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PAPER#1 RANDAL
The most important Constitutional Amendments that affect the criminal justice system are the Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments (Criminal Amendments, 2021). The amendments are positive for the people in the United States. The entirety of the criminal justice system is based on people having fair treatment, innocent until proven guilty and equal treatment from an overbearing government. The listed amendments help to ensure those rights.
The Fourth and Fourteenth Amendment protects the people from unreasonable searches and seizures. They protect the people from an overbearing government and ensure privacy in their homes, property and person. The Fifth Amendment grants due process of the law, keeps an individual from double jeopardy, grants freedom from self-incrimination, property can not be taken away without just compensation and serious crimes go before a grand jury. The Sixth Amendment ensures a speedy and public trial, the accused may face witnesses and the accused must be informed of their charges. The Sixth Amendment makes sure the defendant is going through a fair trial and is not under scrutiny for an unreasonable amount of time. The Eighth Amendment makes sure there is no excessive bail, fines or cruel and unusual punishment for the people (National Archives and Records Administration, 2020). Specific inherent standards are set for the people of the United States.
In the end, the Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments are positive for the people of the United States. They ensure the people are granted fundamental rights, even when accused of a crime or involved in the criminal justice system.
References
Criminal Amendments in the Bill of Rights. Michigan Criminal Defense Lawyers. (2021). Retrieved October 25, 2021, from https://www.grabellaw.com/criminal-amendments-in-the-bill-of-rights.html.
National Archives and Records Administration. (2020). The Bill of Rights: What Does it Say? National Archives and Records Administration. Retrieved October 25, 2021, from https://www.archives.gov/founding-docs/bill-of-rights/what-does-it-say.
I hear as I read the poem.
Paper#2 SPARKS;
The amendments that I think affect the criminal justice system the most is the fourth and fifth amendment. There are also many more amendments that are affected but think these two are important because I see them everyday I work. Both of these amendments are important in criminal justice and I fully understand the reasoning behind. Me as a citizen I would not want any officer or cilizan to have access into my property without a valid reason and I understand some people self incriminate themselves.
The fourth amendment is stated by Cornell Law School as, “The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized” (2017). As a law enforcement officer the fourth amendment protects citizens that I interact with from beginning a search with me having probable cause to do so. Sometimes this makes it hard when I know someone is concealing something in their car, but I have to let them go because I do not have probable cause to search or any reason to prolong the stop to ask about drug related stuff.
The fifth amendment is explain by National Constitution Center as, “No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of War or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offence to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation” (2021). This amendment affects criminal justice because it prevents a citizen from incriminating themselves on my drug traffic stop. If I locate drugs on a traffic stop I then read them their rights so it helps me not get my case dismissed.
Legal Information Institute. (n.d.). Fourth amendment. Legal Information Institute. Retrieved October 25, 2021, from https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/fourth_amendment.
Interactive constitution: The national constitution center. Interactive Constitution | The National Constitution Center. (n.d.). Retrieved October 25, 2021, from https://constitutioncenter.org/interactive-constitution.
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Paper#3 JARREN
Capital punishment is the execution of a defendant who has committed and is convicted of capital crimes (Mallicoat, 2021). Capital crimes include murder, treason, or terrorism, although capital crimes vary depending on the jurisdiction (Mallicoat, 2021). I fully agree with the death penalty and capital punishment when a defendant is convicted of murder, especially when the murder involves a serial killer or has murdered a child. When I take my stance and back capital punishment, a few things come to mind. The person(s) who have been affected by the defendant and the family influenced, and in this case, I am talking about murder. Murder is the only crime where I see capital punishment as fair punishment. The thought of the pain the victim went through and the pain the family will go through forever is enough for me to see capital punishment as fit. As far as anything outside the realm of murder, I think it is fit to throw the defendant in jail and solitary confinement for the rest of their lives.
