Assignment:
Paper 1
"As of 2005,19 states and federal government had some sort of Residental faith-based program, aimed at rehabilitating participating prisoners by teaching them subjects like "ethical decision-making, anger management, victim restitution and substance abuse in conjunction with religious principles." Volokh (2014) If you sit down and really think about this concept for the most part it sounds like a great idea. What ideally would be in the best interest of an offender is to be rehabilitated with some ethical values. The probably is that for some of these offenders they don't really have moral values so you would probably run into some situation of an offender trying to overall manipulate the system. "There is, amongst typical criminals, a very high level of narcism, which means that the typically have less moral than most, but they are not all without morals." (Moon,2018)
One of the biggest argument I have read is that Faith-based institution does not work because most of the inmates do in fact volunteer to go to a faith-based institution so they are saying that the offenders are already wanting to change and have that thought in their own mind already is because they had already volunteered for the program. One of the biggest reasons that people believe faith-based institutions do cause us to have less recidivism is the religious aspect of it all. Some studies have actually proved that people who have gone into their program and became more religious and practiced these religions daily were less likely to re-offend.
Reference list
Volokh, Alexander. 2014 "Do Faith-Based Prisons work?"
Moon, Mada. 2018 "Do criminals have morals since they execute prison justice"
Paper 2
Faith is supposed to be an important aspect of our daily lives, and we are instructed to study God's word every day and night so that we may follow and prosper through ones' knowledge of it. We can understand this scripture from what we read and understand from the Bible in Joshua 1:8. It states, "This book of the law will not depart out of thy mouth; But thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou may be observed to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success. " (BibleGateway, n.d.). Therefore, we should be encouraging inmates within our correctional systems to study, listen, pray on, and obey the word of God. One might note that perhaps if they had been doing so already they may have steered away from their current path or life choices. Moreover, that looking for forgiveness from God for their sins may yet redeem them.
According to Alexander Volokh in an article entitled, Do Faith-Based Prisons Work?, faith-based correctional facilities cannot be taken at face value due to the fact that most inmates that choose this type of rehabilitative program do so of their own free will simply because it would be a violation of one's constitutional rights to force inmates into religious functions unwillingly. However, of those who do participate in these programs, it is believed that in so doing, they themselves are wanting to make a change within their lives and this helps keep them from committing crimes and helps lower recidivism rates within these subjects (Volokh, 2014). Alexander Volokh (2014) goes on to advise that although this may work for these individuals who want to change and follow scripture, it cannot be known whether these faith-based programs would help the entire correctional facility.
You cannot force an individual to believe in God or read and study His scripture. If an Atheist were in the facility it would potentially go into one ear and out the other due to him/her not having any belief that God exists. So, why would they follow His word? Frank Schmalleger and Ortiz Smykla (2020) inform readers that in the early years of prison inmates were separated and put into solitary in the belief that they would repent and find God through scripture and isolation. However, due to the conditions, it did not have the desired effect, but, drove inmates looney and had no effect beneficial effect on their criminal behavior. Inmates must be given a choice to follow the way of the Lord if or when they find it perhaps it will have the desired effect on them. So, therefore, I would, unfortunately, have to compete with Alexander Volokh even though my heart tells me it should be mandatory; we have seen what that can do from history.
References
BibleGatway (n.d.) Joshua 1:8. New King James Version.
Schmalleger, F., Smykla, J. O. (2020). Corrections in the 21st century (9th ed.). McGrawHill Education
Volokh, A. (2014). Do Faith-Based Prisons Work? Prison Legal News.
Paper 3
Fiber Examination
The ability to identify and compare fibers is an extremely important part of forensic science. The three types of examinations and comparisons for fibers are microscopic examination, dye composition, and chemical composition. Microscopic examination is the first and most important examination, this deals with comparing for color and diameter (Saferstein, 2020). Criminologists use microscopic examination to compare and contrast certain fibers taken as evidence from crime scenes. The process of comparing fibers may sound mundane, but the process has allowed law enforcement to solve a multitude of crimes. According to our textbook on an example of a fiber taken from victims of a serial murder case in Atlanta allowed law enforcement officials to link the murders to a carpet owned by a specific defendant (Saferstein, 2020).
