Saturday, December 28, 2019

Book Review King Arthur Knights Of The Round Table

Almanza 5 Tristan Almanza Mrs. Davis English 4 5 April 2016 Camelot, King Arthur Knights of the Round Table Camelot a mythical kingdom said to be located in Great Britain as well as the center of Logres. Camelot is the kingdom that gave birth to the Knights of the Round Table. Arthur was a just king and wanted to form a unit of the knight of justice or knights of the people, the name for this unit would be a knight of the round table, there were to be one hundred and fifty knights in total King Arthur had chosen the first hundred men himself. After Arthur had gotten the Gweniveire hand in marriage her father gave Arthur one hundred men and Merlin chose fifty out of hundred and put them into the round table now the round table is complete or whole for the time being. The Story of Camelot starts with Joseph of Arimathea who according to the bible donated his tomb for the burial of Jesus. Joseph converted more than one thousand inhabitants to Christianity. It s current king Agrestes falsely converted. Agrestes persecutes, Christians after Joseph takes his leave. Upon Joseph return to the city of Camelot he sees that all the inhabitants have converted to Christianity, Agrestes had gone mad with Joseph away and had thrown himself into a fire. Camelot s surrounding land was flourishing with life with plenty of space for tournaments. When tournaments were held wooden reviewing stands for the ladies and maids would be set up. The church of St. Stephen apparently kept a largeShow MoreRelatedJason Mack. Ms. Davis. English I. 24 April 2017. The Honor896 Words   |  4 PagesGalahad The knights of King Arthur’s time were not only brave, but they were righteous, gallant, and faithful. In King Arthur’s time, chivalry was everything. Knights were expected to do battle, be religious, and be respectful to women. One such knight was Sir Galahad. He was the son of Lancelot and Elaine of Corbenic and became a knight at King Arthur’s Round Table. The story of Sir Galahad was shared in The Quest of the Holy Grail from the Middle Ages. It told how Galahad first came to King Arthur’sRead MoreKing Arthur Literary Analysis3547 Words   |  15 PagesThe name King Arthur appears throughout a countless amount of literature, stories, cinema, and legend. King Arthur has always been a long-standing icon of heroism, and heroism is a theme mankind takes pleasure in romanticizing. Arthurian Romance is the classic example of good versus evil, knights in shining armor, forbidden love, and sorcery; the basic elements of a romanticized tale. And in a dark time where religion clashed, empires fought in epic battles, and the people of Britain suffered fromRead MoreBook Report/Character Analysis on the Acts of King Arthur and His Noble Knights by John Steinbeck5483 Words   |  22 Pages------------------------------------------------- The Acts of King Arthur and His ------------------------------------------------- Noble Knights ------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------- By John Steinbeck ------------------------------------------------- Part One: Plot The first section of the book is entitled Merlin. The story begins by telling how Arthur came to be born and then flows into the life of Arthur. When Arthur is in his earlierRead MoreSir Gawains Shield and the Green Night: A Semiotic Analysis1378 Words   |  6 PagesIn the poem Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Sir Gawain must go on a quest to find the Green Knight from whom he accepted a challenge a year earlier. Because Gawain lives the chivalric code, he must keep his promise to the Green Knight and let him get one swing of the axe one year and a day after he swung the axe on him. Before leaving for this quest, Gawain was given amazing armor and a descriptive shield. This shield was more than just a shield; it had a much greater meaning like many otherRead MoreJfk : The Assassination Of President Kennedy1448 Words   |  6 Pagesprevented nuclear war, etc. Kennedy depicted a â€Å"get-it-done optimism† which was so powerful for America to witness. Jackie Kennedy re ferred to her husband s presidency as Camelot, a wistful nod to the legend and idealism of King Arthur and his round table of heroic knights† (Walsh). During JFK’s presidency, Americans believed that they lived in an enchanted country where people could strive to better their lives (Walsh). Subsequently, JFK was fixing to run for president again to ensure that AmericaRead MoreSymbolism in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight Essay1975 Words   |  8 PagesSymbolism in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight From the first time I read Sir Gawain and the Green Knight I have been troubled by the question of whether or not Sir Gawain was right or wrong in lying in order to keep the girdle and save his life. He was torn between honesty and his own life. The question he was forced to ask himself was what did he value more: his honesty or his life? Many scholars have struggled with this question for centuries, as well as the questions of why Gawain made theRead