Assignment 1
Create a 2 page:
Choose 1 from the following topics as the general subject of your paper:
Punishments for first degree murder
Excusable homicide
Felony murder
Cyberstalking
While you are primarily addressing the topic selected, you may want to discuss or expand on a topic presented in the textbook, a case dealing with the subject, or a current event from the news or Internet, and present your viewpoint or perspective on that item as it relates to the issue present in your chosen topic.
Assignment 2
Create a 100 words:
Vicarious liability of parents for crimes committed by their children.
Joel Samaha in Criminal Law, states that "Vicarious liability statutes are based on the parent child relationship. .... Statute grew out of the public, fear, frustration and anger over juvenile violence and parents' failure to control their kids." (p. 265)
Parents need to realize that they are parents and not their children's friend, buddy or pal. Once the parent child boundary is established, children will know and learn what they can and cannot get away with in terms of behavior at home school and out in the community. The parents that are perceived as ‘parents' are respected more by their children, and that respect for their parents and siblings spills over into the community where these children strive to be responsible and respectful to each other and to the adults they encounter. But children that are not being disciplined by their parents, and are left to do as they will at home and out in the community without consequences from the parents, these are the parents that should be held responsible and punished for their child/children actions.
"In the case of Susan and Anthony Provenzino, The parents were convicted and held responsible for the actions of their juvenile son, 16 year old Alex, who was committing burglaries, selling marijuana and drinking alcohol. They each paid a fine of $100 and $1000 in court fees." (J. Samaha. 267)
According to Robyn Meredith of the New York Times, "The police told the court that on searching Alex's room they had found a stolen handgun, a stolen knife, a bag of marijuana and a tall marijuana plant, along with an alcoholic beverage. The parents in their defense said that they did not know the extent of their son's destructive behavior and implied that they were afraid of their son." (p. 1)
Because some parents are expressing fear and lack of control of their child/children, Juvenile crimes are being controlled and monitored more closely today than it has in the past, it is now monitored more closely in the Court system and in alternative programs such as Teen Court. The more serious crimes, such as violation of the law is handled in the court system. Once the Judge deems what the punishment is that fits the crime, the juvenile is sentenced and serves time in a detention facility for juveniles, or less restrictive punishment such as teen court, community control or monthly reporting to the Judge, by the parents and the child showing progression and improvement in school, home and community.
What about the child that have parents that have implemented the parent child boundaries? These parents are doing the right thing staying active in their child's life such as knowing their child's grades in school, keeping their child on the right path in life with positive influences in the home, church and school. But the child, no matter what, chose to be the ‘black sheep' of the family and engage in illegal activities in the community, which places the neighborhood on edge and in fear of this child. The parents in this situation should not be held responsible for the child/children if it is obvious that they have done everything that they can do to make this juvenile a productive member of society, but through no fault of their own, the child chooses a life of crime, this juvenile should stand alone when facing punishment without any consequences of his or her actions placed on the parents.
The New York times article goes on to say, "Alex is currently serving a one-year sentence at a juvenile jail for burglary and drug offenses."( p.1)
Create a 100 words:
Conspiracy to Commit Crimes: A Review
Criminally, conspiracy arises when there is an agreement between two or more people to engage in criminal activity and attempts to actualize this agreement have been made. Conspiracy differs from most crime because it is an inchoate crime. Inchoate crimes do not require the illegal act to be actualized. Inchoate crimes only require two elements: the desire to commit an illegal act and a step taken to see the desired criminal act actualized (JUSTIA, n.d.).
Elements of a Conspiracy
There are two elements of Conspiracy: actus reus and mens rea (Samaha, 2016). The actus reus element requires one of two things: the agreement and in some states the overt act (a step made that furthers the agreement of the conspiracy) (Samaha, 2016). The mens rea element of conspiracy, is not as easy to define and is vague in its definition (Samaha, 2016). However, while it is left up to the courts to define, there must be a criminal objective involved in the conspiracy (Samaha, 2016). Criminal objective can be defined as: an intent to commit any crime, engage in anything unlawful, commit any injurious acts onto the public and "lawful things by unlawful means" (Samaha, 2016). Conspiracy convictions are handled in one of two ways: conviction for the conspiracy or conviction for the conspiracy and the actual crime (JUSTIA, n.d.).
Parties to Conspiracy
An important element in conspiracy is the parties associated with a conspiracy. For it to be a conspiracy, there must be two or more parties who agree to engage in criminal activity (Samaha, 2016). Today, this definition has been expanded upon to include a unilateral approach. The unilateral approach states that parties to a conspiracy do not all have to agree, or know, other parties involved in the conspiracy (Samaha, 2016).
Case Sample
Mr. Padilla was arrested May of 2002 at the O'Hare airport in Chicago; at the time of his arrest, he was considered an "enemy combatant" of the United States (Semple, 2008). A couple years later, Mr. Padilla became a party to the conspiracy cases of Ahmad Amin Hassoun and Kifah Wael Jayyousi (Semple, 2008). Each of these individuals were accused of being a part of a North American terrorism group that provided monetary support, supplies and recruits to Islamic extremists around the globe (Semple, 2008). Originally sentenced to 17 years and 4 months in 2008, Mr. Padilla was re-sentenced serve 21 years in prison for the 2007 conviction for conspiracy to kidnap, maim and murder individuals in a foreign country; provide material support to terrorist and conspiracy to provide material support to terrorists (Department of Justice, 2014). The evidence against Mr. Padilla? An application that he filled out to attend a training camp in Afghanistan in 2000 (Semple, 2008).
Conclusion/Opinion
As I continue my education, I am starting to realize the importance of our laws. In fact, I also understand the importance in the vagueness of our laws. I believe conspiracy is an invaluable legal tool for our government. While it is not a mainstream conviction, it is a very important one. In an era of technology and extreme ideology, the ability to investigate, hold and convict an individual who poses a significant threat to others or society; even though that threat has not been actualized, is not something that should be taken for granted.