Criminal Procedure Essay

â€Å"One may well ask: How can you advocate breaking some laws and obeying others? The answer lies in the fact that there are two types of laws: just and unjust. I would be the first to advocate obeying just laws. One has not only a legal but, a moral responsibility to obey just laws. Conversely, one has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws.† – Martin Luther King, Jr. Imagine a perfect society, where the population had a standard set of rules and followed them. In that perfect society, everyone knew the rules down to a specific science hence, they knew how to obey said rules. Unfortunately in our time, we do not have a perfect society. Our civilization has lost the knowledge of their rights unless either; a.) laws were broken by an individual or b.) the individual is studying or examining criminal law. Either way, our society unknowingly forfeits their rights in certain situations. On the other hand, there are law enforcement officers who have sworn to uphold these rights to obtain their position. Some do not know themselves, when they have crossed the line of duty or violated a right. It is up to us to break down and identify the validity and righteousness of the â€Å"Officer Smith & The Gold Pontiac† situation we are presented with. Reasonable suspicion is â€Å"a standard used in criminal procedure, more relaxed than probable cause, that can justify less-intrusive searches. A reasonable suspicion exists when a reasonable person under the circumstances, would, based upon specific and articulable facts, suspect that a crime has been committed (Reasonable Suspicion, Cornell Law School Library [2013]).† Officer Smith pulled over a gold, older model Pontiac because she noticed tape on what she suspected to be broken. One might wonder why Officer Smith pulled the Pontiac over. In most states, the driver is held accountable for faulty equipment of their vehicle. Unless the tape is red, reflective and transparent, an officer has every right to pull the driver over and issue a ticket. In my own experience, it is highly likely for a police officer to pull someone over if there was an obstruction of a head or taillight. I myself have been pulled over for something similar in which I received a warning or ticket. On her way to the driver’s window, Officer Smith remembers the description of a vehicle that was recently involved in a roadside killing of another police officer. That description fit with the Pontiac she had just pulled over. Officer Smith proceeds to ask the driver to get out of the vehicle so she may conduct a quick pat down for weapons. According to the Fourth Amendment, a justifiable search begins with reasonable suspicion. In this case, Officer Smith asks the driver to endure a â€Å"stop and frisk†. This means, the officer had the right to ask for a quick pat down of the driver’s outer clothing in search of a weapon(s). In my belief, the driver’s rights were not violated and valid based on the officer’s request for a stop and frisk. Nothing illegal has happened between the two. â€Å"If, during the pat down for weapons, the officer feels a weapon on the individual, the officer then has probable cause to conduct a complete search.† (Roberson, Wallace & Stuckey, 2007; p.83) In our example, a weapon was not felt or found on the driver. Furthermore, Officer Smith has now conducted what’s known as a â€Å"Terry Stop†. What is the difference between a Terry Stop and the Stop and Frisk you ask? There isn’t any significant difference. Prior to â€Å"Terry Vs. Ohio† (1968), a stop and frisk protected against illegitimate search and seizure. Where as after, it is come to be known as; constitutional according to circumstances where a reasonably suspicious officer has a valid concern for societies or his/her safety. After the Terry Stop, Officer Smith directed the driver to have a seat in the vehicle and asks for their driver license and registration. I would think that this procedure is pretty standard in identifying who the driver is and maybe writing out a ticket for the taillight tape. The driver had other plans and speeds away from Officer Smith without giving requested information. It is to my knowledge that Officer Smith has mor e than reasonable suspicion now. She has probable cause to believe that the driver was in fact, the killer from the incident she’d heard about. With probable cause, Officer Smith proceeds to chase the Pontiac. The chase ends when the driver of the Pontiac hits a telephone pole. You may stop to ask me; â€Å"What is the difference between probable cause and reasonable suspicion?† From my understanding of the two, probable cause is grounds for a warrant or for an arrest. Reasonable suspicion is not but, it may be grounds to further investigate or for a police officer to detain a person or vehicle for further investigation (Florida State University Law Review, Summer (2006), Vol. 33, Issue 4, 1239-1248). I’m compelled to agree with officer Smith in this instance. The driver demonstrated reckless behavior, presenting exigent circumstances for Officer Smith to give chase to this vehicle. According to The Cornell Law Library, an exigent circumstance is â€Å"a circumstance that requires an immediate response. It occurs when police officers believe they have probable cause and there is no time to obtain a warrant. (Exigent Circumstance), Cornell Law School Library [2013])† Being that the chase ended with a severe crash, Officer Smith did respond immediately to the situation. Furthermore, our scenario goes on to explain that Officer Smith feared that the car might catch on fire from the leaking gas tank. She pulls out the driver from the vehicle and goes back to get her purse for identification. It is then that Officer Smith sees that the glove box has popped open and in it was a firearm with documents on top of it. We are asked to think about if the firearm was in plain view and if it was legally obtained? Since I am just a Criminal Justice student, I would have to say affirmative to both. I say that in full confidence because it is legal for an officer to enter a vehicle at the scene of an accident to assist without an issued search warrant. Without rummaging through the vehicles co ntents, the officer sees a weapon or narcotics. Even with the use of a flashlight, it is still considered legal. Just because something is hidden behind darkness, doesn’t mean it wouldn’t be seen during daylight, right? The other permissible circumstance regarding the plain view doctrine is, if the officer moves him or herself around to take a look. The object in plain view (without a thorough search) can be seized and is admissible evidence in court. The fact that the gun was seen through the documentation clearly shows that it was in plain view and didn’t have to be searched for. Officer Smith goes on to find the driver’s purse. In an attempt to locate the driver’s identification, she finds a baggie of Marijuana in the driver’s purse. Although I do not believe that this will uphold as evidence in this case, it may present the driver with another set of charges against her. Perhaps the driver may get charged with possession of an illegal substance? However, I really feel that Officer Smith did not have the right to search for anything other than the drivers license, even though she did find the Marijuana in the purse. In my studies it would be considered â€Å"Fruit of the Poisonous Tree†. Although Officer Smith was legally allowed to enter the vehicle without a search warrant and assist in identifying the driver, I believe that the retrieval of the cannabis will not be permissible in court for the reasons I’ve stated above. Our scenario also goes on to state that it was later found that this vehicle was not the vehicle involved in the death of the officer. It also states that it was determined that the taillight was not in fact broken. One might question or argue at this point, whether the entire scenario is justifiable or necessary? From my point of view it was entirely correct. The officer had a valid reason to pull the car over. She had reasonable suspicion for a Terry Stop. Her reasonable suspicion then turned to probable cause when the driver fled the sight without presenting the officer with what she’d asked for. The officer then acted within a responsible manner to help the driver out of the crashed vehicle. After all, law enforcement is there to â€Å"protect and serve† our community. The firearm was in plain sight of the officer while she tried to locate the driver’s identification. Nothing except the search and seizure of the contents of the purse violated the rights of the driver; nor incriminated the police officer. It is in my belief that Officer Smith could’ve called for backup or help once she found the scene of the accident. She could’ve taken the purse out of the vehicle and even seized the gun. However, she had time to obtain a warrant to search the purse. In instances like we have just gone through, it is interesting to see just how knowledgeable each player is with their rights and responsibilities. We see these cases often in the news and some do not even make it to trial because either a right was violated or a piece of evidence was gathered with some mistake made in obtaining it. â€Å"Don’t interfere with anything in the Constitution. That must be maintained, for it is the only safeguard of our liberties.†- President Abraham Lincoln References Exigent Circumstance [Def.1], In Legal Information Institute, Cornell Univeristy Law School Libarary. Retrieved February 13, 2013, from http://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/exigent_circumstances Plain View Doctrine [Def.1], In Legal Information Institute, Cornell University Law School Library. Retrieved February 15, 2013, from http://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/plain_view_doctrine Reasonable Suspicion [Def.1]. In Legal Information Institute, Cornell University Law School Library. Retrieved February 13, 2013, from http://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/reasonable_suspicion Stuckey, G., Roberson, C., & Wallace, H., (2006). Procedures in the Justice System (8th Edition). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson/Prentice Hall. Florida State University Law Review, Summer (2006), Vol. 33, Issue 4, 1239-1248, Retrieved February 14, 2013, from http://www.heinonline.org.lib.kaplan.edu/HOL/Page?handle=hein.journals/flsulr33&div=61

