WK3 Assignment: Providing Accountability to the Community

STUDENT REPLIES

STUDENT REPLY #1 Skeye Soll

Specific deterrence focuses on the individual committing the crimes and is punished for wrongdoing. General deterrence uses people who commit crimes as example to the rest of the population. They use it as a way to deter others from committing the same mistakes. (Bourassa, 2019) A significant non-violent crime in my area is possession. Possession and manufacturing of narcotics is a growing problem in not only my town but my state as a whole. It seems it’s a lot of the same people as well. To me that signifies our justice system here isn’t doing enough or employing enough punishment or resources to fix the problem. For the first conviction it’s a misdemeanor, including a fine or up to one year in jail. I have never seen this here. Second conviction, a slightly higher fine and one year in jail, or no fine and 2 years in prison, Third and subsequent convictions, another fine and up to 5 years in prison (Steiner, 2013). I think restorative justice approach can be effective, to those who are utilizing the drugs produced here. But to the ones making and distributing I don’t know. We have so many repeat offenders, so I don’t think there is much remorse for their crimes.

Reference

Bourassa, C. (2019). Deterrance Theory. In Salem Press encyclopedia.

Steiner, M. (2013, April 8). Possession of a controlled substance in Iowa. www.criminaldefenselawyer.com. Retrieved July 29, 2022, from https://www.criminaldefenselawyer.com/resources/criminal-defense/drug-charges/iowa-drug-possession-laws

STUDENT REPLY #2 Dominick Moreira

The difference between general and specific deterrence is that specific deterrence refers to directly experiencing punishment as well as punishment avoidance while specific deterrence relates to experiencing punishment and punishment avoidance indirectly through the punishment of others. Specific punishment is aimed at an individual and is not focused on all the parties involved when considering solutions.

A non-violent crime refers to drug, property, and public order offenses in which no individual is seen as a threat and no harm is ensued on a victim. An example of this would be being caught with the possession of an illegal drug such as cocaine. In Arizona, which is my state, if you are caught with under 9 grams of cocaine and are a first-time offender, you are required probation, regular drug screening, and the completion of drug related intervention. However, for second time offenders there is almost no chance of being placed in prison and can be sentenced from .5 years if it is a class 5 felony and up to 12.5 years if it is considered a class 2 felony. I personally don’t believe that these sanctions help deter crime. If someone is battling with a drug addiction to cocaine and is dependent on the substance, the first trip to court may not be the sufficient wakeup call they need to stay off of the substance. While I do believe the required rehabilitation is a good step to getting help, I think that there needs to be a real desire for change for an individual struggling with drug addiction and they need to be given the opportunity to want to make a real change. If they violate that probation, they are looking at years of prison time potentially.

I think a restorative justice approach to nonviolent drug offenders is a great approach to getting them the help they need. I think a conversation with the people indirectly affected by an individual's drug use such as their friends and family would do a lot to benefit their communities as a whole.

PLEASE RESPOND BACK TO THE 2 STUDENTS ABOVE WITH 150 TO 200 WORD COUNT USING OUTSIDE REFERENCES. ALSO MAKE SURE YOU SEPARATE EACH STUDENT REPLY AND PUT THEIR NAME BY EACH OF THE ASSIGNMENT SO I WILL KNOW THEM APART THANKS…...