Wrongful Conviction Essays (Examples)

Wrongful Conviction eview: Henry James

Wrongful convictions are convictions where "factually innocent people are convicted of crimes" (Acker & edlich, 2011, p.3). There are a number of ways that wrongful convictions can occur. Two of these ways are no crime convictions and wrong man convictions (Acker & eclich, 2011, p.7-8). No crime convictions occur when someone is convicted of a crime, generally murder, and then it is later discovered that no crime has been committed. Wrong man convictions are far more common; they occur when a crime has been committed, but the wrong person has been convicted of the crime. However, crimes in which the correct person is convicted of the crime, while there may be legal problems with their conviction, are not considered wrongful convictions. Another name for wrongful conviction is actual innocence.

It is impossible to assess how many innocent people are actually in prison, today. The reality…

Wrongful Conviction of James Henry

Henry James was only 19 years during his conviction for rape that he did not commit. It is after thirty years imprisonment that the realization of his innocence emerges thereby keeping it free. This case is a good example of the importance of evidence in the proceedings of a case. The imprisonment of the innocent man arose because of the little evidence that he had against the accusation (Katz 2011). Lose of evidence serves as a foundation of wrongful convictions in most cases and an individual who might be having power of the court ruling can easily manipulate the case for his own benefits. Prosecutorial misconduct serves critically in the lost of evidence consequently leading to the wrongful conviction of an individual. This article is an illustration of how lost of evidence leads to the wrongful conviction of Henry James and the people who are…

The over-enthusiasm associated with the extensive and unrestrained caution which the prosecutors avail gives birth to the settings in which a prosecutor is able to cause the conviction of an innocent individual. Besides, the mixture of over-enthusiasm and unimpeded discretion on one side and regular non-adversarialness on the other outcomes in an irregular playing field in majority of the defendants either guilty or innocent. (Griffin, 1274)

The apparent cases of wrongful convictions have happened for causes other than lack of access to confidential psychotherapy files. In the opinion of Dwyer Neufeld & Scheck, 2000, the three main reasons in cases of wrongful convictions have been mistaken eyewitness identification, lack of proper police interrogations, and tardy investigative works. Whereas no body must make light of the urgency to safeguard against the jailing of innocent individuals, this danger must be empirically corroborated instead of claimed ordinarily. There have been instances of criminal…

Why would somebody confess to a crime they did not commit?

According to professor Kassin, Saul, there are several types of people who falsely confess:

compulsive type-attention seeker -- confesses to gain a piece of the fame, impress others, or to get attention compulsive type-homeless -- confesses as a way to get off the streets compulsive type-fugitive -- confesses to avoid being prosecuted for a crime elsewhere with stiffer penalties compulsive type-guilty conscience -- confesses because believes they are guilty of something coerced-compliant type -- Kassin's type who pleads guilty to avoid something aversive in their home environment coerced-internalized type -- Kassin's type who comes to believe in their guilt out of interrogation or persuasion"

The problem, however, is deeper than the false confession in itself. It is to be found in the effects that the confession has: "dubious forensic evidence, police failure to pursue viable alternative suspects, incorrect or…

Wrongful Convictions Based on Eyewitness Accounts

Imagine if you will this hypothetical scenario -- you are walking to your car in a parking garage after a long day at work. You are tired and thinking of what is waiting for you on your desk tomorrow and what you will have to eat when you get home. Suddenly, a man jumps out from behind a parked car and points a gun at you, asking for your money. You are terrified and give him your wallet. He runs away and you call the police. They arrive and you give a sketchy description of the guy who robbed you. He was Hispanic, was wearing a dark jacket and jeans. You can't remember how tall he was and couldn't see the color of his eyes. You didn't see any tattoos, just the gun, which was huge. The police call the information in and another…

(iv) misconduct by the police or unintentional mistake, together with the application of suggestive identification procedures, pressuring of a confession or inculpatory declaration by a suspect, not carrying out other channels of investigation following initial detection of a powerful suspect, and being unsuccessful to give the prosecutor enough proof which is able to point to an individual other than the defendant as the person behind the act. (v) Mistake in the procedure, inclusive of failure to reveal evidence which is able to exonerate the defendant, application of unreliable proof and statement given during trial in a fit of rage. (vi) Substandard defense mechanism by the lawyer that includes failure to get an appropriate disclosure of evidence. (Mahoney, 2005)

4) How the issue impacts other components of the criminal justice system:

In criminal justice, goals like lowered levels of reported crime for the police or for committing the offence once again…

Wrongful convicted people have also been seen to experience psychiatric dysfunctions, and long -- term difficulties re-integrating into the society. The convicted people lose income during pleading in their cases, they end up losing their assets, and those employed later get low earnings. The justice system should be a system of high integrity which people can put their faith, to ensure that justice is done to them. If laws to mitigate innocent convictions are not passed, it will lead to injustices; hence develop trust issues with the judicial system. Passing of the wrongful convictions Act, on the other hand, will ensure that justice is served to wrongfully convicted people. It will prevent people from hateful feelings and help to enable a quick healing process and integration into the society (Adrian, 2008).

