Nov
24
The Series Finale
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Well this will be my last Crime and Punishment Blog! I hope everyone has enjoyed my prior posts. I created my blog on Crime and Punishment because I feel there are a lot of punishments for crimes that either not many people know about or realize how unfair our system can sometimes be.
Frequently, Judges have been what they call “Becoming more creative” when handing down a sentence. Judges feel that jail is not always the answer. While I agree with that statement 100%, I do feel there are other alternatives than their “Creativity” is coming up with.
Last year in Ohio, a Judge ordered Vandals to lead a donkey bearing a sign “Sorry for the Jackass offense.” Later that year that same Judge ordered DUI offenders to have gaudy license plates. Why a person as intelligent as a Judge, would think that this could teach someone a lesson is beyond me. When did embarrassment beome a Punishment?
I personally get upset or angry when someone embarrasses me. I feel someone with the criminal mind would be more avengeful to get even or cause a worse situation to happen than before the Judge embarrassed them. Instead of trying to humiliate someone and piss them off more than they were when they committed the crime, why don’t we do something useful for them and others. They could do some kind of community service whether helping out with under privlaged people, cleaning up the enviroment, or talking to kids to help them not go down the same path. Any of these solutions would be better than making someone walk with a donkey as their punishment. I mean Come On!!
Well that’s it for me, Thanks for reading my Blogs. Hope you Enjoyed!!!!
Nov
21
Punishment with no Crime
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Everyone has heard of the story of little Caylee Anthony, the 3 year old girl who dissapeared in Orlando. Unfortunatly, they have yet to find her. A lot of controversy is brewing do to the fact that her mother is now being charged with murder, though they have not found a body. Is this fair or completly irrational? Should there be a punishment for a Crime not proven?
I think that her mother should be charged as she is. No, there is no hard evidence that Caylee is infact dead, but reviewing the evidence they do have, her mother knows a hell of a lot more then she leads on to. Do we always need a body to prosecute murder? I don’t think so! This woman didn’t even report her child missing, why?….Because she knew that she’s not missing and she thought no one else would notice either!
What if a murderer was able to dispose of a body in such a manner that it would be impossible to ever find. Should we let them get away with the crime because they have this ability? No! What if this happened to someone you loved? I know that if one of my loved one’s dissapeard and circumstantial evidence proved someone had killed them, I would want them prosecuted, not allowed to rome free because they can’t find the body! A killer is a killer. I would want them to recieve an even more harsh punishment for putting everyone through the trouble and heartache of never getting the true closure every individual deserves to have.
Nov
12
Shame, Shame!
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Shame Punishment has existed since the beginning of recorded history. It is a less severe form of punishment than imprisonment and serves as an effective alternative to incarceration.It is a form of reinforcement that most are not aware of. Shame Punishment is the sentencing of public humiliation. Instead of sending an offender to jail or prison, they are court ordered to perform an embarrasing task. This may include trash pickup on highways, or having to wear a sign around their neck that says “I’m a Thief.”
The notion of shame is a fundamental aspect of human existence. It is no surprise, therefore, that early forms of punishment focused on the idea of shame. Shame punishment is one of the oldest forms of punishments. In its earliest forms, shame punishment was based on one’s connection to society and civilization. One of the harshest forms of punishment was banishment from one’s community. Such punishment ensured a life of hardship or, perhaps, death.
Beginning in the mid-1970s, trial judges began to reincorporate shame into their sentencing tactics. Sentences incorporating shame punishment have encountered varying degrees of acceptance.. The practice of assigning shame-related punishment to offenders has continued to this day, now with judges thinking of nw punishments to avoid sending a criminal to prison.
This punishment is just rediculous. Most people don’t even have remorse for what they do, what makes anyone think that embarrasing them for a day will change their ways? Usually someone needs a rude awakening to help them snap back to reality and change their ways, I really don’t think wearing a sign for a week will accomplish anything.
Nov
10
Age is not “Just” a number!
