RACE AND THE DEATH PENALTY Essays - Capital Punishment In Georgia

RACE AND THE DEATH PENALTY In 1977 the unjust law of capital punishment was once again enforced in the American justice system. The use of Capital punishment has instigated many discussions among American criminologists. The use of the death penalty as a form of justice has been banned from many countries and states but there are still a few American states that believe in this form of punishment. Some of them include Texas, Georgia and Virginia. There have been many academic articles that have discussed the general pros and cons of the death penalty, but there is one specific issue that stands out from the others. This issue includes racism and how it's implicated in the capital punishment system. I will be summarizing and analyzing the key point as well as the rhetorical features of three articles written by researchers in the justice system. There have been numerous debates about the involvement of racism in the death penalty system. Michael Kroll has been a part of these debates by revealing flaws and negative facts initiated by racism in the death penalty system. He wrote the article called "Buckle Of The Death Belt." This article deals with the specific judicial district of Chattahoochee, which is located in the state of Georgia. This state is also know as The Nation's Executioner for its relatively high number of prisoners on death row per year. Another article called "Racial Disparities in Federal Death Penalty Prosecutions 1988-1994," written by the subcommittee on civil and constitutional rights, deals with the underlying principle that racial minorities are being prosecuted under federal death penalty law far beyond their proportion in the general population or the population of criminal offenders. The third article is called "The Death Penalty in Black and White: Who Lives, Who Dies, Who Decides," written by Richard C. Dieter. This report releases two new studies which show that the continuing injustice of racism in the application of the death penalty. All three articles are written for the general public and can be very informative for many reasons. I will focus on the key points of the articles, as well the important style and features of the articles, which makes the article more convincing to the audience. For these articles the main argument that the writer is trying to portray is racism does occur in the justice system and should be recognized and changed. In the first article written by Michael Kroll, he states that the Chattahoochee Judicial District in Georgia is a microcosm of the national disgrace. Nearly 20 years after the supreme court held the death penalty as being unconstitutional, largely because of racial discrimination, the death penalty in America continues to reflect the worst part of the judicial system: racism, unequal treatment of the poor, and abuse of discretion by prosecutors and other politicians seeking higher positions. By the end of 1990, 20 people were imposed by the death penalty (Radelet). Out of those twenty, more than half were black men, who were tried by all-white juries. The District Attorney used his discretion to remove every black potential juror. While black people account for 65 percent of all homicide victims, the DA seeks the death penalty almost exclusively in white victims cases. Families of white murder victims are treated with dignity and respect by the DA's office, while black victims famili es are abused or ignored. The DA has sought the death penalty in nearly 40 percent of the cases where the defendant was black and the victim white, in 32 percent of the cases where both defendant and victim were white, in just 6 percent of the cases where both the defendant and victim were black and never where the defendant was white and the victim black (Radelet). Kroll emphasizes the fact that by executing more than any other state, 80 percent of them black, Georgia has earned the title," The Nation's Executioner." The history of the death penalty in America can be seen in Georgia's cases: Furman vs. Georgia (1972) [1] which resulted in the death penalty due to racial discrimination (Douglas), Gregg vs. Georgia (1976), Coker vs. Georgia (1977) [2] as well as many others were seen to have sentenced the defendant to death despite strong evidence that

Should Canada continue its international role as a peacekee essays

Should Canada continue its international role as a peacekee essays Should Canada continue its international role as a peacekeeper? Between 1991 and the end of 1996, 24 new peacekeeping missions were set up under the UNs flag- six more than the total established during the preceding 43 years. At the peak of UN activity in the mid-1990s, there were nearly 80,000 UN peacekeepers deployed around the globe. [Canada and Peace...] The numbers show that since the end of the Cold World, peacekeeping has become more and more important in the complicated international society. Being the most enthusiastic peacekeeping force, Canadian Military has deployed more than 125,000 Canadian military personnel and thousands of civilians. [Canada: the...] However, people have started arguing whether the Canadian Military should keep its reputation or change its military status in the world. Based on Canadian peacekeeping history, fifty years of peacekeeping experience and participation in an overwhelming majority of peacekeeping missions has established an international reputation for Canada. It builds on its established peacekeeping tradition to make strong and significant contributions to international peace and security. [Canada and Peace...] Therefore, in my point of view, the term a peacekeeper has become one of the most famous national identities of Canada, and to keep playing the role as a peacekeeper is the proudest and most proper way to act on the world stage for Canada. Nevertheless, the Canadian Military still needs to have some improvements or changes in its personnel, equipment, and policy to make itself an absolute peacemaker. Firstly, the Canadian Military should be more strict and specific about how personnel are selected. Now the Canadian Government isnt too selective when choosing army personnel, and some people are not competent enough to be peacekeepers. This has resulted in the past with poorly disciplined personnel and embarrassing situations for the ...