Compensation will motivate government to protect the innocent because they will know if they convict the wrong person they…

rongful Conviction textbook, compare problems wrongful conviction Canada, United States, United Kingdom. hat similarities differences? Discuss

rongful Convictions in the International Context

In spite of the fact that the law system has experienced much progress in the recent years, wrongful convictions continue to occur as lawmen encounter impediments and are unable to use the law properly. It often happens for people who are innocent to be convicted on account of an unfortunate set of circumstances. In most cases when this happens, the individuals responsible are law-enforcement officers who are obsessed with their job and have trouble understanding matters from an objective perspective. Problems also occur due to evidence being withheld, false affirmations, lying under oath, and unproductive use of guidance. Although it is impossible to verify the exact number of wrongful convictions, it is only safe to assume that thousands of individuals are wrongfully convicted on a yearly basis. By…

Wrongful Convictions' by Balko adley discusses the issues surrounding the conviction and imprisonment of innocent persons. It outlines the causes of wrongful convictions and the challenges encountered in trying to obtain compensation upon release. The author seeks to show how prevalent wrongful convictions are, and demonstrate the need to address the same. The story of Paul House - who was wrongfully convicted of murder, sentenced to life imprisonment, and released more than two decades later with serious health complications, after his innocence was proven - is used to demonstrate the pain and suffering caused by wrongful convictions. The article employs a highly formal tone, as demonstrated by the use of such legal jargons as qualified immunity, mandatory minimum sentence, and civil liability, among others. It makes use of a passive voice, focusing on the actions (false testimony, overreliance on eyewitness testimony and false confessions) rather than on the doer; and…

Troy Davis and the Lessons of DNA Exonerations

Wrongful Convictions

The Case of Troy Davis: What DNA Exonerations Can Teach Us about Wrongful Convictions

When someone is wrongfully convicted of a crime they lose years of their lives to unjust sanctions, the perpetrator is free to continue victimizing others, and if it happens too often society loses faith in the criminal justice system. With the advent of DNA analysis some of this faith has been lost, because a sizeable number of death row DNA exonerations have made it clear that innocent men and women have been executed in the past. In an effort to better understand how a person might be wrongfully convicted the case of Georgia death row inmate Troy Davis is analyzed here. The prosecution's case was almost completely dependent on eyewitness testimony, despite scientific evidence showing this type of evidence is often unreliable. During the trial it…

Wrongful Convictions: Unit III Article CritiqueIn their article titled, Safeguards Against Wrongful Conviction in Eyewitness Identification Cases: Insights from Empirical Research, Smith and Dufraimont evaluate the efficacy of two of the safeguards that have in the past been put in place to ensure that mistakenly identified persons are not convicted. One of the key issues the authors raise has got to do with the fact that in the past, there have been numerous instances of wrongful convictions based on eye witness mistakes. In the words of the authors, several researchers have catalogued known wrongful convictions and documented their commonalities. Yet another important issue highlighted in the article is the fact that wrongful convictions do not come about as a consequence of eyewitness mistakes only. Instead, wrongful convictions could be caused by defense and Crown lawyers as well as police officers. This is more so the case when the decisions the…

Other constitutional protections such as profiling are equally susceptible to manipulation and circumvention in the field by creative articulation on police reports.

How common is wrongful conviction in our criminal justice system?

Despite all the protections incorporated into legal standards, criminal procedure, and police administration, wrongful convictions are still a possibility.

Most recently, the relatively new techniques made possible by DNA science have overturned several high-profile convictions of prisoners shown conclusively to have been wrongfully convicted of crimes they could not possibly have committed. The constitutional protections that have evolved in the United States minimize the possibility of unjust convictions. Nevertheless, it is virtually impossible to legislate against witnesses who provide erroneous, (or even deliberately false) testimony.

Wherever guilt or innocence hinges upon the testimony of sworn witnesses, the possibility of erroneous results still exists.

Ultimately, many of the most important constitutional rights guaranteed to those suspected of criminal conduct…

As Neuschatz, Jones, McClung and Wetmore (n.d.) note, secondary confessions are viewed as “extremely persuasive evidence” (p. 2) even though they are the “leading cause of wrongful convictions in capital cases” (p. 3). What this shows, nonetheless, is that information acquisition is the most effective of the three recommendations. Knowing where information was acquired and how can be extremely important in the application of research on informant testimony. Secondary confessions are the perfect example of how this is so. They show that just because information sounds legitimate and valid and is quickly and easily embraced by juries, the information itself has to be considered in terms of how it was acquired and what the source of the information is. In any trial whenever there is witness testimony, the credibility of the witness is examined in order to assess the validity of the claims. This is part of the process of…

A vastly accepted principle of the justice system is that bringing the guilty perpetrators to justice. Consequently, the danger of a guilty person remaining free dominated public attention (Bjerk & Helland, 2018). However, the justice system has been flawed for robbing of life experiences and freedom of wrongfully convicted individuals (Gould & Leo, 2010). The flaws in the justice system have attracted public opinion and research interest. Empirical interest in wrongful convictions dates back to research work by Borchard (1932). The introduction of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) testing technology in the justice system brought to light the flaws in the system by revealing the innocence of convicts in prison with some serving death or life sentences (Bjerk & Helland, 2018). Wrongful convictions occur when factually innocent persons are convicted of crimes; a miscarriage in the justice system. The handful convictions of innocent persons challenges the efficacy of the US justice system.…

Safeguarding the criminal justice system from wrongful convictions through an efficient innocence program policy evaluation proposalExecutive summaryConvicting innocent people is a global concern. The problem has been brought to the fore in the US through DNA tests that have proven the innocence of some of the people already serving jail terms. So far, up to 138 people have been exonerated of the crimes they were accused and convicted of. Of the number, 13 people were on death row. Experts observe that at least 23 people have already been executed after conviction, in the US, despite their innocence. There are persistent efforts that have led to significant progress with regard to detecting and preventing people from being wrongfully convicted. There is a lot of room for improvement in this area though. Apart from the reforms highlighted and discussed in this paper, the public is increasingly becoming aware of the problem.…

