Abstract This paper argues that the death penalty should be abolished. The paper asserts that the death penalty is spurious, often based on socioeconomic or other factors irrelevant to the severity of the crime itself, and employed in a racist fashion.
From the Paper "The death penalty is an arbitrary institution that is employed for a series of reasons that are unrelated to the crimes committed by actual persons (assuming, of course, that those sentenced to the death penalty are even guilty of the crimes that they have committed). Indeed, the death penalty is employed differently depending upon the race, gender, and wealth of accused person. These criteria are unacceptable for use in determining outcomes that will result in imminent death for accused persons. The death penalty, since it is influenced by these factors is used arbitrarily and must be stopped."
Abstract Discusses problems facing U.S. correctional system and prisons stretched past their limits triggering riots and violence among prisoners and misconduct by correctional officers.
From the Paper "The topic of this paper is private prisons and its contribution to the American criminal justice system. In order to cope with the problems of overcrowding in prisons and the escalating costs of building cells, public officials have transferred the ..."
Abstract This paper discusses the origin of prison gangs and the factors that keep them alive behind the walls of every prison in the country. It also discusses the six major gangs and how each is identified. Statistics from correctional facilities, as well as national surveys, are revealed and prove the rise in prison gangs and the threat they pose for communities.
From the Paper "Prison gangs are flourishing behind the walls of every correctional facility across the country. There are six major gangs that are generally identified by racial or ethnic members. Prison gangs are much better organized than the average street gang, thus, when an inmate is released he is more savvy about keeping a lower profile and so become more difficult for authorities to track. Prison gangs have risen some four hundred percent during the last decade and are still climbing. Gangs inside the prison walls have become experts at communicating through coded messages. Prison gangs originated as a form of protection from predator inmates, but expanded to include contraband. Gangs, whether street or prison, are identified by law enforcement as Security Threat Groups, STGs, and are monitored by officials."
Abstract This paper explains that two of the most widely used weapons by law enforcement officials are WebShot, a 3m-wide Kevlar net that can entangle targets as far away as 9 meters, and the Taser gun, which transmits an electrical signal that results in an instant loss of the attacker's neuromuscular control and any ability to perform coordinated action. The author discusses a device commonly known as a spike strip or stop strip, which, when activated, punctures the tires of a car. The paper concludes that the effects of these weapons on society have been enormous and have led to declines in the number of injuries to suspects and officers and to fewer liability claims.
From the Paper "According to Cohen (1997), "the most widely used non-lethal weapons are wood, rubber, or polyurethane bullets shot out of modified 37-mm pistols or 12-gauge shotguns. At short distances, officers are using pepper spray and Tasers".Other technologies still in development include guns that shoot giant nets, guns that squirt sticky glue, and lights that can temporarily blind a suspect.? A full description of all the various weapons in use or under development is beyond the scope of this paper, but it is plain to see that the law enforcement and military community are taking this matter seriously."
Abstract The first part of the paper examines the arguments of the pro-legalization side, focusing on those who argue that the drug can have medicinal purposes. The next part then examines the potential dangers of legalized marijuana use, both to the individual and to public health, in general. In the conclusion, the paper argues that marijuana use is not a "victimless" crime. The potential dangers that marijuana presents to individual and public health are best upheld by keeping marijuana illegal.
From the Paper "Recent ballot initiatives in states like California and Oregon asking for the decriminalization of marijuana use reveals a growing public acceptance of marijuana. The perception that marijuana is not dangerous has made drug enforcement even more difficult. Indeed, the debate over marijuana goes beyond health concerns, and touches issues such as crime and privacy as well."
Abstract The legalization of marijuana has been a topic of controversy for several years. Many proponents of the drug argue that marijuana should be legalized for both medical and recreational use. Others say that it should at least be decriminalized, meaning that the penalty for growing or possession of marijuana would be a simple fine, rather than jail time. This paper examines the controversial aspects of legalizing marijuana in an effort to present a strong argument in favor of legalizing the drug. The paper presents six valid reasons for legalizing the drug, as well as background statements to support these arguments.
From the Paper "The legalization of marijuana could help the U.S. economy by opening up new jobs. While the government would make a lot of money in taxes, sales and distribution costs, legalization would also cause the price of the drug to decrease, which means more people could afford it. According to estimations, if marijuana were legalized, and prices were cut in half, marijuana sales could gross anywhere from $50-$53 billion dollars (Rosenthal and Kubby, 2003). This money would no doubt stimulate the U.S. economy and create new jobs. These jobs would lower unemployment rates in the country, and open up more opportunities for employment in hemp and glassware industries."