MoreHbr When Your Core Business Is Dying74686 Words   |  299 Pagesyou keep thousands of employees, operating in hundreds of countries, as honest as they are competitive? General Electric’s longtime general counsel describes the systems the company has put in place to do just that. 78 90 4 Harvard Business Review | April 2007 | hbr.org Cover Art: Joshua Gorchov continued on page 8 APRIL 2007 14 Departments 12 COMPANY INDEX 14 FROM THE EDITOR 53 2006 MCKINSEY AWARDS AND 2007 MCKINSEY JUDGES 20 What the Boss Wants from You Read MoreInternational Management67196 Words   |  269 Pagesincluding, but not limited to, in any network or other electronic storage or transmission, or broadcast for distance learning. Some ancillaries, including electronic and print components, may not be available to customers outside the United States. This book is printed on recycled, acid-free paper containing 10% postconsumer waste. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 QDB/QDB 1 0 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 ISBN 978-0-07-811257-7 MHID 0-07-811257-5 Vice President Editor-in-Chief: Brent Gordon Vice President, EDP/Central PublishingRead Morewisdom,humor and faith19596 Words   |  79 Pages WISDOM, HUMOR, AND FAITH: A HISTORICAL VIEW Walter G. Moss Table of Contents (with links) Walter G. Moss 1 Table of Contents (with links) 1 Wisdom, Perspective, and Values 2 Humor’s Contribution to Wisdom 4 Humor and Wisdom in Europe: Some Highlights 5 Renaissance Humor: Erasmus, Rabelais, Cervantes, Shakespeare 5 Two European Russians: Anton Chekhov and Vladimir Soloviev 9 Reflections on Humor from Nietzsche to the Theatre of the Absurd 12 Humor and Wisdom in the United States: Lincoln, BeecherRead MoreContemporary Issues in Management Accounting211377 Words   |  846 Pagesterms agreed with the appropriate reprographics rights organization. Enquiries concerning reproduction outside the scope of the above should be sent to the Rights Department, Oxford University Press, at the address above You must not circulate this book in any other binding or cover and you must impose the same condition on any acquirer British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data Data available Library of Congress Cataloguing in Publication Data Data available Typeset by SPI Publisher Services

Friday, December 20, 2019

The War On Drugs And Drugs - 1486 Words

Brandon Peterson 12/11/2014 Final Paper Will Devault The War on Drugs Despite an estimated $1 trillion spent by the United States on the â€Å"War on Drugs†, statistics from the US Department of Justice (2010) has confirmed that the usage of drugs has not changed over the past 10 years. Approximately $350 billion is spent per year on the â€Å"war on drugs†, only $7 billion is spent on prevention programs by the federal government. The war on drugs is more heavily focused on how to control crime, instead of how to prevent it. Not only is the war on drugs costly, it is also ineffective at reducing or eliminating trade and usage. The â€Å"War on Drugs† campaign has been unsuccessful in preventing the illegal drug trade. As a result, the campaign has managed to marginalize and impoverish the participating societies, causing social and economic harm. By pointing out the failures of this campaign this paper will explain how alternatives can lead to a more successful outcome. Conventional â€Å"War on Drug† policies are hurting communities. With more severe penalties to drug users, more incarceration rates in the United States are occurring. Statistics have shown that the United States houses 25% of the world’s prisoners where 1 in 3 is involved in drug trade (International Centre for Science in Drug Policy). In the United States, the policies of drug prohibition were meant to implement an idea of becoming â€Å"tougher on crime† to decrease usage. Unfortunately, the high rate of incarceration hasShow MoreRelatedThe Drug War On Drugs1378 Words   |  6 Pagesnon-violent drug charges. These people’s lives are now forever changed because of a mistake they made. This mistake is continually made every single day and Americans are being punished in extreme ways for a non violent crime. The United States needs to decimalize all drugs because the drug war is costly, causes high incarceration rates, and isn’t effective as Europ ean drug solutions. In the 20th century, the United States government led a major renewed surge in drug prohibition called the War on DrugsRead MoreThe War On Drugs And Drugs Essay972 Words   |  4 PagesThe war on drugs have been a critical issue that has repeatedly held a great debate topic. It was in the 1906 when the first act against drug was put into effect with the Pure Food and Drug Act which required all over-the-counter medication to have label of its ingredients. Under President Nixon the first executive branch office to coordinate drug policy was formed and the Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act was put into place. Two years following that the Drug Enforcement AgencyRead MoreThe War On Drugs And Drugs1821 Words   |  8 PagesThe war on drugs is a long going battle and it has created many issues