Research Question and Introduction Development
Topic: Safeguarding the criminal justice system from wrongful convictions through an efficient innocence program
Research Question: What aspects of the innocence program need improvement, and in what ways, in order to guard the judicial system from wrongful convictions? (Rossi, Lipsey & Freeman, 2004)
Introduction
Wrongful conviction is an abuse of justice. It entails the sentencing and subsequent punishment of someone for crimes they never committed (Huff & Killias, 2013). Wrongful convictions can happen in civil and criminal cases alike. Many criminal justice processes have been tailored to overcome this possibility and overturn such erroneous judicial decisions. It is quite difficult to achieve this, however, due to fundamental challenges in the judicial system. Wrongful convictions may take years or decades to overturn. In some instances the discovery of innocence happens after a person has already served their time in prison, after they are dead or after…

The Central Park Five case demonstrates some of the problems with police interrogation techniques, and also the policies and procedures applied to juveniles. In every case, law enforcement uses criminal interrogation as a primary means of data collection. However, the purpose of criminal interrogation is not necessarily as straightforward as it may seem. The use of criminal interrogations to elicit confessions often leads to the implementation of methods that are ineffective at gaining the truth, even while they may be highly effective at gaining wrongful convictions.Intimidation, deception, and psychological abuse are some of the methods that may be used during police interrogations due in part to political and work-related pressures to gain confessions from a suspect at all costs (Kossowska & Grochowska, n.d.). In the 2012 Ken Burns documentary about the Central Park Five case, viewers have access to footage that directly captures the interrogation techniques the police used with…

DNA Exonerations: John Kogut

The Path To Exoneration: John Kogut

The Path to Conviction

When 16-year-old Teresa Fusco left work at 9:45 PM on November 10, 1984 she became one among several young girls reported missing over the past several years [Centurion Ministries, 2013; Innocence Project, n.d.(a)]. In contrast to her predecessors, however, her body was discovered a month later in a wooded area several blocks from the roller rink where she worked. According to the autopsy, Teresa had been raped and murdered. Semen and sperm were collected from her body and the marks on her neck revealed that she had been strangled with a rope or cord. Also found at the scene were her jewelry and the murder weapon. The coroner's office, however, failed to conduct a blood type analysis on the semen.

The Nassau County police were under tremendous pressure to solve these disappearances, especially Teresa's rape and…

While black men can be incredibly diverse-looking, she may focus on those features that tend to differentiate them from white men. This is a risk in any cross-racial identification, where someone may notice differences from their own ethnic group, but fail to look beyond those features that stand out as "other" in his mind, which makes any person in that racial group a possible suspect.

In fact, it is impossible to overplay the role that misidentification has played in so many wrongful convictions. It is difficult for many people to realize that DNA evidence did not play a role in older convictions; the technology simply was not available. Furthermore, when DNA evidence first became available, it was a new technology that was not fully understood by all of the actors in the criminal justice system. In those early times, there were investigators, prosecutors, and fact finders who would believe a…

Criminal Justice System

Challenges of Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) to law enforcement

Law enforcement agencies view the Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) the most harmful street gang in the U.S. The aggressive nature of MS-13 members have led to a variety of killings and terrible beatings. Various trials held in New York and Maryland have led to significant jail terms even extending to life imprisonment for MS-13 members. The FBI was first attracted by violence, but proof of the gang's escalating level of organization has drawn public attention. Organization is an indicator of a future where MS-13 is will be a transnational network of criminals extending from the United States to suburban communities in a multitude of U.S. towns (Mandel, 2013).

Despite functions of violence, it is worrying to note that MS-13 movement is improving its structure and organization. Many major security experts are comparing it to the illegal groups of the 50s…

Wrongful Conviction of Steven Avery

Steven Avery was arrested in 1985 for the rape of Penny Beernsten, even though his family testified as to his whereabouts at the exact moment the crime took place. 18 years later, Avery was exonerated via DNA evidence, in which a hair from the crime scene was matched to Gregory Allen (who was actually suspected of committing the crime at the time but whom law enforcement agents neglected to pursue because of an apparent vendetta they had against Avery and their desire to see him behind bars). Manitowoc County District Attorney Denis Vogel was particularly complicit in this wrongful conviction (Griesbach, 2011; Messer, 2016).

Avery and his family had gotten under the skin of authorities in their neighborhood. Avery himself had a record of reckless and mildly deviant behavior. However, his big mistake was offending his cousin, who also happened to be the wife of…

Post response questions, requires a position support position evidence assigned readings. Please correct sources APA. Each question 1.5 pages length. The reading attached. 1. Critics death penalty contend evidence wrongful conviction offenders sentenced death powerful evidence favor abolishing death penalty

One of the foundational principles of the American system of justice is that it is better to let a guilty man go free than it is to condemn an innocent man as guilty. The existence of the death penalty seems to belie this principle. Once someone has been put to death, there is no way to reconsider the verdict. No matter how heinous the crimes of the clearly guilty people put to death, there also have been innocent persons convicted of capital crimes. Despite all of the controls put into place within the American justice system, mistakes have been made in the past and fortunately many of these defendants were…

Corrections/Police - Criminal Justice

Innocents Project Exoneration

On November 19, 1991, 14-year-old Cateresa Matthews left her great-grandmother's house in Dixmoor, Illinois. She was not seen again until December 8, 1991, when her body was found on a well-worn path running along I-57 as it passes through Dixmoor. "She had been shot in the mouth at close range with a .25 caliber pistol. She was also an apparent victim of sexual assault, as her body was naked from the waist down. A pair of white panties was found around her right ankle, and her jeans were draped across her chest. Seminal fluid was recovered from the vaginal and rectal swab of the victim" (obert Taylor, n.d).

