Penal system in the United States

Slavery was abolished in the United States in 1865. In 1981, over a hundred years later, Mauritania became the last country in the world to abolish slavery. Yet despite the abolishment of slavery, modern day slavery is still running strong and is worth over 150 billion dollars annually. Human trafficking is a breach on basic human rights and the exploitation of these people needs to stop. There are people leading the fight on this travesty, both domestically and internationally, and they are…

The practice of mass incarceration in the state prison system is an epidemic that stretches far beyond the stringent sentencing guides that are imposed by the state legislatures. This crisis is one that is attributed throughout all levels of the government. As a result, America has suffered both economically and socially because of mass incarceration. The United States prison population has more than quadrupled due to harsher penalties for non-violent offenses (Mass Incarceration in the USA).…

The state will imprison but also treat the defendant for their mental illness if they were declared “guilty but mentally ill”. There is an approval of the defense because the mentally ill defendant couldn’t understand that the criminal act they were committing…

stand trial? Competency to stand trial (CST) came about to light in the U.S. Supreme Court case Dusky v. United State which established that in order for a defendant to be tried that they have must have sufficient present ability to consult with their lawyer with a reasonable degree of rational understanding and factual understanding of the proceedings against him (Dusky v. United States, 1960). Kruh and Grisso (2009) provide analysis of some of the terms that were used in the Dusky test: •…

The second essay that I have chosen to write about is #2 which states: "Your sister, the mother of three first-grade students, has been found brutally murdered. Additional investigation reveals that all four family members were raped before they were burned alive. What do you think the "CORRECT PUNISHMENT" of the offender should be, and why?" "It is often said that American capital punishment fulfill no purposes, serves no functions, and possesses no coherent rationale...David Garland…

Substance abuse has varies effects on an individual and their surroundings especially society as a whole. The government has spent more than 200 billion dollars annually in the United States alone in their approach to decrease substance abuse. The expenditures can be accounted for the improvement of abuse, unemployment, criminal activity, illnesses, homelessness and domestic violence. Data has shown that drug abuse is the result of as many as four demises and is the effects of negative social…

The new President after winning ratified that dollarization will continue, that it will not negotiate the FTA with the United States, and that it profundizaría the integration with Mercosur. But no doubt that other two promises have highlighted more during his administration: the renegotiation of external debt and the call for a constituent Assembly. This last put it in line…

programs are offered in certain states for incarcerated mothers; however, certain aspects of the overall prison regime are incompatible with some of the issues which women face while in custody (Hanser & Gomila, 2015). Pregnant inmates require particular resources and attention such as dieting programs; physical fitness, clothing and medical care (Clarke & Simon, 2013). The aforementioned programs needed by pregnant inmates are not always readily available at most U.S. penal institutions for…

In a recent opinion editorial, Kari Hong, an assistant professor of law at Boston College and a former criminal defense attorney, argues that instead of lethal injection the United States should us a firing squad as the new way of being put to death. In her article “Bring back the Firing Squad”, she explains that although she is pro-death penalty she is not pro lethal injection. In her opinion a firing squad is more humane than “death cocktails” (Hong). Hong briefly suggest that’s a firing squad…

In order to increase our understanding of justice in the United States, we can look at how some individual cities contribute to creating their own construction of justice. One of the major distinctions between major cities is the way the police collaborates with their community, for instance the difference between Richmond, California and Baltimore, Maryland. Richmond’s officers have all been mandated to attend community meetings or discussions, while off-duty and when they are on-duty, they…