Fiction Blog 4

After Ellie was almost killed in a house fire she keeps investigating the case of Rob Westerfield killing her sister. The Westerfield household has been trying to convince the public and future jury members that it was not Rob Westerfield who killed Andrea, Ellie's sister. They have apparently found a witness who saw Paulie Strobel, another kid, go into the garage where Andrea was killed. This witness Will Nebels, has a questionable background. Nebels was stealing money from the Westerfield when he happened to see Paulie go into the garage. Nebels did not tell anyone who went into the garage because he would have had to tell the police what he was doing at the time. He would have self-incriminated himself and gone to jail for stealing. The Westerfields claim that the statue of limitations has expired for the issue of stealing and that it is time the truth came out. Ellie finds out how unreliable and questionable Nebels is while going out to dinner with some acquaintances. Nebels had gotten drunk at the bar before Ellie showed up. He recognized her and in his drunken state tries to talk to her. He hugs her and kisses her while his hands roam over her body. Ellie tries to push him away but Nebels is too heavy. People from other tables finally pull him off of her. Nebels' actions could be construed as attempted rape and assault.

Ellie finds some interesting information that may convict Rob Westerfield of a different crime. When looking at his past high schools she learns that Rob was a member of the drama team. The students in the drama team were encouraged to take a stage name. Rob's stage name was Jim Wilding. The students wrote their stage names on a picture that was put up on the high school walls. It just so happens that Rob's grandmother had someone attempt to murder her. That someone left a note that had the name Jim Wilding on it. Ellie studied the handwriting from the picture and the note and concluded that the signature was the same. From Ellie's conclusion came the idea that Rob had tried to murder his grandmother for inheritance money. The mens rea is present and he almost committed the actus reus. The attempted murder would be considered an incohate crime because the murder was "partially put into operation."

Ch. 10 The Law and Social Change

Social change is any relatively enduring alteration in social relationship behavior patterns, values, norms, and attitudes occurring over time. Sometimes they accumulate in small mutations or in huge leaps. There are those who resist social change. They either have the most to gain from the way things are or they feel psychologically threatened. Law has played a role in social change and social change has played a role in the law. One example is the thought that alcohol causes crime. This lead to the Eighteenth Amendment or Prohibition. The actual law caused the alcohol business to go underground. Organized crime sprang up from that unsavory law. Al Capone popped up as one of the most infamous criminals with a terrible reputation for bloodshed. The Valentine's Day Massacre is an example of this. Prohibition is also an example that with the best of intentions no one knows what the consequences will be from a specific action.

Constitutions are examples. Constitutions accomplish four primary objectives. First, it legalizes the existing political order and legitimizes its ideology. Second, it provides a framework for the administration of government. Third, it regulates social and institutional behavior. Lastly, it enumerates national goals and aspirations. The Soviets had four constitutions during the lifetime of the Soviet Union. Those constitutions did not necessarily guarantee political freedom. It is interesting that the Soviet Union tried to destroy the "bourgeois family" by the methods they used. Marriages in the past could be seen as paternalistic and exploited women. I do not disagree with them about that fact. It was the ways that they tried to fix that problem that amaze me. Abortion on demand, legitimized unmarried cohabitation, divorce on demand, and the encouragement of "free love" were just some of their methods. This was one of the biggest attempts to change family life, the basic structure of any society.

I am glad that our society has mostly gotten over racism that used to plague us during the Civil War times and the considerable time after that. The 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments made it possible for Obama to be elected president. I am also glad for the 26th amendment which allowed me to vote for the person I thought would have the best chance of leading our country.
Obama

