Summary Of The Death Sentence In Criminal Cases

In 1998, Norman Grim was convicted of murder in the Circuit Court of the First Judicial Circuit, in and for Santa Rosa County. Grim v. State, 841 So.2d 455 (Fla. 2003). At the conclusion of the penalty phase, the jury returned a unanimous generalized advisory recommendation to impose the death penalty. The court, not the jury, then made the findings of fact required to impose a sentence of death under Florida law. The court, not the jury, found beyond a reasonable doubt that those aggravating factors were “sufficient” to impose the death penalty, and that the aggravators were not outweighed by the mitigation. Based upon this fact-finding, the court sentenced Petitioner to death.

Throughout this whole term we have learned numerous roles of the criminal justice profession. How on a macro level law enforcement has made points to serve and protect, all the way down to the micro level of society. Men and women risk their lives every day to make sure that the law is obeyed, and their community is still held together. In the following paper you will see how the criminal justice profession helps on an individual and societal level. But what does each level mean you may ask, well let’s break it down a little. Individual need is person to person with the law, where societal is in the community of the law enforcement. The first individual need are assaults in and around bars. "The proliferation of bars in many communities

I once believed the police and fire departments, court, correction, and social services to be independent entities that provided communities with individual services that sometimes complimented one another by the basic interchanging of information and services. Through this module, I have learned these entities are a very complex and although independent rely on inter-connectivity and communication comprise the criminal justice system. These entities share a common goal to uphold the law and maintain justice in our society (Silver, S. 2011. CJ in the USA an introduction to Criminal Justice. (1st ed., p. 1). The criminal justice system is divided into four major pillars. Within the pillars many divers jobs and skill sets come together to achieve this goal (Johnson, K. (2010). Jobs in criminal justice. Oceanside: Channel Custom Publishing, Oceanside,CA. Available from http://ct2learn.com/els/index.php/member-home/cj/imods/jobs-cj/imod/).

Criminal justice practitioners are necessary for a civilized society. Without those who form boundaries to our freedom, and the ones that reinforce those laws, our community would be chaos. Some of the main social issues our society faces are drug abuse, gang violence, child abuse, and terrorism. The criminal justice practitioners face these types of issues daily. These professionals must act on the morals and laws stated by society rather than their own opinions, sometimes facing hard decisions. The criminal justice field is always active and busy, dealing with countless amount of criminal activity throughout the country.

Those who believe that deterrence justifies the execution of certain offenders bear the burden of proving that the death penalty is a deterrent. The overwhelming conclusion from years of deterrence studies is that the death penalty is, at best, no more of a deterrent than a sentence of life in prison. The Ehrlich studies – which took

For the past decades capital punishment has been one of the most hotly contested political issues in America, but this debate is definitely a complicated one. Capital punishment is a legal, practical, philosophical, social, political, but also a moral question. The notion of deterrence has been at the very center of the practical debate over the question of capital punishment. Most of us assume that we execute murderers primarily because we

As the impending trial of Dzhokhar Tsarnev looms near, the constitutionality of the death penalty will once again come to the forefront of all legal and legislative discussion. Since the reinstatement of the federal death penalty in 1988 (while state executions were reinstated after Gregg v Georgia in 1978) only three individuals have been executed for violating federal law (“deathpenaltyinfo.org” 2014), but with multiple states still permitting the application of the death penalty in state related crime, this case could prove to play a pivotal role in the overall death penalty debate.

I was first given an introduction to the criminal justice profession growing up in the Bronx, New York. I watched crime shows with my grandmother, growing up. However, crime shows were not just entertainment for me; they were a reflection of the reality I saw around me every day. The prevalence of missing flyers and nightly news reports of crime underscored the profound impact the justice system has on society, particularly on marginalized communities like mine. I came to understand that the criminal justice system can either perpetuate or alleviate societal inequalities, and I was determined to be a force for positive change within it.

When someone is going through the death row appeal process the state pays for their legal fees. One district attorney, Stan Garnett, estimated that the death penalty prosecution of a single case, including the trial and appeals to date, has cost some $18 million (Cost of Death Penalty, 2013). Further, Defense Counsel, Lindy Frolich, testified that, while a regular first degree murder case costs her agency about $16,000 per year, per case for the defense attorneys and costs, a death penalty case costs about $400,000 per year, per case (Cost of Death Penalty, 2013). There are multiple state reports that have data resembling the exponential price increase of death row process being more than life in prison without parole from amnestyusa.org.

Today the United States of America is globally ranked nineteenth in the top one hundred countries today for their criminal justice systems. Our country's police,courts, and correction systems are one of the best in the world. Each one of these systems has special functions and parts in America’s criminal justice system.

Most individuals, when hearing the term “criminal justice” think of only the police force   “a group of police officers serving sectors of individuals to better the nation” (President's Commission on Law Enforcement and Administration of Justice, 1967, p. 7). Police officers are known to apprehend sinister criminals, to writing case reports, to handing out speeding tickets. Arguably one of the most important factors in the criminal justice system, the police force has characteristically received more attention within the past decade in the United States. With the initiation of the Obama administration, crime rate being at an all-time high, the war on terrorism and police brutality just to name a few situations, the police force has both flourished and seen phases of corruption. It is evident that the criminal-fighting force is necessary in order for society to function.

The death penalty has been a controversial topic among society for ages. An issue often brought up when discussing the legality of capital punishment is wrongful convictions. Advocates of the death penalty say that, while wrongful convictions are an issue, those few cases do not outweigh the need for lawful execution of felons who are, without a doubt, guilty. On the other hand, the opponents argue that the death penalty is wrong from both a legal and moral standpoint, an ineffective form of punishment, and should, ultimately, be outlawed. With both advocates and challengers constantly debating on this topic, the death penalty and wrongful convictions continue to be hot buttons issues for Americans and people throughout the world.

As a Justice Studies Major, attending San Jose State University, I’ve been exposed to a number issues that frame around law enforcement and social behavior. The issues vary and have prepared me for a variety of careers in federal, state, local criminal justice. As a soon to be graduate that will be receiving a Bachelor’s degree, I feel that I am walking away from this chapter of my life with a significant amount of knowledge. Throughout my academic success, I’ve gained great insight into the Criminal Justice field. Therefore, I will describe my experience at San Jose State University, and what I’ve learned as a justice studies major.

In this paper, the authors examine how the death penalty argument has changed in the last 25 years in the United States. They examine six specific issues: deterrence, incapacitation, caprice and bias, cost innocence and retribution; and how public opinion has change regarding these issues. They argue that social science research is changing the way Americans view the death penalty and suggest that Americans are moving toward an eventual abolition of the death penalty.

Four major issues in capital punishment are debated, most aspects of which were touched upon by Seton Hall’s panel discussion on the death penalty. The first issue stands as deterrence. A major purpose of criminal punishment is to conclude future criminal conduct. The deterrence theory suggests that a rational person will avoid criminal behavior if the severity of the punishment outweighs the benefits of the illegal conduct. It is believed that fear of death “deters” people from committing a crime. Most criminals would think twice before committing murder if they knew their own lives were at stake. When attached to certain crimes, the penalty of death exerts a positive moral influence, placing a stigma on certain crimes like manslaughter, which results in attitudes of horror to such acts.