Since the widespread legalization of gambling, illegal forms have greatly diminished, for example, state lotteries have largely replaced the illegal numbers rackets, and hundreds of legal casinos has lessened the demand for illegal table or slot gambling (Kelly pp). However, sports gambling, which is still illegal, is thriving, and one study estimates that Americans bet between $80 billion and $380 billion annually on sports events, making it the most widespread and popular form of gambling in the U.S. (Kelly pp). Sports gambling was made illegal by the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act of 1992, out of concern for the corrupting influence that gambling has over games and players through point shaving and game fixing (Kelly pp). Yet, bookies are available throughout the country and on college campuses, and are increasingly inked with organized crime (Kelly pp). In fact, it is safe to say that student bookies are present…...

mla

Works Cited

Keisser, Bob. Officer: Bookies are Nicest People Arrested. Daily News. Los Angeles, California. January 05, 1997. Retrieved August 21, 2005 from HighBeam Research Library Web site.

Kelly, Timothy A. "A Booming $800 Billion Industry - Today, some form of gambling is legal in all but three states, and 68% of adult Americans say they've gambled over the past year. World and I. July 01, 2000. Retrieved August 21, 2005 from HighBeam Research Library Web site.

Saum, William S. "Sports Gambling in College: Cracking Down on Illegal Betting." USA

Today. July 01, 1999. Retrieved August 21, 2005 from HighBeam Research Library Web site.

This includes the protection of children and protection of people who are victims of sexual crime. As it pertains to children there should be and there are laws in place that protect them from accessing or buying pornography. In addition there must be laws in place that protect children and adults that have been victims of sexual exploitation. ith this understood some pornography laws are unnecessary. For instance, people should be able to view pornography once they are 18. In some states people have to be 21 to view pornography. Many believe that when all parties involved in pornography are adults (18 and over) consenting to the activities there should be no criminality involved.
In recent months there has also been a concerted effort in some states to decriminalize the act of minors sending pictures of themselves to other minors. In most states this is treated as child pornography and…...

mla

Works Cited

'Dubber, M.D. (2001) Policing possession: the war on crime and the end of criminal law. The Journal of Criminal Law & Criminology. 91 (4) 829-996

Dubner, S.J. (2009) What Would Happen if Marijuana Were Decriminalized? A Freakonomics Quorum.  http://freakonomics.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/05/22/pot-quorum/?apage=1 

Farley, M. (2004)"Bad for the Body, Bad for the Heart":1 Prostitution Harms Women Even if Legalized or Decriminalized. Violence Against Women, 10 (10), 1087-1125

Newbern, A.E. (2000) Good Cop, Bad Cop: Federal Prosecution of State-Legalized Medical Marijuana Use after United States v. Lopez. California Law Review, 88 (5), 1575-1634

This includes actions that could be considered detrimental to the individual (gambling, drugs, etc.) -- because the decision was made at the individual level (Hardaway, 2003).
Too, as the economic and political effects of globalization increase, the definition, prosecution, and attention to victimless crimes may sociologically change. Enforcing morality (e.g. prostitution and gambling), for instance, or black market goods and services may remain technically against the law, but may become so low a priority due to more serious matters. ndeed, international agencies are now taking the approach to crimes like illicit drugs of focusing on the suppliers who fail to pay taxes and thus hurt society, instead of the user. This also includes many of the underground financial crimes that have little societal or economic impact (Friedrichs, 2002). Drug use, specifically, is victimless because it is something the individual chooses to do, can do alone, and unless there is violence…...

mla

Individual freedom is the belief that there is an inherent freedom for the individual to partake in any actions they chose, with the stimulation that these actions do not impede on the rights of others. This includes actions that could be considered detrimental to the individual (gambling, drugs, etc.) -- because the decision was made at the individual level (Hardaway, 2003).

Too, as the economic and political effects of globalization increase, the definition, prosecution, and attention to victimless crimes may sociologically change. Enforcing morality (e.g. prostitution and gambling), for instance, or black market goods and services may remain technically against the law, but may become so low a priority due to more serious matters. Indeed, international agencies are now taking the approach to crimes like illicit drugs of focusing on the suppliers who fail to pay taxes and thus hurt society, instead of the user. This also includes many of the underground financial crimes that have little societal or economic impact (Friedrichs, 2002). Drug use, specifically, is victimless because it is something the individual chooses to do, can do alone, and unless there is violence involved, does not harm another person. The user may be a victim of their own predilection or addiction, but they are cognizant of the harm and risk, just as someone who has too many drinks. The ancillary factors that surround drug use would go away, this view holds, if drug use was legalized. Further, the idea of morally telling someone else what they may or may not do to and with their bodies is outmoded (Stylianou, 2010).

