Capital Punishment

People think that capital punishment is a violation of human rights and it is considered to offer no chance to the criminals but I think that capital punishment is an effective way that will help in deterring violent criminals because it is capable of not only giving the victims and their families comfort but also reduce the huge amount the government spends and it will be a huge indication to the criminals that will result in reduction of murder rates (Bedau & Cassell , 2005). Capital punishment is essential for justice to prevail. This will form a strong foundation for criminals execution for the crimes committed.

Despite what capital punishment can achieve there are those people that oppose capital punishment as they view it as a punishment that goes against the human rights of an individual. They consider capital punishment as murder (Ellsworth, 2003). The anti-capital punishment individuals argue that people make mistakes in their life and they should be given a chance to chance and make it right. It is considered unkind to bereave individuals an opportunity to change (Ellsworth, 2003). They also consider it to be cruel by exposing the family of the individuals exposed to capital punishment into a trap of sadness (Bedau & Cassell , 2005). They argue and say that criminals can change and be more instructive for the community as they can make a generous contribution towards the development of the society. It is arguably true to say that this form of punishment deprives the criminal their chances and lives but this punishment is more beneficial to the social structure and stability (Tyner, & Colucci, 2015).

First and for most capital punishment gives a feeling of comfort to the victims and their families because they know that the criminals will not be able to hurt them again or their families. For instance, if the criminals are left free and they have not punished the victim and their family will be let feeling vulnerable and exposed to more scenario that can be more harmful (Ellsworth, 2003). This means that the victim and the family will be upset and they will seek revenge. It is also unfair and unjust for the victim as the criminals walk free (Kramer, 2011). They will probably ask why the person who caused harm to their family and destroyed it is still alive when they have continued to suffer in the name of the person. They will be dissatisfied with the judgment given as they can cause more chaos in the society which can lead to more miserable events (Tyner, & Colucci, 2015).

Government financial spending is reduced significantly due to capital punishment. The government spends a huge amount to maintain and sustain prisoners alive (Philips, 2000). The prisoners get free accommodation, meals, clothes, heating and air conditioning among other facilities in order to make them a more comfortable place to live. It is true to say that these criminals live a better life compared to those who have hard earned money (Kramer, 2011). It is not worth it to sustain criminals through huge government spending when there are many citizens living in poverty and they have jobs. By having capital punishment government spending can be reduced which means the money can be diverted to more income generating projects which can lead people from poverty and generally promote the development of the country (Philips, 2000).

Lastly capital punishment serves as a huge warning to the criminals as they reduce murder rates. It helps in deterring murders and preventing the murders from committing killing crimes as it makes them aware of the consequences (Philips, 2000). Capital punishment poses a great threat to the offenders which is enough to make them fear to commit the horrible crimes. Therefore it is true to say that it makes the criminals know the outcome which makes them more responsible (Kramer, 2011). When the criminals think of what awaits them rather than killing for their own desires makes them more intelligent which means they can decide positively transforming the world. This also makes individuals feel that sentencing them to a life sentence is not enough (NELSON, BRADY & KING, 2016).

In conclusion, capital punishment is an ultimate decision that cannot be reversed. Criminals who commit serious crimes should not be jailed as they deserved to die. As some will argue that killing is absolutely wrong as it goes against the natural law giving life and taking it away, capital punishment is the best discipline. It reassures the victim and the family that it will not happen again giving them a feeling of security. It also makes them death has been avenged and they can feel at ease as they feel less pain knowing that the killers got what they deserved. Additionally, capital punishment paves a way for more development as funds can be directed to revenue generating projects eliminating poverty as the government spends less in sustaining prisoners. This means that constructive affairs can be achieved. It makes the criminals think whether commit the crime is worth their life. Therefore it is true to say that capital punishment ensures peace of mind not only to the victims but to world as a whole as the murders will not be in a position to kill again.