The Investigation

The police made no arrests and apparently had no leads in the case for over ten months, until October 20, 1992. On that date, a police report specified that Keno Barnes, 15, supposedly…

economic compensation enough for wrongfully convicted inmates?

The pronouncement of a crime charge against a person marks the begging of a legal battle for freedom of that individual. When the accused stand in court, their sole hope, is to have a plea of not guilty, which convinces the judges to let them free? At the end of any hearing, the prosecutors present their submissions, from which the court makes the final judgment. The expectations are either, a declaration of innocence or guilt. The incarnated have a chance to apply an appeal against the case progressively, until the highest order of court authority (Butler 11). Those declared innocent need and deserve equal treatment as the other free people. This necessitates a call for compensation of the released persons.

The cases of wrongfully convicted inmates

Statistics indicate that, every year, the American prisons releases approximately 700,000 men and women from their custody.…

'" (Aspen, 1997, p.95).

The primary step is to change the mindset of lawyers. They have to stop believing that they run the show and instead focus them as members of a team along with the judge to ensure that the legal system works for the innocent people in the right direction. Its important that every lawyer strikes a balance between his or her obligations to the clients and the justice system.

As a supplement, more stringent laws should be implemented and the actions of the prosecution should come under closer scrutiny to ensure that they will abide by the ethics and professional code of conduct as laid down by the lawmakers.

Plan for administrators

"Few problems can pose a greater threat to free, democratic societies than that of wrongful conviction -- the conviction of an innocent person. Yet relatively little attention has been paid to this problem, perhaps because…

Rubin "Hurricane" Carter has become a symbol, both negative and positive, for American's judicial system.

Rubin carter's case has had a profound impact on accused and convicted criminals today. The advent of DNA technology has helped to reduce the number of wrongful convictions, and has also been instrumental in exonerating a number of convicted prisoners. hile DNA technology has had an important impact on the criminal justice system, experts argue that the number of wrongful convictions is an increasing problem in the United States. One website lists 22 potential wrongful convictions on Texas' death row alone. Racism played an important role in Carter's original conviction, and today allegations of racism continue to plague the criminal justice system. The legal damage to the right of habeas corpus by the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996 has reduced the ability of prisoners to demand the right to be brought before…

Eye Witness Memory and Identification

In the contemporary legal environment, an eyewitness plays a critical role in the legal system. A correct eyewitness identification has helped in advancing an investigation, and can be used to solve a complex case. Despite the importance of eyewitness identification in a legal system, eyewitness misidentification is being identified as the contributing factor to wrongful convictions based on the DNA testing. Typically, the eyewitness misidentification leads to 70% of wrongful convictions based on the DNA evidence in the United States. In cases after cases, it has been proven by the DNA that eyewitnesses are mostly inaccurate. For example, a review of 311 cases reveals that 73% of the convictions have been due to the eyewitness errors leading to wrongful convictions. Evidence have also revealed that eyewitness identifications can sway strong alibis, juries and police. Unfortunately, the memory of some eyewitnesses is either unable to recall…

Criminal Justice

Gaetz, S. (July 2004). Safe streets for whom? Homeless youth, social exclusion, and criminal victimization. Canadian Journal of Criminology & Criminal Justice.

This journal article reports the researcher's survey findings regarding the prevalence of victimization among street youths compared to domiciled youths. Gaetz defines the street youth operatively as "people up to the age of 24 who are 'absolutely periodically, or temporarily without shelter, as well as those who are at substantial risk of being in the street in the immediate future" (433). Survey findings show that just as expected, victimization mostly occur among the street than domiciled youth. Moreover, street youth reporting of criminal victimization is not common among both males and females. 41.7% of the respondents who have been victimized "told a friend" about the incident of victimization, 33.1% "did not tell anyone," and a far 17.2% reported the victimization to their partner (boyfriend or girlfriend)…

eye witness testimony and the use of lineups have long been considered reliable mainstays of prosecutorial evidence, misidentification has been the "greatest contributing factor to wrongful convictions," according to the Innocence Project. As many as one in every four eyewitness identifications prove to be incorrect (California Innocence Project, 2015). The Innocence Project therefore works in part to train law enforcement departments to develop eyewitness interrogation procedures that eliminate bias and prevent misidentification of suspects.

The case of onald Cotton highlighted some of the specific problems with witness identification through the use of police lineups. Inadvertent use of pressure and subtle verbal or nonverbal cues may cause eyewitnesses to misidentify a suspect, especially when the law enforcement officers administering the lineup knows who their suspect was in the case. The victim of the crime might be misled by officer support for their decisions. Stress, trauma, and general anxiety may also be…

One of the most brutal crimes in North Carolina occurred in 1984 when a young white newspaper reporter, Deborah Sykes, was assaulted, raped, sodomized, and stabbed to death a few blocks from her workplace in Winston-Salem (Stern & Sundberg, 2006). Darryl Hunt, a 19-year-old black man was charged with this crime despite the absence of any physical evidence linking him to the crime. Hunt’s charges were largely based on an eyewitness’ identification that was made by a former member of Klu Klux Klan. He was later convicted of the crime and sentenced to life imprisonment by a jury of 11 whites and one black. However, in 1994, DNA testing showed that Hunt did not rape the victim, which generated significant doubts on his involvement in the murder of Deborah Sykes. Despite these findings, Hunt stayed behind bars for another decade for a crime he did not commit before his release…