Part 2 -- in the American justice system, there is an assumption that the punishment should fit the crime. One would expect a harsher penalty, for instance, for someone committing willful, premeditated murder than being caught smoking a marijuana cigarette.

Victimless Crime: Illegal Gun Possession
The categorization of crimes as victimless crimes has been present throughout the history of the legal systems and as times change, there are more crimes that come into being and are categorized as victimless crimes for instance the misuse of the internet among others. The victimless crimes are those crimes that do not have a direct or apparent target or victim and there is no direct pain inflicted or injury sustained in the crime. In most instances, the victimless crimes have been viewed as acts of consent between adults like sodomy, prostitution, gaming among others where there are no complainants and no harm is sustained in the process of such activities (Ward D.S., 2003).

Illegal purchase and possession as well as carrying of firearms are not usually listed as victimless crimes though technically they can be said to be victimless crimes in most states. When an individual…...

mla

Reference

Ward D.S., (2003). Victimless Crimes. Retrieved July 6, 2015 from  http://www.halexandria.org/dward267.htm

Police Studies)
Community-Oriented Policing and Victimless Crime:

Street-Level Drug Trafficking

The high rates of individuals who are arrested, on probation, incarcerated, or on parole throughout our nation have led some critical criminologists to advocate for the decriminalization of so-called victimless crimes. Victimless crimes include nonviolent crime such as gambling, prostitution, and illegal drug possession and drug sales. Although these activities may appear consensual or self-inflicted at first glance, this conduct creates victims indirectly because it presents larger threats to overall community security. The most pressing threats arise from drug use and trafficking, as these behaviors are a catalyst to gang activity, intimidation of law-abiding citizens, robberies, assaults, murders, and other forms of violence and community degredation. Indeed, drug users are disproportionately represented among the most active and dangerous offenders, and violence associated with the trade easily spreads to the general population (Moore & Kleiman). The question for law enforcement then is, what…...

mla

References

Currie, E. (1998). Crime and Punishment in America. New York: Henry Holt & Co. 176-184.

Moore, M.H. & Kleiman, Mark A.R. (1989). The Police and Drugs. Perspectives on Policing,

11. National Institute of Justice, U.S. Dept. Of Justice, Office of Justice Programs.

Zimmer, L. (1990). Proactive Policing Against Street-Level Drug Trafficking. American Journal of Police, 9(1), 43-74.

Prostitution is sex between two willing adults and one of the adults pays the other adult for that sex.
While it is illegal to be the prostitute or the John it shouldn't be. Both are adults, that is not illegal, both are engaging willingly is sex, that isn't illegal, and one hands the other one money. If the John handed the prostitute money without getting sex, he would not be breaking the law. If the prostitute slept with one man, called him her boyfriend and the only thing he asked is that she maintain her figure and be available for Friday night visits, and in exchange he paid all of her bills it would not be illegal. But if that same woman decides to sleep with a dozen men a month and let them each contribute to her bill fund that makes her a criminal. The bottom line is one…...

mla

References

Eggen, Dan (2003) Major Crimes Rose Slightly, FBI Reports; Incidents Up in Suburbs, Down in Cities. The Washington Post

Marshall, Gordon (1998) victimless crime

Dictionary of Sociology

Walker, Bruce (2002) Reparations, Moral Crimes, and Real Justice (accessed 7-30-06)

Dark figure of crime is a term employed by criminologists and sociologists to describe the amount of unreported or undiscovered crime (Maguire & Reiner, 2007, p. 129). The notion of a dark figure undetected by standard crime reporting system casts doubt on the reliability of these systems. It also raises questions about the true magnitude of criminal activity in the United States.
The main source of crime data in the U.S. is the Uniform Crime Database, which is operated by the Federal ureau of Investigation. The UCR records crimes which are identified through the observation of a law-enforcement officer or reported by a victim or witness to law enforcement authorities. The UCR is not an exhaustive source of crime data because many crimes are neither observed by law enforcement officials nor reported by victims or witnesses.