References

Bedau A. H and Cassell G. P. (2005) “Debating the Death Penalty: Should America Have  Capital Punishment? The Experts on Both Sides Make Their Best Case” Oxford     University Press

Ellsworth P. C (2003) “Public opinion and capital punishment: A close examination of the views of abolitionists and retentionists” Crime & Delinquency

Kramer, M. H. (2011). The Ethics of Capital Punishment : A Philosophical Investigation of Evil  and Its Consequences. Oxford: OUP Oxford.

NELSON, K., BRADY, T., & KING, D. (2016), “The "evil" defendant and the    "holdout"  juror: unpacking the myths of the aurora theater shooting case as we ponder the future of  capital punishment in Colorado” Denver Law Review

Philips, (2000) “The deterrent effect of capital punishment: New evidence on an old          controversy” American journal of sociology

Tyner, J. A., & Colucci, A. R. (2015). Bare Life, Dead Labor, and Capital(ist) Punishment. ACME: An International E-Journal For Critical Geographies

Strategies Implemented to Address Impacts and Policy Implications

The United States of America is one of the most racially varied country in the world. The gains in economic prosperity are not however equally shared across the society. This is basically because the segments of the American communities have been highly side-lined (Bonnie, 2013). One of the major feature of this marginalization is the dissimilar treatment of people according to their colour, which occurs in the judicial systems of the U.S. The judicial criminal system of the U.S mainly favours the whites as opposed to African Americans. There is an uneven racial representation in the Juvenile Justice system, and the adults in prison, this therefore makes one to wonder there is fairness in the U.S.

Unequal imprisonment of minorities has been recognized as a crisis by the federal governments. In the year 1988, the senate amended the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act of the year 1974. This bill was amended in order to allow the states to be able to participate in the Acts formula grants which is a program, which is responsible for addressing unequal imprisonment of minority youths imprisoned in secure facilities. The act requires the states to assess the level of imprisonment of the minority youngsters (Bonnie, 2013). Moreover, the states were also required to come up with strategies which can reduce unequal minority representation where it was found to exist. In the year 1991, the Disproportionate Minority confinement was created in order to enable the states to be able to observe different approaches of the issue by the Juvenile Justice Office.

In the year 2009, two dissimilar bills were introduced in the congress in order to address the underlying problem of inequality in the systems of justice. The National Criminal Justice Act (NCJA) of the year 2009, which was presented by Senator Webb, was a bilateral bill which created a commission responsible for reviewing the criminal Justice systems. The led committee consisted of eleven members who were appointed by the president, the minority and the majority leaders of the senate, the speaker and the Minority front-runner of the house (Bonnie, 2013). The Republic Democratic governors also participated in the appointment, since their chairs appointed the members too. The main objective of the commission was therefore to reviewing, making recommendations, and finding about the unfairness in the justice systems in the country. This move was mainly aimed to creating equality in the judicial systems thus ensuring fair treatment for all.

The second bill, which was the Justice integrity Act, was also introduced to the senate in the year 2009. The main objective of the bill was to find the major mistrusts in the justice systems, thus creating programs responsible for dealing with the issue in ten districts in the U.S. The bill was later implemented since it took care of the interests of both races in the country (Bonnie, 2013). Moreover, the bills objective was to look at the main problem that faces the judicial systems and thus leading to unfairness in the criminal justice systems in the country. The three bills, were therefore very effective after their implementation since the country has been able to look into this matter carefully simply because it is a matter of concern which could lead to war in the U.S. These bills have really helped in ensuring fair judgement in the criminal justice systems in the U.S.

Reference

In Bonnie, R. J., National Research Council (U.S.)., National Research Council (U.S.)., & National Research Council (U.S.). (2013). Reforming juvenile justice: A developmental approach.

Case Study 2

            The structure correction that would oversee officer Jones engagements would be the fourth amendment. This is because it protects people and not places and it is usually applicable in places outside homes (Vishny 2012). This amendment can be applied anytime a person has a judicious prospect of privacy in a certain location regardless of whether or not it is that individual’s home. Thus it is through the administering of this amendment, that Officer Jones actions will be determined (Putman 2010).

