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Example research essay topic: Three Strikes Law Criminal Justice System - 2,974 words

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My Court Session I had the opportunity to attend a court session recently. The court session was held at the criminal juvenile court. After this court session, I was able to contemplate with more knowledge not only on this particular court case, but on the juvenile criminal system at large. After the session, I was able to talk to the defense attorney, who helped me a lot in formulating my ideas and shaping my views on the juvenile criminal justice system. I will first talk about the session itself, to be followed by the critique of the session as well as the juvenile criminal justice system. The session started in a rather predictable way.

The charges were read, the witnesses testified and then the juvenile was given a chance to refute the allegations. The juvenile was not cross-examined heavily. Only a few questions were asked of her until she denied all involvement in the matter. At the beginning of the case, which took only about an hour, the case was announced and the charges were read. Someone from the State or County explained the incident and the first witness was called. The judge seemed to be reading a lot and he took a lot of notes.

He didnt make much eye contact with anyone. He seemed to be in his own little judicial world for a while. The juveniles attorney tried to ask the witnesses questions for clarification purposes. She only seemed to be upsetting the judge due to his body language and sighing.

For each witness, the attorney tried to make each witness state that he or she did not have a direct line of sight to the incident. The only real charge that stemmed from the incident was failure to signal. The juvenile was charged with failure to yield when she, on a bicycle, failed to signal for a turn and then swerved into oncoming traffic and was subsequently hit, by a car. The juvenile was committed to saying that she signaled, even though six witnesses reported otherwise. After being questioned for a couple minutes, nothing extensive, the juvenile said that she was not even involved.

At this point the judge took over and warned the juvenile what would happen if she perjured herself. He explained what perjury was and proceeded to ask her what really took place. The juvenile broke down emotionally and told the judge that she in fact had signaled properly. The judge asked her again and she stood up and screamed at him very disrespectfully, I wasnt even there. After a couple minutes of silence and looking through papers the judge told the juvenile to step down. He continued to look through papers and read more information.

He then asked the juveniles attorney, if the juveniles claim is what they were going with as a defense to the charges. The attorney said, Yes. He then notified the court that the juvenile was being charged with perjuring herself under testimony, due to the fact that in the evidence were police, EMT and hospital reports to show that the juvenile was directly involved in the incident. This part of the case was confusing. He said that she was being charged, but he did not revisit this during the proceeding. I am not sure if it would be a different case at a different time or what.

He asked both sides if they had anything else to present. Both denied and he rendered his decision on the case. The juvenile was given a year of probation and has to wait a certain amount of time (It was unclear due to the wording. ) before she can get her drivers license. The juvenile was only 13, so it stands to reason that she would wait a while either way. I did not figure that the court would have been so hard on her, but with the perjury issue I wasnt sure. The way that court works can be a little odd.

Sometimes it seems that the court is a cold uncaring entity and at other times it seems like the court can care for each individual. The Judge seemed to care about the juveniles emotional state and he did not want to see her go through anything that she did not deserve. He tried to rationalize to her, and help her see what actually could happen if she decided to lie. Instead she tried to lie and probably received a much stiffer penalty than she would have, if she had only told the truth. This was my first visit to a juvenile court.

I was shocked that, at first, the proceedings seemed to be somewhat relaxed. Then as the case progresses, it turns into a real court of law. I was unclear of what was happening with the prosecuting side, if there was even a prosecuting side. They seemed disorganized and no one knew who was in charge.

In many cases that I have witnessed I have seen a more professional presentation by the prosecution, and even in class we discussed this to some level. I think that sometimes the system gets a bit relaxed to what criminal actions happen everyday. People tend to get too comfortable in their job and tend not to take it seriously. I believe that the courts need to take their jobs seriously and they need to do the best job possible. I think that it speaks highly for the state of our country, when the courts perform in an unprofessional manner. To me, it says that we are just too comfortable in our everyday life and we need to be more focused on our jobs.

Another thought that came to my mind was that the juvenile criminal system itself is not efficient enough. After talking to the defense attorney, I got more ideas from her on that subject. How should a juvenile criminal be prosecuted? That is the question at hand.

