Pre-sentence investigation reports are a controversial element among criminal justice professionals. Theoretically, they enable the court to make better-educated decisions about sentencing by providing a comprehensive overview of a defendant's history. "The pre-sentencing report prepared by the pre-sentencing probation officer is a summary of relevant information on the defendant's life put together for the purpose of arriving at an appropriate sentencing recommendation. The defendant's criminal history, mitigating circumstances in the defendant's life, the effect of the crime on the victim, and other information are compiled by the probation officer" (De Santis, 2010). Obviously, the goal of the pre-sentence investigation report is to ensure that the totality of a defendant's circumstances are considered. However, many defense attorneys and defendants believe that pre-sentence reports admit the possibility of tremendous bias for the defendant. First, they can contain errors, and, if there are errors present, it can be difficult to have them adjusted.…...

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References

De Santis, M. (2010). Part II: First line criminal justice advocacy: H. Victim impact statements and pre-sentencing probation reports. Retrieved March 17, 2012 from Women's Justice Center website:  http://justicewomen.com/handbook/part2_h.html 

Frantz, M. (2009, June 16). Pre-sentence investigation report (PSI) -- Examples of what's in it!

Retrieved March 27, 2012 from Free Press Release website:

release.com/news/200906/1245160134.html" http://www.free-press-

Pre-Sentence Investigation
ONONDAGA COUNTY PROBATION DEPARTMENT

PRESENTENCE REPORT

Court: Onondaga County Case No.: 11-4949 Indictment#: 11-1-20

Judge: Fred Friendly AKA/Maiden: N/A DR#: N/A

Prosecutor: James Joyce Age/DOB: 10/01/81 Court Cont.#: N/A

Main St. NYSID#: 937532

Legal Counsel: Tim Tom Tully, NY 13159 FBI#: 328-488-94

Phone [HIDDEN]

Offense Date: 11/11/11 Arrest Date: 11/12/11 Conviction Date: 12/11/11

Original Charges: Stalking 2nd Final Conviction: Stalking 4th

Charge Code: 120.45 NYS Penal Law

A Class B Misdemeanor

Codefendant/Correspondent: N/A

Restitution: N. Relationship to Victim: Acquaint. Victim Impact: Sent: X Rec'd: N/A

Disposition Date: 01/12/12 Plea Bargain: Unknown

Family Court History: N. Criminal History: N. Probation/Parole/Pretrial Release: N

Incarcerations/Placements: N. Pending Charges: N

Support Source: Denny's/FT/$180/wk Resides w/Relationship: Mary, Mother

Educ.: 12th Children: 0 Health/Disability: N. Mental Health: N. Substance Abuse: N

Disposition: Date:

CIRCUMSTANCES OF THE OFFENSE

On November 11, 2011, with intent to harass, annoy or alarm a 12-year-old female who lived in defendant's neighborhood, this 30-year-old Defendant lured the female into his home, locked the doors to his home, and held her against her…...

Pre-Sentence Investigation
Defense Attorney

Jim Aiken

Narcotics Detective

Homicide Detective

Miranda

The Miranda rights were formulated in 1966 by the U.S. Supreme court after a case between Miranda v. Arizona. The Miranda rights relate to the frights of an individual when that person is being taken into custody by the police and before that individual is being questioned. The individual should be read out and told about his rights according to the Fifth Amendment so that the individual does not make any self-incriminating statements to the police.

There are four things that the police needs to tell the individual while being taken in to custody are:

The individual has the right to remain silent

Anything the individual says can and will be used against that individual in court of law

The individual has the right to an attorney

If that individual cannot afford an attorney, an attorney would be appointed for the individual (Prentzas, 2006)

This case has changed the way legal…...

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References

Batten, D. (2011). Gale encyclopedia of American law. Detroit, Mich.: Gale.

Chambliss, W. (2011). Courts, law, and justice. Los Angeles: Sage Reference.

Clancy, T. Fourth Amendment Satisfaction -- The 'Reasonableness' of Digital Searches. SSRN Electronic Journal. doi:10.2139/ssrn.2613627

Digitalcommons.apus.edu,. (2015). Retrieved 30 August 2015, from http://digitalcommons.apus.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1022&context=saberandscroll

Criminal Trials and Sentencing
Pre-Trial Process

Post Arrest

In a 2010 report, it is stated that Courtney Elizabeth Hernandez, of Killeen, Texas, was charged with the kidnapping of a 2-1/2-year-old girl. The Defendant was given permission by the mother of the child, who was stationed at Fort Hood as a soldier in the United States Army, to take the child camping. The child's mother contacted the defendant on the 5th of July 2010 to pick the child up. Hernandez promised to deliver the child but did not deliver the child home. The child was never returned home and the Defendant was charged with kidnapping. The Defendant was arraigned for kidnapping with her lawyer present in the Criminal Court. The prosecutor was also present for this hearing.