all around the world and as of today the highest prison population can be found in the United States due to drug charges. About half of the inmates with in federal and state pri sons can be found on drug convictions. Those charges can range from possession of an illicit substance to drug trafficking that surprisingly continues to be an issue in federal and state prisons. How can United States put an end to the war on drugs? Read MoreThe War On Drugs And Drugs Essay1549 Words   |  7 PagesIntroduction Drug has been a serious issue in our society and criminal justice institutes due to many problems associated, including the violence, negative health benefits, social disorganization, and other negative consequences. The police agencies have adopted a policy called â€Å"The War on Drugs†, as a response to the rising drug problems. The War on Drugs has popularized variety policies and practices that significantly increased the overall number of drug arrests, and other drug related offenses(TheRead MoreThe War On Drugs And Drugs1199 Words   |  5 PagesThere was so much information on this topic of the War on Drugs that I am still wrapping my mind around it. It went into such detail about the war on drugs that are never talked about. We always hear â€Å"just say no.† I know that drugs are a very big problem in our society and even the whole world but I never knew to what extent it really was. I found it very interesting how Johann Hari interviewed these people who were in the middle of the drug war and their stories. It really opened my eyes to whatRead MoreThe War On Drugs And Drugs808 Words   |  4 PagesWhose interests are advanced by sustaining the war on drugs? Police seems to gain a lot by sustaining the â€Å"war on drug†. Drugs are a significant force in police deviance, with as many as half of all convictions in police corruption cases involving drug-related crimes. Corruption in law enforcement, courts, and corrections can be explained through egoism selfish desires for personal gain. In other cases, however, corruption might be better understood as stemming from socially hedonistic incentives;Read MoreThe War On Drugs And Drugs2027 Words   |  9 Pagesincreased federal spending in an attempt to curb the number of drug users and the sale and importation of illicit narcotics the war on drugs began in earnest. The war on drugs has also played a major role in politics as well as having a significant impact on the economy. While there are many arguments in favor for the war on drugs and an equal number of arguments against it I will attempt to show an unbiased look at the war on drugs and drug prohibition and how it has affected society as a whole. SinceRead MoreWar On Drugs And Drugs1952 Words   |  8 PagesWar on Drugs The war on drugs has come a long way without any remarkable success. America has been dealing with the drug menace for many years to a point that four of its presidents have declared the war on drugs part of their main agenda. Sadly, it has been a lost war in various perspectives. Drug abuse continues to be a daily topic with drug abusers flooding not only the American society but also many countries’ hospitals, prisons and courts. The drug trade has continued to cause violent crimesRead MoreThe Drug War On Drugs Essay2030 Words   |  9 Pagesthe â€Å"War on Drugs† sought to control the sale and use of psychoactive drugs as well as promote access to treatment for those who abuse and misuse these substances (Bagley, 1988; Elkins, 1990). Policies implemented prohibited the possession and distribution of narcotics (e.g. marijuana, cocaine, heroin); the punitive policies, which often resulted in hefty fines and prison sentences for violators, ultimately prompted the emer gence of a black market, more potent and lethal drugs, synthetic drugs as wellRead MoreWar On Drugs And Drug Trafficking960 Words   |  4 Pagestrafficking, drug trafficking, and weapons trafficking. One of the most harmful organized crimes is drug trafficking. What makes drug trafficking organized is the system of production to distribution. Drug trafficking organizations have a hierarchy of power from the kingpins to the couriers. Drug also has political influence they are able to bribe and blackmail politicians. Trafficking drugs is a multi-billion-dollar business, and the United States is one of its largest markets. Drug trafficking is

Thursday, December 12, 2019

Regarding Market National Australia Bank