            According to the constitutions’ fourth amendment, there is no anticipation for any item that is abandoned and any police officer is allowed by law to seize as well as search the items freely (Vishny 2012). Trash that is placed in a curb is regarded as abandoned and for the purpose of the fourth amendment, it is open for examined by any person. Therefore officer jones actions were valid according to the fourth amendment that is the constitution and the fact that the trash was already abandoned means that officer jones had a right to examine the property. Permission was not needed for Jones’ deeds and there was no anticipation of a right of secrecy since none of the open-field and the abandonment examination.

            Police Officer Jones deeds were acceptable in the abandonment policy. The abandonment policy can be concluded since the perpetrator purposefully and perpetually uninhibited his assets through giving it away and retaining it outside sideways of curb so as to be picked up by garbage firm consequently permitting Jones to have the lawful right to examine his assets which he had thrown away without a search warrant.

Reference

            Vishny D. (2012). Still the American Frontier: Forth Amendment Litigation.retyrieved from:

http://wispd.org/attachments/article/220/Still%20the%20American%20Frontier-%20Fourth%20Amendment%20Litigation.pdf.

Putman, W. H. (2010). Legal research, analysis, and writing. Clifton Park, NY: Delmar Cengage Learning.

How to make Police Officers aware of people with Intellectual Disabilities

Abstract

The main purpose of this article is to elaborate how police officers can be educated on how to handle individuals with intellectual disability in the criminal system. The article advocates for these individuals as a way of respecting them and making sure that they get the same opportunities in the legal system by getting fair trials.

Recognizing intellectual disability in a person may be challenging at time. If there were proper guidelines of how to recognize such people with disability would be more helpful rather than just assuming that they are normal people acting stupid. Mostly the police officers receive little or no education or training o how to identify such persons. Some of the intellectual disabilities are mostly hidden and they require certain training in order to identify them. Generally, the information relating to intellectual disability is limited as they are crisis during the operation of criminal justice with persons who have intellectual disability (Crowell, 2016).

Hidden disabilities relate to a person’s brain as there are difficulties in mental tasks such as reasoning, planning, judgment or even abstract thinking. There are other development disabilities which include autism, cerebral palsy, and epilepsy among other disorders that occurs during the development period of an individual (In Rubin, 2016).  There are trivial limitations that are as a result of intellectual disability in both adaptive behavior and intellectual functioning. They normally have difficulties in processing any kind of information, generalizing any information and problems in solving practical cases.

In particular, individuals who have developmental or, intellectual disabilities pose a real challenge in the judicial system as a majority of them have mild problems (In Rubin, 2016). A vast number of these individuals who have intellectual disabilities that cannot be recognized by an outside appearance create challenges whether they are suspects or victims. Mild problems do not mean that they are insignificant but there are others that are more severe compared to others. Most of these individuals are likely to be the victims, witness rather than the offenders (Grant, 2010).

Police officers can be able to identify some of the hidden rational disabilities by trying to look deeper. This is by identifying the behavior of the individual and not the appearance. These process can be assisted when some characteristics such as  an individual acting like he can understand when in reality he cannot, wanting to hide the disability to the officer, very sensitive sounds, touch and lights from this individuals are identified (Grant, 2010). Some of these persons may appear nervous or anxious when dealing with the police officers, not be able to understand what entails the legal concepts and being unable to have or maintain a direct contact with the officer. By identifying these characteristics the police officers stands at a better position to identify the individuals with rational disabilities.

Going slow on the individuals may prevent the officers from a potential crisis. By having a supervisor or a support staff may help in identifying such an individual. Speaking to the person in a normal more calm way and by the avoidance of confrontational tones maybe of use to avoid such crisis (Gawrylowicz et al, 2013). A police officer may also restrain from unnecessary touching, avoiding of relying so much on using the weapons and without asking so many questions will help in preventing the crisis that mostly befall the police officers and the individuals with the rational disabilities (Sellars, 2011). A questioning mind such as what is going on here will help the police officer be able some of the uncommon characteristics that the individual displays.

