This article discusses the Eighth Amendment, which states that “excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.” According to the child rape statute in Louisiana, the death penalty or life imprisonment is being administered to convicted pedophiles, as such; research on mental abnormality, and Forensic Psychology to assess the punishment. The author of this article is Brian Sellers, BA, University of North Carolina, and works in the Department of Criminal Justice. As a knowledgeable individual of the law, he explored the pros and cons whether the death penalty is appropriate for pedophiles, hence the many studies being conducted to support his point. This article will highlight…
I have a huge issue with the sentencing of Brock Turner, a former student of Stanford University. Turner was charged and convicted of three counts of felony sexual assault. He sexually assaulted a 22 year-old-woman who was unconscious and intoxicated behind a dumpster on the college campus. At the end, the judge sentenced turner to six months in a county jail and three years of probation. He also must register as a sex offender, and participate in a sex-offender treatment program. Turner is scheduled to be released tomorrow from a county jail – three months early for good behavior.…
1. The Texas political culture is a blend of traditionalist and individualist. Both of the traits can be traced back to the formation of Texas. The individualist roots of the lone star state can be tied to several factors. First, the American settlers and the Mexican people who strived to better themselves through opportunities had an individual mindset that made them desire to settle the rugged land. Second, after the revolution Texas became its own nation and with its own constitution. Third, with the abundant resources of cattle, cotton, and oil Texas was economically strong and needing little federal support. The traditionalist roots can be found in a few areas. First Texas having the abundant resources has created many wealthy people who have a power over the government. Second, many laws in Texas favor large corporations and low taxation. Third, full citizen participation in politics and voting has never been encouraged as much as many other states due to the wealthy and vast size. These are some of the factors of the traditionalist and individualist political culture of Texas today based strongly on the Jacksonian democracy. Tradtionalistic culture also was brought by the Anglo southern immigrants and their values about slavery.…
As previously mentioned, if the punishment is not harsh enough the result is repeated offense. If a criminal relishes in committing a crime and the court system does not properly punish them for it, then they actually have no reason not to repeat the crime over again. The National Institute of Justice, part of the U.S department of Justice, studied how likely criminals are to relapse after being released, claiming that “Within five years of release, about three-quarters (76.6 percent) of released prisoners were rearrested” (Durose, Cooper, and Howard). This statistic proves that there is a significant chance that a criminal will indeed carry out the same action as before. The most significant way that an offender is punished is through what…
Society has used several methods to treat sex offenders. First, they used sex offender treatment programs (SOTP). Over the years, studies have shown that SOTP was ineffective. A second method used included surgical sterilization and castration. During the early 1900’s this was the preferred method of treatment because society didn’t want a sexual offender to reproduce. However, research has found physical changes to the body do not change sexual drive (178). The third method used includes a surgical method in which the brain is modified. This is a highly effective method in treating sexual offenders but is very expensive, difficult to perform…
When people are sentenced to prison for any overly offensive crime such as rape, child abuse, pedophilia, and even killing children, other prisoners that are being transported to prison with these “offenders” have been known to assault said offender. Another thing wrong that the government does on subject of false charges and sentences is that the person can serve 4/5th of their sentence before it can be found that the charges set was fake. These people can not fit back into society after serving their sentence they did not deserve.…
Many writers like to put time and thought into their work. Putting in all their own thoughts can sometimes not be a good thing. While I was reading several articles about Rosa Parks I have noticed that in every article that I read have some sort of bias in them. Throughout the articles, the authors show several points of bias within their background, point of view, and purpose.…
In the PowerPoint, you talk about removing mandatory sentences, and for my understanding was if the crimes are committed before the mandatory sentences come in place this can be one of the expectations of not implement the mandatory sentence. The judge can have some discretion to adjust some guideline of sentencing and left the parole to decide if he can be released.…
They need to sit in prison with the knowledge of what they did until they die either of old age or sickness. When given the death sentence you don’t have to face what you did. You are getting off the hook by dying and you don’t have to think about what you did. You are just fed and then killed. You don’t have to think about everything you did that you shouldn’t have done and the crimes you have committed. Also it isn’t fair to tell the kids that they can’t hurt someone for hurting them yet, kill someone for killing someone or raping someone. The death sentence is an escape from the crime they…
Anyone responsible for sexual assault should be held accountable; nonetheless, I strongly believe that the punishment should fit both the offense and the offender (“Unjust” 656). Many sex offenders, especially violent ones, are at a high risk of committing a similar crime and we as a community should be able to deter such crimes. However, the challenge is that not all sex offenders are the same, and laws dictating who has to register have become so general that they vary from crimes as brutal as the sexual abuse of a child to more minor offenses, such as being caught urinating in a public park (Yoder).…