Question: Discuss about the Regarding Market for National Australia Bank. Answer: Introduction Regarding market capitalization and customers, National Australia Bank is one of the four largest financial institutions serving in Australia. Across the world, National Australia Bank is ranked 21st biggest bank in market capitalization and also 41st when measured as per the total assets that the bank has (Vit, 2006). With around 1600 service centers and branches, and more than 4400 ATMs in New Zealand, Asia, and Australia it is serving more than 12.5 million customers around the world. It came into existences in 1982, with the merger of two companies out of which one was the Commercial Banking Co. of Sydney and the other one was the National Bank of Australia. The goals set by the bank has to provide quality services and products, relationships, guidance, and advice to its customers for fair fees and charges. Providing sustainable and satisfactory profit to its stakeholders is one of its main goals. The bank gained growth in the 20th century with the help of various mergers with ba nks in Australia and across the world (Babiak, 2014). In UK, Australia, Ireland, New Zealand, and the USA, National Australia Bank has major share. The reason of these acquisitions was to divide the risk and to increase the income of the bank. Even, after taking many steps to avoid any kind of problem, still, the National Australia Bank faced a very difficult time during the years 2000-2005. The cultural and leadership style that the bank follows and the banks development and growth during the same period are discussed in this report. Along with it, the strategies that the management used over a period are also mentioned in the report (Chandok and Gupta, 2014). Strategies that NAB Management used for its Growth and Development NAB has considered all the rewards and risks that include its customers and the market segment in which it serves while forming and developing the strategies of management. It has also given consideration to the external and internal environment and the differentiation received from the competitors regarding the degree, and the sources. The main goal of the bank is to provide maximum returns to its customers. NAB focuses on the giving preference to its customer segment to attain its goals. NABs strategy includes to target on the small, micro, and medium business customers. CRM (Customer Relationship Management) strategy is being used by NAB from last ten years which has given the growth and expansion to its customer segment. After recognizing the CRM strategy as its focal point, the bank has attained technologies related to CRM. To develop the vision of the bank NAB has acquired various technologies, and also developed an infrastructure to accomplish its goals (Chen and Silverthorne, 2005). The key technology used by NAB from NCR is the relationship optimizer. This technology acts as a communication gatekeeper regarding customer interactions. It manages the frequency, content, and the method used for customer communication. The other strategy that NAB used for its business across the globe is relationship management strategy that was used for the improvement in the growth and performance of NAB. It also helped in winning customer interface through financial services provided to them. It increased the pace of business across the globe to give competitive advantages to NAB through its capability, services, and efficiency. It helped in developing areas that are beneficial for the growth and financial services of the bank. Relationship management strategy helped in managing the other functions of the bank for increasing its value, and to develop different income methods. Being a global service organization, NAB has brought improvement in its IT infrastructure to im prove its services. To connect with its 1200 branches across Australia, NAB has built a WAN environment. NAB understands the challenges and opportunities that are caused by the external environment and digital transformation. NAB understands that for achieving success a better experience need to be provided to the customers (Cherian and Farouq, 2013). A better experience could be given by making the banking experiences easy and creating a cordial relationship with its customers. NAB and its Business Practices NAB has incurred huge losses in the year 2004 because it entered into unauthorized trading of foreign currency. To manage the risk, the procedure and management policies followed by NAB proved inefficient. According to a report, in the year 2004, NAB terminated or suspended more than 30 of its financial advisors. The reason for their termination was given were inappropriate advice, practices, repeated agreement breaches, breach of the code of conduct, and conflicts of interests. The report also states that forgery of clients signature was done by financial advisors, episodes of file reconstruction also surfaced, and a lot of poor-advice was given to the customers that resulted in compensation pay-outs. The culprit advisors tried to manipulate files and forged clients signatures to hide their poor work episodes. These incidents came into light due to the complaints filed by the customers and by the inquiry of the regulators (de Vries, 2012). The banks internal control system failed to identify the forgeries were happening in the bank. One of the strategies used by NAB Growth by Overseas Expansion proved to be a total failure, and it ended with the demerger of CYBG. The failure of the overseas expansion strategy led the bank to sell some of its assets due to the high pressure of losses. Another business strategy of NAB that faced a huge criticism was the way of raising funds for the bank. The method used by NAB to raise funds is through private placements that include the sale of shares to small