Eco-Friendly Drain Cleaners

Eco-Friendly Drain Cleaners The active ingredient in Drano and other conventional drain cleaners is sodium hydroxide, otherwise known as caustic soda or lye. It is a man-made chemical used for its corrosive properties. According to the federal Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, the substance is not considered a pollutant per se, as it separates into relatively harmless component elements once released into water or moist soil. But sodium hydroxide is an irritant that can burn skin and aggravate nose, throat and respiratory airways, so contact with it is best avoided. If ingested outright it will likely induce vomiting, as well as cause chest or abdominal pain and make swallowing difficult - so keep it well out of the reach of children. For those who would rather avoid such chemicals entirely, safer alternatives do exist. A plunger or mechanical drain snake - along with a little elbow grease - can often free up clogs as well or better than sodium hydroxide compounds. One home remedy with a proven track record is to pour a handful of baking soda mixed with a half cup of vinegar down the drain  and follow it quickly with boiling water. Another option is to choose any number of enzymatic biological drain cleaners on the market today, such as Earth Friendly Products’ Enzyme Drain Cleaner or Bi-O-Kleen’s BacOut. These make use of a natural bacterial and enzyme mixture to open and keep drains clear. And unlike sodium hydroxide, they are non-caustic and will not facilitate combustion. As any plumber will tell you, a good maintenance regimen is the best way to prevent clogged drains. Flushing drains weekly with boiling water can help keep them clear. Also, installing small screens atop drains will help keep hair, lint and other clogging elements out of the pipeline in the first place.

Managing Work and people( research report) Paper

Managing Work and people( report) - Research Paper Example The leaders have long been considered as the ruling personality in the business and working environment. However, the theories of leadership provide different grounds to leadership styles. Leadership is now believed to be a more flexible and dynamic approach to lead a team than ever. This paper aims to provide a more logical and less rigid perspective of leadership in the context of business environment. The theories related to leadership involving charismatic leadership, contingency perspective and path-goal theory are discussed in this paper. The paper also provides an account on the challenges that leaders face these days due to modern concepts like globalization, technological advancements and diversity. This paper also provides a personal reflection on the practical application of leadership styles and forms a conclusion based on the discussions on different topics related to leadership. The leadership approach that is being supported in this paper is ‘the contingency lead ership approach’. Leadership: The Concepts and Issues The Conceptual Definition of Leadership The concept of leadership is no longer a mystery. ... This paper analyzes the perspectives and styles of leadership and aims to form a conclusion based on the research on authoritative and participative leadership styles. Traits of an Effective Leader A leader is the person who puts forward the plan, explains success, and confirms the capability of success. It is clear that a leader who assures these things will be more competent than other leader who desires to put the idea but refuses to accept any work in the managerial part (Clark, Clark & Albright, 1990). Hence, effective leader is the one who have power over people and whose decisions are binding on others. Everyone possesses leadership potential. Effective Leadership can, & normally does, emerge from the inside. Effective leadership requires the leader to take the whole group along. It is not necessary to involve the whole group in decisions regarding the group’s success however; the members of group are ‘helpers’. These ‘helpers’, if motivated an d encouraged to work together, may quicken the process of success. This is what my experience led me to realize. The first experience as a night shift manager of a small hotel was the most difficult phase of my life. I hardly knew how to handle the staff and motivate them to work speedily and accurately. Leaders in the service industry need to be more attentive since the customers and workers are in a direct contact. The motivational theories helped a lot in running the business successfully from the very beginning of my professional career. Challenges to the Organizational Leaders: The five challenges as described by Yukl (2001) involve the challenges in achieving ethical leadership, gender

