Free Essays on Sentencing to Get Inspired & Learn by Example - Page 2

Victims’ Rights

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Victims’ Rights
The idea, that victims had no rights, seems unbelievable, but over thirty years ago, not much could be said or done regarding the victim’s role in the criminal case in which they were the sufferer. Victims’ rights are a concept that was introduced into the legal system over an extended period. A milestone for victims' rights was made in 1984 with the passing of legislation on the Victims of Crimes Act. Many advances in the victims’ rights movement have occurred over the decades since then ("Victims of Crime", 2013). Every single state within the Continue reading...

Although the overall crime rates have continued to decrease in recent decades, the rates of juvenile crime have continued to increase. The public and the media have grown to fear and juvenile crime, and this fear has caused a shift in the approach and policy of treating juvenile offenders. Whereas adult punishment (trial and incarceration) had been reserved for only exceptional cases, for example those with a history of violent crimes, nowadays even juveniles who do not have a history of (violent) crime get transferred to the adult criminal court jurisdiction. The public’s loss of confidence of the Continue reading...

Chapter 1: Introduction

The death penalty is one of the oldest forms of punishments in the world. It was quite popular with colonial powers that enjoyed trampling the rights of the indigenous populations. However as time progressed, especially after the second world war the popular opinion was that the death penalty was barbaric. Several countries rewrote their laws to allow this punishment only for extremely rare cases of brutality or for traitors. The United States and her laws were most sought after during this period. Several European countries framed their laws to resemble the American natural law.

Background

The abolition of slavery in Continue reading...

The most common form of punitive measure adopted in the United States is incarceration. Individuals convicted of felonies and other offenses are largely imprisoned in federal prisons and county jails.' The US Bureau of Justice Statistics' show that an estimated 2,266,800 American adults were incarcerated by the end of the year 2011. The United States has witnessed a rapid rise in the prison population over the past four decades due its stringent policies on the fight against crimes. Non-violent offenders mainly occupy the penitentiary correctional facilities. The justice system in the United States has also contributed to Continue reading...

Racial disparity and racism are two different things. Racism otherwise called discrimination, is an insidious social problem in a multicultural and multi-ethnic society like USA. It arises from the belief that one’s race is dominant to others. Usually the dominant race discriminates against the racial or ethical minorities. On the other hand, racial disparity, does not necessarily mean discrimination. It simply means the differences noticed in the two races. Criminal justice experts describe racial disparity in terms of legal and extra-legal factors. Criminal records and seriousness of crime are considered as legal factors. Though American blacks constitute only Continue reading...

Criminal justice and politics go hand in hand each one playing an intricate role in the other. The political system is responsible for creating the laws people follow, police forces and the complete criminal justice system. The criminal justice system is also a primary function of the political system demonstrating that these two things are constantly relying on one another. Legislative issues or politics are the methodology by which assets are appropriated or apportioned. As a celebrated political researcher once commented, Politics in its best description is who is appointed what when they are going to get it and Continue reading...

Introduction

Los Angeles was witness to a violent civil disturbance in 1991 as a result of the brutal shellacking of an African American man, Rodney King. Though the prosecution had an extremely damaging piece of evidence in the videotape of the vicious beating, the court acquitted the police officers for the beating and using inordinate force. When the verdict was released, Los Angeles erupted into a tumultuous riot.
Though two of the officers were subsequently found guilty by a Federal court, a number of commentators coming from the African American as well as the other fringe communities proffer that the Continue reading...

In this paper, there will be considered the criminal responsibility of teenagers who have committed an "adult" crime, or rather two points of view in relation to this issue. Is it necessary to judge the teenager who committed murder as an adult, or should the culprit be put in the place of rehabilitation?
There are people who believe that an "adult" crime must be accompanied by an adult punishment, there are also more loyal followers of justice measures who argue that the juveniles cannot be tried in adult courts, as they have all chances to become a productive member Continue reading...

Introduction

This assignment will critically address the criminological theories of classicalism and positivism. The historical background of the theories will provide the analysis of the different scholars and their views on criminology. Some of the aspects of the theories that is evident in the contemporary Irish Criminal Justice such as conscious intent, psychological evaluation, and sentencing. Positivism seems to be looking at the causes of the crimes. While the classicalism looks at the punishment that will be used to deter the criminals. The two theories began in two different eras. The classicalism theory began during the Enlightenment era while the Continue reading...

States have enlarged the use of data based information about criminals to identify the risk factors that influence the criminals to continue committing crimes, over the last ten years. Those factors are very carefully weighted and used to predict the risk (high, low, medium) of the violators to commit a crime again. Those ranking help the judges, parole officers and correction officials to determine how long a convict should stay in jail.
In reality, every state has used the risk assessments to vary degrees in registered crimes over the last ten years. Some of the states have made them Continue reading...