Personal transport Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

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You Can tell a lot about people by observing what they wear and eat Essay

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Bullying in Nursing Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Bullying in Nursing - Research Paper Example Bullying in nursing manifests in different ways including false accusations aimed tainting someone’s reputation and competency, personal attacks, allocation of roles beyond one’s skills and lack of assistance from the seniors, and lastly intimidation among other ways. The bullying behavior translates into psychological and physiological effects on the victims, poor bedside patient outcomes as well as compromise in the organizational effectiveness and efficiency. The menace can be controlled through cognitive rehearsal training programs, implementation of code of conduct, creation of awareness and zero tolerance on bullying in all health care organizations. Keywords (Bullying, interpersonal relationships, intimidation, reputation, competency, code of conduct, cognitive rehearsal) Review of the Literature of a Researchable Problem Workplace bullying has emerged as global issue in healthcare organization, particularly affecting the nursing practitioners. Owing to the serio usness of this problem and its effects on the performance of nurses, several studies have been conducted with the aim of understanding and establishing strategies to avert or control its occurrence. Despite the existence of aggression and harassment behaviors in almost health care organization, bullying is viewed as form of repeated behaviors resulting in creation of a hostile working environment (Hutchinson, Wilkes, Vickers & Jackson, 2008). Researchers have proposed numerous strategies of dealing with bullying in nursing including training programs, establishment of stringent measure to protect nurses, and counseling programs. This paper entails review of literature from different scholarly articles on bullying in nursing. Simons, S. (2010). Bullying in the workplace-a qualitative study of new licensed registered nurses. American Association of Occupational Health Nurses, 58 (7), 305-311. This article entails a qualitative study of bullying among nurses to establish the different ways in which bullying manifests in the field of nursing. Simons (2010) examined the individual experiences of nurses as well as incidences of bullying witnessed during their practice. The study applied a descriptive qualitative research design to examine bullying behavior among newly licensed nurse. A survey study was conducted in the State of Massachusetts targeting nurses registered between 2001 and 2003 and about 511 responses were obtained through the email survey (Simons, 2010). The results of study revealed that about 139 nurses had been bullied and 14 others witnessed bullying incidences. Several themes describing the bullying behavior were identified including feeling out of the group, structural bullying, senior or old nurses exploiting newly registered nurses and the feeling of quitting the occupation (Simons, 2010). The phrase ‘nurses eat their young’ was particularly used to describe the hostility subjected to new nurses by their seniors. Senior nurses prop agated bullying in the working area through subjecting the newly registered nurses to ridicule, lack of information sharing and lack of assistance from the experienced nurses. Bullying in nursing accounted for a significant percentage of the employee turnover in the nursing field. Some of the respondents reported having left their jobs due to unbearable bullying in their working environments. Most of the bullying beha

