Abstract This paper looks at the American justice system with emphasis on death row. The author defines what death row is and what life for prisoners sentenced to the death sentence is like. Included are interviews with people on death row.
From the Paper "America stands alone in the western world as the only so-called "Free" country that still executes its own citizens. America's justice system in particular is inherently biased, usually racially, always monetarily ? if you have the money to pay for a good criminal lawyer, and all the appeals, chances are you won?t get the death penalty. The one thing these people all have in common is lack of funds, and without the ability to work while on Death Row, these people have no option but to just sit and wait for the inevitable to occur. The people on death row are not all "Ax murderers" or ?Serial rapists,? a disturbing number of them may actually be innocent of the crimes for which they?ve been sentenced to be executed. Our anthology will be based upon writings from within the cell walls of prisons across the United States of America. Each writing comes from a person who is imprisoned for life. Many of these people have received the death penalty and are just wasting their life away on death row. Each individual has been in prison for years and is still paying for the crimes in which he or she has committed."
Abstract The paper describes the ethical dilemmas in the field of forensic science involving DNA, validity of techniques, expert witnesses and lab procedures. The paper also describes solutions for these problems.
From the Paper "The issue of the forensic scientist's ethical struggle is one that is a lot more complicated and not as likely to have an easy solution. The American Academy of Forensic Sciences (AAFS) states that members "shall refrain from providing any material misrepresentation of education, training, experience or area of expertise (Fleckstein)." The AAFS gives general guidelines instead of telling members exactly how to act. While this gives some leeway in behavior, the code is still strict enough to steer individuals clear of any wrongdoing. The goal of forensic specialists is to provide unbiased scientific evidence based on data (Saviers)."