Ch. 10 Vocabulary

Social change: any relatively enduring alteration in social relationships, behavior patterns, norms, and attitudes occurring over time
Proclamation Act: a 1763 act passed by the British Parliament forbidding white settlement in America west of the Appalachians
Constitution: a document that legalizes the existing political order and legitimizes its ideology, provides a framework for the administration of government, regulates social and institutional behavior, and enumerates national goals and aspirations
Soviet legalism: "strict and unflinching observance and fulfillment of Soviet laws by all organs of the socialist state and public organizations, institutions and all citizens, in all circumstances, and at all times
Dynamic view: a view of the Supreme Court maintaining that it can be more effective than other government branches in bringing about social change because it is free of election concerns and can act in the face of public opposition
Constrained view: a view of the Supreme Court that maintains that it can rarely produce significant social change because its practical powers are limited
Legitimacy: the ability to command compliance with rules despite the lack of objective means to compel it
Traditional authority: a type of authority that rests on long-standing usage and custom
Charismatic authority: a type of authority underlain by mythical, quasi-supernatural qualities
Rational-legal authority: a form of authority derived from rules rationally and legally enacted
Strict constructionism: a philosophy maintaining that judges must seek to discover and adhere to the "original intent" of the Framers of the Constitution when making decisions
Judicial activism: accusation made against judges when it is believed they have decided a case based on principles other than constitutional ones
Sherman Antitrust Act: passed by Congress in 1890 and designed to place controls on business
Supremacy clause: a clause in the United States Constitution stating that the authority of the United States (not the individual states) shall be the supreme law of the land

Ch. 9 The Law and Social Control

Social control is "any action, either deliberate or unconscious, that influences conduct toward conformity, whether or not the persons being influenced are aware of the process." Law's primary purpose is to establish and maintain social control. There are two different dimensions of social control: direct v. indirect and formal v. informal. Direct social control is when it is happening to you. Indirect is when you see it happening to someone else. Informal is when the community punishes the transgressor. Formal is when the the punishment is handed out by the government in legal terms. These types of social control are combined together to create four distinct social control mechanisms. Direct/Informal social control involves the stigma that is applied to the transgressor. One such example is a homeowner's association. Direct/Formal social control is when the direct formalities of the law are legally applied to the transgressor. An example of this is when you get arrested for doing something wrong. Indirect/Informal social control is when a person sees the reinforcement of social norms. An example is when someone sees someone being ridiculed. Indirect/Formal social control involves the threat of legal sanctions perceived by individuals who have not transgressed the law. One example of this is when you witness a friend being pulled over by a cop.

I see enough people speeding and those that have been pulled over by the police to know not to speed. My parents were real sticklers for not speeding. Most of the time they were in the car with me and would watch the speedometer. They would tell me to slow down and tell me the consequences of speeding: the fines if a cop pulled me over, the increase in insurance rates, the chance that I might kill myself or another, and the chance of crashing my car. Because of my parents constant nagging I gained the habit of going the speed limit. I have never gotten a ticket or been pulled over by the police. I have also never crashed my car. For my age group that is pretty good. I would guess that this might be classified as general deterrence. General deterrence is the supposed preventative effect of punishment on those who have witnessed it but not experienced it. My aunt is also a court clerk for the Puget Sound islands. She tells my uncle and nephew the fine amount whenever they do something illegal. "That's a four hundred dollars for speeding." "That's six hundred dollars for parking in the fire lane." I think that has a good deterrent effect.
speeding fines you have to read a little to find the fine amounts in Idaho

The USA PATRIOT Act was signed October 26, 2001, by President George W. Bush. This act was passed in reaction to the 9/11 terrorist attacks. It allows the government more leeway in searching for potential terrorists within the United States. They can tap more phones, emails, medical, financial, and other records. The act passed by large majorities of both houses and was supported by by democrats and republicans. I think that Congress was still in shock and were afraid when they created and passed the act. They gave up some liberty or privacy to gain a little security. In my opinion the act takes away too much freedom and restricts our privacy. Ben Franklin once said, "Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both." I am in agreement with him. We are losing our freedoms to fear and security.
USA PATRIOT Act