investors or individuals. These shares were sold to them at a lesser price than its actual market value. NAB faced criticism because it was selling the shares at a lower price than its market value and due to the situation of financial crises across the globe. Investors started demanding more compensation for purchasing securities with high risks due to the market situation. The goodwill of NAB suffered, and it incurred huge losses due to the scandals like faulty financia l advice, insider trading, an allegation of rate fixing, and disputed fees (de Vries, Bakker-Pieper and Oostenveld, 2009). SWOT Analysis of the National Australia Bank SWOT Analysis is taken to find out the strengths and weaknesses of an organization and the opportunities and threats that the organization may have to deal with. This analysis helps the company management to find out the actual strategic situation of the organization. Various opportunities were available to NAB due to the strategies and business policies it follows. The acquisition of The Western Bank of US provided numerous opportunities to NAB and also increased its revenue. Expansion of business in China also helped in increasing its market share and revenue income. Ample amount of opportunities was created for NAB due to the positive outlook towards asset management (Dellaportas, Cooper and Braica, 2007). NABs geographical, and product diversification is its strength. Diversification has made NAB a leading financial player of Australia. Spread in management has resulted in the increased revenue and interest income for the bank. NABs good financial performance has helped the organ ization in contributing towards group profitability. But the financial facilities and the business volume of NAB got affected due to the slowdown in the global and domestic economy. Due to the competition in the financial system of Australia, the profitability ratio for Australian also got affected, and this resulted in the decline of revenue and growth activities of NAB. For the customers benefit finances were made available this made customers manage their own finances. NAB planned to use the Fair Value concept that includes four keys. NAB planned in providing quality services to the customers. Also, it provides fee-free banking services to the customer NAB entered into a partnership with rediATM and opened a large number of ATMs (Halsall, 2015). Information regarding interest rates was provided to the customers to better understand the mortgage and its interest. For running a successful business, an organization has to keep pace with the changing conditions of the market and for this practice becomes important. The importance of transparency and innovation is well understood by NAB. Thus, it creates such a business model that is fair and gives full transparency to its customers (Jogulu, 2010). NABs approach towards corporate responsibility provides a sustainable and positive impact of NAB in peoples life, environment, communities, and the customers. It increases the value of shares of NAB in the eyes of stakeholders. NAB focuses on the development and the rights of the people it is associated with like its customers.NAB delivers the programs that help in supporting the society socially, and financially. The policies, objectives, strategies, and procedures for the organization are set with a strategy of corporate responsibilities. This helps in measuring and reporting the progress of the organization. A proper internal communication system was used to ensure that the corporate responsibility is well understood by the leaders, board and all the people associa ted with it (O'Connell, Webb and Schwarzbach, 2005). NABs Leadership Style and Organizational Culture Culture and organization go hand in hand; they are one and the same thing that cannot be separated from each other. The vision and strategies of an organization can be executed successfully with the help of the strong culture. The organizational culture is one of the most important variables of an organization that impacts the functioning of the organization drastically. The two scale of culture that is mostly used is weak or strong and efficient or inefficient (Sethuraman and Suresh, 2014). The cultural scale is based on the strength that measures and calculates the power that culture has on the employees. The cultural efficiency scale measures the culture of the entities and the attainment of goals and strategies. Organization with an efficient culture achieves its goals easily. Various human resources policies and programs are the part of NAB for the purpose of the development of its employees. Employees are helped through people framework policy that makes them about their career . Programs like self-initiated programs, talent management programs, and development and performance plans are also a part of an organizational culture of NAB. Integration, fragmentation, and differentiation perspective are the three perspectives of culture (Sheridan and Jang, 2012). The most influential part of an organization is the top management that forms the values of an organization and holds it together; that is