Pre-Trial

The Defendant's attorney filed a motion for discovery as well as a trial to set aside evidence on the basis that the evidence was not lawfully gained. The…...

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Bibliography

Addison Fowler -- 2 yo -- Killeen TX (2010) Justice for Caylee. Retrieved from:  https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=3&cad=rja&ved=0CEgQFjAC&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.justice4caylee.org%2Ft7408-addison-fowler-2-yo-killeen-tx&ei=lasIUaT6IqWVjALL1oCgCQ&usg=AFQjCNFx6VwCXhKT0HSY6V_sX9YUqk02Zw&bvm=bv.41642243,d.cGE 

Killeen Woman Sentenced to Federal Prison in Kidnapping Case (2010) U.S. Attorney's Office. Federal Bureau of Investigation. 10 Jul 2010. Retrieved from:  http://www.fbi.gov/sanantonio/press-releases/2010/sa122010.htm

prison gang is a select group of inmates with an organized chain of command and an established code of conduct. They operate in secrecy with a view to controlling their prison environment through intimidation and violence meted on non-members. Some of the oldest prison gangs in the U.S. were formed as early as 1950s. Some notable example is Gypsy Jokers that operated in Washington State prisons (Fleisher & Decker, 2001). Violence in correctional facilities in the United States is something that has been with us for quite a while. Prisoners and prison officers have both fallen victims to this violence.
Think of the San Antonio, Texas incident where 281 prisoners were stabbed and 13 slain (The Ledger, 1984). There was divided opinion on what motivated such heinous acts with some prison officials opining that prison gangs who were divided along racial lines were responsible. Some attacks were thought to be…...

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References List

Fleisher, M.S. & Decker, S.H. (2001). An overview of the Challenge of Prison Gangs.

Corrections Management Quarterly, 5(1), 1-9.

Knox, G.W. (2005). The Problem of Gangs and Security Threat Groups (STG's) in American

Prisons Today: Recent Research Findings From the 2004 Prison Gang Survey. Retrieved from  http://www.ngcrc.com/corr2006.html

victims and defendants rights extended by the Criminal Justice System. Followed by introduction is the comparison of both sides detailing the rights of victims and defendants by the Criminal Justice System. Conclusion given at the end shows that the Criminal Justice System has more rights to the defendants; however, rights for victims are also increasing in several states.
It has been during the last two decades that the rights of crime victims started to be known in the law. Earlier, none of the crime victims had rights during the criminal justice process. For example, they did not have any right that could notify them of court trial or the arrest or release of the defendant. Further to that they had no right to be presented during the trial or other hearings, or to make a statement to the court at sentencing or at other proceedings (Emmet County).

But now, nations have…...

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Works Cited

Emmet County. Prosecuting Attorney: Crime Victim Rights / Witness Assistance. www.co.emmet.mi.us

National Center for Victims of Crime. (1998). Rights of Crime Victims. FYI.

National Center for Victims of Crime. (1999). Constitutional Rights for Crime Victims. FYI.

Philip L. Reichel (2001). Comparative Criminal Justice Systems: A Topical Approach.

Substance Abuse Programs in Prison
The work of Harrison (nd) reports that the 'Residential Substance Abuse Treatment (RSAT) for State Prisoners Formula Grant Program was created by the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 in response to the increasing number of incarcerated individuals in the United States with substance abuse problems." (p.vi) It is reported that RSAT grants may be used to "implement or expand treatment programs for inmates in residential treatment facilities operated by State and local correctional agencies that provide individual and group treatment activities for inmates." (Harrison, nd, p. 2) The RSAT programs must be in a six to twelve month length, provide residential treatment facilities that are apart from the general prison population, be focused at the substance abuse problems of inmates, work in developing the cognitive, social, behavioral, vocational in addition to other skills that serve to bring about resolution to the…...

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Bibliography

Frantz, M. (2009) What You Need to Know…Before You Go To Federal Prison. Dog Ear Publishing. 2009.