Ch. 9 Vocabulary

Social control: any action either deliberate or unconscious, that influences conduct toward conformity, whether or not the persons being influenced are aware of the process
Anomie: a condition of relative nomlessness or social deregulation in society
Direct/Informal social control: social control via the informal application of stigma applied to the transgressor
Direct/Formal social control: social control via the direct formalities of law (i.e., punishment) legally applied to the transgressor
Indirect/Informal social control: social control by reinforcing norms
Indirect/Formal social control: social control via the threat of legal sanctions perceived by individuals who have not transgressed the law
Specific deterrence: the supposed preventative effect of imposed punishment of the future behavior of the person punished
Contrast effect: the contrast between the circumstances of punishment suffered and an offender's usual life; the greater the contrast, the greater the deterrent effect
General deterrence: the supposed preventative effect of punishment on those who have witnessed it but not experienced it
Compensatory style: a form of social control in which some person or group has accused another person or group of breaching an obligation and brings the matter before the courts seeking compensation
Conciliatory style: a form of social control using the law to remedy a breach in a formerly harmonious relationship. Blame is not usually assigned in such matters
Penal style: style of social control attained by punishing violators of the criminal law
Therapeutic style: style of social control aimed at those considered in need of treatment rather than punishment; a remedial style
Plea bargaining: process in which the defendant in a criminal case pleads guilty in exchange for a more lenient sentence than he or she would otherwise face
USA Patriot Act: act passed in response to 9/11 terrorist attacks against the United States and which expanded the authority of law enforcement to fight terrorism
Writ of Mandamus: a court order compelling a public official to do his or her duty

Ch. 8 Vocabulary

Delinquent: a minor who commits acts that are crimes when committed by adults
Status offenses: noncriminal offenses such as truancy and ungovernable that apply only to individuals whose status is that of a juvenile
CHINS: "children in need of supervision" states use this term when they have not relinquished jurisdiction over status offenders
Patria Potestas: "fatherly power" the power of the father over his family
Paterna Pietas: "fatherly love" limiting the power of the fathers
Parens Patriae: "father of his country" the obligation of the state to care for people in need of care and protection, such as children and the mentally ill
Binding out: the practice of assigning children to foster parents as indentured servants
Brideswell: early English institutions for housing and training youthful offenders. Usually place where the treatment of children was harsh and the owners used the children as free labor to fill their pockets with money
Progressives: a nineteenth century group of liberal reformers who argued for the professionalization of public service
Child Savers: liberals whose goal was to reform the juvenile justice system
Waived: a term used to describe a juvenile being transferred (waived) from juvenile to adult court because of the seriousness of the crime. The juveniles are then subject to criminal prosecution and punishments of the adult court.
Judicial waiver: transfer of a juvenile to criminal court decided by a juvenile court judge at his or her own discretion after a full inquiry into the matter
Prosecutorial discretion: type of waiver (also known as a direct file) allowing prosecutors file certain juvenile cases in either juvenile or adult court
Statutory exclusion: an automatic waiver (also called a legislative waiver) applied when state legislatures have statutorily excluded serious offenses from the juvenile courts, based on age
Amicus Curiae brief: "friend of the court" briefs presented to the court arguing in favor of one side or the other by interested parties not directly involved in the case
Megan's Law: requires law enforcement agencies in all fifty states to register sex offenders in their area
Restorative Justice: an approach to criminal justice aiming to repair the harm done by an agreeable restorative solution

Ch. 8 Juvenile Justice

Juvenile justice is considered to be civil law rather than criminal law. One of the reasons for this distinction is because of how the courts are operated and the intended purpose of the courts. Adult court punishes the guilty while juvenile court wants to rehabilitate the juveniles so that they can become a contributing member of society. There are two different types of juveniles offenses. Status offenses are those that underage persons are not allowed to do. These include running away, smoking, truancy, and having sex. Minors, underage persons, are assumed to not have the mental capability or maturity to make these decisions. Delinquency offenses are those offenses that are criminal in an adult court. Some examples include murder, stealing, and vandalism. Some states have relinquished jurisdiction over status offenders to social service agencies. There are many different terms used in juvenile courts that differ from adult courts. A juvenile, defendant, can be held responsible, guilty, for a crime. Juveniles are not arrested they are detained. A trial is called a hearing in juvenile court. Sometimes due to the severity of the crime or the age of the juvenile the case can be waived to adult court. This means that the juvenile will be tried as an adult and will receive an adult level punishment. There will be no rehabilitation to integrate the juvenile into society. There have been trends in history where juveniles have been prosecuted more harshly and as well as periods that have seen a relaxing in the punishments of juveniles.