Police interviews are a norm in the criminal arena. In order to accommodate individuals with intellectual disabilities, they should be approached with caution. Currently, there are no special provisions in the criminal procedure to deal with such persons as they are few of them who are suspected to have committed a crime (Sellars, 2011). Despite there being a none existing system to deal with such suspects, individuals with rational disabilities are not considered to have a certain influence towards the operation of the criminal and the common law particularly regarding the discretion of the confessional evidence.

There should be standard caution applied by all police to administer questioning. This will help in gathering all the information that is required due to the simplified caution. Although commentators have argued that by the use of simplified caution the suspect with the rational disability maybe improperly comprehended which may result in the elimination of all the records of the interview regarding the suspect (Emerson, 2008). Most of the suspects are un aware of what is happening to them there is the need to provide them with independent persons who can make the judgment and the reasoning for them. Such persons have limited concentration and memory difficulties that make them fail to understand the legal rights and the right to remain silent will help the police officers I understanding them.

Police officers should be trained to communicate well with individuals who have intellectual disabilities. This will make the officers be in a better position of understanding them and what kind of technique to use when they have such individuals. They should try to respond in a manner that they can understand well and interact with their family members or professions who can facilitate and make the process smooth and fair for both (Hassiotis, Hall & Barron, 2013). Police social interaction should be enhanced so that they can be able to understand the individual naturally as they can watch them and analyze them at a distance which will facilitate their working when they come into contact with such persons (Emerson, 2008). Police officers should also engage in building rapports the individuals as this will help them identify the best way to communicate to them (Crowell, 2016). It would also be better if the police officers avoid using jargons, long sentences and embrace slow and clear words that are simple for such individuals to understand. Being friendly with them will be useful to the process and also emphasizing on key words will be useful.

The target audience for this presentation is the police officers, the judicial system workers, teachers, intellectual disability co-workers. In most cases, teachers have the basic skills of identifying students with intellectual disabilities as they teach them. The presentation focuses on them as they engage them in their daily lives due to the numerous contacts they have.

Outline of the presentation

How to make Police Officers aware of people with Intellectual Disabilities

Abstract

• The main purpose of this article is to elaborate how police officers can be educated
• Individuals with intellectual disability in the criminal system
• Legal system and fair trials for intellectually disabled

Intellectual disability

• Recognizing intellectual disability in a person may be challenging at time
• Development disabilities includes autism, cerebral palsy, and epilepsy
• Mild problems do not mean that they are insignificant but there are others that are more severe compared to others
• Police officers can be able to identify some of the hidden rational disabilities by trying to look deeper
• Going slow on the individuals may prevent the officers from potential crisis
• Being friendly with them will be useful to the process and also emphasizing on key words will be useful.

Target audience

• Adults between 10-60 years
• Police officers in all uniforms
• Co-workers in all departments
• Family members
• Persons with intellectual disability of all ages

 Reference

Crowell, H. (2016). The Writing Is on the Wall: How the Briseno Factors Create an Unacceptable Risk of Executing Persons with Intellectual Disability. Texas Law Review, 94(4), 743-784.

Emerson, E. (2008). Clinical psychology and people with intellectual disabilities. Hoboken, N.J: Wiley.

Gawrylowicz, J., Gabbert, F., Carson, D., Lindsay, W. R., & Hancock, P. B. (2013). Face Recognition and Description Abilities in People with Mild Intellectual Disabilities. Journal Of Applied Research In Intellectual Disabilities, 26(5), 435-446.

Grant, G. (2010). Learning disability: A life cycle approach. Maidenhead: McGraw Hill/Open University Press.

Hassiotis, A., Hall, I., & Barron, D. A. (2013). Intellectual disability psychiatry: A practical handbook. Hoboken, N.J: Wiley.