Abstract This paper relates that the General Affective Aggression Model (GAAM) is one of the leading theories in the field of aggression, which argues that exposure to violent video games can increase short-term aggression (20 minutes following exposure to a video game) over long periods of time. The author states that the experimental hypothesis is that children who play violent video games are more likely to be more aggressive on the playground. The paper describes a research design with three experimental groups consisting of randomly selected 8 to 10-year-old boys and girls. The experimental group plays a violent video game (e.g., Kung Fu), one control group plays a non-violent video game (e.g., Ms. Pac Man) and another control group will consist of children that did not play a video game.
Table of Contents
Introduction
Literature Review
Proposed Study
Methods and Statistical Analysis
Participation
Design and Procedures
Discussion
Conclusion
From the Paper "Certainly, the literature available notes several limitations on this type of study. One important constraint is that this experimental design does not allow researchers to determine the effect of video game violence in a 'real' or 'playful environment. Goldstein notes that voluntary exposure to violent video games may have a different effect than enforced exposure on aggression. In the lab, video games are not entered into in a playful frame of mind, as they are in the 'real' world. However, the need for a controlled, experimental situation in this experiment makes such a distinction difficult."
Abstract This paper discusses two main types of identity theft: account takeovers, when thieves steal existing accounts such as credit cards and use them; and "true name" fraud, stealing the entire identity, which is more dangerous because thieves may get replacement driver's licenses, start new accounts, get mortgages, jobs, and entire lives based around this stolen credit. The author points out that identity theft is very problematic and troubling for the victim because it can take months or even years for the victim to realize that something is wrong, and by that time, it may be too late to do anything about it. The paper urges persons to protect their private information and stay actively involved with their credit reports and bank accounts so that they have the earliest possible warning of the crime.
From the Paper "?Identity theft is one of the fastest-growing crimes in America.? Every year over 900,000 people have their identity's stolen. The FTC, a leading law enforcement agency that deals with identity theft, estimates that on just one of the many national hotlines there will be about 200,000 calls a year. Between 1992 and 1997 inquires regarding identity theft put into the TransUnion Credit Bureau Fraud Victim Assistant Department was multiplied almost 15 times over as it went from 35,000 complaints to 523,000."
Abstract With all the many advances in technology, there will most likely be issues that will affect policing in the future. How will new technologies affect the individual police officer? Will he have input about what technology is used? What about the management of police agencies? How will they respond to the issues of civil liability in the future? How do technological advances affect the community itself? Will they embrace it or reject it? This paper addresses these questions and provides answers to them.
From the Paper "Police personal carry the utmost importance in departments, especially in larger departments. It seems now that everything now and way back when seems to be climbing gradually into the future. For the most part, larger departments appear to be tightening their grip on micromanagement. Supervisors are somewhat becoming ignorant to the fact of what their officers need."
Abstract In the past three decades, a veritable revolution has occurred in U.S. criminal law. It has taken place for the most part at the federal level where the number of crimes with which individuals can be charged has grown rapidly. Once there were only three named federal criminal acts: treason, piracy, and counterfeiting. Now there are thousands of federal laws and regulations, and the violation of any one of them, no matter how unintentional and harmless the transgression, can lead to years of imprisonment for the convicted person.
From the Paper "The large number of offenses, especially those criminalizing the vices, has led some people to question whether or not the criminal law is being overused to achieve moral purposes. This situation, called overcriminalization, occurs when behaviors are made illegal even though they do not cause great societal harm and are not regarded as criminal by a significant portion of society."
Abstract Probation and parole programs are highly criticized in modern society. Are they just excuses for lowering prison populations or do they actually work in rehabilitating offenders? This paper looks into the ethics of probation and parole programs and offers some critique of the programs.
From the Paper "Today's criminal justice system is supposedly the best that America has ever had. However, there are always ethical issues in dealing with those among us who have the urges to commit crime. Probation and parole are two ways of dealing with an offender without keeping him or her in prison. When an offender is let out on parole, then he or she is being released from prison before his or her full sentence has been carried out. Probation is a program that was made as an alternative to imprisoning an offender. This paper will examine the probation and parole programs and offer a personal opinion of their efficiency and relevancy in the criminal justice system."
This paper discusses plea bargaining, a procedure whereby the prosecution and the defense negotiate to reach a resolution outside of the court, resulting in the defendant usually agreeing to plead guilty to a lesser charge or punishment.