On the other side of the spectrum, I can see why many see capital punishment as too extreme. Some non-supporters point to the fifth amendment and the "deprivation of life" (Cosentino, 2020 p. 5). Many people, including myself, may see the death penalty as an easy way out for certain criminals, and often, criminals see that as a gift rather than a death sentence (Consentino, 2020). I can see the Church's viewpoint where they believe it is not man's responsibility or decision to take life, but God's. I can relate to this to an extent as a Christian, but everybody has some revenge feeling in their hearts. There are, without doubt, flaws in the system like those that are wrongly convicted to death, and how will we ever know if they were guilty or not. However, there are some without a doubt and with confession who have committed heinous crimes and deserve capital punishment.
References
Cosentino, A. (2020). The Mere Extinguishment of [Human] Life. International Social Science Review, 96(4), 1–46.https://web.s.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=4&sid=c21156e4-8d7d-410e-a5c3-b47309094066%40redis
Mallicoat, S. L. (2021). Capital punishment. Salem Press Encyclopedia.https://eds.a.ebscohost.com/eds/detail/detail?vid=3&sid=b8759225-2645-49f3-a29a-df1265d87eea%40sdc-v-sessmgr02&bdata=JkF1dGhUeXBlPWlwLHNzbyZzaXRlPWVkcy1saXZlJnNjb3BlPXNpdGU%3d#AN=95342752&db=ers
Paper#4 COURTNEY;
Working in law enforcement over the past six years, I always believed in capital punishment. It was not until completing research on the topic for this discussion that I changed my position. Well, maybe not changed, but I am definitely questioning it. With that being said, I was watching a Youtube video in which creator really made clear for me the difference between capital punishment and execution. I suppose I have always been in favor of execution. This is because I support the idea that as a society, we should not have to financially take care of these menaces to society through tax dollars. As the creator of this video goes on to explain, by doing so they actually continue to be a burden to society financially (Coffee Talk, 2018). I have also been a true believer in retributive justice, the idea that “offenders deserve to be punished for their blameworthy acts and that no other justification is needed” (Acker, 2014). If a person was found guilty and had exhausted all of their appeals, I believed they should be held accountable and capital punishment incapacitates them from committing other heinous acts. I also believed, like many others, that capital punishment serves a deterrent for future criminals. My position has been altered now though through even more research. According to Acker, research has yielded costs associated with the alternative form of punishment known as life without parole. On average a state spends $1.13 million per person in incarceration costs alone. By the time execution is complete though, the cost exceeds that of incarceration at approximately $3 million. In opposition, some say that capital punishment is necessary in order to keep our country from being overran with criminals. Others believe it is a moral and ethical issue. Under this idea, they believe that every human being as the right to life and that no one has the right to take that life. Even if their actions include violent crimes like rape and murder.
I will conclude with this, like the creator of the aforementioned Youtube video, I believe in execution, but I do not believe in capital punishment. This is simply because we do not live in a society free of mistakes. There are tons of incarcerated people today who were wrongfully convicted. As we have seen, our legal system is flawed and there are people with official capacities who partake in ethical misconduct. Some decisions to execute are made based on political differences or out of revenge, or even as a scapegoat (Coffee Talk, 2018). Therefore, I believe “any supporter of the purgative rationale for capital punishment should feel uneasy about the possibility of the purgative rationale for capital punishment should feel uneasy about the possibility of executions of people who are innocent in either sense” (Kramer, 2011).
References
Coffee Talk. (2018, January 24). THE PROS AND CONS OF CAPITAL PUNISHMENT. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-10WZVd-IKU
Acker, J. R. (2014). Questioning Capital Punishment: Law, Policy, and Practice. Routledge.
Kramer, M. H. (2011). The Ethics of Capital Punishment: A Philosophical Investigation of Evil and Its Consequences. OUP Oxford.