In Rubin, L., In Merrick, J., In Greydanus, D. E., & In Patel, D. R. (2016). Health care for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities across the lifespan.

Sellars, C. (2011). Risk assessment in people with learning disabilities. Chichester, West Sussex: BPS Blackwell/Wiley.

            Search and Seizures

            I disagree with the court’s ruling. This is because cell phones are the most used devices in planning and organizing crimes. Evidence collected from the devices may thus be useful for prosecution or in supporting the presented case despite this being a personalized search.

            An inventory search can be described as a regular inventory of a vehicle that is impounded. According to the ruling of the Supreme Court evidence that is established during an inventory search can be utilized in prosecution (Emanuel, 2007). During an inventory search, no warrant is necessitated because the state impounds a vehicle legally thus bearing the legal liability related to the vehicle. This is similar to a vehicle search which only requires a reasonable cause and no warrant is necessary. Therefore in order for the state to fully protect itself from the lawsuit, it is required to hold written documents of all the contents. This is a  plain doctrine view as the police  officers who conduct the  inventory search holds  a reason that is legitimate to view what is inside the car and therefore it cannot be  reasonable for them to conduct the search while their eyes remain closed. In the inventory search evidence establishment is not the main purpose of the search and the search must, therefore, observe all the policies and fully satisfy the provided objectives. The search must not, therefore, be utilized as a general rule rummaging in the quest for discovering evidence that is incriminating (Emanuel, 2007).

            On the other hand vehicle searches are a United States legal rule that permits motor vehicle search without the provision of a search warrant which is normally necessitated by the fourth amendment of the United States constitution.  This search, therefore, permits a police officer to search a vehicle without having a warrant as long as there is a probable cause which can help in believing that evidence is situated in the vehicle (Emanuel, 2007).  The major difference between inventory search despite them being similar in not requiring a warrant is the fact that vehicle search aims at establishing evidence while inventory search is not based on evidence as its main purpose.

            The law enforcement officers should be allowed to conduct an inventory search because it is not aimed at incriminating an individual but to establish a clause. This, therefore, helps in protecting individuals from harmful objects which may thus be held due to upheld privacy. Additionally, a warrant is not necessary because it is not purposed to establish any form of evidence.

References

            David J. Robinson. (2014).Criminal law. The U.S Supreme Court says No to Cell Phone Searches Incident to Arrest. Retrieved from https://www.isba.org/ibj/2014/09/ussupremecourtsays%e2%80%98no%e2%80%99cell-phonesea

            Emanuel, S. (2007). Criminal procedure. Austin: Wolters Kluwer Law & Business/Aspen Publishers.

Case Study 3: Confessions and Admissions after a Request for a Lawyer

            According to the Fifth Amendment, in the U.S constitution, the defendant is protected from being constrained to be a witness against self in a criminal case. Therefore invoking of the Fifth Amendment by the defendant allows him to have the privilege of declining to answer the questions where the answers might implicate him (Duignan 2013). The defendants thus are able to evade the penalty for having proclaimed the privilege and thus they cannot be compelled to become witnesses in their own case. Therefore this case relates to the Fifth Amendment since the suspect proclaimed his privilege by failing to become a witness of his own crime when he was asked questions that would have incriminated him.

            Edward rule refers to the rule that is used to disallow police officers from beginning a cross-examination of a suspect who has requested for a lawyer before a lawyer is provided to him/her (Del 2014). This applies to our case since the suspect went through the same scenario as that of Edward. However, the police officer in this case started the interrogation but when the suspect requested for a lawyer he was arrested and the officer stopped the questioning.

            The officers’ actions were not acceptable since the confession of the suspect was voluntarily after the police officers compelled him to confess thus incriminating himself even when his lawyer had not arrived. However it seems like he did not have knowledge on his rights.  According to the law in the Fifth Amendment, confession must be voluntary as well as constitute a well knowing and aptitude waiver of a known right or a privilege (Duignan2013). The fact that the laws were read to him twice shows that he did not have a knowhow on his right.

