Criminal Defense -- Mental Insanity / Georgia v. Randolph / Fernandez v. California
What defenses, if any, were used in these cases? (Georgia v. Randolph) Scott Randolph wanted the cocaine possession thrown out because he said he did not give permission; however Georgia defended the search because the consent of one "joint occupant…who has common authority," is consistent with the Fourth Amendment and with U.S. v. Matlock. However, the High Court ruled that when co-occupants are not in agreement as to letting police search, the search is then illegal. In the Fernandez v. California case, the High Court argued that if the police were restricted from getting permission from the girlfriend -- and had to ask the suspect to grant a search -- that would "impose unnecessary restrictions on law enforcement."
How did these cases impact law enforcement and prosecutors? The decision in Fernandez v. California overturned Georgia v. Randolph, so basically the way it impacts police is that when one of two or more people that inhabit the premises give consent for police to search, police don't need a search warrant. Prosecutors need to know that just one person living in a house can give permission; hence the 14th Amendment isn't violated.
Were these decisions consistent with each other? How does consistency in legal decisions positively or negatively impact law enforcement officers and attorneys? These two court cases were very similar, but they did not have consistent outcomes. The Fernandez case gave the High Court the chance to, in effect, take a second look at Randolph. So what police (and attorneys) believed they had to obey in Randolph changed with Fernandez. This flip-flop could be seen as a negative impact on law enforcement and attorneys.
#2: If you were Lacey's defense attorney, would defenses would you use? If I were Lacey's attorney, I would very carefully research the Battered Woman's Syndrome (BWS) because it certainly appears that she was beaten for a period of five years by her husband. And then the husband pushed her down the stairs and beats here more after she reaches the bottom…
According to the study, men were overall more likely to experience only emotional abuse than were women, while women experienced more power-and-control abuse along with other types of partner violence (Frieden pp). Furthermore, men who had experienced only verbal abuse were much more likely to carry a gun for protection than women in that category (Frieden pp). According to Ditter, results from other studies of emotional abuse also indicate
Battered Women Rational of the Study In preceding years, numerous studies on the battered woman syndrome, or BWS, have been presented to sustain and expose the bitter realities on battered women. The rational of this paper is to present information in relation to the nature of aggressive relationships, as well as the psychological consequences ensuing from recurring abuse. Specially, studies and laws relating to the battered woman syndrome are highlighted to elucidate
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Cassandra: Case Study There is evidence that substance abuse and other mental disorders associated with substance abuse such as anxiety and depression have strong genetic links. In the case of Cassandra, her father and her brother both have had substance abuse issues. For example, "a NIDA-sponsored study of alcohol dependent patients treated with naltrexone found that patients with a specific variant in an opioid receptor gene, Asp40, had a significantly lower
Criminalization occurs when women are treated like offenders rather than victims when they defend themselves against abusive males. Criminalized women are made to feel like they are the ones responsible for situations such as damage to property, child exposure to violence, immigration status issues, reputational damage, homelessness, and poverty occurring as a direct result of male violence. We have heard of numerous cases -- for instance, where women living with
Women in Prison Major Legal Issues Concerning Female Inmates Problems in corrections: Dealing with the unique needs of women in the prison system The number of female prison inmates in America and internationally is growing. Although men still outnumber women in the prison population, the rates of female incarceration, once considered relatively nominal, have skyrocketed. "In the U.S., where the prison and jail population reached two million in the year 2000, women's incarceration is
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