.1475-6765.2011.02007.x

Valente, N. D. (2016). Quiet No Longer: Opening the Door for Empowered Juries and Transparency. Review Of Litigation, 35(1), 135-160.

Bibas S., (2003) Harmonizing Substantive Criminal Law Values and Criminal Procedure: The Caser of Alford and Nolo Contendere Pleas Cornell Law Review

Brazil Reo de Janeiro 2016

By Andrew McIntyre

August 2016

Lonnie Henderson is in the team that has been selected to travel to Brazil for an international study. The team is made up of healthcare workers, business leaders, and other spectators. This trip will require Lonnie Henderson to travel and learn a lot about the cultural practice and the way of business in Brazil. During this trip, Lonnie will visit Iguacu falls as it is one of the Seven Wonders of the World, several company headquarters, Walmart, Rockwell-Collins, the 3rd largest plane manufacturer in the world, Brazilian health care system and funeral customs of the communities. To summarize the trip Lonnie will head to Rio de Janeiro to expose the extensive culture of Brazil which will include a visit to Favela, Sugar Loaf Mountain, Copacabana, and Ipanema beaches among others.

Why Lonnie Henderson

The trip involves a lot of activities and the best person has to be appointed in order to make sure that the trip yields great results. Lonnie has an inspiring career and he holds BS, MS, and MBA. Lonnie is also seen to be more competent from his family lineage that consists of the late A.C Henderson who was a founder of Henderson mortuary that has been licensed for more than thirty years serving various families in Colombia. This shows success and commitment which Lonnie is likely to deliver.

Students

The trip will be very educative to the students as they will receive cultural information together with business knowledge. The students will also have an opportunity to see for themselves one natural wonder of the world and also tour some of the largest companies in the world. This trip will be an incredible educational opportunity to every student wrapping it up as one of a kind learning environment. Without a doubt, it will be the most formative experience for students.

            News Article

            Crime Control Strategy

            Section 1

            The article that I have selected asserts on things that causes inner urban fledgling men to murder each other.  The article holds that violence among the young individuals is caused by poverty, family breakdown, discrimination as well as subjected stress. Additionally, concrete failure of the society contributes greatly to the rise of violence. This involves a gang culture that is developed from bad schooling, unemployment, lack of health and lack of proper care from the governing institutions.   This, therefore, results in increased rate of crime thus serving long-term prison sentences as violent equipment such as guns are readily available (Rosenberg, 2015).

            Therefore courts, as well as schools, are working together to ensure that the occurrence of violence has been curbed. Several organizations have additionally been set to ensure that they work together and they are mainly focused in the low-status neighborhood which has higher rates of violence occurrence.  The organizations are utilizing mentoring and counseling as well as unfamiliar sports such as wrestling and archery in delivering a form of behavior cognitive therapy. This strategy has thus been effective as it helps individuals in developing more effective and realistic thinking (Rosenberg, 2015).

            Section 2

            From the crime statistics, there are more than 44% violent crimes that are influenced by a low understanding of individuals view.  Since the implementation of the program, violent cases have reduced by 44% (Rosenberg, 2015).  The attendance of the youths in schools has also developed thus gaining higher achievements than before. The programs, therefore, aim at creating societies that are free from crimes.  The programs work with the assumption that since the rate of crime cannot be achieved by poverty eradication provision of understanding and better thinking helps in solving violence issues among the young individuals (Rosenberg, 2015).

            This strategy was designed to encourage students to often question their automatic biases and thoughts as most of them act through quick thoughts.  The programs, therefore, work on regulating understanding of others view, impulses and developing thoughts of the acts consequences before the actual act (Rosenberg, 2015).