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There are so many crimes being committed each day Though it seems the offenders are getting younger and younger. Should age play a role in how someone is punished? If a “child” is able to make a decision on to commit a crime that they know is wrong, shouldn’t they be punished just like everyone else?
I was reading an article about a 16 year old girl who murdered her rivals unborn child. She was angry that they had both gotten pregnant by the same man, so as a result she decided to run the other girl over with her SUV. This caused the victim who was 6 months pregnant to miscarry.
She was charged with 4 felonies, 1 being a Class 1. If she was over the age of 18, she would be facing a 12 year sentence. Because she is a minor, she recieved 5 years of probabtion, NO jail time!!
This is beyond rediculous. Someone who is 16 years old knows it is wrong to run another over with a vehicle, let alone completly against the law. This girl killed someone who did not even get the chance to breath their first breathe of air. She did this act directly out of spite, and because she was 2 years away from being an adult she gets to walk away from it as if nothing happened.
No wonder why more and more minors are causing trouble and commiting more serious crimes. They can get away with it! Doesn’t this send the wrong message to these adolesence? Shouldn’t we be teaching these children that there are consequences to their actions? Or do we just sit back and wait until they do become adults and are capable of even more serious and dangerous crimes?
Nov
4
Military Prison.
Filed Under crime, law, punishment | 1 Comment
There are many institutions a criminal can be sent to serve their sentence. But there is one place not many people have heard of. Drug Farm. Some reoccuring drug offenders are givin the option to attend this facility rather than prison. I call this place “Military Prison.”
In Drug Farm you have DI’s rather than guards. You stand at attention, do pushups and other drills such as calisthenics ad marching as punishment and run in formation every morning at 6am. You are assinged to sleep in a platoon rather than cells. Your platoon stands at attention and is asked irrelivant questions. If someone answers wrong, the whole platoon is punished either with an exercise or is ordered to take laps aroung the facility. It’s no different than attending bootcamp accept for the fact that there is barbed wire on the fences. I do not feel that this program can help someone rehabilitate. It honstly just aggrivates inmates when they have to do these rediculous drills and assignments causing them to rebel rather than wanting to help themselves get better.
I think there are much more affective programs these offenders can attend or be sentenced to rather than treating them as if they enlisted for active duty. If were going to train them in such ways then let’s go all out and send them to help others fight for our country.
Oct
18
One, Life Sentence…….Priceless
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For every crime there is a punishment. You might pay a fine, go to jail, or be sentenced to probation. But somtimes a person might be sentenced to pay Restitution to his/her victim, or in some cases the vicitm’s family if the the victim was killed by the offender.
There are so many people out there that think money solves everything. I’m not denying that it desn’t help a lot of problems. But I stand by the quote that “Money doesn’t buy happiness.”
I do feel that if the victim or their family had any out-of-pocket expenses in result of what happened to them, then the offender should have to pay. But what about in a murder case? Yes, families should have the right to collect some kind of compensation for a funeral and any other expenses that the death brings. Though, 97.8% of the families recieving restitution take their cases to Civil Court and try to sue the offender for millions.
Of course, any murderer deserves to pay for what they did in every way. I know a lot of people will not agree with me, but I don’t think it’s right to get more than you need. I personally would be insulted if someone could put a price tag on my life. What does it solve anyway? Being able to buy big houses and fancy cars because your loved one died. The money is not going to bring back the victim, nor do I see it being able to ease the pain in the slightest manner.
I would rather see the murderer rot in prison for the rest of thier lives, than to have them recieve a lightend or reduced sentence just so I could have a bigger bank account.
Oct
1
An Eye for an Eye!
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Thousands of people in the U.S. have been sentenced the “Death Penalty” for a crime they have committed, 98% of the time, murder. Whether by electric chair or by lethal injection, it has never in the past raised eyebrows as it does now, on how expensive the procedure is. Yet, now with the economy in the postion it is, the U.S. Goverment has decided to put a hold on dealing those “Killer shots,” for it is too expensive.