Discussion 1
Considered policies and programs
1. Criminal Justice system: Impact caused by a lengthy criminal justice system on crime suspects
2. Border Control Program: Significance of enhanced boarder control in preventing crime, drug trafficking and counterfeit goods
3. Innocence Program-Suspect Conviction processes: Consequences of wrongful conviction of inmates and measure needed to alleviate wrongful convictions

Impact of relevant political and ethical issues associated with the program evaluation
The criminal justice system has many good but also negative consequences. To the extent that there still are wrongful convictions and the policy makers may have to reevaluate the program with an objective of rethinking the loopholes. Zalman (2006) describes the importance of developing what he terms as an innocence movement. The objective is to litigate matters in the best interest of likely exonerates and promote a research and policy agenda that takes care of innocent convicts. Zalman (2006) proposes a research…

Murder cannot be a decried and yet practiced by the same entity without being hypocritical. Innumerable individuals on death row have been wrongfully convicted due to any number of reasons. The appeals of death row inmates sometimes never get heard. Those inmates who cannot afford to fight a good appeal are the worse off of all. Because DNA testing and more traditional forms of evidence can be used to reverse the death penalty, caution should be used when sentencing a citizen to death. Death is irreversible; life in prison is not. The families of the wrongfully convicted deserve such consideration.

Moreover, the death penalty is meted out unjustly to a greater number of poor, minority, and disabled population. Capital punishment reveals biases and flaws in the American judicial system. The death penalty is also extremely costly even though it would seem that killing a convict costs less than feeding one.…

Death Penalty

Viewpoint Summary

Convicted wrongfully for the murder of a man by the name Delbert Baker, Juan Roberto Melendez-Colon spent more than seventeen years on death row awaiting his execution. His eventual release came after Mr. Baker's real killer confessed to the said murder. Now a free man, Melendez-Colon adds his voice to the call for the abolition of the death penalty. In his opinion, wrongful conviction cases cannot be resolved using DNA testing. In response to proponents of the death penalty who are somehow convinced that DNA testing could easily resolve persistent cases of wrongful conviction, Melendez-Colon points out that DNA "is quite limited because it is not present in the great majority of murder cases." To back up his assertion, Melendez-Colon observes that since 1973, only 17 of the 139 death row exonerations involved DNA. In his opinion, there is a huge amount of money that the…

Therefore, even staunch proponents of capital punishment share the concern that it be (1) imposed only where extreme punishment is appropriate to the nature of the crime, and (2) applied in a manner that does not cause unnecessary pain or prolonged suffering. Assuming those elements are satisfied, capital punishment is warranted in certain situations.

The prospect of conviction in error is one of the strongest positions against capital punishment, precisely because the concept of valuing the preservation of the freedom of the innocent from wrongful conviction over the value of ensuring punishment for the guilty is fundamental to American justice. By extension, one could argue convincingly that protection against wrongful execution is even more important than wrongful criminal conviction in general. However, it is possible to establish more stringent standards of proof, judicial review, and myriad other conceivable procedural safeguards short of abolishing capital punishment altogether. Therefore, that approach would…

She had been struck several times in the head with a Toney Penna golf club -- so ferociously that the club had shattered into multiple pieces -- and then stabbed in the neck with the broken shaft the club's handle and part of the shaft had vanished. (Kennedy Jr., 2003, Martha Moxley section, ¶ 1)

From evidence retrieved from the autopsy, police determined Moxley's murder occurred at approximately10:00 P.M..

On July 10, 1998, 23 years after Moxley's murder, "Connecticut authorities convened a one-man grand jury consisting of Judge George Thim. The state's attorney Jonathan Benedict took over the Moxley case and began a multimillion-dollar effort to convict Michael Skakel" (Kennedy Jr., 2003, Mark Fuhrman section, ¶ 5). Until this time, Greenwich police and state investigators considered Ken Littleton as the primary suspect for the murder of Moxley (Fuhrman, cited in Kennedy Jr., Mark Fuhrman section, ¶ 7). According to prosecutors'…

This creates a conflict that is not easily resolved.

In conclusion, it is unlikely that the capital punishment debate in the United States will resolve itself soon. Although the public tends towards opposing it, there is a significant proportion of citizens still supporting it. Furthermore, judicial processes are slow and difficult to change, further complicating the matter. Nonetheless, the best alternative so far suggested by researchers is life without parole. This is a very severe punishment, imposing lifelong suffering and deprivation for the convicted. This is a viable alternative for the death penalty, as it does in effect deprive the convicted of life. It also addresses the main concern of capital punishment -- the irreversible execution of the innocent.

ibliography

"A Matter Of Life And Death: The Effect Of Life- Without-Parole Statutes On Capital Punishment." Harvard Law Review 119.6 (Apr. 2006): 1838-1854. Academic Search Premier. ESCO. ESCO U. Of MD…

Threat or perception of threat is best described by protection motivation theory:

This theory states that the extent to which people show preventive behavior in light of a threat depends on their protection motivation (. W. ogers, 1975, 1983). According to this theory, the level of protection motivation depends on the seriousness of the threat, the probability that the threat will manifest itself, the judged efficacy of the recommended behavior (called response or outcome efficacy), and the self-efficacy expectation relating to that behavior. (Wiegman & Gutteling, 1995, p. 235)

In a practical sense what this theory says about the perceived threat is that as incidences of observation occur in the lives of individuals, be they real or imagined they will likely become more protective and therefore attempt to engage in avoidance of behaviors that have been identified with the production of environmental threat. By doing so this the individual, and…

Moreover, it is not necessarily even clear that capital punishment through humane means is worse than life imprisonment without the possibility of parole. The many prisoners who choose not to appeal their capital sentences and (especially) those who purposely commit capital offences while incarcerated for the express purpose of qualifying for capital punishment provide evidence that life imprisonment may be comparable in "harshness" to the death penalty.

