... was charged for only three under his own defense- and in fact, he was commended by the judge for his own defense. He was put to death. With the combination of a very powerful media and a society fascinated with gruesome, sadistic crimes, modern serial killers have been put in the spotlight. We are enraptured with serial killers so much, that we pay seven dollars to go see a movie where everyone except the bad guys gets strangled, mutilated, or shot- and enjoy it in some sick way. The media go ...

... pay the fine. Waiting in the courtroom to see the judge can be very close to a death sentence. The wait is long, and the company can be frightening. Once you plead your case, you generally end up paying the fine. This only leads to another line, and another wait. This has to be the most unpleasant part of a speeding ticket. In addition, paying for traffic school is also a disagreeable experience. If you waited to see the judge, you may be on your way after paying the fine. If the judge is kind, and offers a traffic school option, the unpleasantness continues. Usually the traffic school is no where near to the c ...

... wisdom, the U.S isn't experiencing a drug related crime wave. Government surveys show between 1980 - 1987 burglary rates fell 27 percent, robbery 21 percent and murders 13 percent, but with new drugs on the market these numbers are up. One contraversial solution is the proposal of legalizing drugs. Although people feel that legalizing drugs would lessen crime, drugs should remain illegal in the U.S because there would be an increase of drug abuse and a rapid increase of diseases such as AIDS. Many believe that legalizing drugs would lessen crime. They point out that the legalization of drugs would deter future ...

... with the freshly spilled blood of your now dead friend. Would a situation like this horrify you? Well you should know that seven murders just like this occurred in two nights. The man responsible is Charles Manson. Manson is the leader of a large cult following, and even after being arrested for his truly horrific deeds still influences the cult today. In 1975 one of Manson's followers, Lynette "Squeaky" Fromme, made an assassination attempt on then president Gerald Ford, in Manson's name. Even now if you go to New York City you can find shirts with his picture on them, glorifying him. Songs have been ...

... 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, “[a]ll 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 J ...

... loaded and someone was shoot accidentally. Studies show that four people die each day because of accidental gun fire. Anti-gun users have pointed out the fact that states who have relaxed their gun laws have had an increase in homicides. Also the fact that more people have died from criminal use of guns than people in the civil war. Some feel it is extremely easy for just about anyone to get access to a handgun. The laws in some states don't require a waiting period , several forms of identification, or even a back round check. Anti-gun users feel that if handguns are illegal it may not be impossible f ...

... notion that ordinary American citizens are too hazardous and ill tempered to be trusted with weapons. How would we even begin to go about confiscating all the guns from the law abiding citizens. The law enforcement agencies of this country have stated that most firearm owners in the opublic are better armed then they are. How then, will they be able to disarm such a enormous group. If you pass a law that wiolates their interprtation of the second amendment you have left these people angry, and with no way out. They will fight. Are the gun control advocates ready to take responsibility for the hundreds if not thous ...

... show no significant change in the murder rate. Adjacent states, in which one has the death penalty and the other does not, show no long-term differences in the murder rate. Furthermore, there is no change in the rate of homicides in a given city or state following a local execution (144). is wrong because it is often used unfairly. Economist magazine states that even though women commit twenty percent of the homicides in the United States, women are rarely sentenced to death and executed (27). The poor and friendless defendants, those with inexperienced or court-appointed counsels, are most likely to be executed ...

... of Public Safety) reports crime is down 3.8% in 1991. That sounds great but then you hear that rapes have increased 6.5% , in 1991, you don't think that we are improving so much. This report was compiled from ninety-three different Arizona police agencies. Of all the crime rape showed the largest increase. Last year in Arizona, there were 1,568 reported rapes compared to 1,472 in 1990. There was 289 slayings last year, in Maricopa county, while there were only 277 the year before that. An increase of 3.6%. Phoenix alone had 151 of those slayings last year. Lots of the public and medi ...

... in America" (Thornton 70). This was a very good idea, but America went about it the wrong way. We, instead, created even more problems such as organized crime, increased alcohol consumption, over crowded prison systems, and the uprise of the Mafia. Not only was this a step in the wrong direction, it was an action that increased the problems that America was already facing. People believed that prohibition would fail and that it was a violation of a person's privacy while other people thought that prohibition would do nothing but improve America. People who were against prohibition were called wets and people f ...