Abstract
This paper discusses the activities of state authorities in relation to crime in New Jersey and in the United States. The paper explains that in recent years crime rates in New Jersey have dropped significantly, but the prison population, and its costs, have increased and the key reason is that New Jersey (like many other jurisdictions) uses incarceration to address drug problems. The paper points out that there are alternatives to full-scale incarceration that would save the state of New Jersey substantial sums which are now being spent on maintaining a prison system that is built to guard New Jersey from a threat that does not exist.

Outline:
Introduction
Part I: Recent Crime Statistics
Part II: Recent Legislation
Part III: Victims Assistance Programs
Part IV: Correctional Options
Part V: Three Strikes Laws
Conclusion

From the Paper
"There are two criminal justice systems in the United States: the state system and the federal system. When a person commits a crime, it may be a crime against the laws of the United States; it may be a crime against the laws of the state in which the crime occurs. Violations of the criminal laws of the United States ("federal crimes") are prosecuted by the United States through the U.S. Attorney in each state. Violations of the laws of a given state are prosecuted by the various officials of the state. While the two systems work cooperatively, they do not course over."

Tags:crime, rates, drugs, incarceration, prison, Three, Strikes

Abstract
In this paper, the writer analyzes the various aspects of lack of criminal accountability in regards to government deregulation and white-collar identity in America. The writer discusses that by realizing the scope of governmental and corporate collusion in deregulating laws that make corporations accountable for white-collar crime, the identities of those responsible are often abstracted by the private business institutions and legal ambiguities they represent. Furthermore, the writer maintains that the perception of the immaterial nature of items being stolen from companies also plays a part in decreasing the liability for corporate elites to be prosecuted in a court of law.

Tags:white, collar, crime

Abstract
This essay examines how victims' rights are viewed in the United States, compared with the rights of criminal defendants, and provides a discussion of the constitutional issues involved. A discussion of the incidence of victimization among young people and current trends is provided. An overview of victims' advocacy groups and an examination of what people can do when they become victims is also included. A summary of the research is provided in the conclusion. Also includes an appendix.

From the Paper
"America has been characterized repeatedly as a land of laws. We cherish our Bill of Rights and the hard-earned liberties wrung from the tight grip of the state over the years. When an individual is accused of a crime in the United States, a vast bureaucracy of defense attorneys and court proceedings takes over which provides a wide range of benefits, services, privileges and rights for the accused. While universally characterized as underbudgeted and overburdened, the court system is still required to provide a certain level of legal defense for those defendants who cannot afford it. However, the victim of the crime (technically the proper term is "alleged victim" until the guilt of the defendant is established by a court of competent jurisdiction) is frequently overlooked while the bureaucratic gears grind out justice for the defendant. However, things are beginning to change and a national network of victim advocacy groups is taking shape. For example, in 1980, there were 27 victim compensation programs in the United States. By 1998, however, there were 50 state programs as well as ones in the District of Columbia and the U.S. Virgin Islands."

Tags:1984, act, bully, crime, justice, juvenile, ptsd, victimization, victims, voca

Abstract
This paper examines some of the investigatory tools that are used in death penalty cases. The paper discusses some of the history and motivation behind the death penalty and includes statistics about the number of executions and pending executions in the United States. The author then goes on to discuss the use of DNA testing and its affect on many pending capital cases. Although this author argues in favor of the death penalty, they argue that because several people currently awaiting execution have been exonerated as a result of advances in DNA testing. It is because of this, that there is a need for increased vigilance in the presentation of evidence in capital cases and although it does serve as a deterrent, rules and regulations must be stringently adhered to in order to prevent the innocent from being wrongly executed.

From the Paper
"Death is irreversible. Therefore it is incumbent on this nation to be utterly responsible if a decision is made to put a man to death. Many times a guilty person gets off scot-free because of resources, whereas a poorer person might be unjustly be put to death. Therefore every effort has to be made to prove a defendant guilty without a shadow of a doubt. One of the contributions to this effort is the use of DNA evidence. This is an invaluable tool in the hands of forensic experts. A smudge of blood or a single hair is a blue print of the victim or the criminal. In my opinion therefore, every defendant currently on death row should be processed for DNA. After which each defendant should be matched with the crime scene evidence and DNA matches (or not) should be procured."

Tags:penalty, death, crime, justice, dna, fbi, executed, exonerate, mistakes, appeals, law, enforcement, forensic

Abstract
This paper examines certain data from the Uniform Crime Report; gives an overview of the crime of murder, gives comparative data with that of the State of Connecticut, and discusses a policy that would create deterrence from murder.

From the Paper
''In 2006 an estimated 17,034 people were murdered in the United States (Murder, 2006 p.3). This may seem like a high number of people but in actuality murder only accounts for 1.2 percent of the estimated number of violent crimes for the 2006 data as detailed in the Uniform Crime Report, also referred to as the UCR. The UCR is a yearly report issued by the federal government. The UCR gives detailed crime statistics, such as offender-victim relationship and geographical trends for certain crimes. The purpose of this paper to examine certain data from the UCR; give an overview of the crime of murder, give comparative data with that of the State of Connecticut, and discuss a policy that would create deterrence from murder.
''According to the 2006 Uniform Crime Report murder is defined ``as the willful (non-negligent) killing of one human being by another.'' This definition is based only on police investigation. ``The determination of a court, medical examiner, coroner, jury, or other judicial body'' (Murder, 2006 p.2)1 is not considered.''