With respect to the issue of mistaken prosecution, that represents a completely valid concern; to the extent capital punishment is justified in principle, it must be applied through procedures that preclude erroneous sentences. However, that is not a valid objection where evidence of guilt in uncontroverted. Likewise, both the general moral obligation and the U.S. Constitution require that execution of capital sentences not involve unnecessary or prolonged physical suffering. At law, that issue has long-been decided by the U.S. Supreme Court, which specifically…

In other words, did Grisham begin writing in order to reveal the innate ambiguities and machinations of the legal system - or were there other unrecognized facets and factors at play that led to this turning point in his life?

These questions become even more pronounced when we take into account his expressed views about his own writing. In many interviews, Grisham tends to assert that his literary work is not of a very serious or profound nature and instead of having any deeper social intentions his writings are essentially only meant to entertain. As he states in one interview:

I'm not sure where that line goes between literature and popular fiction...I can assure you I don't take myself serious enough to think I'm writing literary fiction and stuff that's going to be remembered in 50 years. I'm not going to be here in 50 years; I don't care if…

Criminal Justice System

The civilized society is one that is founded on laws and values where each member of society thereto should abide by and adhere to. Any breach or non-conformance to said statutes and principles will be met with corresponding sanctions and more particularly in cases that are criminal in nature. Thus, the criminal justice system is the law enforcement mechanism that involves the investigation, arrest, prosecution, defense, all the way to sentencing and commitment to the penal institution for those accused of, suspected or charged with criminal offenses. Despite the raison d'etre of the criminal justice system existing to protect the members of society, the system is far from perfect and there are several issues that continually needed to be addressed. These issues vary such as the disparity between the types of defense the rich and the poor accused can avail of where the former can seek the…

However, this difficulty can be avoided by examining van den Haag's distinction between justice and equality. The physical reality of administering justice can never match its theoretical guidelines. Justice is a necessary tool in the aim of producing a functional society. Accordingly, inequities that arise in its practice must be tolerated -- although fought against. State sanctioned killing, on the other hand, is not a logistic necessity for any society. Death is the most severe and permanent form of punishment American society has to offer. Mistakes and breeches of justice cannot be rectified. The most direct, simplest, and easiest way to eliminate the arbitrary factors in a form of punishment not essential to society is to remove that form of punishment. Justice is intrinsically unequal, so assigning it the responsibility of life and death decisions is unwarrantable. Stephen Nathanson writes,

To do away with punishment entirely would be to do…

Capital Punishment in Texas

Khalil, Samy. "Doing the impossible: Appellate reweighing of harm and mitigation in capital cases after Williams v. Taylor, with a special focus on Texas." Texas Law Review, 80(1): November 2001. Proquest Database.

In this article, Khalil examines how state and federal courts have overturned death sentences, from a period covering the reinstitution of the death penalty in 1976 to 2001. The author focuses on sentences that have been upset due to the failure of defense lawyers to both investigate and present mitigating evidence during trial. The author makes a strong argument by referring to Williams v. Taylor, which argues that appellate courts cannot be expected to reweigh harm and mitigation when attorneys present adequate defense representation. In the case of Texas, the author rightly observes that appellate courts would have difficulty reviewing all capital cases arising from Texas, since even fact-finders in Texas are not required…

False Identification and Lineup Instructions Biased/Unbiased

There are many instances where people have been wrongly accused only because they were falsely identified or either because there was not enough evidence present that would prove them guilty. George Allen Jr. was convicted in 1983 on the charges of capital murder, rape, sodomy and first degree burglary. It has been noted that the reason for his false conviction was false confession, invalid or improper forensic evidence and government misconduct (Innocenceproject.org, 2013). Another case is of Barry Gibbs who was charged with second degree murder in the year 1988. He was wrongly charged due to eyewitness misidentification and government misconduct. It was noted that Barry Gibbs served 17.5 years of jail time before he was exonerated in the year 2005. (Innocenceproject.org, 2013)

These cases therefore give an idea that eyewitness misidentification is a very important cause of wrongful convictions all over the country…

Research Question DevelopmentCriminal psychology is one of the most exciting fields in the social sciences, partly ecause of the potential to make a difference in pulic policy and the criminal justice system. A criminal psychologist provides important information aout things like why individuals make choices that lead to criminal ehavior, or how a program can etter help inmates readapt to their communities. Criminal psychologists can also show how eyewitness testimony might or might not e reliale, or how juries perceive certain defendants or cases ased on their own cognitive iases. After rainstorming the sujects related to criminal psychology, I came up with the following three research questions:What psychological factors are related to lower rates of recidivism and/or successful reintegration into the community after incarceration?How can early intervention programs help prevent delinquent youths from ecoming criminal offenders?When do police interrogation techniques lead to false confessions/false witness testimony, and how can false…

omen and the Death Penalty Analysis

An Analysis of the Historical Effect of Gender and Race on the Application of the Death Penalty in the United States

hile the debate over capital punishment continues to rage in the United States, questions of why the death penalty is viewed as ethical by some, while others would view it as unethical become increasingly significant. In addition, there are new controversies concerning the ethical nature of the death penalty in view of new technology such as DNA evidence that has cleared many death row prisoners. The ethical debate over the death penalty has resulted in the practice being abolished in most industrialized nations, and the United States remains the only advanced country in the world with the death penalty (with the exception of Belgium, where the practice is legal but is virtually nonexistent). However, capital punishment remains a viable punishment for capital crimes…

Officer Misconduct

Disclosing Officer Untruthfulness to the Defense: Is a Liar's Squad Coming to Your Town?