Paper#5 MAGGIE;
Reflecting on all the essays, short stories, and poems that I have read throughout this course, I would label my favorite as “I Ask My Mother to Sing” by Li-Young Lee. While I have no connection to the China-set imagery mentioned in most of this poem, I can relate to the overall impact of it and the message that can be seen in its ending. This poem intends to evoke emotions through elements of nostalgia, which are explored through the form of a song. This poem is not simply about the speaker asking his/her mother to sing a song, but rather a song that has a sentimental value to the child, mother, and grandmother in this poem. The speaker is sure to mention in lines 3-4 that the father would play his accordion while swaying with the tune if he was still alive (Lee, 1986/2016). This information was not completely necessary to the rest of the poem. However, because the speaker chose to include it anyway, it leads me to believe that this poem is also more about experiencing and grieving a deep loss, as well as the bittersweet emotions one can feel when reminiscing memories through a song or any other method. The final two lines of the poem also demonstrate this theme, as they mention that the two women continue the song, even though they both began to cry (13-14) (Lee, 1986/2016). These lines relate to a bigger picture in life: many people expect others to carry on and work through the difficulties of dealing with a deep loss or death of a loved one. This is where I relate most to the poem. My grandpa, who I was immensely close to, passed away in 2014, and it was the most devastating experience of my life. This loss deeply affected my emotional, mental, and physical well-being, as I developed depression and anxiety disorders following his death. The intensity of those disorders also caused me to develop a chronic migraine condition. In addition to migraines, blood pressure, digestive regulation, and weight are commonly affected by depression and anxiety disorders (Conway et al., 2003). I experienced issues with all those aspects and became a shell of a person during the first year after his passing. Due to these health issues and my inability to focus, it felt impossible to continue my schoolwork, yet I was expected to bounce back to normal functionality after only a week. My threshold for dealing with the situation was much lower than most people thought it should have been. However, certain circumstances and events will affect everyone differently. Therefore, the ability to work through will be different for each person.
A poem that can somewhat be compared to Lee’s “I Ask My Mother to Sing” is Langston Hughes’s “I, Too [Sing America]”. While various aspects of the linguistics, tones, and overall themes are vastly different between these two poems, similarities can be seen in that both poems have underlying messages that deal with bigger life issues. “I Ask My Mother to Sing” grapples with themes about handling struggles relating to loss and death. Similarly, “I, Too [Sing America]” deals with themes about struggles, but the difference is that Hughes’s poem has the message of dealing with and fighting against racism and segregation. This racism is indicated in lines 3-5, which read, “I am the darker brother. They send me to eat in the kitchen when company comes” (Hughes, 1926/2016). This poem’s message is also one I can relate to, as I have been called racial slurs due to my Hispanic heritage.
Another poem that could be compared to “I Ask My Mother to Sing” is “Wild Nights–Wild Nights” by Emily Dickinson. These two poems have a couple of similarities. One of their shared qualities is that they both have tones that intend for certain emotions to be evoked from the reader. Where Lee’s poem evokes nostalgia and bittersweet emotions, Dickinson’s poem evokes feelings of loneliness and longing for a loved one. Another similarity between them is that both poems use their final two lines to express the intended emotions. Dickinson’s final lines read, “Might I but moor–Tonight– in Thee”, which demonstrates the yearning for the loved one (11-12) (Dickinson, 1861/2016). Lee’s poem concludes with, “Both women have begun to cry. But neither stops her song”, which displays the emotions connected to the late father mentioned in line 3 (13-14) (Lee, 1986/2016). As mentioned in a previous discussion, I am also able to relate to the emotions conveyed in Dickinson’s poem. Part of my motivation behind choosing these three poems comes from my ability to relate to various elements of each.