Analyzing a Supply Network Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Analyzing a Supply Network - Research Paper Example All these requirements have been imbued upon the companies so as to ensure their continuity. In light of the above discussion, for companies it has become imperative that they streamline their operations to match the dynamics of their business environment. The degree of coordination required between different functions of the business has never been higher (Simchi-Levi, Kaminsky, and Simchi-levi, 2007). Not only is coordination required between different functions of the business but also it is required between different channel partners. This coordination between departments and channel partners should result in the sharing of accurate and timely information (Halldorsson, Kotzab, Mikkola, and Skjoett-Larsen, 2007). This information should enable a channel partner to adjust its operations to fit the requirements created by the new change. In this current globalised environment a holistic view a business entails a supplier, manufacturer, distributors and customer. This makes up the su pply chain of a business. The extended supply chain of a business would be supplier suppliers and customer customers. Thus, in this highly complex and vast supply chain it becomes imperative for supply chain partners to share information between each other so that they could serve their customers effectively. The current business environment has brought previously local companies in contact with international customers and suppliers. These local businesses which previously were confined to their national borders have now transcended across these borders to advantageous of the opportunities present in the international market. But since these businesses are unaware of these landscapes they need to collaborate with local businesses that have a much more cultural familiarity of these landscapes. In order to facilitate communication and information sharing between trans-national channel partners it is important for these channel partners to have supply chain management system in place t o link them up (Gundlach, Bolumole, Eltantawy, and Frankel, 2006). Organizations are facing several supply chain issues and challenges. The preferences of customers are changing at the rapid rate at the same time there are additional cost pressures on the organizations. This in turn has created dilemma for the organizations that either they should go for increasing the responsiveness and adaptability of the supply chain or should incorporate cost effective strategies. The organizations are looking for an optimal place in the middle of both important variables. In this paper an attempt has been made to understand the overall process of supply chain management and associated issues. For this purpose, the analysis of the supply chain management of Beri has been presented in this paper. In this way it will become easier to comprehend the important concepts. Supply Chain Management and Drivers of Supply Chain Management: It is important for the organizations to manage the overall supply chain in effective and efficient manager. Different key players are involved in the whole supply chain and in order to make sure that the supply chain is appropriately managed all players should be integrated to each other. While devising the supply chain strategy there is always a tradeoff between the cost effectiveness and high responsiveness. The elements of supply chain can be either designed in such a way that the overall suppl

The Scarlet Letter Freely Adapted as a Movie :: Movie Film comparison compare contrast

The Scarlet Letter Freely Adapted as a Movie      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The gods and goddesses of Greek mythology had temples erected in their names. They were worshipped and most times adored. The people brought offerings to these gods in the form of food, drink, and gold. Today’s gods and goddesses don’t sit high on Mount Olympus. They sit high on or behind the movie screen. We visit their temples in record numbers and bring food, drink, and the mighty dollar. But what do they offer us in return? Voyeurism, titillation, narcissismà ·all in a rebirth of classical American literature, which through their filters becomes sappy love stories with politically correct happy endings. In this way, their gifts are made more palatable for an audience they feel is not quite ready for films dealing with bitter social controversy, such as sin, hypocrisy, spiritual crisis, and guilt.    Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter is one of the classics that is experiencing this renaissance. Director Roland Joffe has enlisted the aid of writers Michael Mann and Christopher Crowe to produce a body of work also entitled The Scarlet Letter. The effort to introduce the American audience to this classical piece of literature was undertaken, as the film’s star Demi Moore asserts, because "not many people have read the book" (qtd. in Mr. Showbiz, par. 4). However, in doing so, Joffe has taken away the essence of Hawthorne. "It [is] sorrowful to think how many days and weeks and months and years of toil [have] been wasted on these musty papers [of Hawthorne’s] never more to be glanced at by human eyes. But, then, what reams of other manuscripts - filled [ ·] with the thought of inventive brains and the rich effusion of deep hearts - [have] gone equally to oblivion" (Hawthorne 46; The Custom House).    In film, the viewer sees a story from the director’s perspective. When experiencing a novel, the reader is drawn into the authorà ¢s story and relates to the characters and events created by the author. He is allowed to bring forth his own imagination to recreate the characters and events by visualizing what the writer describes. He chooses the voice of each character, pictures how the character looks, and brings his own personal experiences forth to enhance the written word. He has an opportunity to be one-on-one with the author, hear his words, and experience for myself the charactersà ¢ emotions.