Right now most juvenile crime cases are currently handled by the juvenile court system. If given permission, juveniles can be tried as adults, but current laws prohibit juveniles from being housed with adult criminals. So most juveniles convicted as adults are housed in juvenile facility until they reach the age of 18. After the completion of informal probation, juveniles have their records wiped clean. For proposition 21 the government has come up with an initiative, which would try offenders as adults rather than juvenile. Proposition 21 would require juvenile offenders 14 years or older to be charged as adults.

It would eliminate informal probation, and further limit confidentiality for juveniles who are charged with or convicted of specified felonies. Proposition would require that certain juvenile crime offenders be held in a local or state correctional facilities rather than in juvenile facilities. Prop. 21 would designate certain crimes as violent and serious, thereby making offenders subject to longer sentences. Proposition 21 was proposed so that fourteen year olds and older would be tried as adults for serious crimes. If proposition 21 passes it is going to send thousands of fourteen to sixteen year olds to state prison.

These children will not be given the opportunity for rehabilitation like in the juvenile system. Without treatment and education, the only thing a juvenile can learn while incarcerated with adult criminals, is how to become a better criminal. These teenagers will not be given the opportunity of rehabilitation and will come out of jail only tougher. Our nation also has a tragic record of sexual and physical assaults on juveniles incarcerated with adult criminals.

If a person just happens to write, I love Judy on a tree, it will be considered a felony offense and the teenager will be taken to jail. This also means that the three strikes law is going to be in more use because of the fact that more felonies are going to be committed. If a person steels a pack of gum and gets caught that will be considered a strike because it would be a felony. Proposition 21 was also established to supposedly make communities safer, but in reality it is doing nothing for them. This proposition is not going to stop kids from joining gangs or even committing crimes.

Its a fact that, as a child, a person does many immature things that he / she regrets in the future. Some of these kids go a little overboard but recuperate through rehabilitation. If Proposition 21 passes it will deny these people from receiving rehabilitation and instead they will be put in state prison. Crime rate will also increase if proposition 21 is passed. This Proposition was also proposed so that crime rate would reduce, but in reality it will only increase. Many teenagers will go to prison for silly things like for example shoplifting.

Shoplifting is a crime but it is not serious enough for one to be put in jail for. This will increase the statistics because there will be more teenagers put in jail because of this law. If proposition 21 passes it is also going to increase the population of criminals sentenced to life in prison because the three strikes law is going to be in more effect. Little crimes like shoplifting or vandalism can send a person to prison for life if proposition 21 passes. Most people would agree that crimes should not go unpunished and that incarceration is one of the only answers for people who commit these crimes.

So then why are so many people against proposition twenty-one? Simple, people feel that juveniles do not have the ability to think like adults and therefore, should not be tried as adults. Along with this opinion, many believe that juveniles should be educated and rehabilitated rather than simply be placed behind bars. To an extent, these opinions may have some truth in them, but what about cases like Maggie Elves, a woman who lost her husband because a fifteen year old beat him to death with a steel pipe. Some may say that this is a very uncommon situation and is therefore not relevant to the matter. Sadly however, there are many other cases that fit the same extremity as this one, which have been committed by people under the age of eighteen.

In Maggie's case, the juvenile who killed her husband will be free on his twenty-fifth birthday, and will not have a criminal record. One must ask, is justice really being served here? Proposition twenty-one will ensure that juveniles are given their deserved punishment rather than a slap on the wrist, by strengthening anti-gang laws and enforcing laws dealing with severe offenses. Though this proposition will strengthen and enforce certain laws, it will not incarcerate children for minor offenses.

In addition, many fear that proposition twenty-one will place juveniles into adult prisons where they will then be raped and beaten by adult inmates. Lets face it, juvenile crime has gone on too long, and though it is sad that parents are not teaching their children morality and respect now days, if something is not done about it, it will only get worse. On a personal note, I can think of many examples of juveniles around my neighborhood who have committed crimes and have beat the system because of their age. Only a few weeks ago a youth in my area was caught robbing a liquor store at gunpoint, and now he / she is roaming the streets freely, while the owner of the liquor store is most likely living in fear that the same incident will happen again. Another violent case broke out when a juvenile beat another child over the head with a two-by-four, and yet, only minor actions were taken to ensure this offenders punishment. I agree that educational programs and rehabilitation centers are still important, but without some sort of fear of punishment, these programs themselves will do nothing for repeating juvenile offenders.