An interesting blog I read concerning the matter, explains not only that this punishment is far too expensive, but also how they believe the death penalty has been a failed goverment program from the beginning. I have to say I agree 100%. What does the death penalty truly solve? Yes, to some it is Justice, but does that change anything for any of the families that have been affected by that criminal? Is that enough justice?
I truly believe that killing a criminal is letting them get off the hook for what they did. I think true justice is letting someone rot away in Prison for the rest of their lives. It’s is far worse punishment. For instance, shouldn’t someone who has raped, tortured, and killed an innocent child, be fed to the dogs and get what he deserves each day for the rest of his life, rather than sentencing him to death so he can in a way, be set free?
We have all heard of Jeffrey Dahmer. Dahmer was a well-known serial killer in the 80’s and 90’s who persueded men he met, usually in a gay bar, brought them back to his home, gave them a lobotomy by taking a drill and drilling into their head and pouring hot water into the hole. Then, once they were incoherent, Damer would molest them and end up killing them in a disturbing manner. After he completed this, he would cut up the body and eat it, storing what was not consumed in freezers for next time as if it was leftover porkchops.
This is just a light description of things he did. Dahmer was sentenced to death. But before the system could put an end to his life, Dahmer was tormented, tortured,and beaten almost everyday in the facility where he was being held. One day a fellow inmate beat Dahmer to death. Now I ask, doesn’t this unfold to serve more Justice than keeping him secluded and sticking a needle in his arm? … I think so!
So since the Goverment has no money to waste on the death penalty, I say great, let’s never spend another penny of our taxpayer money on it ever again! Let them all get what they deserve, misery!!
Sep
23
Crazy, Insane -or- Insane, Crazy?
Filed Under crime, law, punishment | 1 Comment
There are millions of crimes commited each year. Each, has it’s own punishment established to it. What some don’t realize is that all punishments are circumstancial.
In any criminal case that goes to trial, 12 randomly selected civilians decide the fate of the convicted. It is up to the Judge after that to distribute the punishment. But what happens when a person is found not Innocent nor Gulity? Rather the Jury comes back with a verdict of “Not guilty, by reason of Insanity?”
There are thousands of people who suffer from some sort of psychological illness. But does that give them an excuse to go as far as murder? Most criminals who have been handed the “Insanity” verdict, are cold-blooded murderers. I for one think a typical Jury has no right nor the credentials to decide if someone is insane or not.
I’m sure everyone remembers hearing about Andrea Yates. Back in 2001, Yates killed her 5 children by drowning them in her bathtub one by one. Of course, any civilized person would think only a crazy person could do this, but are we supposed to turn our backs and excuse her for doing it? The Jury in her case sure did! After just 13 hours of deliberation, the jury found Yates, not Guilty by reason of Insanity. If a women was able to drown not 1 but 5 of her children, beacuse she had mental issues, wouldn’t there be some kind of pre-existing symptoms. The women’s own husband said he never realized anything was wrong with her.
It is possible for people to hide there emotions, but I’m sorry, there is no way someone with no previous history or signs of mental illness, can just wake up one morning and decide to kill all of her children in the manner she did, unless it was premeditated. The “reason of insanity” punishment is just a way for people to get away with murder, litteraly!
I am a sole believer that most criminals should be offered a rehabilitation program to try to better themselves and help keep them from being repeat offenders. But I also believe there is line to be drawn between someone who made a mistake and someone who willingly took the life of another.
Why does someone like Yates get to be free in the world after the horrifying thing she did, yet someone like Aileen Wuornos, the women portrayed in the movie, “Monster,” was put to death by leathal injection. Aileen had a history of abuse and mental illness in her family. She was raped and beaten as an adult. This might drive any women to have the urge to kill, yet the sane, would know it was the wrong thing to do and never persue it.
So is it right that these two women had such different outcomes of their fate, all because of the jury they had chosen for them? I do not believe anyone has the right to be passing out the “Insanity cards” unless they are a board certified doctor who specializes in Psychology and/or mental illnesses.