Officer misconduct scenario

Police officers must not simply be held to the same standards as members of the public. They must be held to a higher standard. This is illustrated in the following scenario: a police officers is found to have searched for pornographic materials on a work computer and when initially confronted about this violation of department policy he lied, claiming he had no idea how the search history of the pornographic materials made its way onto his computer. He only confessed once the link was made between his log-in information and the search. This combination of dishonesty and poor judgment is a compelling argument for the officer's immediate dismissal, despite the fact that he has an otherwise largely unblemished record.

If an ordinary citizen was found to have been searching pornographic websites…

Paradoxically, states with harsher criminal statutes and higher conviction rates tend to maintain fewer inmate developmental programs because high-volume prisons tend to be run on a for-profit basis that discourages "unnecessary" spending. The most cynical suggestion is that decreasing recidivism is against the financial interests of private prisons and (although to a lesser extent,) those of government-run prisons as well (Schmalleger, 2008).

Other aspects of many types of contemporary criminal trends may also significantly undermine any strategy of deterrence through awareness of strict prosecution and sentencing. In that regard, law enforcement authorities across the nation have catalogued volumes of information about criminal subcultures in general and of the street gang mentality in particular (Pinizzotto, Davis, & Miller, 2007). Urban street gangs in particular have given rise to a culture of remorseless violence and disregard for the consequences of even the most violent crime that largely precludes any real deterrent value…

Equal Protection:

Equal protection is a fundamental constitutional protection, that in modern times, guarantees the equal effect of law to all persons. In that regard, the Supreme Court has established specific suspect classes of individuals, such as membership in a minority race, whose rights to equal protection must be guarded most scrupulously, primarily because the need to do so has been more than adequately demonstrated by aspects of relatively recent American history.

According to criminologists and researchers who have conducted studies of the impact of criminal laws in general, and of capital punishment in particular, criminal defendants who are members of minority races (as well as those who are poor) are statistically much more likely to receive the death penalty in comparison with non- minority (and wealthier) criminals convicted of identical death-penalty-eligible offenses (Schmalleger, 2007; Zalman, 2008). This discrepancy suggests that capital punishment in the U.S. still violates one of…

Hair is also in contact with chemicals in shampoos, and any dyes, gels, sprays or other cosmetics that may be placed on the hair (11).

Since there is no standardized method for cleaning these external contaminants off of the hair prior to analysis, the potential for inaccurate results from external contamination is widespread. There is no way to tell in the laboratory if a chemical is contained within the hair, and therefore came from with in the body, or if it is on the surface of the hair and did not come from within the body (12). An enormous amount of scientific research studies have indicated that hair analysis is unreliable as a diagnostic tool in crime solving. For example, in one study, the researchers took hair from the head of a single individual and sent portions of the sample to six laboratories; the results varied widely from laboratory to…

Legalizing Death Penalty

Pro-death sentence

In civilized states like the U.S.A., there are various means of punishment that are meted out against offenders and capital punishment is one of them. This goes on in chagrin of many pressure groups who argue that this kind of punishment denies the convicts the chance to change and become good to the society and can also fall on the wrongful conviction. This is just one of the major argument fronted by the campaigners against the death sentence within the U.S.A. And several other countries.

It is important to know that deaths sentence, in as much as it is loathed by many people in several countries, it still persists in majority of the countries. In the U.S.A. alone, at the states level, there are 32 states that still have the death penalty as compared to the 18 states where death penalty has been abolished and…

However, even with the restriction of capital punishment to crimes involving murder, several issues still remain that contribute heavily to public opinion.

Specifically, the methods used for execution in several states are susceptible to errors capable of causing extreme and prolonged suffering too often. That is because lethal injection involves the administration of several different intravenous drugs in a precise order; mistakes in the sequence can cause the condemned person to suffocate slowly while paralyzed instead of dying nearly instantaneously after the heart is stopped, as intended (Kaveny, 2008).

Another basis for moral concern expressed by many people is that poverty and minority racial classification are both statistically linked to higher conviction rates and capital sentences than non-minority citizens with financial resources (Schmalleger, 2001). Furthermore, DNA-based forensic techniques are now being applied to evidence preserved after its use at criminal trial decades ago. In several highly publicized instances, convict have…

At the time that yrd was tried in 1985 DNA technology was not capable of forensic analysis of biological evidence however; in 1997 a comparison was conducted of yrd's DNA with the bodily fluid in the rape kit that had been collected at the time of the incident resulting in yrd's exoneration for this crime. The importance of proper preservation of biological evidence is highlighted in this case and not only for the purpose of obtaining a conviction but also for the purpose of ensuring that the wrong individual is not charged, found guilty and sentenced to prison for a crime that they did not commit.

