Introduction For my paper, I chose case study number one that follows Mr. John Burke who committed the crime of first-degree murder. I will explain the process John Burke’s crime and what process he will be going through while in the American criminal justice system. This process includes a number of steps starting with Mr. Burke’s initial arrest and later ending with Mr. Burke’s subsequent release from prison and entry back into society on his own unsupervised. I will also touch on what I feel are the strongest and weakest parts of our criminal justice system, and I will give supporting evidence to my claims. Brief Description of the Crime John Burke’s crime falls under the first-degree murder statute because he killed Joseph Ronan, essentially;
Kafka shows that in In the Penal Colony, however complicated and advanced technology may be, without a just law, the technology will prove to be ineffective and will come crumbling down. The law in Kafka’s story, comes off as very unfair and unjust.
When Rochelle and Paul are arrested a rally is held to help convince people of their innocence. To increase the power of this spectacle Daniel and Susan were forced to attend, “he and Susan were transfixed by placards, the oversized pictures of their mother and father everywhere above the crowd, going up and down in rhythm as the crowd roared Free them free them free them” (Doctorow 22). In this moment of the text the spectacle is not designed to instil fear in the ones that spectate it. Instead this spectacle is designed to provoke action in the audience. Many believe that Paul and Rochelle Isaacson were innocent and should be released.
It’s mind blowing how the justice sentence can convict somebody solely off an eye witness testimony, especially if the eye-witness isn’t accurate. “Eyewitness misidentification is the greatest contributing factor to wrongful convictions proven by DNA testing, playing a role in more than 70% of convictions overturned through DNA testing nationwide.’’ (Eyewitness Misindentification,2017) Immediately after reporting the crime, the victim was taken to a hospital where a rape kit was administered, and swabs were taking from her body. Days after the rape the victim was also shown two photo lineups of suspects, however she didn’t identify anyone. Following the attack, the victim moved from San Antonio to Dallas. The case remained unsolved for a little over a year, that was until Dallas detectives mailed another photo line up to the victim in San Antonio, where she subsequently chose Lindsey as her alleged rapist.
However, the testimonies of four witnesses, three of which did not in fact witness the alleged rape, should not be enough to condemn a man to death unless actual proof can be provided. About a year passed form the first time Mayella Ewell asked Tom Robinson to help her with a household chore to the day he was accused of sexual assault. As Tom Robinson stated,
The life of Gregor Samsa, the protagonist of Franz Kafka’s novella The Metamorphosis, revolves around his family - he slaves at work under the pressure of his family’s debt until, one day, he wakes up as a monstrous vermin. Kafka narrates this bizarre tale of Gregor’s transformation in an unsettlingly detached manner, isolating and examining the Samsa family members on an individual level by introducing Gregor as a disturbing factor in the unit. Through inspecting the family’s reactions towards Gregor, Kafka conveys how people fundamentally are isolated individuals whose actions are motivated by desire. Mr. Samsa uses the family as a medium through which he can fulfil his desire to exercise authority. After Gregor’s transfiguration, Mr. Samsa becomes the only male member of the family that can work to provide for the family and protect the women from Gregor.
Text Based Response "Witness the Prosecution" by Agatha Christie The short story "The Witness the Prosecution" by Agatha Christie takes place in 1940s-1950s England and tells a mysterious story of a man named Leonard Vole who is on trial for the murder of the elderly and exceedingly wealthy, Miss Emily French. Through the masterful telling of this murder mystery, Christie takes the reader on a journey through the court proceedings, testimony and behaviors of an array of characters, creating a rich story that underscores the sharp irony woven into this piece. It is the irony that creates a surprising and disturbing ending that concludes in quite a different way than what was expected, making this mystery story one that out maneuvers the reader
In this next quote, Bob is testifying about how Tom raped his daughter and Atticus is defending Tom throughout the court case. This begins to show how the destruction of innocence started to effect Tom in the court case. Bob lives on the outside of town where the African Americans live. He is considered an outcast by the people of Maycomb. Bob testified accusing Tom of rape, but there was a lot of evidence in the sheriff's testimony to prove that Bob was lying in his testimony, like how the sheriff said that when he heard about Bob's daughter.
Being accused of murder isn’t necessarily supposed to give him an infallible memory.’” (Rose 58). Therefore, this psychological evidence would be enough to establish that the boy could have been at the movies at the time of the
Karl Capek's The Last Judgement, is an allegory to the flaws in the United States judicial system. “Am I to mention his good deeds?” “Thank you” said the presiding judge, but it isn't necessary.” shows that despite the fact that Kugler is there for a trial, or reflection of his life, the judges are not willing to take into account the good deeds that he has done in his life, they are only going to focus on the sins he has committed (Capek, 3). This is similar to the unfair process in our judicial system of when a person is convicted of a crime, they have the right to a speedy trial, but if they cannot pay their bond they will have to sit in jail, even if they are innocent, until their trial. In heaven, as Karl Capek writes in The Last Judgment,