Police Officer Murder Death Penalty Scenario
The case of 20-year-old Jesse James, who was recently arrested for the alleged murder of a police officer, is one which is sure to arouse the public's sense of righteous indignation, with friends, family and fellow cops demanding that James be tried, convicted and executed for his crimes. As a newly elected prosecutor charged with the unenviable task of handling this contentious case, it is important to remember the importance of statutory guidelines and legislative precedence as the case proceeds, because any errors will likely result in James utilizing the expansive appeals process to delay, and possibly overturn, a decision to impose the death penalty. Automatic appeals lodged in the Court of Criminal Appeals, direct appeals to the Supreme Court, Habeas Corpus reviews on the state and federal levels, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, and petitions for Executive Clemency are all avenues which are open to anybody sentenced to death, so it is essential that the prosecution's case be predicated on both case law and the Constitution.
An examination of death penalty sentencing procedures within the American criminal , "the issue of arbitrariness of the death penalty was brought before the Supreme Court in 1972 in Furman v. Georgia, Jackson v. Georgia, and Branch v. Texas (known collectively as the landmark case Furman v. Georgia (408 U.S. 238))" (DPIC, 2013). While the court previously ruled in Crampton v. Ohio and McGautha v. California that the application of capital punishment did not result in arbitrary and capricious sentencing, the 1972 Furman case challenged the Eight Amendment, whereas the McGautha case cited the Fourteenth Amendment's due process provision.
The choice to attack the cruel and unusual punishment clause of the Eighth Amendment, while preserving the original arbitrary and capricious sentencing argument, proved to be critical, as the court ruled in a hotly contested 5-4 opinion that that a punishment "would be 'cruel and unusual' if it…
Org. "It is stacked again and again in the killers' favor and victims are an after-thought. It would be unlikely to ever lead to an execution in Massachusetts." Chief among the group's gripes is that the bill does not specifically call for death in child or sex slayings but would put death on the table for inmates serving life who kill behind bars. Romney's bill provides the death penalty for killings
Torture: Often Morally Justifiable Given the events of the last ten-year, most notably U.S. Military techniques in Abu Graib, the subject of torture is ever a popular one and ever controversial. For the purposes of this paper, torture will be defined as "the intentional infliction of extreme physical suffering on some non-consenting, defenseless, other person for the purpose of breaking their will. I note that a person might have been tortured,
4, para.2). Therefore, the presence of an underlying mental illness that did not render a defendant unable to appreciate that he was committing a crime or compel him to commit it, may still be sufficient to mitigate the crime. Furthermore, a lack of mental ability that does not rise to the level of mental retardation may be introduced to mitigate the crime. Therefore, the forensic psychologist needs to be able
During the 1960's and 1970's, violent contact with the police, resulting in force occurred during anti-war, labor and civil rights demonstrations, during a politically tumultuous time. It is safe to conclude that excessive force was used during these clashes. Deaths and injuries were the results of political clashes at the Republican Convention in Chicago, during campus riots held at several universities, during political demonstrations held in public places and in
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.
The killing of the two black American young men Amadou Diallo and Louima were separated by about two years but Amadou's killing happened just before the trial of Louima's case. Amadou's killing drew a lot of public interest that was focused on the conduct of the New York Police. It was the only such heated debate since the Knapp commission of the 70s which disclosed corruption in the police department.
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