I think people like Yates, Charles Manson, and Kathleen Hagan, have been givin a cop-out. This just teaches new murders to plea insanity if they are caught, so they have an exuse of why they did it, and be able to get away with it.
Sep
4
Victim’s becoming Criminals.
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Before going to sleep at night, most people have a routine that they follow. This might include brushing their teeth, getting their clothes ready for the following day, and saying a prayer, among other things. One thing 95% of people do before they head to bed, is checking to make sure their house is secure. Doors locked, windows shut, alarm on. People like to feel safe in their own home. Is it not our right as hard working American’s to be safe in our homes and to do anything neccessary to make sure that it happens? Well, unfortunately, according to many law’s, it is not!
Last year in Greenbay, Wisconsin, a victim of a home invasion was arrested. While asleep, someone tried to break into a the man’s home by throwing a concrete slab through his window. The homeowner awoke from the noice and went to the living room to see what was going on. When he saw what was happening, he picked up the concrete slab, that the burgler had thrown through his window, and proceeded to throw it at the home invador, it hit the burglar in the face. About thirty minutes later, the police arrived. The intruder had gone to the police and told them what happened and accused the homeowner of assalt. The homeowner, not the burglar, was then arrested for “suspision of using unreasonable force!”
In June of 2002, New York, a burglary victim was sued by a man who tried breaking into his home. Yes, you read that right! In the middle of the night, a middle-aged man tried breaking into a home by entering through the skylight. Well, he was successful alright! The burglar ended up tripping and falling through the skyilght, landing on a kitchen caddy. On the caddy, was a large butcher’s knife. When landing, the knife went through the burglars leg. The homeowners came and saw what had happened and called paramedics. About two months later, the homeowners were served with papers to appear in court. They were being sued by the burglar for personal damages! Most people who heard about this laughed, but noone ever imagined the burglar could win the case. To everyone’s disbelief, the home invador won his case. The burglary victim’s were ordered to pay the man who broke into their home $827,000.
I ask, in whose brilliant mind, does any of this sound reasonable to? When did we start writing law’s that protected the criminal rather than the victim? I personally have always felt that I could protect myself, and any property of mine, by any means neccessary. Now, I’m starting to think twice. People do not choose to become the victim of a crime, is it fair that that in result, they sometimes become the criminal? What happened to “Protecting the Innocent?”
Aug
27
Is Prison always the answer?
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Everyone knows that if you are caught committing a crime, you will be punished by the law. But, do all criminals deserve the punishment given to them? Is a harsh punishment always the answer? In my opinion, it is not.
The United States currently houses 2.5 million prisoners, with a national average of 1000 new inmates each day. More than 85% of those inmates are reoccuring violators. I have continued to wonder, does prison make a person worse than they started off to be?
I have had the personal privilege of speaking with a few people who have been behind bars, and found their lives more in a dissaray after they were released than ever before. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t think breaking the law should go unpunished, but I do feel there are more options out there to handle the situation than just locking someone up.
One of the best alternatives, I feel not used enough, is Rehabilitaion. Instead of sending someone away, where they might get themselves into more trouble inside and out, why don’t we try to help them attack their problem and help them become better people so that we do not have as many criminals in the world as we do. For example, I believe a prisoner who has been locked up for a drug possession charge, who is now living with “Hard Criminals” and doing nothing more each day, than learning about more intense and serious crimes to committ and developing how to be a “Bad ass,” just so they can stand on their own two feet in the facility, should have the opportunity to be placed into a rehabilitaion program. There, they will learn that they do have a problem, once they identify with that they will be able to start to deal with it and help themselves turn their life around before it is too late, before they do wind up committing a more serious crime that could effect their or someone else’s entire life.
Of course, rehab or any other program set up to help an offender is not proven to work, it of course depends on the individual, but wouldn’t it be worth the try, to help someone who has made a mistake in their life get back on the right track, better themselves, and in the long run not become a statisitic.