Death Penalty And Justice Essays - Capital Punishment, Penology

Death Penalty And Justice Looking out for the state of the public's satisfaction in the scheme of capital sentencing does not Constitute serving justice. Today's system of capital punishment is fought with inequalities and Injustices. The commonly offered arguments for the death penalty are filled with holes. It was a Deterrent. It removed killers. It was the ultimate punishment. It is biblical. It satisfied the public's need For retribution. It relieved the anguish of the victim's family. (Grisham 120) Realistically, imposing the Death penalty is expensive and time consuming. Retroactively, it has yet to be proven as a deterrent. Morally, it is a continuation of the cycle of violence and ?...degrades all who are involved in its Enforcement, as well as its victim. (Stewart 1) Perhaps the most frequent argument for capital punishment is that of deterrence. The prevailing Thought is that imposition of the death penalty will act to dissuade other criminals from committing Violent acts. Numerous studies have been created attempting to prove this belief; however, to the Evidence taken together makes it hard to be confident that capital punishment deters more than long Prison terms do. (Cavanagh 4) Going ever farther, Bryan Stevenson, the executive director of the Montgomery based Equal Justice Initiative, has stated that people are increasingly realizing that the More we resort to killing as a legitimate response to our frustration and anger with violence, the more Violent our society becomes. We could execute all three thousand people on death row, and most People would not feel any safer tomorrow. (Frame 51) In addition, with the growing humanitarianism Of modern society, the number of inmates actually put to death is substantially lower than 50 years Ago. This decline creates a situation in which the death penalty ceases to be a deterrent when the Populace begins to think that one can get away with a crime and go unpunished. Also, the less that the Death sentence is used; the more it becomes unusual, thus coming in conflict with the eighth Amendment. This is essentially a paradox, in which the less the death penalty is used, the less society Can legally use it. The end result is a punishment that ceases to deter any crime at all. The key part of the death penalty is that it involves death-something, which is rather permanent for Humans, due to the concept of mortality. This creates a major problem when there continue to be Many instances of innocent people being sentenced to death. (Tabak 38) In our legal system, there Exist numerous ways in which justice might be poorly served for a recipient of the death sentence. Foremost is in the handling of his own defense counsel. In the event that a defendant is without Counsel, a lawyer will be provided. Attorney's appointed to represent indigent capital defendants Frequently lack the qualities necessary to provide a competent defense and sometimes have exhibited Such poor character that they have subsequently been disbarred. (Tabak 37). With payment caps or Court determined sums of, for example, $5 an hour; there is not much incentive for a lawyer to spend A great deal of time was representing a capital defendant. When you compare this to the prosecution, Aided by the police, other law enforcement agencies, crime labs, state mental hospitals, various Other scientific resources, prosecutors experienced in successfully handling capital cases, Compulsory process, and grand juries (Tabak 37), the defense that the court appointed counsel can Offer is puny. If, in fact, a defendant has a valid case to offer, what chance has he to offer it and have It properly recognized. Furthermore, why should he be punished for a misjustice that was created by? The court itself when it appointed the incapable lawyer. Even if a defendant has proper legal counsel, There is still the matter of impartiality of judges. The Supreme Court has steadily reduced the Availability of habeas corpus review of capital convictions, placing its confidence in the notion that State judges, who take the same oath of office as federal judges to uphold the Constitution, can be Trusted to enforce it. (Bright 768) This makes for the biased trying of a defendant's appeals, given The overwhelming pressure on elected state judges to heed, and perhaps even lead to, the popular cries For the death of criminal defendants. (Bright 769) Thirty two of the states that impose the death Penalty also employ the popular election of judges, and several of these even have judges run with Party affiliations. This creates a deeply political justice system-the words alone are a paradox. Can

Exercises

Exercises er Canstar Cannex, Joshua Zenas, says a car purchase isn't regarded as good debt because the borrowing isn't for something that will appreciate in value (Parker, 2010). It may thus be wise to avoid or minimize borrowing money to purchase a car. Obringer suggests the following sources of finance: dealership, bank or credit union, online financial institution, home equity loan, family member or friend (Obringer, 2013). Exercise 4: Explain how the European Commission, European governments and the ECB have responded to the sovereign debt crisis affecting Euro-based economies? The European Commission has created guides with regards to aiding European countries who urgently need help. The Commissions focus is on responding to peoples needs, targeting those in real need and improving peoples integration into society (A stronger safety net for those in need, 2013). On the other hand, European governments, led by the European Union, have reportedly been concentrating on the bailing out of the countries with struggling economies such as Greece, Ireland and Portugal. These countries were granted billions of Euros of loans to help bring back their economies to stability. The European Central Bank, led by its president Mario Draghi, has declared to grant loans with the lowest interest rates to European nations (Kenny, 2013). Exercise 5: The Closed Fund is a closed-end investment fund company with an investment portfolio company currently worth $200m. It has liabilities of $30 million and 5 million shares outstanding. What is the NAV of the fund? If the fund sells at $36 per share, what is the premium/ discount as a percentage of the NAV? Net Asset Value is equal to the sum of market value of all the securities and cash and equivalent holdings, less the fund liabilities, divided by the total outstanding fund shares. Using the formula, the NAV for the fund would be $34, given that the company is worth $200 million with liabilities of $30 million and 5 million in shares. If the fund sells at $36 per share, then the premium/discount as a percentage of the NAV is 5.56%. Exercise 6: Consider a mutual fund with $200 million in assets and 10 million shares outstanding at the start of the year. The fund invests in a portfolio of stocks which provides a dividend income at the end of the year of $2 million. The stocks included in the portfolio increase in price by 18% during the year, but no securities are sold and there is no capital distribution. The fund charges management fees of 1% based on the year end portfolio asset value. What is the NAV at the start and the end of the year? What is the rate of return for the investor? The Net Asset Value at the beginning of the year is equal to $200 million in assets, less than liabilities, divided by 10 million shares. Since there was no value for the liabilities mentioned, the NAV then is $20 at the beginning of the year. Given that the fund charges management fees of 1% based on the year end portfolio asset value, the NAV at the end of the year is $19.80 since 1% of $20 is $0.20. The fund then invests $2 million in a portfolio of stocks, in which the value increases by 18% at the end of the year. Using the formula for Rate of Return on Investments, the rate would still be 18%. Exercise 7: You purchased 1,000 shares in New Fund at a price of $20 per share at the start of the year. You paid an entry fee of 4%. The securities in which the fund invests have increased in value by 12% during the year. The fund has incurred expenses (including management fees) of 1.2% of its assets (on an average basis) during the year. What is your rate of return and actual gain if you sell your shares at the end of the year? The buyer has initially purchased a total of $20,000 in shares. Paying the 4% entry fee would cost him another $800. During the year, the fund has incurred expenses of 1.2% of its assets, which amounts to $240. At the end of the year, the securities that the fund invested in would increase by 12%, which would be equal to $22,400. The rate of return on investment would be 6.46% and the actual gain would be $1,360.