After 22 years on Death Row, case dropped

This article discusses the issue of wrongful conviction or even the issue of not having enough evidence in order to support your case in court. In this trial a women, Debra Milke, was sentenced to death row many years ago for murder. She was found guilty of plotting with two other to kill her own son for an insurance payout. After many years of maintaining her innocence and fighting to change  the decision, she received her long awaited trial last week. After the retrial the judge found her innocent and dropped all charges against her. This decision from the judge made her the second woman who has been cleared from death row in the history of the United States of America. After several years of fighting back at the decision she has finally received the appeal that she wanted.Over the years the prosecutors have said that at one point or another in the interrogation room the suspect, Debra Milke confessed to the murder. The suspect has since stated that she has never confessed to being behind the murder. Neither can be proved because according to the prosecutors the interrogation where she “confessed” was not recorded. That made this part of the case a he said, she said argument over the answer to the question, did Debra Milke ever confess to being involved in the killing of her son?

This article relates to the course because it shows the processes and procedures in a trial. In the article it displays the importance of evidence in a case, if there were more evidence on Debra Milke and also if her “confession would have been reported then maybe the judge might not have dropped all the charges against. This article also points out the pros and cons of the United States court system, one of the cons are that it could find the wrong person guilty, in that case the wrong person must serve time for actions that they didn't commit. A pro about the court system is that it brings justice.

My opinion of this article is that  there was just not enough evidence in the beginning of the case in order to sentence her to the death row. He said and she said stories are not the type of stories that are meant for court, I believe that a judge’s should be based on the facts and evidence, which in this case there was little of. I am glad that she truly over that years maintained her innocence and continued to fight back with the faith to one day change the decision.

http://www.cnn.com/2015/03/24/justice/arizona-debra-milke-death-sentence/index.html

 

"India's Girl" Film Banned

This article mainly discusses the issue of raping in the country of India. Recently a documentary was made about one specific rape case that happened in India.The bizarre incident happened in 2012 when Jyoti Singh, a young medical student was brutally gang raped and murdered. The story soon after the incident became headline news and began to attract the attention of the world. The crime brought attention to the issue of rape in the country and has helped to start a change. Jyoti Singh’s story seemed to also attract the attention a British filmmaker named Leslee Udwin who wanted to join the fight to bring an end to the violence in India. India’s Daughter the title of the documentary tells the story of 23 year old, Jyoti Singh and how she was gang raped and assaulted by six men on a bus. After assaulting both Jyoti Singh and her friend the men left her by the roadside and after nearly two weeks Jyoti Singh passed away at a hospital in Singapore. The documentary includes interviews with one of the six men that raped and assaulted Jyoti Singh but the one person whose interview was not included was the friend that she was with, he was given the opportunity to but declined unless he was paid which the director refused to do. During the interview with one of the men responsible for her death he continues to place the blame of the attack on Jyoti Singh. The government since the release of the movie have banned it for several reasons, one of those being that they believe that the movie encourages violence against women. The six men that were involved in the incident have all been convicted since, four of them on death row, another one was committed to death but committed suicide in prison and the last person was a minor and therefore was only given a three year sentence.

This article or topic can relate to government because it shows how the justice systems in other countries work. Although the six men in this case were found and charged, that is not always the case because in fact most of these aren’t even reported. In the United States the consequences for this issue might have been handled differently because America has a different way of handling issues than India.

