An enormous amount of information is collected for the UCR, and it can be very useful for those in the criminal justice system to study. However, the UCR has one fatal flaw; it does not take into account the "dark figure of crime". The "dark figure of crime" refers to the total number of crimes that are committed, because many crimes are never reported to the police. The UCR measures only the crimes that are reported, so it is essentially not giving a real report of crime rates, it is providing information pertaining to the crimes that are reported to police. This is a serious problem because it is obvious that the UCR grossly underestimates the magnitude of crime in our country.
b. When DNA testing became more advanced prisoners that have always known they were innocent and serving long prison times or ones that were on death row for crimes that did not happen but were convicted of them as well as ones who were wrongfully convicted of crimes they did not commit these people started to petition for DNA testing. 2. The size and scope of the Wrongful Conviction Problem in the United States a. DNA testing is usually only done when it comes to high end capital cases because there is more to generate from which gives greater assistance to avoid executions. When it comes to assault, robbery, and burglary cases there will be typically more error due to eyewitness identification and circumstantial evidence.
Although our country’s legal system has evolved greatly since that time, there continues to be great debate about the issues surrounding life in prison versus the death penalty. When we look at the death penalty system in action, many argue that the only purpose it serves is retribution or revenge. It is seriously flawed in application and there is a serious and continuing risk of executing innocent people. Over the years, one hundred thirty people on death row have been released with proof that they were wrongfully convicted. DNA evidence, available in less than ten percent of all homicides, cannot guarantee that we won’t execute innocent people (ACLUNC, 2013).
However, the author never mentions the options of community service, probation, etc. which are also part of the penal system. Many non-violent crimes do not result in jail time; instead they are referred to one of these other programs. Jacoby brings forth the reality that prison is a very expensive option. The first cost arises from the number of prisons that have been built across the nation to accommodate the booming number of inmates.
Weekly Position Paper #1 Equality in the Justice System Although many researchers have found biological reasoning toward many serial killings, it is no reason to justify serial killers’ acts and harm onto society. It is believed that many serial killers are perceived to have a mental disorder of some kind, causing them to enact in murders without feeling any guilt or concern over their actions. Jack Pemment’s “What Would We Find Wrong in the Brain of a Serial Killer?” depicts the mental disorders: Atisocial Personailty Disorder (APD), Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD), Narcisstic Personality Disorder (NPD) and schizophrenia in the order from most recognized to least. All four have the common characteristic that serial killers are biologically affected mentally, which affects their lack of emotional reaction or empathy as far as their knowing of good from bad, right from wrong. Researchers and scientists have diagnosed four types of symptoms and their characteristics, but just because many serial
Running Head: Wrongly Convicted Wrongly Convicted - The Innocent are Finally Free XXXX XXXX University Professor XXXX XXXX XXXXX X, 2011 Too many people have served time in prison for crimes they did not commit. What can we do as citizens to help change the criminal justice system which have caused these inexcusable errors and destroyed the lives and future of innocent people? Here, you will find an overview of prisoners who were falsely accused for crimes they did not commit; why wrongful convictions occur and what can be done to stop them. “A study conducted by judges, prosecuting attorneys, public defenders, sheriffs and police suggests that about 10,000 people in the United States may be wrongfully convicted of serious crimes each year” (http://researchnews.osu.edu/archive/ronhuff.htm). Here are the statics: “Since 1989 when the first DNA exoneration occurred, 328 defendants have been exonerated in the United States after being convicted of serious crimes such as rape and murder.
Other methods are based on facial, iris, voice, handwriting, and signature recognition. Fast and accurate identification enhances officer safety, detects criminals, secures facilities and information systems from unauthorized access, makes borders more secure, and prevents identity theft.” (National Institute of Justice, 2011) Biometric innovations are used in different sectors of the criminal justice system, such as FBI, police agencies, CIA, etc. The FBI is actually the leading sector in the usage of biometrics and biometric developments, they continue to strive and develop new ways to help in the war against crime. “The FBI has long been a leader in biometrics. We’ve used various forms of biometric identification since our earliest days, including assuming responsibility for managing the national fingerprint collection in 1924.
Lab Essay Assignment: DNA Technology and Forensics CODIS also known as the Combined DNA Index System is a valuable computer program because it helps keep the country safe from harm by identifying criminals. The program CODIS was created by federal, state, and local crime labs in the U.S. and is financed by the U.S. F.B.I. However, the Combination DNA Index System has many benefits but it also has many concerns. Some of the benefits include that the system would help in identifying suspects or the perpetrator by using a DNA profile that it contains. A DNA profile is a series of numbers which represents the individual.
For the vast majority of these individuals, there will be no bail and dream teams to defend them. Being poor can be a defining issue in whether these people will receive the same treatment as their white or rich counterparts. Gender: In viewing many arrests in my lifetime, there seemed to be an overwhelming silent principle to arrest the ‘man’ rather than the women in abuse cases. Females are believed to not be the aggressor in the relationship, which simply isn’t the case in many instances. A spokesman for the SAVE foundation, Carl Starling, states, “Predominant aggressor laws pressure police officers to arrest the man regardless of who called the police or what person instigated the abuse," according to SAVE spokesman Carl Starling.
According to Terry Lenamon, expert Criminal Trial Attorney, the first, and most popular, is the “M’Naghten test.” Lenamon says, “Under M’Naghten, the determining factor is whether or not the defendant was (1) able to understand what he (or she) was doing at the time of the crime due to some “defect of reason or disease of the mind” or, (2) if he (or she) was aware of what they were doing, that he (or she) nevertheless failed to comprehend or understand that what they were doing was wrong” (Lenamon). With that in mind, think about how many inmates have not taken that test and have been wrongly convicted. The American Civil Liberties Union states, “Mental Health America, estimates that five to ten percent of all death row inmates suffer from a severe mental illness.” Furthermore, if these people could get tested, they would realize how many people are legally insane and do not deserve to be in jail, but rather a hospital. Consequently, some of the individuals sitting on death row may