Abstract This paper explains that the most common argument on behalf of plea bargaining is that it reduces the courts? heavy caseloads by ensuring that most criminals enter a plea of guilty, thus eliminating the need for time-consuming trials. The author points out that an argument against plea bargaining is that the public usually favors a disciplinary policy for the handling of criminals in society and wants to see everyone pay for the crime committed. The paper relates that plea bargaining denies the defendant his constitutional right to a trial by jury and asks him to waive his rights against self-incrimination and the right to confront witnesses against him.
From the Paper "By having plea bargaining, we are insuring that criminals have to do at least some time for the crime they have committed. Plea bargaining is beneficial to defendants because they use it to reduce the uncertainty and severity of sentencing. If the defendant pleads guilty in return for a compromise, the defendant avoids the risk of a maximum sentence following a guilty verdict at a trial. Other important advantages to plea bargaining is that it allows the defendant a chance to admit their guilt and show some responsibility for the actions they have committed. By allowing a defendant to enter into a plea bargain and plead guilty, the system is shielding victims for having to testify at a trial that may be difficult for them. A trial usually means that a victim will have to relive what happened to them and may damage them."
Tags: caseload, judge, disciplinary, responsibility, rights
Abstract For more than two decades, researchers, clinicians, and juvenile justice program administrators have become increasingly concerned about the link between substance abuse and juvenile crime. This paper shows that, due to this connection, various programs are being implemented across the United States to treat the juvenile offenders in order to help deter substance abuse. In turn, this should also help deter future criminal actions.
From the Paper "By way of comparison, law enforcement authorities arrested just over four thousand teens for rape and two thousand one hundred and seventeen for homicide. In other words, the police arrest teens for liquor law violations, drunkenness and disorderly conduct at forty-five times the rate they arrest juveniles for murder and rape combined. Many of these juveniles could have avoided the system, but substance abuse has pulled them in. The worst part is, arrests of juveniles for liquor law violations are up sixteen percent, drunkenness arrests are up fourteen percent, and disorderly conduct arrests are up fifteen percent. The statistics for underage alcohol abuse keeps increasing, which means that more and more juveniles are being put into the system and many have not been receiving the correct treatment."
Abstract This paper explains that violence is one of the main results of jail overcrowding because the guards, who are suppose to keep control of the inmates, are grossly outnumbered by the criminals; therefore, control can slip out of their hands, which leads even more violence. The author believes that criminals who commit serious crimes, like rape or murder, need to be punished for the significance of their crime, even with longer sentences; but less serious crimes, like minor drug offenses, do not need jail time to be punished. The paper states that imprisoning nonviolent offenders often causes more damage than punishment or rehabilitation because short-term inmates often do not receive the rehabilitation they need and become corrupted by the experience of being in jail.
From the Paper "Stealing a few children's videos gave one man in California fifty years to life in prison, while another man received twenty-five years to life for trying to steal a few golf clubs. Does this seem logical? Maybe not to many Americans but in California this occurs quite often. In fact, "more than 7,000 state inmates are serving three strikes sentences of 25 years or more." California has a "Three Strikes Law" that became official on March 7, 1994. This law comes into play when a criminal has one or more prior felony convictions. The second time a criminal commits a felony, their mandatory sentence can be doubled; the third time, the criminal can receive a sentence of twenty-five years to life in prison."
This paper covers some recent research into white-collar crime and ties it in with the rational-choice theory of crime. This paper focuses more on the causal aspect of white-collar crime than on the outcome aspect of it.
Abstract This paper discusses how the existing stereotype of a white-collar offender as a high-ranking executive may be flawed. The demographics of white-collar offenders suggest most of them are middle-class white males. It looks at the theories as to why such people would commit these crimes and explains that most theories center on the rational-choice decision making process because of the protracted and diligent nature of white-collar crimes. It further discusses how, within the white-collar inmate community, there also appear to be two separate pathways to white-collar crime: one marked by previous run-ins with the law before turning to white-collar crime, and the other one marked by no run-ins with the law.
From the Paper "White-collar crime has gained increased notoriety in recent years with the downfall of Enron, WorldCom, and insider trading by Martha Stewart. Despite its increased awareness in the public, its etiology is not well known. One of the main reasons for criminologists' naivete regarding white-collar crime is the lack of scientific research on the topic. The relative lack of data arises from an array of political, sociological, penological, and funding issues. The data that is available to researchers indicates that the existing stereotype of white-collar crime offenders is flawed."