Since this incident was first reported in 2012 I have been following the story because of how bizarre it was and also because I wanted to see justice and change being brought for the victims of these crimes. No one deserves to be raped and brutally assaulted but in my opinion if they are then they should be able to contact someone for help and in order to get justice. Banning the documentary in the country is also something that I disagree with I believe that this movie would bring knowledge to it’s viewers on the issues in India and could help push change in the country. I believe that if the government truly wants change then they should show the movie and the rawness and reality of violence against women in the country. More needs to be done to put an end to this issue and hopefully this movie ignites that change .         

http://news.yahoo.com/india-s-daughter-documentary-about-2012-delhi-gang-rape-and-murder-204806009.html

University of Oklahoma Fraternity's Racist Chant

This article discusses a recent incident that occurred at the University of Oklahoma. A group of students from the fraternity Sigma Alpha Epsilon were involved in a racist chant on a bus. Although the video is only nine seconds long it has received plenty of backlash and has created many different conversations. In the video it is seen that several students lead the chant as the members chant about how there will never be a black Sigma Alpha Epsilon member and they also discuss lynching of African-Americans. As soon as the video was anonymously sent to the university’s newspaper. Immediately after receiving the video the school newspaper publicized it, and when the school viewed the video they decided to shut down the fraternity chapter. The president of the university, David Boren has since made a statement saying that racism is not tolerated on campus and that the school is finished with the fraternity and will be closing the chapter. The fraternity’s national president, Brad Cohen  has also released a statement which says that he is disappointed and disgusted by the outright racism showed in the video. Upon further research it has been found that this might not be the only incident at a university that involves this fraternity. There have been several other incidents over the years similar to this. This video has started a chain of outrage as to the act displayed, because of this video a football recruit to the university has decided to de-commit from the school. So far only Parker Rice who is said to be the leader of the chant has been expelled from the university, he is one of the two people that have been expelled since the video surfaced.

In this article it discusses the rules and decisions that are left to the school. Also in the article it is says that if the university had not responded to the incident then the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division would have had to step in because the incident violated Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. According to the Justice Department it "prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, and national origin in programs and activities receiving federal financial assistance", which this video seems to go against. This seems to show how we as citizens and groups such as this have a voice and can have an impact on issues in our country with the help of the law.

In my opinion incidents like this should not be handled lightly and I am glad that this issue has been handled seriously. The way this issue has been handled has really sent a strong message to the public about acts such as this. Reading this article and watching the video caused me to think, why? Why did they believe that the chant was appropriate? And another question that I would want to ask them is, do you think that it was worth? It is a shame that people continue to judge by the color of a person’s skin and not by the content of their character. This incident has taught me that America is not finished growing and that Martin Luther King Jr.’s dream has yet to be accomplished.         

http://www.cnn.com/2015/03/10/us/oklahoma-racist-chant/index.html

Facebook Argument Leads to Teenagers Death

In this article it discusses a recent incident where a teenager was shot and killed. Kierra’onna Rice was the fourteen year old that was killed after an argument on Facebook turned into a physical incident. The article states that the incident first began on Facebook, a social media site and then as the argument continued between the teenagers they decided to take the argument to the next level and meet. The girls involved decided to meet up at a park and fight. They planned to videotape the fight and post it online. But when they meet two male teenagers pulled out their guns and started shooting at the girls in the park. The shooting not only killed Kierra`onna Rice but it injured two people also. Two suspects have since been apprehended ages 17 and 19, their court date have yet to be set.

This recent murder shows the roles and responsibilities  of the country and state’s justice system. From this incident we see that the police don’t only arrest people but they also work to apprehend suspects and investigate cases. They used their sources that are made available to them to identify the suspects and have since probably investigated and found more evidence to support the case against the two teenagers. The suspects have yet to be indicted and receive their charges.Their court dates have not been set and the investigation is still on going. This incident shows us that social media can be used as a means of arguments and that they don’t end there. Meetings of the people from Facebook can turn out violent such as this one did.

In my opinion I believe that this incident could have been prevented if the argument had not moved to a physical meeting with plans to fight and videotape the fight. This incident seems to be an example of the bad effects of social media. Although it has its positives this incident that lead up to the killing of a 14 year old girl shows the negative effect that social media can have. An argument on Facebook should not have to lead to the killing of one teenagers and should have left two more teenagers wounded. This incident has now brought attention to the negative effects of social media and I believe that something must be done to help bring an end to issues like this.

http://www.cnn.com/2015/03/01/us/alabama-facebook-teen-girl-killed/index.html