References
Conway, K. P., Härter, M. C., & Merikangas, K. R. (2003). Associations Between Anxiety Disorders and Physical Illness. European Archives of Psychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00406-003-0449-y
Dickinson, E. (2016). Wild nights–wild nights. In S. Barnet, W. Burto, W. Cain, & C. Nixon (Eds.), Literature for composition, (11th ed., pp. 766-783). Savant Learning Systems. (Original work published 1861). https://betheluniversityonline.net/cps360/
Hughes, L. (2016). I, too [sing America]. In S. Barnet, W. Burto, W. Cain, & C. Nixon (Eds.), Literature for composition, (11th ed., pp. 359-360). Savant Learning Systems. (Original work published 1926). https://betheluniversityonline.net/cps360/
Lee, L. (2016). I ask my mother to sing. In S. Barnet, W. Burto, W. Cain, & C. Nixon (Eds.), Literature for composition, (11th ed., pp. 187-190). Savant Learning Systems. (Original work published 1986). https://betheluniversityonline.net/cps360
Paper#6 GIBSON
I have enjoyed reading many of the past units essays, short stories, and poems, although one of my favorite works is the poem "Spellbound" by Emily Bronte. I like the poem because it is easy yet complex for readers to interpret the speaker's spell. In my opinion, the spell symbolized the speaker's fear of death by the poem's figurative language and the poet's background (Barnet et al., 2016).
"The Story of an Hour" by Kate Chopin presents similar yet different ideas and styles to "Spellbound." For instance, Louise Mallard, the main character in "The Story of an Hour," felt trapped inside her marriage until her husband died (Chopin, 1984). The speaker in "Spellbound," which I assume is a woman, or Emily Brontë herself, described being trapped by a "spell" or illness (Brontë, 1837, p. 189). Both writers, nevertheless, used repetition within their works to emphasize the meaning or theme—for example, Ms. Mallard repeated the word "open" throughout the story to express her newfound freedom (Chopin, 1984). The speaker in the poem reiterated "cannot" to emphasize her inability to escape from the spell (Brontë, 1837, p. 189). Moreover, Louise Mallard, unlike the speaker, had different views and experiences on death. Mrs. Mallard was excited about her husband's death since she now had independence, while the speaker in "Spellbound" is afraid of death.
"The Story of an Hour" and "A Rose for Emily" share similar meanings and figurative language. In "A Rose for Emily" by William Faulkner, Emily Grierson, the main character, is stuck in the past and never had a lover due to her father. When she eventually meets a modernist man Homer Barron who is "not a marrying man," she kills him (Faulkner, 1930, p. 454). The incident of her dead lover symbolizes what arises if someone dwells on the past, which is a theme that Faulkner often chose to convey (William Faulkner, 2007). Kate Chopin's story "The Story of an Hour" relates a similar theme. After dreaming for years, Mrs. Mallard returns to reality to realize love cannot compensate for a lack of self-realization (Larrabee, 2003). Both authors' themes depict the effects of men controlling or oppressing women using lots of imagery and symbolism throughout the stories.
References
Barnet, S., Burto, W., Cain, W., & Nixon, C. (2016). Literature for Composition (11th Edition). Pearson Education (US). https://savantlearningsystems.vitalsource.com/books/9780134101743
Brontë, E. (1837). "Spellbound." Retrieved October 27, 2021, from https://savantlearningsystems.vitalsource.com/#/books/9780134101743/.
Chopin, K. (1984). "The Story of an Hour." Retrieved October 27, 2021, from
https://savantlearningsystems.vitalsource.com/#/books/9780134101743/.
Faulkner, W. (1930). "A Rose for Emily." Retrieved October 27, 2021, from https://savantlearningsystems.vitalsource.com/#/books/9780134101743/.
Larrabee, D. (2003). Chopin, Kate 1850-1904. In J. Parini (Ed.), American Writers, Retrospective Supplement 2 (pp. 57-74). Charles Scribner's Sons. https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/CX1380300013/LitRC?u=tel_a_bethelc&sid=bookmark-LitRC&xid=1eecc11e
William Faulkner. (2007). In Gale Literature: Contemporary Authors. Gale. https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/H1000030817/LitRC?u=tel_a_bethelc&sid=bookmark-LitRC&xid=b5369e7f