In cases like these we should look real deep in the case not just because is rape or sexual assault but rather than is the offender may have done this before. Therefore we should consider a bigger punishment for them. We also got to consider that many people that done this type of crimes there old and have committed their first crime. We must think a realize that why are we putting people for their rest of his life in a prison and why we won’t just give him or she a death penalty. We are leaving someone for life in facility he or she is going to live on and die on. Now the elderly offenders are just taking space and money from the facilities. The money and the space can be use for more products to produce and farm to grow their food…. We most do something about it ether at a certain age we released those who In the facility behave good and follow directions we can make them go in work so when they get out of prison. They all ready will have a job to progress in the real world . I been asking these questions to family members, friend, teachers, and students. “What do you think about releasing offenders at age of 65? I got some interesting opinions. Like if they commit some type of crimes like sexual abuse whit a minor, first degree murder. What really cut my eye is that most of the surprising answers where from the students. That the facilities…
Many states have adopted sexual predator statutes which provide for incarceration, institutionalization, treatment, and registration for individuals convicted of specific sex crimes (Roberson and Wallace, 2008). The need for convicting sexual predators has become a top priority for lawmakers across the nation as society has determined that sexually related offenses are deviant behavior and simply will not be tolerated. Sexually related offenses such as rape, child molestation, and pedophilia are considered to be especially heinous offenses and tend to bring about disgust and rage from within our society. In response to such offenses, lawmakers across the nation, along with the assistance of law enforcement and its citizens, have made life very uncomfortable for sexual predators. Specifically, lawmakers have created new laws which restrict the freedoms of sexual predators and that inflict harsher punishments for those convicted of sex crimes.…
The ethical problem that society needs to look at is the sex offender registry. The registry is a national registry for people who have committed sex crimes against another human being. The first registry was in California in 1947 however, the most widely known act was not until 1994 (the Jacob Wetterling Act). Megan’s Law proceeded that in 1996 and finally 2007 the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act (Biance, 2009). Now all states have a registry to comply with these laws and regulations. Although underlined meaning of these laws come from a good place, to protect our children and adults from sexual assault they have taken it to the extreme and gotten off the beaten path. Even Patty Wetterling the mother of Jacob had openly criticized the evolution of registry. Her story is heart wrenching and still she can recognized that something needs to change. An individual that has one picture of a naked child, the person that urinates in public, and the man that is 19 dating a 16yr old, the person that pays a prostitute for sex, and the minor crimes go on and on. All of these acts will land you on the registry for 15 or 25 years and possibly life.…
Sex offenders have been a serious problem for our legal system at all levels, not to mention those who have been their victims. Sadly, many of those assaults are perpetrated by people who have already been through the correctional system only to victimize again. Sex offenders, as a class of criminals, are nine times more likely to repeat their crimes (Oakes 99). This presents a problem for the public, as potential victims, and the legal system which is entrusted by the public for protection. It would be irresponsible for the legal system to ignore the criminal class of sex offenders, for they are subject to a recurring physiological urge that requires the use of effective restraints that would curb the habitual repetition of episodes producing the harmful consequences to the public (Schopf 95). Both surgical and chemical castrations are techniques used in various forms in this country and abroad with success. However, both forms of castrations have not come about without criticism on constitutional grounds. Any criticism should take into account the extraordinary recidivism rates found only in the criminal class of the sex offender. A more recent study, published in the same journal, by Looman et al in 2000 suggests the opposite. Of the released sex offenders they studied they found a 23.6 percent recidivism rate for those treated while a 51.7 percent rate for the untreated group. They also conducted an analysis separately on the outcome for men who had previous sexual convictions. Those with no previous sexual offense convictions had a 20.9 percent recidivism rate of the treated men compared to 42.9 percent of the untreated men. Of the men with previous sexual offenses, 26.1 percent of the treated group sexually reoffended compared to 73.1 percent of the untreated men. According to this study, treatment is invaluable in minimizing the recidivism of sex offenders with previous…
Juvenile sex offenders are frequently treated in the same manner as their adult counterparts with regards to punishment and sex offender registering. “Nationally, juvenile sex offenders make up 20% of all individuals charged with sexual offenses (McGinnis, 2006).” Placing a sex offender label on a juvenile may unjustifiably put restrictions on his or her opportunities in adulthood so it is for this reason that cases involving juvenile sex offenders should be prosecuted cautiously. The term “sex offender” is a broad term that should be reassessed. Should an individual convicted of a violent rape be treated in the same manner as a 10 year-old child who exposes himself or herself to another child, unaware of the seriousness of his or her actions? Should both of these offenses be considered sex crimes? It is a requirement in some states that the offender in both of these cases register as a sex offender. These two scenarios are entirely different and to include both of the offenders in one category is unjust.…