There are two sources of crime data in the U.S. that try to ascertain the dark…...

mla

Bibliography

Lynch, J.P. & Addington, L.A. (2007). Understanding crime statistics: revisiting the divergence of the NCVS and UCR

Maguire, M., Morgan, R., & Reiner, R. (2007). The Oxford handbook of criminology. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Lewis, D.A., & Salem, G. (1986). Fear of crime: Incivility and the production of a social problem. New Brunswick, U.S.A: Transaction Books.

Lilly, R.J., Cullen, F.T., & Ball, R.A. (2007). Criminological theory: context and consequences

Dark Figure of Crime
The amount of crime in society gets known when it is reported to the police, through public response to victim surveys and studies of offenders who admit committing crime, and when transmitted to other agencies, such as hospital accident wards, battered women's refuge centers and similar ones (Young 2001). Other than these, the amount of crime committed is unknown. That unknown volume (of crime) that does not get reported, thus not registered, in criminal statistics, constitutes the dark figure of crime.

Statistician Adolphe Quetelet of the 1830s recognized this problem and modern statisticians do, too. All current methods of collecting crime incidence still have a dark figure. Victimization surveys, like the ritish Crime Survey (CS) and the National Crime Survey (NCS) are more accurate (Young). In 2000, CS estimated that the dark figure, or the actual extent of crime, was 4 1/2 more than what was recorded, or…...

mla

Bibliography

Dougherty, J. (2000) Britain, Australia Top U.S. In Violent Crime. World Net Daily. http://power.consumercide.com/aust-uk-us-crimefigs.html

George, M. (2002) Tackling Crimes: Drug Links. BBC News Online. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/uk/2253559.shtm

Kury, H. (2000) Concerning the Dark Figure of Crime in Eastern Europe. Max-Planck Institute. http://www.asc41/www/2000/absdm005.htm

Mason, T. (1991) Official Statistics and the Dark Figure. Lecture 2, p 196. Social Trends. HMSO: Central Statistical Office. http://peso-click-internet.fr/tmason/WebPages/Deviance/Deviance2.htm

Drug Crime
Does research evidence suggest that current policies on drugs and crime are still appropriate?

While "tough" policies designed to curb drug use and distribution are attractive politically, and look good on paper, research shows that such policies are no longer appropriate. Instead of responding to drug use as a public health problem, governments like that of the United States and the United Kingdom still regards criminalization as "the sine qua non-of responsible policy-making," (Downes and Morgan, 2007, p. 212). Unfortunately, the criminalization approach happens to also be irresponsible policy making based on emotion rather than fact. Governments with criminalization policies like the United States and Great Britain show a disturbing "state of denial" about the way criminalization creates and enhances organized crime, and may have even exacerbated some types of substance abuse (Downes and Morgan, 2007, p. 212).

Drug use patterns have also changed dramatically, requiring an intelligent shift in public…...

mla

References

Downes, D. And Morgan, R. (1992, 1997, 2002, and 2007) in M. Maguire, M. Morgan and R. Reiner (eds) The Oxford Handbook of Criminology. Oxford: Clarendon Press.

South, N. (2007) 'Drugs, Alcohol and Crime' in M. Maguire, R. Morgan, and R. Reiner (eds) The Oxford Handbook of Criminology (4th edn). Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Organized Crime: A Contested Concept
The presence of organized crime in modern society is not as a cut and dry concept as most people would intuitively think. Take for example the existence of prostitution in virtually every society that has existed throughout the course of humanity. Although it is clear that this practice falls outside the realm of what is considered to be acceptable by the majority, many of the practitioners of this trade are actually grateful that they have the opportunity, the clients are obviously satisfied or else the demand for such services would not exist in the first place, and there is, in most cases, no one that is actually harmed in the process (at least directly). Therefore, whether organized or not, where does the actual criminality for such practices come into play? Is it because some people and/or groups believe it fall outside their limits of moral acceptability?…...

" (Illinois)
If one wants to verify the dangers of gambling one only needs to look at the statistics stating Las Vegas has one of the highest crime rates in the nation. People are desperate to get their win, they have lost everything and still believe that magic hand or slot is right around the corner and resort to robbing, stealing, fraud and other means to obtain gambling funds (Nauman, 2006).