Harrison, LD (nd) Residential Substance Abuse Treatment for State Prisoners Implementation Lessons Learned. Google Books. Retrieved from:  http://books.google.com/books?id=bbE6-erVr98C&dq=SUBSTANCE+ABUSE+PROGRAMS+IN+PRISON&source=gbs_navlinks_s

Criminal Process; Arraignment to Pre-Trial
The purpose of criminal law is to promote respect for the law by people and ensure a just, safe, and peaceful society. The American justice system has many commendable elements that are aligned to the objectives of a justice system. The trial system significantly addresses many point of subtlety and does a great job in its effort to uphold the rule of law. In the effort to deliver justice, it is important that the rights of the defendant be uphold. This paper seeks to shed light on three stages before the process of criminal trial, and how the rights of the defendant are catered for in each of the stages before trial commences. These stages include the information, arraignment and the subsequent hearings at pretrial.

Arraignment

The stage that precedes and leads to trial in a criminal case is called arraignment. Arraignment must be done within reasonable time…...

I. Novikov. It is not clear whether Bolotov himself was a Mason, but he certainly personally belonged to the same social circles as many leading Freemasons in Russia. In his Entsiklopediia, 128, 990, Serkov mentions Bolotov as a possible member of the Konigsberg military lodge of Joanna Krestitelia (John the Baptist) working in Elagin's system around 1773. (Cross, 105)
The Freemasons continued to grow and improve Russian society until the death of Peter III, when his wife Catherine took over the throne. During the reign of Peter III, the numbers and lodges grew substantially and it became fashionable in Russia to be a member of the Freemasons. In fact, many nobles from other countries were traveling to Russia to be a part of the new and growing movement.

Catherine the Great

One of the longstanding rules and traditions of the Freemasons is that members must be men, as women were believed to be…...

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Works Cited

Wolff, Larry. Inventing Eastern Europe: The Map of Civilization on the Mind of the Enlightenment. Stanford, CA: Stanford UP, 1994. Print.

Hosking, Geoffrey a. Russia and the Russians: A History. Cambridge, MA: Belknap of Harvard UP, 2001. Print.

Riasanovsky, Nicholas V.A History of Russia. New York: Oxford UP, 1984. Print.

Dmytryshyn, Basil. Modernization of Russia under Peter I and Catherine II. New York: Wiley, 1974. Print.

Legal Definitions
Miranda Rule -- Prohibits the introduction of any testimonial evidence elicited from criminal suspects while under arrest or in police custody unless police first advise them of their constitutional rights to remain silent, refuse to answer questions, and to be represented by an attorney before beginning any custodial interrogation. I have heard this term used frequently in television crime programs.

Prosecutor -- Is an attorney employed by the state whose responsibility it is to file criminal charges against individuals arrested by police and charge with crimes; typically, prosecutors represent the state at the criminal trial. The context in which I am most familiar with prosecutors is in their portrayal in television programs about criminal justice and news reports about criminal trials.

Pretrial Release Program -- Is a system of releasing criminal defendants from custody until their trials to reduce jail overcrowding; in principle, bond is one form of pretrial release. I…...

This is a felony.
A preliminary hearing is scheduled following the indictment and Martin and his attorney are present at the scheduled date and time. The charge is presented and the judge makes a decision that there is enough evidence to proceed with the case. Martin, now referred to as the defendant, is asked for his plea and he pleas "Not Guilty." A trial date is scheduled for two months away.

The day of trial comes and Martin and his attorney are ready. The first order of business is to pick a jury. After the potential jury is brought into he courtroom, the attorneys are allowed to ask questions of the members, in a process called voire dire, in order to determine whether they have views that would make their service on the jury inappropriate. This would allow the juror to be removed for cause. In addition each attorney has a…...

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Bibliography

Wikipedia. "Criminal Procedure." Retrived May 25, 2005 at  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Criminal_procedure .

Legal Information Institute. "Criminal Llaw: An Overview."

Rertrieved May 25, 2005 at  http://www.law.cornell.edu/topics/criminal.html .