the integration perspective. Whereas, differentiation perspective is the total opposite of integration perspective that shows the lack of cultural display among the employees. Fragmentation perspective occurs when there is not a clear competency in the organization. Mismanaged culture of an organization can be very harmful for the organization. NAB was more inclined towards earning profits, which affected their ethical behavior (Troshihin, 2013). They formed their working around the phrase Profit is King and continued with unethical behavior in the organization. The balance between risk and profit was tried to be managed by the leaders of NAB. For a successful business, a genuine relationship with the customer is very important, and that can be gained by understanding their needs. NABs leadership style prepares employees to give out high-potential and high-performance. The expected behavior and standards from employees are developed by the code of conduct that is followed in an organization. The same code of conduct need to be followed by each and every person associated with the organization for its development (Vazifedoost, Ansar and Yekezare, 2013). Conclusion The commitment that was expected from National Australia Bank was to provide fairer banking experience to its customers. This can be achieved by building a relationship with the customers based on trust. NAB failed to follow the right code of conduct and abolished the range of fees. To overcome the scandals that harmed the image of NAB, the duties of the directors need to be redesigned. Their duties should include the consideration of environmental and social responsibilities that are an important part regarding the growth and development of the organization. The redesigning of the system should include the reporting requirements that will help in shifting the burden of proof to the person who caused the harm to the organization. The measures like regulation, governance, and supervision should be considered as a way to gain customers trust, not as a restraint in innovation and entrepreneurship. All the activity conducted in the bank should be transparent, fair, and sustainable. All t hese things will help National Australia Bank to gain back its positive image and be an effective competitor on the global level. References Babiak, J. (2014). Polish Managers Leadership Styles: Developing and Validating the Managerial Styles of a Leading Questionnaire.Polish Journal of Applied Psychology, 12(2). Booyse, C., van Niekerk, E., Jansen, C. and Muller, H. (2016). The relationship between work satisfaction and the leadership style of managers: A case study from the banking sector.The Tydskrif vir Geesteswetenskappe, 56(2). Chandok, M. and Gupta, N. (2014). Examining the attributes of customer experience and assessing the impact of customer experience on customer satisfaction: an empirical study of banking industry.International Journal of Services Sciences, 5(2), p.154. Chen, J. and Silverthorne, C. (2005). Leadership effectiveness, leadership style and employee readiness.Leadership Organization Development Journal, 26(4), pp.280-288. Cherian, J. and Farouq, S. (2013). Does Effective Leadership Style Drive Financial Performance of Banks? Analysis in the Context of UAE Banking Sector.International Journal of Economics and Finance, 5(7). de Vries, R. (2012). Personality predictors of leadership styles and the selfother agreement problem.The Leadership Quarterly, 23(5), pp.809-821. de Vries, R., Bakker-Pieper, A. and Oostenveld, W. (2009). Leadership=Communication? The Relations of Leaders Communication Styles with Leadership Styles, Knowledge Sharing and Leadership Outcomes.J Bus Psychol, 25(3), pp.367-380. Dellaportas, S., Cooper, B. and Braica, P. (2007). Leadership, Culture and Employee Deceit: the case of the National Australia Bank.Corporate Governance: An International Review, 15(6), pp.1442-1452. Halsall, R. (2015). The role of CEO (auto-) biographies in the dissemination of neo-ascetic leadership styles.Leadership. Jogulu, U. (2010). Culturallyà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ linked leadership styles.Leadership Organization Development Journal, 31(8), pp.705-719. O'Connell, B, Webb, L, and Schwarzbach, H. (2005). Batten Down The Hatches! U. S. Accounting Scandals and Lessons for Australia.Australian Accounting Review, 15(36), pp.52-67. Sethuraman, K. and Suresh, J. (2014). Effective Leadership Styles.IBR, 7(9). Sheridan, N. and Jang, B. (2012). Bank Capital Adequacy in Australia.IMF Working Papers, 12(25), p.1. Troshihin, V. (2013). Management style as a system of economic and socio-cultural cooperation in the organization.à Ã…“à Ã‚ µÃƒ Ã‚ ½Ãƒ Ã‚ µÃƒ Ã‚ ´Ãƒ Ã‚ ¶Ãƒ Ã‚ ¼Ãƒ Ã‚ µÃƒ Ã‚ ½Ãƒâ€˜Ã¢â‚¬Å¡, 1(6), pp.301-309. Vazifedoost, H., Ansar, M. and Yekezare, A. (2013). How customer satisfaction changes behavior: A case study of banking industry.Management Science Letters, 3(6), pp.1587-1592. Vit, G. (2006). Organizational conformity and contrarianism: regular irregular trading at National Australia Bank.Corporate Governance: The international journal of business in society, 6(2), pp.203-214.