Gambling is illegal in most areas of the nation. Law enforcement is charged with arresting those that break the law. In states across the nation gambling rings have been broken up and slot machines, video poker machines and roulette tables have been seized. The place for law enforcement with regard to gambling is to crack down on it and not turn a blind eye when they are aware that is going on. The children who do not have food or clothing…...

mla

References

Villa, Rod L. (2000) Corruption of police blamed on gambling.(Main News)

Manila Bulletin

____(2000) INTERNET GAMBLING:ROBERT J. MINNIX

Congressional Testimony

I maintain that all living things share an understanding that actions have consequence. I believe that even complex underlying psychological and sociological issues can be circumvented by directly addressing such most fundamental knowledge.
As for deterrence, I believe that the retributive system can in itself serve as a future deterrent, even if it does not do so intentionally. As mentioned, Kant held that any criminal activity is not only a crime against society, but a crime against the criminal him- or herself, since the criminal will suffer for these crimes, even as the victims of the crimes have suffered. Hence, there are no beneficiaries in the system and he deterrent is the threat of punishment itself.

As for rehabilitation programs, these have been notoriously ineffective, regardless of millions upon billions of dollars spent on the research and implementation involved. Even research into the underlying issues surrounding criminal activity has not served…...

Based on statistics, nearly one million eighth graders admit getting drunk and another 1.2 million twelfth graders are considered binge drinkers. Heroin use by young adults has doubled from 1991 to 1996 and even teenage compulsive gambling is on the rise (http://www.einstein.edu/e3front.dll?durki=8576,2004).

Youth Gangs and Violence - The Starting Point

It should be noted that violence started from the family affecting the whole society. hat an individual has for a family, what can be seen in the society, what is seen in the environment are all clear reflections of the kind of people a certain society is bringing up - whether it is a deviance to the society or not.

Now, pertaining to the crimes and how the government solved it, it must be remembered that the laws are already there, it is already being maintained by the concerned officials and followed the U.S. citizen. But there are still some other aspects that…...

mla

Works Cited

Capital punishment." 2004 [online] Duhaime.org.  http://www.duhaime.org/dictionary/dict-c.htm .

Capital Punishment: Pros." 1998 [online]

http://www.*****/essays/legal/870.shtml

Cerf, Vinton G. Computer Networking: Global Infrastructure for the 21st Century. 1997. February 21, 2004.  http://www.cs.washington.edu/homes/lazowska/cra/networks.html

shame in teenage sextual relations," Nina Funnell outlines a conceptual criticism of the approach taken by the Commonwealth on matters relating to the laws governing various sex crimes. According to Funnel (2011), there are fundamental problems with the enforcement of certain sex crime laws against minors because they were obviously drafted and enacted mainly to protect minors and not to punish their sexual behaviour. In that regard, Funnell (2011) focuses especially on the issue of the prosecution of teenagers who transmit sexualised photographs of themselves to others as violators of child pornography laws even though those crimes are, essentially, victimless crimes. The author points out that in addition to the nonsensical application of those laws to the class of persons they were originally intended to protect rather than punish, the Commonwealth has exhibited a simultaneous lackadaisical approach to prosecuting sex crimes involving bona fide victims and adult perpetrators, such…...

mla

References

Funnel, N. (2011) There's No Shame in Teenage Sextual Relations, Sydney Morning Herald, 10 September.

Gerrig, R. And P. Zimbardo. (2008). Psychology and Life. Princeton, NJ: Pearson.

Hinds, L. And K. Daly (2001) The War on Sex Offenders: Community Notification in Perspective, ANZ Journal of Criminology, 34(3), 256-276. DOI: 10.1177/000486580103400304

McLoughlin, C. And J. Burgess (2010) Texting, Sexting and Social Networking Among Australian Youth and the Need for Cyber Safety Education, paper available through Australian Catholic University at  http://www.aare.edu.au

Whereas judicial decisions are more likely to concern substantive matters of law and definitions of legal concepts, legislative adjustments generally reflect social consensus, particularly over large spans of time. Admittedly, political access and the relative ability of specific individuals, communities, and entities to generate legislative changes beneficial to them are not, in any sense, equal when viewed from the microcosmic perspective. Nevertheless, over time, changes in the American criminal justice are largely functions of widely-shared societal concerns and social values in the United States.
In recent years, the American criminal justice system has changed in several significant respects: it has become increasingly federalized; it seen a dramatic increase in the privatization of criminal justice facilities; and it has become ever-more effective by virtue of its technological evolution. Likewise, concepts and principles of criminal reform have continually undergone cyclical changes, due in part to unanticipated flaws in prior approaches or simply…...