            Reference

            Rosenberg, T. (2015). For Better Crime Prevention, a Dose of Science. Retrieved from http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/01/16/making-sure-crime-prevention-pays/?_r=0

LAW

                Parties

Appellant: Carmencita J. Norviel

Respondent: Vernon A. Norviel

                Procedural History

    The husband filed a petition, identifying June 21st as their separation date while the wife responded by stating that the date for separation was on 15th of August. They later agreed to set the date of their separation as 21st of June but the wife set aside that stipulation. They later decided to resolve the issue of date of separation first (1156). The case was tried on 30th of March 2000 where the court decided to take the matter under submission. The court later extended the time for objections. Later the wife filed an objection and later the court granted the wife’s motion for review of the court’s order (1157).

                Facts

                The parties got married in the year 1983 and they were able to bore two children, a girl, and a boy. Their marriage faced some difficulties and they used to repeatedly discuss on divorce issue over the years. Both parties were always busy working for long hours and also used to travel a lot. It is after the birth of their firstborn child, a girl where the wife shifted from sleeping with husband and used to sleep with her daughter. Having family dinners become a problem and they were left with Sunday night where they were to have dinner. It is during one of the Sunday night dinners in 1998 that the husband declared of his decision to separate. Though they exchanged angry words, they still decided that the husband should move into a rental house where they were to buy. He took a while to move out as he waited for the house to be furnished but in that time he still maintained the civic relationship with his wife just for the sake of their children. They used to deposit their checks into the joint account and used the finance from the joint account for the expenses up until when they decided to separate in 1998.

                Issue

                Did the trial court fairly determine the separation date? (1158)

                Holding

                Yes. The court at least listened to all the evidence that were presented and thus their ruling was fair.

                Rule of law

                According to family code section 771, the law states that,” the earnings and the accumulation while living separate and apart from the other spouses” (1158).

                Reasoning

                Though both of the spouses agree that the husband communicated that their marriage had come to an end, there was no evidence of separation since they were still living together though as roommates. This, therefore, results in the absence of the separation date since the time of the intent and the actual separation did not occur at the same time (1159). Though the husband communicated earlier but his actions to fail to move out and also to take the family for a vacation, to invite the wife for his business trip and even remembering their anniversary showed that he did not mean on the marriage dissolution (1160). However we can conclude that his actions were for the well-being of the children and not the wife and that’s why he did all what he did.

                Judgment

                Considering all the evidence presented the court made a ruling declaring that the date of separation was on 28th of June 1998 and the case was closed (1170).

            Correlation Is Not Causation

            Correlation can be described as the relationship that exists between two variables which are involved in change together.  Correlation can either occur as positive and negative. A positive correlation implies that as a single variable increase the other involved variable also increases (Brent, & Lewis, 2014).  For instance, the variable that the demand increases in consumption of beverages results in increased crime rate.  A negative correlation is when a certain variable increase while the other variable decreases (Brent, & Lewis, 2014).  For instance, as the socio-economic status changes positively the variable of infant death rates decreases.

            Causation, on the other hand, refers to the relationship that is developed when a single variable results in another. Correlation is therefore not causation because in order for a cause to be developed the existing variables but be related (Shepard, 2010). Additionally the fact that two variables are directly related does not necessary mean that one of them causes the other variable.  For instance, the fact that it is well established that smoking may lead to the development of cancer does not guarantee that all those who smoke will develop lung cancer.  Therefore smoking is not a sufficient lung cancer cause.  Smoking is additionally not a cause that is necessary to acquire lung cancer as other factors and activities may result in the development of lung cancer.  This implies that even those individuals who are not involved in smoking can develop the disease.  Causation often generates unrealistic concepts which are associated with sufficient causation.  It is thus clear that every event is not characterized by one cause as causation cannot be a correlation because it is just an existing relation to the range of the general causes (Shepard, 2010).

            References

Brent, E. E., & Lewis, J. S. (2014). Learn sociology.

Shepard, J. M. (2010). Sociology. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Cengage Learning.