Tags:mandatory, investigation, crime

Abstract
This paper studies the past, present and the future of Eurasian organized crime in the United States. The author follows the trial of organized Eurasian Crime to the United States and reviews literature in this subject area. The paper discusses what crimes have been, are and will likely be committed in the United States if this complex and serious problem is not properly addressed proactively. The paper also suggests that participation, collaboration, and cooperative law enforcement networks that align with corporate and banking networks throughout the United States and across borders and boundaries networking with these entities and agencies in other countries is necessary if Eurasian organized crime groups are to be impacted greatly.

Outline:
Introduction
Background of the Problem
Definition of Terms
Literature Review
Groups of Eurasian Organized Crime Identified
Vory v Zadone (Thieves-in-law)
Nomenklatura
Ethnic and National Groups
Avtorieti (Authorities)
Identified by FBI as Threat in the U.S. (Present and Future) - Vory v Zadone
Conclusion

From the Paper
"Comprising the third group of organized crime are the ethnic and national groups including the Chechens, Armenians, Azerbaijanis, Dagestanis, Georgians, and Ingush, who are active in Russian and throughout Central Eurasia and outside the Commonwealth of Independent States as well. This is the most violent of all the criminal groups."

Tags:foreign policies, international law

Abstract
This paper is a study and commentary of criminal justice policies in the United States. It discusses the basis of the American system of criminal justice and the state and local methods of dispensing justice. The paper contends that U.S. contemporary policies concerning crime and punishment are some of the most draconian in any Western nation and the harshest in American history. Also mentioned is the fact that, although the U.S. does not have the highest crime rate or highest violent crime rate of Western countries, it has some of the highest rates and lengths of incarceration.

From the Paper
"Contemporary policies concerning crime and punishment are not only among the most draconian among wealthy nations, they are also the harshest in American history. No other Western country continues use the death penalty except the United States: 3300 prisoners were on death row in 1997 and more people were executed--76--than in any year since 1955. Capital punishment has been abolished by all the big democracies except the United States, Japan and India. Additionally, many emerging democracies in Eastern Europe, Africa and Latin America have also abandoned it. Capital punishment in the United States is derided by critics in Europe for being antediluvian and barbaric."

Tags:prison, terms, sentences, offenders, behind, bars, death, penalty, capital, punishment, retribution, hammurabi, code

Abstract
This paper describes the Three Strikes Law introduced in the USA as an effort to 'get tough' on crime. Over the years, it was seen that the law had no impact on crime rates or the nature of offenses as other states continued to follow the example set by California. The author intended that this paper would express the flimsiness of a law seeming rooted in deterrence but in fact he has revealed less reported and important surrounding matters.

Outline:
Introduction
The Failure of Three Strikes Law
Kinds of Crime - the Crack Revolution
Alleged Alternatives
Laws as Seen by Offenders
Concluding Discussion

From the Paper
" Approaches to 'getting tough' on crime in the United States of the 1990s showed commitment to what seems deterrence, as in the Three Strikes effort permitting tough sentences for repeat offenders. Over years, it was see that the law had no impact on crime rates or the nature of offenses as states continued to follow the example of California in 1994, towards varied crime statistics verifying, yet again, the ineffectiveness of deterrence models. What is absent from this kind of research is exploration of what Three Strike laws have been intended to achieve. One grows used to material empathizing with offenders affected by the law who serve inordinately long sentences for perhaps minor crimes. (See Abramsky 2002, Cole 1999) What tends to be missing concerns why this legislation was passed and the groups that favoured it. The message handed down by the Three Strikes law was one of society's non-tolerance for crime whereas the criminological message can fail to understand that criminality is opposed from within affected areas apt to support draconian legislation towards incarceration. What began as a paper expressing the flimsiness of a law seeming rooted in deterrence soon revealed less reported and important surrounding matters."

Tags:offenders, criminality, legislation

Abstract
This paper discusses the history of the death penalty in the United States, noting that it demonstrates a society that has been divided on the issue of executing criminals. The paper explains that opponents of the death penalty believe that as long as the process of the state committing executions exists there will be a violation of Constitutional laws intended to prevent cruel and unusual punishment. The paper also discusses the contention of those in favor of the death penalty that the punishment for a criminal act should fit the crime and that there are some crimes that are so horrendous that the death penalty is the only just punishment. Additionally, the paper points out that, although the debate has created periods in the nation's history in which executions have passed through a moratorium, most states in modern society continue to pass laws that provide for state executions, with the rate of modern executions climbing each year.

Tags:history, death, penalty

Abstract
This paper explains that, while there have been great improvements in the condition of racism in the United States, there is still much racism to be overcome. The author points out that the Civil Rights movements throughout history have served to open many doors for African Americans; even 50 years of desegregation has not served to eliminate the vast poverty or lower levels of overall quality of life for the African-American populations. The paper stresses that perhaps the most glaring example of the racism still in existence today can be seen in the judicial system in America; an examination of over 2,000 murder cases in Georgia showed clearly that the death penalty was more likely to be sought by prosecutors if the victim of the crime was white.

From the Paper
"As early as the 1860's, the civil rights movement was beginning to slowly take form. With the end of the Civil War, and with the passage of the Thirteenth Amendment, which abolished slavery, the Fourteenth Amendment, which guaranteed protection of citizens, and the Fifteenth Amendment, which barred voting restrictions, the issue of civil rights came to the forefront. Yet the so called "freedoms" gained through the passage of the Amendments were quickly doused by "scientific" ideas that whites were supreme, and by state governments enacting numerous laws to severely restrict suffrage in the South. Through the combination of local, state and federal government, racial segregation began to emerge as a result. In addition, group such as the Klu Klux Klan formed to show white supremacy and began to emerge in both the north and the south, further limiting the freedoms of the African Americans."

Tags:amendment, proverty, king, birmingham, court