The specific dye that the fiber consists of gives law enforcement officials more details on the fiber. Dyes are even used to color petroleum products such as diesel fuel, gasoline, and lubricating oils (Obesity, Fitness and Wellness Week, 2020). The composition of the dye can allow law enforcement to further analyze the fiber and can give law enforcement more information on their collected evidence. A detailed analysis of the fiber's dye composition is found through a chromatographic separation of the dye components (Saferstein, 2020). Chemical composition is the last phase to be completed in comparing fibers. The chemical composition takes place after the microscopic examination and the dye comparison and further dissects the fiber. This comparison tests the class of the fiber in question and even the subclass of that fiber this test may be conducted with as little as a single strand of fiber (Saferstein, 2020). The examinations of fibers can allow law enforcement to do many things from narrowing down their list of suspects to naming the exact place that the crime may have originally been committed.
References
Researchers Submit Patent Application, "Compositions And Methods For Marking Hydrocarbon Compositions With Non-Mutagenic Dyes," for Approval (USPTO 20210002570). (2021). Obesity, Fitness and Wellness Week, 2601.
Saferstein R., Roy T. (2020). Criminalistics. [Savant Learning Systems].
Paper 4
Option 9: Criminalist Ben Baldanza is collecting evidence from the scene of a shooting. After locating the revolver suspected of firing the shots, Ben picks the gun up by the grip, unloads it, and places the ammunition in an envelope. He then attaches an identification tag to the grip. Searching the scene, Ben finds a bullet lodged in the wall. He then uses bends to grab the bullet and pull it from the wall, then registers the bullet with his initials, and places it in an envelope. What mistakes, if any, did Ben make in collecting this evidence?
The first description of the criminalist's actions is stating he picked up the gun suspected of being used in the shooting by the grip. Since there was no indication of wearing gloves, as many would do, you can assume he did not, which would essentially contaminate the weapon. "Trace evidence like hair,fibers, paint, and blood,is by its very nature readily transferred from one item to another. This raises the problem of cross contamination, where the source of trace evidence found on a significant item is uncertain." (Cross Contamination. 2016). This would not eliminate suspect fingerprints or DNA but would add Mr. Ben Baldanza's into the mix and possibly damage original prints that is a rookie mistake to make. "Investigators must handle and process physical evidence in a way that prevents any change from taking place between the time the evidence is removed from the crime scene and the time it is received by the crime laboratory." (Saferstein. 2020). Unloading the weapon is a personal department policy of mine prior to entering firearms into evidence, simply for a safety aspect regarding records and evidence employees.
For the unloading of the weapon, I could see that going either way based on whom you speak to. The identification tag Ben placed on the grip could be questioned simply by doing too much stuff around the grip of the firearm where the majority of potential prints or DNA would be located. My department requests tags be placed from the chamber of the weapon through the grip to ensure the firearm cannot go back into battery at any point during the evidence process. As far as the bullet lodged in the wall is concerned, I understand that using bends is not the preferred method as it would scar the projectile that could have an adverse effect on the ballistics analysis, but it has to be removed somehow as long as all other safer measures have been exhausted. I feel like chipping away at the wall around the projectile could make an easier strategy as far as removal, and then you can take your time at the lab removing the excess debris from the projectile. The initial inscribed seem quite ridiculous to me, I would never do that as the evidence is labeled in the evidence bag as far as who located and submitted the item, not to mention scarring the evidence with the tool used to inscribe your initials.
References
"Cross Contamination." World of Forensic Science, edited by Sara Constantakis, 2nd ed., 1, Gale, 2016, p. 189.
Saferstein R., Roy T. (2020). Criminalistics. [Savant Learning Systems].