 Ethical Issues

Ethics refers to moral principles and it’s all about how the challenge of doing right is met, even when doing so will cost more than what a business is willing to pay. The pressure to achieve short-term financial goals may make managers to engage in unethical practices or behaviour in to appease the shareholders on the financial status of a public firm. The law requires that public companies must disclose material information to the shareholders. The law also makes it unlawful for these firms to omit disclosing material fact in a manner that will mislead the investors and to make statements of facts that are untrue. Apart from these rules being based on law, they basically spell out some of the ethical standards that the managers of the companies should subscribe to so as to avoid the manipulation, deception or defraud to the investors.  However, this law cannot be equal to the law of God which requires obedience that is in good faith but not for fear of punishment (Cafferky, 2015).

The book of Leviticus 19:11 stipulates that one should not one should not steal, deal falsely or lie to others. This commandment prohibits not just falsehoods, lies and mistakes but it prohibits any pointless and distracting communication that may negatively affect others (Fredrick, 2007). The pressure that is normally placed on companies to improve their financial status normally arises from the boundaries placed on stock exchange market and the quotation systems that are automated by national or small capital markets and the NASDAQ.  These measures require firms to comply with stringent regulatory and commerce guidelines which are difficult to attain at the beginning of the year. Moreover, the investors are usually assessed on the overall yield of their portfolios and a comparison is made with the competitors’ results. What is of more important is the firm’s performance in a particular short run, and the managers of the firms are then assessed in accordance with this short-term performance (Salter, 2012). The managers may be fired or graded according to firms outcomes in the short-run even if they believe that there is a promise for the long-term improvement in the financial performance. This short-term perspective may make the managers to engage in unethical practices like packaging various assets with a lot of debt in order to provide the investors with a leveraged exposure to the market. The firms’ mangers engage in negligent behaviour that are completely unethical and fraudulent such that any disclosure hides the truth, violates the rules of fairness and this cause considerable losses to unsuspecting and poorly informed investors. This can also be termed as negligence. Like normal human beings, the mangers are susceptible to estimating their capability of doing right and at times like these, they find themselves engaging in unethical behaviour even where they did not mean to. They do this as a result of the kind pressure they face in order to ensure that the firms reach the desired short-term financial achievements. The investors put a lot of pressure on the executives and corporate boards so that they can achieve short-term profits in stock price while disregarding a balance between long-term investment, integrity and risk management since their major aim is to beat peer investors and combined short-term indexes (Salter, 2012). This can be regarded as a way of inviting the vice of corruption.

The point in the Leviticus 19: 11 is about the relational aspect of disclosing the truth or giving false information. To a Christian, any lie is not only a misrepresentation of cold fact but also a betrayal of trust that people have on another person. The need to control output of managers of public firms may cause them to neglect the ethical standards that they are expected to observe so that they forget need for not conveying false information to other people. The bible verse instructs someone to distance themselves from falsehood which includes misleading information on press releases, deceptive labels, packaging or advertisements. When the firm management is under scrutiny to provide best performance, they may turn to may result to keeping the debts of the books, by creating paper companies that can hold the debts, and provide financial statements to shareholders and government that are entirely an entirely different set. Such practices in accounting make the firms look very profitable and the stakeholders and more so the public have a false image. Such unethical behaviour make many innocent investors to lose their money and trust in the said firms. This also applies to public companies that are owned by the government, which may come up with policies that can have negative impacts on the entire market. The firms may be under the pressure from the authorities to increase public expenditures before the elections so as to win over more votes. While such directions may achieve the short-term financial goal of improved expenditures, they may be unethical since they are not done in good faith, and may have social and macro-economic consequences (Fredrick, 2007). Any practices that lead to falsehood or insincere management practices go against the Christian ethical standard.

References

Salter, M. (2012).How Short-Termism Invites Corruption ...And What to Do about It.5-37. Retrieved from: http://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Publication%20Files/12-094_8260785f-0417-45d1-8abc-0afe86f87eaa.pdf

Cafferky, M. E. (2015). Business ethics in biblical perspective: A comprehensive introduction.

Fredrick, R. (2007). A Companion to Business Ethics. Chichester: John Wiley & Sons. 291

NKJ Bible: Leviticus 19:11