There has been a tendency of late to waive juvenile cases up to adult courts. This has cause some to question the need for a juvenile court system. They have posed the question that if all the juvenile cases are being waived there is no reason for a juvenile court system at all. To counter this position others have raised valid points on the maturity of the juveniles being prosecuted. Many believe that younger offenders do not fully understand the implications of what they are doing and that should be taken into account in the trial process. Others believe that the younger offenders should have their life ruined when they could be rehabilitated instead. Still others suggest that imprisoning the young offenders will just make them harden criminals. I tend to side with those who think the Juvenile court system should stay around but there are cases where some juveniles cannot be rehabilitated or their crimes are so hideous that they need to sequestered away from society. My mother raised the question about sociopathic/psychopathic juveniles who would by the defintion of their condition cannot be cured or rehabilitated. What good does the juvenile justice system do them? They will never be cured and unlikely to stop their behavior. They would be a danger to society. My question is that these individuals have learned to imitate normal human emotions and are usually very good actors. It would be hard to tell them from regular individuals.
Eight Yr. Old

Ch. 7 Civil and Administrative Law

Civil law includes tort law, property law, contract law, and family law. Property law focuses on the ownership and acquisition of property through conveyances and inheritances. There are several different types of property. There is personal property which is the movable objects owned by a person. Real property is the land or the permanent attachments to the land. Lastly, there is intellectual property which is the ideas or concepts developed by an individual or group.

Water rights seem to be real property. Some laws have been made that deal with the protection of the environment. It is not surprising that there have been laws made to deal with the protection of the environment. There used to be companies that dumped their sewage into rivers. The pollution usually killed off the creatures that lived in the rivers. Sometimes the animals would have malformations from the chemicals in the water. Sometimes companies might use so much water that they drain aquifers, rivers, and streams. That has an entirely negative effect on the environment. Animals would die from lack of water or would move to areas with water. Those places might be near people and would cause problems. Plants would sicken and die of the lack of water.

On our property there is a well. It is our sole source of water. The entire subdivision has wells. The land adjacent to our is made up of several hundred acres of grazing land. A developer purchased the property. Because the adjacent land had their well drilled prior to the time our well was drilled gives the developer the right to pump water at historical levels. This developer overestimated the amount of water and plans to pump enough water to supply his development with water. His development would have several hundred homes or around 1800 homes. Pumping at this level will endanger our already scarce water resources in our small valley. One theory suggests that pumping at the rates the developer wanted would have drained the aquifer that supplies the whole valley. We have banded together in our subdivision and hired water adjudication lawyers to fight the developer. The developer initially suggested that our subdivision hook up to city water. United Water will not run lines into our subdivision to serve just 22 homes. Also the cost of watering five acres at United Water rates would bankrupt the whole subdivision. We have now signed a preliminary agreement that allows the developer to pump water at a rate that a grazing operation would pump rather than at a rate a farmer would pump. To the developer this means that he will need to subsidize his water with water from the city or United Water. To us this means that our meager well water pumping will continue to provide enough water to survive on. The only way we got any leverage in this situation was for the community to band together to fight a developer with deep pockets and connections with the city council.
http://library.findlaw.com/1999/Jan/1/241492.html
Obama Water Rights case

Family law is the set of laws that involve marriage, child custody, and other issues arising in personal relationships. One major law that affected marriage was DOMA. The Defense of Marriage Act stated that the states are not required to acknowledge a marriage between same sex couples. It also says that " 'marriage' means the legal union between one man and one woman as husband and wife, and the word 'spouse' refers only to a person of the opposite sex who is a husband or a wife." I know a lot about this law since I researched it for my senior project. Here is what it actually says. I am inclined to disbelieve the author of the book about his interpretation on the law.
DOMA