The debate over whether or not capital punishment should be used has gone on for thousands of years. Although the method of capital punishment has changed the idea of it has not. Capital punishment will always have its disadvantages and its advantages. There has always been an intense debate among the people regarding the constitutionality of capital punishment. In my opinion, capital punishment should only be used in harsh cases that the convicted person is proven guilty in.…
Keeping in mind the brief overview of each of the major rationales for sentencing will allow the following four arguments to be understood with greater clarity. To begin, the first argument to support the urgent need to restructure the criminal justice system is the effect and impact of mandatory minimum sentencing on the high rates of incarcerations. The effects of mandatory minimum sentencing are staggering, and transcend into many different areas of the criminal justice system. The principal justification for the creation of mandatory minimum sentences is that by increasing the likelihood of custody, it will be a strict deterrent for crime prevention and a response to political “tough on crime” strategies. It was also thought to minimize…
Should a defendant be found guilty an defense counsels job continues as referenced in this slide. If found guilty a defense counsel will present arguments at sentencing to persuade a lighter sentence, or mistakes, although this will not change a guilty verdict, it does however provide the defense and the defendant the opportunity to address the court. It does also allow the prosecution and the victims the right to also address the court to persuade the judge for a stepper sentence. The next step after sentencing is appeals, in most cases of murder a defendant sentenced to life will get with is defense counsel to file appeals, as in the Hettrick…
Every situation in life is unique and has its own set of circumstances. Crime is no different, which is why it often difficult to effectively use policies like mandatory minimum sentences, because not every crime is the same. It is acceptable for their to be some disparity in sentencing for similar crimes, but there still needs to be some consistency. The initiation of mandatory minimum sentences was due in large part to the fact that judges had too much discretion and it led to many similar cases having wildly different sentences.1 There was sound reasoning for enacting mandatory minimum sentences, but they “are the product of good intentions, but good intentions do not always make good policy; good results are also necessary.”1 Mandatory…
There are many different argument both for and against mandatory minimum drug sentencing. However there are more arguments against mandatory minimum drug sentencing then there are for the support of the mandatory sentencing. One of the biggest arguments against mandatory minimum drug sentencing is that it was originally intended to target the higher level drug dealers but the majority of the cases have only been low level drug dealers. One of the other arguments is that will cause the jail systems to become overcrowded and that if is unfair.…
Most people do not know what it is like to be incarcerated. Perhaps, there are those few that go out of their way to do some research and get an idea of what it is like to be incarcerated, but it is still not the same. Other ways people get an idea of what prison or getting incarcerated is like is from tv, or movies. Someone does a crime, the cops come, they get handcuffed, placed inside the cop car and then you see them behind bars and the scene ends. If they decide to go more into detail, they show them being fingerprinted and taken their mug shot. As a matter of fact, according to Bierie (as cited in West, 2010) on any given day, there are more than 2 million U.S. citizens incarcerated (2011, p. 341). So what better way to experience first-hand…
Since 2002, the United States has had the highest incarceration rate in the world. Although prison populations are increasing in some parts of the world, the natural rate of incarceration for countries comparable to the United States tends to stay around 100 prisoners per 100,000 population. The U.S. rate is 500 prisoners per 100,000 residents, or about 1.6 million prisoners in 2010, according to the latest available data from the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS). Prison is a place used for internment of convicted criminals. Not including the death penalty, a sentence to prison is the harshest punishment inflicted on criminals in the United States. On the federal level, imprisonment or incarceration is managed by the Federal Bureau of Prisons, a federal…
Murder is defined as the killing of one human being by another. Murderers should receive the death penalty, unless self-defense was a following factor. The killing of an innocent human being should never be something someone gets away with; no one should have to right to live after taking the life of another. However, the death penalty is known to be a “lethal lottery” and is applied at random. Therefore, I believe separate institutions should be constructed throughout the United States to separate average criminals from murderers.…
Mandatory Minimum sentencing usually is defined when a judge is determined to deliver a fixed amount of years in prison to an individual for a convicted crime. Most mandatory minimum sentences apply to drug offenses but it also applies to other crimes, like having an unlicensed gun, fraud, and many others. Mandatory Minimum legislature contributes to the truth that America has a systematic problem in the increase of mass incarceration and men of color are being deprived of their natural rights. The mandatory minimum sentence doesn’t resolve the dilemma of crime. American nonviolent drug offenses should be prosecuted, but Mandatory Minimum sentencing should be eradicated.…
Citizens are being arrested every single day for an unlimited variety of reasons. The reason can be anything from abuse of a family member, robbery, drug possession, or murder. The criminal system has four ways to justify punishment. Retribution, deterrence, rehabilitation, and social protection are ways in which punishment is justified. Each of the four has its own style of punishment together with its own pros and cons for each Citizen.…
The United States only has 5 percent of the world's population and uses 75 percent of the world's prescription drugs. The United States has the highest prison population out of all the countries and almost half of the prisoners are there because of drug crimes. Due to the ever increasing drug use in the U.S. today, our society would benefit from less punishment and more rehabilitation, some benefits include less spending, lower incarceration rates and lower death rates.…
There is much more behind prisons bars than the already public expression of “crime and punishment,” it is not just a law enforcement or a form of social punishment by restricting the freedom of the individual. Prison is closely linked (pv) to the way society develops and is a reflection of social standards, opportunities and the way the government “selects” what to punish. In the United States, there is a program called welfare that benefits people who are destitute with a government subsidy, from 1975 to 2000 the number of individuals helped by this program fell sharply while the prison population increased in a similar proportion. This picture shows a new social reformulation within the country, a new selection of prisoners. Incarceration…
In the 1700’s before there were correctional systems to incarcerate offenders, people were brutally beaten as a punishment until they became a little more humane and started putting them in jail to serve time as a punishment. In the early 1800’s the first real prison in the United States was available to put offenders away, this prison was called Philadelphia’s walnut street jail and this prison was viewed as the perfect opportunity for offenders to think about the crimes that they have committed and admit to what they have done. In the Mid 1800’s the Cherry Hill penitentiary was opened and this prison was said to be humane and gave the inmates the opportunity for rehabilitation.…
According to bjs.gov 67% of prisoners that are released get rearrested within three years. This means more than half of the people in prison right now, will reoffend. It may be because of drugs, or something more serious that could threaten the life of others. So how does one stop this recurrence from happening? The answer is quite simple, the prisons need to attempt to rehabilitate their prisoners. There needs to be programs in every prison that will help the prisoners to have a better life once they get out. No one wants to risk the lives of others by trapping a person in prison and never allowing them to do anything, causing them to be the same person they were before they entered. Of course, not every prisoner is going to respond the same…
The death penalty is used universally, in developed countries, as well as, in undeveloped countries. The death penalty is used more for retribution and retaliation than it is for justice. The death penalty does not deter crime effectively, it is incompatible with human rights and human dignity, used against minorities and the poor, and there is always the risk of executing innocent people. Its easy to agree to the death penalty when the accused is not someone you know...bu what if the accused was your son, daughter, father, mother, brother, or sister? Would you still be for the death penalty?…