References

            Del, C. R. V. (2014). Criminal procedure: Law and practice.

            Duignan, B. (2013). The U.S. Constitution and constitutional law. New York: Britannica Educational Pub. in association with Rosen Educational Services.

Clinical Judgment Discussion

            Clinical judgment can be described as those ways which can be utilized by nurses in developing the required understanding of the issues, problems or the general concern raised by their patients in attending the salient data and also to respond in involved and concerned ways (Tanner, 2006). Clinical judgment can thus be viewed as an important skill that is required by every nurse as it is effective in distinguishing a technical and a professional role that is played by the nurses.  While nurses provide care for their patients who are faced with multifaceted problems a variety of complex and conflicting factors must be considered in addition to the patients best interests in order to select the suitable action course.  The selections or the intended judgments must, therefore, e made particularly to the current and the particular patient (Tanner, 2006).  Clinical judgment is the way of learning to think and reflect on the patient issue like a professional nurse. Clinical judgment lies mainly on the situation of the nurse as well as the provided situation that surrounds the patient.  The responses of the nurses are thus crucial in illustrating the particular clinical judgment and reflection held.  Clinical judgment helps in solving the clinical situation.  This is in that it helps the nurses in developing essential skills that help in making the right choices towards a given situation (Tanner, 2006).   Clinical judgment is additionally essential in developing thinking in actions traits which helps in changing situations and eradicating uncertainty which is associated with action selection choices.

The clinical judgment model is presented in   four phases which include noticing the situation, interpreting the situation,   providing responses as well as reflecting (Lucille, 2013). These four major clinical judgments components are essential in explaining the complex patient’s situation which is associated with uncertainty as while as a status change in regard to a suitable action course to be utilized.  The general concept can thus be summarized as skills that are associated with thinking while acting which can be illustrated in three steps.  That is noticing the situation interpreting and responding to the situation using appropriate measures (Lucille, 2013). 

In noticing the nurse is required to be cognizant of the needs of the patients through evidence or any available data, prioritizes the needs and then utilizes the data that surrounds the patient’s situation and develop the suitable conclusion in regard to suitable action course and respond to that event (Tanner, 2006).  The events outcomes, therefore, provide the nurse’s reflection basis afterward on the effectiveness of the clinical learning and responses for practices in future (Tanner, 2006).

 Based on Tanner’s model the perception of the nurse of a situation is mainly driven by the situation context and it is shaped by the practical experience of the nurse (Tanner, 2006).  This, therefore, implies that the perception is grounded on the nurse’s theoretical knowledge, relationship with the patient as well as their ethical perspectives.  Additionally, the model assets that clinical judgment is illustrated via a range of reasoning procedures which includes analytic, intuitive that is based on practical knowledge and which most of the students lacks, as well as a narrative which happens when nurses narrate their stories.  Nurses are thus required to reflect before selecting any action measure in order to solve the situation as professionals (Yoder-Wise, 2013).

For instance, a patient was discharged from hospital after sarcoma treatment and a few days after she developed gas issues. After calling the nurse and explaining the issue the nurse recommended a set of drugs to solve the issue.  The nurse, therefore, failed to reflect on the given situation which later developed complications to the patient. The nurse was therefore necessitated to utilize clinical judgments to analyze the situation, question it, and reflect on it before developing any conclusion on any action on the patient.

            References

            Joel, Lucille A. 2013. Advanced practice nursing: essentials for role development. http://public.eblib.com/choice/publicfullrecord.aspx?p=1119700.

            Tanner, C. (2006).  Thinking like a nurse: A research-based model of clinical judgment in nursing. Journal of Nursing Education, 45(6) 204-211.

            Yoder-Wise, P. S. (2013). Leading and Managing in Nursing - Revised Reprint. London: Elsevier Health Sciences.