The phrase has become a Republican Party platform issue and one used to galvanize citizens, one that signals the righteous intolerance of criminals but is a thinly cloaked measure for social control. Of course, Americans should hope for a society that is as crime-free as possible, one that does not restrict the right of citizens to possess a weapon while at the same time prohibiting criminals from doing the same. Tough on crime laws and mandatory prison sentences are not viable means of reducing gun-related crimes, though.
The way that "tough on crime" laws are phrased garners attention and votes. Voters have a hard time turning anti-gun laws down, but for the wrong reasons. The tough on crime laws fail to address the root causes of the problem: poverty and social injustice. Mandatory sentences will not reduce gun-related crimes. The decriminalization of
Eliminating the black market of drugs would take power away from criminal organizations that sell guns too.
Furthermore, the true policies that result from "tough on crime" rhetoric are unsavory and un-American. To be tough on crime entails supporting laws like "three strikes" that penalize minor non-violent drug offenders, not necessarily murderers. The victims of gun-related crimes are often people of color: Latino and African-Americans. Impoverished regions of America are besieged by gun-related violence, because guns and related black market commodities are more lucrative than any low-wage job. Gun-related crimes are sometimes connected with drugs, but mandatory prison sentences are a poor, ineffectual, and inhuman means of dealing with preventable crimes in America.
Death Penalty All indications are that capital offenses are on the rise and the response to this phenomenon has been a cry to impose capital punishment as retribution. Certainly the issue is one of the most hotly debated in the world today; both for consideration of its humaneness as well as efficacy as a deterrent. For the purposes of this assignment we will examine the issue from both sides with the
Death Penalty An on-going Debate on Ethics and Morality The debate on whether the death penalty, or capital punishment, should be utilized in the United States is best seen in the varied laws that exist within each state. For this reason, many states, most of which are in the northern parts of the country are against capital punishment, while many southern states support this kind of a law. The U.S. map is
However, on the contradicting side, the question is "Can death penalty really deter criminals?." Several studies show it does not. An online source indicates the following evidences. From 1976 to 1996, the number of executions per year in the United States has increased from 0 to just under 60. The homicide rate per 100,000 population has remained constant at just under 10. Criminologists who belong to the American Society of Criminology,
A good example is the 1985 murder of convenience store clerk Cynthia Barlieb, whose murder was prosecuted by a district attorney bent on securing execution for Barlieb's killer (Pompeilo 2005). The original trial and all the subsequent appeals forced Barlieb's family, including four young daughters, to spend 17 years in the legal process - her oldest daughter was 8 years old when Cynthia was first shot, and 25 when
Studies consistently and generally show that, all factors held constant, the race of the accused is a critical variable in determining who will be sentenced to death. Black citizens are, thus, subjected to double discrimination. From initial charging decisions to plea bargaining to sentencing by the jury, Black defendants receive harsh treatment and, as victims, their lives are given less value than whites. Most juries still consist of all
Capital Punishment In more than half the countries of the world, there is no death penalty as was the case in Australia for a long time. As many as 76 countries do not have death penalty for any crime. In Australia, Queensland was the first among the states to abolish death penalty in 1922 and the last death penalty was carried out in 1913. (Capital Punishment) In many countries, punishment is very
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