Renewable EnergyExplore the United States history of renewable energy, Essay

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Grades inflation in the US Annotated Bibliography

Grades inflation in the US - Annotated Bibliography Example Students and the citizens have been worried about the criteria the professors use when they are grading different students from different races. The problem has been noted since many students have graduated and only a few numbers haven’t. This has been noted. In this article they explain further about grade inflation and the problems that it has caused to the students. The article talks of the act of discrimination in the grading process. You will also find the comparison between different institutions and the policies put in place for the grading process. The article also presents its argument in a diagrammatic way and gives statistics of the same. The article broadly explains on the issue of the grades but for this one is deeper. It tries to overlook the problem and the reasons behind it. It also has a diagram that helps the learner even understand more. The article is very interesting and gives the learner a good experience. It tries to see through the possibilities and the impossibilities of schools applying grade inflation as a way of competition. The article also tries to lay the differences link between school choice and grade inflation. It also goes ahead and talks about empirical strategy The article goes straight to discuss the matter and in this case the article talks about the parents in another dimension where they get to choose the best schools for their children without having in mind the gradation process. The source is very relevant and has good arguments on the matter. This is an article that tries to review whether the credibility of data would affect the data inflation.They get their research from the US law schools admissions. They base their argument onthe reliability and the sincerity of the data that they get. They also give prior research and also have diagrammatic explanations to explain further with the use of examples. There is a lot of data analyzing in this case

The Securities and Exchange Commission Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

The Securities and Exchange Commission - Essay Example The International Monetary Fund approximated â€Å"more than $1 trillion on toxic assets and from bad loans† were lost by big western banks â€Å"from January 2007 to September 2009† (Reuters 1). The individual losses and exposures were undisclosed by these institutions in order â€Å"to prevent ‘runs’ on their banks or trading against their positions by their competitors in the markets† which can further escalate their losses (Dobbs & Minyard 1). Hence, what the banks and other companies/institutions did was to refrain from lending money â€Å"among themselves or to other businesses† since they were uncertain as to their trading partners’ financial health and considered that â€Å"the risk of loss was too high,† opting to preserve their cash to compensate for any probable future losses (Dobbs & Minyard 1). The â€Å"sources of liquidity† was said to have desiccated for a number of companies with capital markets failing to perform properly (Dobbs & Minyard 1). This resulted to breakdown and bankruptcies of influential companies or â€Å"land-rich/cash-poor situation† for energy companies (Dobbs & Minyard 1). The global economy then was said to be in recession as â€Å"the financial markets seized† (Dobbs & Minyard 1). ... SEC 1). The federal statutes and rules require companies to have â€Å"full disclosure and transparency† whenever it â€Å"sells stocks or bonds to the public† (Johnson 993), or to supply â€Å"a detailed public disclosure document† to both â€Å"investors and regulators† (Securities Act of 1933  §Ã‚ § 5, 10, 15 U.S.C.  §Ã‚ § 77e, 77j (2006); 17 C.F.R. pt. 230 (2011), whenever private businesses make public offerings (Johnson 993). The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) reviews â€Å"these disclosure documents,† which in the case of Groupon, the SEC they required the latter to revise its disclosures in order to improve their accuracy (U.S. SEC, Letter from Larry Spirgel 1-14). This requirement however is not applicable to private placements wherein â€Å"a company sells an investment outside of the normal public securities markets† (Securities Act of 1933  § 4(2), 15 U.S.C.  § 77d(2); 17 C.F.R.  § 230.506 (2011)), which often times evade examination by federal and state regulatory bodies (Johnson 151). Because these placements are private, they are concealed (Johnson 993) and the issuers tend to divulge â€Å"far less information to investors† than that required for public offerings (SEC v. Ralston Purina Co., 346 U.S. 119, 125-26 (1953) and SEC rule 506 under 17 C.F.R.  § 230.506). Issuers also divulge this information â€Å"only to qualified investors† (17 C.F.R.  § 230.506 and 17 C.F.R.  § 230.501(a) (2011)). â€Å"Regulators and even academics have little or no access to the private placement disclosures† (Johnson 993). Private placements are also said not to be liquid, â€Å"difficult to price,† and bear significant risks (Johnson