Wednesday, December 4, 2019

Capital Punishment7 Essay Example For Students

Capital Punishment7 Essay Capital punishment is one of the most popularly debated topics in the nation today. Since colonial times, more than 13,000 people have been legally executed and a large percentage of these executions occurred during the early 1900s. In the 1930s, approximately 150 people were being legally executed each year. However, the number of executions started to decrease, as public outrage became apparent. Currently, over 3,500 people are on death row. The death penalty violates the Eight Amendment because the act is cruel and unusual, and because the punishment discriminates against the poor and the minorities, the punishment also violates the Fourteenth Amendment. Surprisingly, many victims on death row are mentally retarded or disabled. Unfortunately, the death penalty has many supporters, and their main claim to why the death penalty should be constitutional is that the death penalty is a deterrent to crime, but research has proved their claim to be false. The most disturbing factor of al l is that a significant number of the inmates are innocent. For many reasons, capital punishment should be illegal throughout the nation. Capital punishment is not acceptable because it is unconstitutional. Capital punishment has been proven to violate the Eighth Amendment, which is the prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment. It is also a violation of the Fourteenth Amendment, which guarantees equal protection of the laws and due process. The death penalty, which was legal with no objections through the 1900s, became a controversial issue in 1972. In 1972, the Furman vs. Georgia trial caused the Supreme Court to cancel hundreds of scheduled executions and to declare the death penalty unconstitutional. However, in 1976 in Gregg vs. Georgia, the Court reinstated the death penalty. After this decision, several states reenacted the capital punishment laws. However, capital punishment indeed violates the Eighth Amendment, which became a part of the United States Constitution in 1789. Capital punishment is both a cruel and an unusual punishment. No punishment can be crueler than death, especially if it is applied to an innocent person. In Wendy Kaminers book, Its All the Rage, Kaminer describes the death penalty as, barbarously cruel . . . . shocking, unjust, and unacceptable (106). The Fourteenth Amendment is also violated in cases of the death penalty. Once again, the Fourteenth Amendment in the United States Constitution promises equal protection of the laws and due process to everyone, but Vilbig says, Death penalty critics say defendants, many of whom are poor, frequently get a poor legal defense, often by court-appointed lawyers (4). This fact indicates that the unfortunate are not being given equal protection under the law. However, the death penalty was found to be discriminatory based on the color of ones skin (Bedau 6). Therefore, the death penalty clearly violates the Fourteenth Amendment. The application of the death penalty sentence shows raci al discrimination, sex discrimination, and socio-economic class discrimination all over the nation. Over the years, the statistics of the executions have been studied. According to these statistics, from 1930 to 1990 the Government Accounting Office (GAO) reports an interesting conclusion about racial discrimination. The GAO confirmed that, . . . a consistent pattern of evidence indicating racial disparities in charging, sentencing and the imposition of the death penalty after the Furman decision . . . . race of victim influence was found at all stages of the criminal justice system process . . . (Bedau 5). Along with this finding, they also asserted that . . . those who murdered whites were more likely to be sentenced to death than those who murdered blacks (Bedau 6). This information revealed that the convicts race, as well as the race of the victim, influenced the criminal justice process. In 1987, a study taken in New Jersey showed that of all the executions made that year, fift y percent of the cases involved a black defendant with a white victim, while only twenty-eight percent of the cases involved a white defendant with a black victim. In California, studies indicated that while six percent of those convicted of killing whites got the death penalty, only three percent of those convicted of killing blacks got the death penalty; Since 1976 only four executions involved a white defendant who killed a black victim (Bedau 6). In 1986, studies in Georgia demonstrated that those convicted of killing whites were four times more likely to be sentenced to death than convicted killers of non-whites were. African Americans are only about twelve percent of the United States population. Of the 3,859 persons executed for a crime since 1930, fifty percent have been black. Also, the application of the death penalty was disproportionate to other minority populations (Bedau 6). It could be argued that minorities do not commit more crime than whites, but rather they are mo re often punished with the death penalty. In all, only thirty-one of the eighteen thousand executions in this countrys history involved a white person being punished for killing a black person. Sex discrimination is another factor that enters into determining the death sentence. During the ten years from the 1980s to the 1990s, only about one percent of those on the death row were women while a disproportionate number, fifteen- percent, of the criminal homicides were committed by women. Furthermore, research indicates that only thirty-three (twelve of them black) women were executed in the United States since 1930 compared to 3,826 men. Finally, socio-economic class discrimination influences judgments made about the death sentence. Statistics showed that ninety percent of those on the death row are too poor to hire a lawyer. A man named Clinton Duffy, former warden at Californias San Quentin Prison once said, . . . the term capital punishment is ironic because only those without cap ital get the punishment (Bedau 6). This statement seems to be true today. Without capital, one cannot be tried equally, since he or she cannot afford private investigators, psychiatrists, and expert criminal lawyers to help with the trial. Therefore, the poor suffer the harshest punishment. Racial, sex, and socio-economic discrimination plays an important role in deciding the punishment placed on the crime, which is clearly not equal protection from the law. The confusion swirls round and round her eyes, All these thoughts making her mind curl EssayBibliography:Bedau, Peter. Death is Different. Massachusetts: Northeastern University Press, 1987. Kaminer, Wendy. Its All the Rage: Crime and Culture. New York: Addison-Wesley Publishing Company, 1995. Vilbig, Peter. Innocent on Death Row. New York Times Upfront 18 Sept 2000: 1-11.