Criminal Justice

· Murder – Due process perspective make more sense for murder than the others because like the book says DNA evidence today has exonerated many people, and many times one of the reasons that were convicted in the first place was because they had a court appointed attorney who did not know as much as a private counsel would. I have also heard that a lot of the times court appointed counsels do not get paid much money so therefore they are not as invested in the accused case as much as a private counsel would. The equal justice perspective plays a part in the crime of murder as well because it is not fair that one person is able to afford private legal counsel whereas another person is not. To make the justice system truly standardized and equal across the board then every single person should have access and the means to afford private legal counsel even if the government has to provide the money for the private counsel. Murders if justifiably labeled as such should be appointed private counsel by the government and they should be punished according to how every other murderer before them has been punished whether gay, straight, rich, poor, or black and/or white.

· Sex Crimes & Child Abuse – I chose crime perspective for these two because most of society and I view these crimes as the worst of the worst and therefore should be treated as such. These crimes definitely fit the criteria of investigating them, apprehending the suspects, and punishing the guilty. Due process is and should be in order when investigating these crimes because too many times the justice system falsely accuses and makes mistakes. Also, I do believe in a little nonintervention because when it comes to sex crimes many times the guy is around 18 and the girl is around 16 or 17. A guy will be on the sex offender list for life because the parents of the girl didn’t like him and I feel that it is unfair. In those cases age really nothing but a number because I feel no one is an adult until they are 21 which I would make equal across the judicial system. That way child abuse, sex crimes such as sex trafficking and pornography can all be handled in one file swoop.

· Drug Policies – The nonintervention perspective best fits the “War on drugs” because lately the perception is that the latest drug of choice is molly and the ever so popular marijuana, which is on its way to being legalized everywhere have their own stigma attached to them. From what I have heard molly is horrible but I believe that no one should be punished for the rest of their life for the stupid mistakes that they make. Decriminalize and deinstitutionalize the war on most drugs whenever possible.

· Prostitution & Underage drinking – Rehabilitation and Restorative perspective best fits these to crimes because prostitution is more of society’s issue which means it is a community-level problem that should be dealt with at that level. When I think of prostitution I think of the many reason why a guy or girl would want to do that in the first place (money to feed kids or survive themselves, wanting to escape family home issues). Both of these can be solve with better after school programs/existing school programs or better shelters or government programs for single mothers which is a whole other issue in itself. It is the same for underage drinking which should be handled in the home first in then the community can take control if it gets out of hand. I grew up in the country where my uncle who owned a few clubs let be drink before I even turn 18 and I actually don’t really like alcohol and if I do drink its sociably. Offenders should be reintegrated into society with better government and family programs because issues really do start in the home. Programs help treat the root situation instead of punishing which only makes it more likely that the crime will be repeated.

· Speeding – Restorative perspective is the best because I have a long history of speeding; so much so that I have gotten a speeding ticket almost every year since I have had a license. I am definitely glad that I have been reintegrated back into society every single time and my number one goal is to not get a speeding ticket this year because I plan on leaving for basic training in June/July and my recruiter heavily suggested that it is time for me to slow down. A strategy on dealing with this is definitely having your ticket reduce is you attend driving school and that way your record will be clean in a few years and your license will not stay suspended.