VI. Most Common Applications of lood Evidence

The work of George Schiro entitled: "Collection and Preservation of lood Evidence from Crime Scenes" states that prior to the documentation and collection of blood evidence the value of the evidence must be recognized by the crime…

Ultimate Punishment

There are many topics which are controversial in the modern society. People constantly debate the merits of abortion or women's rights. Perhaps one of the most controversial topics for debate at present is over the ethical right of the death penalty. Some feel the penalty is too severe and inhumane. Others feel the penalty is just and not used often enough in this country. How does each individual feel about this most severe of punishments? Is it right for the government to execute criminals or is it wrong? Presently, 34 of the United States of America have death penalty statutes (Facts 2011). In each state, there are rigorous proceedings which go on when dealing with a death penalty situation. First and foremost, prosecutors must be absolutely certain that they have the right man or woman as defendant. Secondly, they must ensure that there is enough concrete evidence to…

Capital Punishment

An Ethical Analysis & Position Statement

Against the Practice of Capital Punishment

Talia Villella

Ethics Final

An Historical Overview

Issues and elevant Facts

Application of Ethical Theories

Support for Capital Punishment

Arguments Against Capital Punishment

An Historical Overview

The practice of capital punishment is often known by other names such as the death penalty or an execution, but the basic concept is that someone convicted of a crime that is worthy of their life (capital crime) is put to death after their conviction by some form an authority figure taking the life of the convicted. There are many different methods that have been employed to take a convicted person's life and history and it is striking to read about the creativity in which brutal forms of executions have been designed over the millennia. Even the Old Testament is riddled with a plethora of different crimes that are considered…

Proposition 34

California's Proposition 34 calls for the end of the death penalty and replaces death sentences with a sentence of life without parole. The proposition would: (1) repeal the death penalty and replace it with life imprisonment without the possibility of parole; (2) retroactively remove all current death penalty sentences and replace them with life without parole; (3) require all people convicted of murder to work while in prison and apply their wages to victim restitution and/or fines; and (4) create a $100,000,000 for law enforcement agencies specifically to solve murder and rape cases (Ballotpedia). Currently, there are 725 people on death row in California, though current challenges to California's lethal injection procedure means that none of them are currently facing execution. In fact, in 2006, a federal court judge halted all executions in California due to concerns over administration of the penalty in the state (Ballotpedia).

The death…

Forensic Pathology as Scientific Evidence

Forensic Pathology is generally understood as having to do with the investigation of causation of injuries or death as a legal requirement. In the pursuit of this, pathologists usually investigate injury or death scenes and other relevant records to ascertain the cause of death.

Practically, forensic pathology incorporates the performance of post-mortem examination, which is an examination of body tissues and organs as well as investigations such as X-rays and toxicology testing. Forensic pathology makes it possible to interpret such results and reveal cause of end point of death as required by the law.

Interpreting Evidence

The results driven from forensic pathology are bound to be subjected to interpretations. The body can transform during the process of death or after, this transformation or changes are referred to as post-mortem changes or "artefacts," these changes can be misinterpreted as ailment or injuries that took place when…

Vienna and Paris

in the Decade 1900-1910

Vienna and Paris in the Decade 1900-1910

Europe of 1900 -- 1910 saw the rise of several cultural meccas, including Vienna and Paris. Vienna was a center of literary, cultural and artistic advancement in "middle" Europe, enjoying booming population and innovative developments in all those spheres, even as it endured the rising tide of anti-liberal, anti-Semitic Christian Social forces. In keeping with this innovation, Vienna's music enjoyed avant garde developments of Art Nouveau from Paris, notably represented in Vienna by the works of composers Gustav Mahler and Arnold Schonberg. As Vienna became the literary, cultural and artistic center of "middle" Europe, Paris became the literary, cultural and artistic center of the orld. Drawing exceptionally gifted people from the entire globe, Paris boasted the first Olympics to include women and the orld's Fair of 1900. Reveling in its invention of Art Nouveau, Paris also…

Canadian criminal justice system corrections

The Canadian justice system

Since the last decade, there's been a huge hue and cry pertaining unjust convictions and its disastrous consequences. As in the case of Canada, there have been numerous high profile cases which concluded with unjust verdicts, putting the Canadian justice system and its judicial process in question. Even though, the media's attention has increased on this matter, academic literature on the issue is razor-thin in case of Canada (Denov & Campbell, 2005). The media's coverage of crimes and criminal justice is now excessively given coverage during the last decade, since it's a form of entertainment and news. Criminal justice and crime have emerged as a viable form of entertainment across the media spectrum. In case of TV shows, depictions of criminal justice and crime are observed in courtroom TV seasons as well as daily talk's shows.

Popular culture and criminal courts…

The death penalty is a vestige of the past, a time when vengeance and retribution were the standard means of dealing with transgressions or deviance. While there are significant drawbacks with the American penal system and corrections institutions, a life term in prison is a far more reasonable sentence for the most heinous of crimes than capital punishment is. There are several reasons why the death penalty plays no role at all in a civilized democracy, and why it also threatens to undermine the very foundations of Constitutional law. The worst criminals—those who prove themselves incapable of rehabilitation or reform due to their psychological constitutions—can be effectively dealt with in prison, promoting public safety without putting at risk the integrity of the criminal justice system.
One of the main reasons to avoid using the death penalty is the possibility of false confessions and wrongful convictions. DNA evidence overturns convictions often…

However, if it were the case that the Chinese legal system protected the innocent and executed only those criminals who have been properly, duly, and fairly convicted and sentenced for crimes appropriately punished by execution, it is much harder to argue against the use of their organs to benefit society. From an objective point-of-view, once a person dies, it is wasteful not to use his or her organs to benefit living people. The attachment we have to the body after death is primarily a function of social learning and nonsensical superstition in the first place. Logically, it would be ethically permissible, to require that organs be harvested from all deceased persons once their families have had the opportunity to pay their respects.

The ethical problem in this case is much more about the way that Chinese citizens become prisoners in the first place and the way that the decision to…