morality of capital punishment Essay

1) How would Kant reason with the morality of capital punishment? Describe how deontological ethics would determine whether it is morally permissible Kant is an advocate of the idea that the morality of an action is to be determined not by the extent of the pleasure or pain an act produces. Consider for example the imposition of capital punishment. According to Kant, if the utility of imposing capital punishment will be our guide then we will be doing a serious crime against humanity. Justice will not be served if we will subject to capital punishment a convict simply because we aim to deter crime, incapacitate the criminal and protect the society. Instead, capital punishment should be imposed because the person is guilty. It must be stressed that Kant upheld the right of the state to impose capital punishment against those proven guilty of committing heinous crimes. He however argued that the sole criterion and standard should be his guilt and that the punishment should be proportionate to the crime committed. That reason for this is that when a person commits a crime against another it is as if he is telling the whole world that he wants to be treated the same way. According to Kant, â€Å"If you slander another, you slander yourself; if you steal from another, you steal from yourself; if you strike another, you strike yourself; if you kill another, you kill yourself. † (Immanuel Kant, the Right of Punishing) This is the principle otherwise known as the right of retaliation or Jus Talionis. This is actually a restatement of Kant’s Deontological Ethics known as the Categorical Imperative. This is the principle that morality is based on pure reason which is in the nature of an absolute command. Kant states that: â€Å"Act only according to that maxim whereby you can at the same time will that it should become a universal law. † (Garth Kemerling) If a person decides to do something to another then he does this thinking that the same should be a universal law. In effect murderers are saying that this is how people should be treated, including himself. Thus, if a person commits murder then he must also die. There is no other substitute for such a heinous crime except capital punishment. It is only by taking away the life of the person who committed the crime of murder that justice will be restored. 2. How would Mill determine if capitol punishment is morally justified? Describe how Utilitarian Ethics would determine whether capitol punishment is morally permissible Mill, on the other hand, argued that state-sanctioned punishment is justified because of its utility. There is only one standard in determining the morality for the imposition of capital punishment – that is its consequence. If capital punishment will most likely produce the greatest balance of happiness over unhappiness then the punishment is justified. But if there are other options that would produce a greater balance of happiness over unhappiness, then that option should be chosen and the imposition of capital punishment is unjustified. In simpler terms, the idea is that if we weigh the positive effects of capital punishment as against its negative effects and the positive effects outweighs the negative ones then it has to be imposed. This theory somewhat looks forward and determines the positive impact of the act to the society. According to Mill, capital punishment is the most humane punishment possible for someone who has committed a heinous crime. A quick and painless death is always better than working in hard labor while in prison for the rest of the life of the convict, to wit: â€Å"What comparison can there really be, in point of severity, between consigning a man to the short pang of a rapid death, and immuring him in a living tomb, there to linger out what may be a long life in the hardest and most monotonous toil, without any of its alleviations or rewards–debarred from all pleasant sights and sounds, and cut off from all earthly hope, except a slight mitigation of bodily restraint, or a small improvement of diet. (John Stuart Mill) Capital Punishment is also beneficial for the society because it deters the commission of the crime not only by the convict himself but by other persons as well. It sends a clear message to would-be murderers that the state has a strong policy against crime. Although it may not be able to deter all hardened criminals, but it is capable of preventing persons other than criminals from committing crimes. Capital punishment will also provide a closure to the agony of the relatives of the victims and satisfy their grievance for their relative. Conclusion Both philosophers argue in favor of the morality of capital punishment. Their conclusions are the same only that their premises start from different end. For Kant, capital punishment should be allowed against those who commit heinous crimes simply because they are guilty. For Mill, capital punishment should be imposed because it is better for the convict and the society as well.