Wikipedia. "Criminal Procedure." Retrived May 25, 2005 at

aker reviewed three landmark Supreme Court decisions on capital punishment and concluded that the death penalty is capriciously imposed on lack defendants and thus serves the extra-legal function of preserving majority group interests. He viewed discrimination in capital sentencing as deliberate and identified the primary reasons why lack defendants with white victims have been denied fairness in capital sentencing. These are prosecutorial discretion in the selective prosecution of capital cases, prosecutorial misuse of peremptory challenges to systematically exclude lacks from juries, judicial overrides by trial judges, prosecutorial misconduct and the ineffective assistance by defense counsel (Emmelman).
Helen Taylor Greene used a colonial model to explore the effectiveness and limitations placed on the police in the past and in the present (Emmelman, 2005). This colonial model showed that the police, regardless of color, were an oppressive force in many communities. Lately, lack political empowerment and ascendancy in many law enforcement departments…...

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

American Law Library (2009). Racial profiling: should police practice racial profiling?

Vol.8, American Encyclopedia: Net Industries. Retrieved on March 29, 2013

from  http://law.jrank.org/pages/9628/Racial-Profiling.html 

Banks, C (2004), Racial Discrimination in the Criminal Justice System. Chapter 3. Sage

esearch also showed that offenders tend to be part of or return to communities with high concentrations of offenders. The concentration of offenders in these neighborhoods affects the community negatively by increasing the stigma associated with the community and also saddling the community with additional problems without providing added resources needed for restoring or maintaining order. The ultimate consequence is the that the criminal justice system destabilizes informal networks of social control and increases poor attitudes towards formal social controls, both of which have been shown to contribute to increases in crime and disorder in the communities. Churning results in unnecessary pressure being put on the other residents of the communities who are law-abiding in disadvantaged communities. The removal of men from the community through incarceration has the chilling effect of changing the family's socio-economic structure. The families of incarcerated members, especially men, of the community also face stigma…...

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References

Burke, K. And Leben, S. (2007). Procedural Fairness: A key Ingredient in Public Satisfaction.

Court Review: The Journal of the American Judges Association. 44 (1), 4-25.

Davis, A.J. (2008). Racial Fairness in the Criminal Justice System: The Role of the Prosecutor. Colombia Human Rights Law Review. 202 (39), 202-32.

Hurwitz, J and Peffley, M. (2001). Racial Polarization on Criminal Justice Issues:

ather than continue the process that began in the first two books, in which the osicrucian Order first announced themselves, gave their history, and then responded to certain criticisms while making their position within Christian theology clearer, the Chymical Wedding can almost be seen as the first instance of literature written within the osicrucian tradition, rather than as part of its manifesto-like founding documents, because it does not seek to explain the history of osicrucianism, but rather explicate how the teachings and underlying beliefs of osicrucianism contribute to and alter one's interpretation of Christian scripture (Williamson 17; Dickson 760). Specifically, one can see a distinct connection between the Chymical Wedding and seventeenth-century attempts to expand Protestantism throughout Europe. The Chymical Wedding can be seen as a the most explicit attempt on the part of osicrucians and osicrucian supporters to wed the new (or newly revealed) society to the larger religious…...

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References

Andreae, Johann. The Chymical Wedding of Christian Rosenkreutz. N/a: Benjamin Rowe, 2000.

Case, Paul F. The True and Invisible Rosicrucian Order: An Interpretation of the Rosicrucian

Allegory and an Explanation of the Ten Rosicrucian Grades. York Beach, Me: S. Weiser,

1985. Print.

A plea-bargain is frequently attained at this time in order to circumvent a trial. In the event that a plea-bargain is reached, the case does not move forward to a trial but failure to offer enough evidence to establish a plea bargain will mean that the case goes on to trial (Criminal Justice System Handbook, 2009).
The trail

Trials consist of a sequence of proceedings where the prosecutor presents evidence which will be used to prove the defendant guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. In felony cases, the defendant is given chances to admit their innocence but there are also times where they are presented that they may dispute the validity of evidence that has been presented by the prosecutor. Felony cases normally entail the services of a jury who listen to the case proceedings together with the judge and then after careful assessment of the evidence that is presented; they make…...

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References

Criminal Justice. (n.d.). Retrieved from   y_legal_guide/chapter_14.authcheckdam.pdfhttp://www.americanbar.org/content/dam/aba/migrated/publiced/practical/books/famil 

Criminal Justice System Handbook. (2009). Retrieved from  http://www.nycourts.gov/litigants/crimjusticesyshandbk.shtml 

Criminal Justice Process. (n.d.). Retrieved from  http://www.courtwatchflorida.org/uploads/Training_-_Criminal_Justice_Process.pdf 

Steps in the Criminal Justice Process. (n.d.). Retreived from http://sao.co.sarasota.fl.us/legal.htm