Proponents of proposition 21 have proposed to implement the three strikes law on juvenile offenders. If an offender has one strike against him / her , their jail sentence is increased. This is done so that offenders will think twice before committing a second crime. It puts fear into criminals by increasing their jail sentences if they have a strike. If one commits a third strike their out. This means that their jail sentence is increased to the maxim level.

They can also be sentenced to life imprisonment. The supporters of proposition 21 have tried to make it seem that our state is in desperate need of this provision to stop juvenile crime, which is running rampant. This simply isnt true. There is also more evidence that states the fact that violence rates have been dropping all over, especially among youths of color.

It is also very interesting that the county that is the least tough on juvenile crime, San Francisco, has decreased in the area of youth homicide by 80 %. The facts remain, no matter what people make you think, that juvenile crime rates are down and not up. So, if youth violence is already decreasing, what is the need for proposition 21? Proposition 21 takes away a very important thing called confidentiality. If the proposition passes, there will be no more record sealing for minors.

The current law allows records to be sealed if you are a minor because of the fact that a crime committed when you are a minor shouldnt follow you around for life. This is just what prop 21 will do. Schools, employers, and even the public will be able to review juvenile court records. This will make it virtually impossible for our youth to go back to school or find a decent job without being labeled a criminal first. Universities will actually be able to look at criminal records when deciding whether or not to accept someone when application time comes around. In addition to confidentiality issues, proposition 21 will also affect privacy issues.

The prop will define a gang as a group of 3 or more people. If the government thinks that a person is a gang member, they will be able to wiretap their home, through their phones or any other way they deem necessary. Proposition 21 will also make it necessary for people labeled as gang members to register with local law enforcement. This affects youths as well as adults who are convicted or found by the court to be a gang-related offender. With the passage of proposition 21, many people will also lose their voting rights. Many argue that it isnt fair to lose your voting rights when you are so young that you dont even have the right to vote yet.

It is completely unfair to take voting rights away from juveniles who dont even have the capacity to think things through completely. A good reason why Proposition 21 will benefit the better of the communities is because juvenile records will no longer be sealed or confidential. All records of crimes and felonies that these juveniles have committed will be open to the public. This means that anyone who needs to get a record check on a juvenile will be able to see his or her criminal records. Employers and other people who need to view these records should be able to see what kind of person they are hiring or allowing into their school, and with this proposition, they shall be able to. At this previous moment, only the records of juveniles with serious felonies are not sealed or confidential.

For the rest of the juveniles who have committed minor crimes, there is no record of the crime committed after a completion of an informal probation, and the society needs to be protected from all juveniles who have committed any kind of crimes. Good students should be protected from these criminals by not having to go to school with them. Employers should be able to hire clean-cut employees with no criminal history. We need to keep the juveniles with criminal histories out of our systems in order to be able to better our society. This may seem like a very harsh punishment on juvenile delinquents because employers and other authorities will be able to view them as criminals, but there shouldnt be any more shielding for juveniles.

If a person commits a crime, he / she should face the consequences. This is only a minor punishment that these juvenile delinquents have to face considering the damages that theyve done to society. Another good reason why Proposition 21 should be passes is because once a juvenile has committed a crime, he / she will no longer be allowed to vote. Voting, in this country, is a privilege, and once a person has committed a crime in this state, they should have all privileges taken away from them. The problem in this state is that there are too many lenience for juveniles because they are not yet considered as adults, but it is time to start treating them as adults when they are committing adult crimes. Voting is a fundamental pillar of the society and if these juvenile choose to violate any sector of the society, their rights in societal participation should be eliminated.

Before committing a crime, these juveniles know and understand that violating the law would mean giving up all privileges. Getting their voting privileges taken away is just a minor consequence that these juveniles have to face considering everything theyve done to have their privileges taken away. As you can see, visiting the juvenile court session and talking to the defense attorney made me look much deeper into the subject of juvenile criminal system. Not only this court session motivated me to do the research, but also I was able to talk to a professional defense attorney, which is very helpful. Words Count: 2, 953.


Free research essays on topics related to: criminal justice system, three strikes law, committed a crime, put in jail, juvenile offenders

Research essay sample on Three Strikes Law Criminal Justice System

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