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(1 - 5 of 5)
- Title
- PROSECUTORIAL DISCRETION AND PLEA BARGAINING: IS THERE A JURY TRIAL PENALTY?.
- Creator
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Hall, Gina, Eastep, Ph.D., Mary Ann, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
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As the most powerful position of the courtroom workgroup, the prosecutor plays an essential role in the criminal justice system. From the defendant's initial contact with the criminal court process when the prosecutor makes the charging decision, until sentencing when the prosecutor's recommendation guides judicial discretion, prosecutors hold the power to decide a defendant's fate. Despite the parameters that govern their ability to use discretion, the prosecutor still maintains a...
Show moreAs the most powerful position of the courtroom workgroup, the prosecutor plays an essential role in the criminal justice system. From the defendant's initial contact with the criminal court process when the prosecutor makes the charging decision, until sentencing when the prosecutor's recommendation guides judicial discretion, prosecutors hold the power to decide a defendant's fate. Despite the parameters that govern their ability to use discretion, the prosecutor still maintains a significant amount of power to influence crucial decisions with regard to the defendant. The current study addresses the issue of prosecutorial discretion and the ability to mishandle the powers bestowed upon such a powerful position. While prosecutorial discretion has a broad base, the study was narrowed to specifically concentrate on discretion as it impacts plea bargaining and final dispositions. Additionally, an analysis of the data looks at whether or not a defendant faces jury trial penalty for exercising his/her constitutional right to a trial by jury. A statistical comparison was constructed using data collected with respect to specific murder and sexual battery statutes over a 24-month period. Based on the statistical data provided within the study, those individuals who accepted the plea deal offered by the state faced a far less severe punishment than those who opted to go to trial.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2011
- Identifier
- CFH0004096, ucf:44793
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFH0004096
- Title
- MEDICATE TO EXECUTE: CONSTITUTIONAL AND ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS.
- Creator
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Schultz, Adam, Cronon, Chad, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
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The United States Supreme Court has not yet examined several aspects of the death penalty. One aspect is the ability for the state to forcefully medicate an incompetent inmate, which may result in the inmate appearing competent for execution. While the Supreme Court' ruled that it is unconstitutional to execute an inmate who is incompetent, inmates who would have had their executions vacated due to mental illness are executed because the state can put them on an involuntary medication regimen...
Show moreThe United States Supreme Court has not yet examined several aspects of the death penalty. One aspect is the ability for the state to forcefully medicate an incompetent inmate, which may result in the inmate appearing competent for execution. While the Supreme Court' ruled that it is unconstitutional to execute an inmate who is incompetent, inmates who would have had their executions vacated due to mental illness are executed because the state can put them on an involuntary medication regimen. According to many experts, involuntary medication regimens mask the affects of their illness instead of providing a cure. Experts often refer to this practice as the "chemical straitjacket." Because the effects of antipsychotic medication, inmates may be sedated to a point where they appear competent, but in reality, they are sedated to a point where their mental illness is still present yet undetectable. As a result, placing condemned inmates on involuntary medication regimens has the possibility to violate the inmate's Fifth, Sixth, Eighth and Fourteenth Amendment rights. The intent of this thesis is to examine whether the Supreme Court has successfully upheld its duty to promote a fair judicial system by allowing the medicate to execute scheme to continue. Through the analysis of case law, law review articles, and the American Constitution, this thesis will evaluate the treatment of condemned inmates who show signs of incompetence. Through analysis, this thesis aims to raise awareness to an issue that, in the opinion of this writer, deserves the attention of American courts and other governing bodies.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2012
- Identifier
- CFH0004227, ucf:44960
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFH0004227
- Title
- Estimating the Effects of Condemned Inmates' Last Statements on Public Opinion About the Death Penalty: A Factorial Survey Approach.
- Creator
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Colyer, Timothy, Wright, James, Corzine, Harold, Jasinski, Jana, Pals, Heili, Bohm, Robert, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
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There has been an increase in writings that address the last statements of condemned offenders. Many of these writings suggest that exposure to the humanity sometimes exhibited in these last statements may steer public opinion against the death penalty. This dissertation tests this suggestion by exposing 400 participants to randomly generated vignettes containing various capital crimes, demographic characteristics, and last statements. The survey data are analyzed utilizing multilevel...
Show moreThere has been an increase in writings that address the last statements of condemned offenders. Many of these writings suggest that exposure to the humanity sometimes exhibited in these last statements may steer public opinion against the death penalty. This dissertation tests this suggestion by exposing 400 participants to randomly generated vignettes containing various capital crimes, demographic characteristics, and last statements. The survey data are analyzed utilizing multilevel modeling. Study results include the effects of varying levels of demonstrated humanity in the last statements of condemned offenders on public opinion, and whether specific demographic characteristics appear to influence study participant responses. Findings showed no statistically significant results that indicate any effect on death penalty opinion as a result of reading last statements demonstrating humanity. Condemned inmates who did not provide a statement, or stated they had nothing to say, elicited higher levels of confidence that executing them was the right thing to do. Condemned inmates who claimed innocence in their last statements were associated with the lowest level of respondent confidence that execution was the right thing to do, and a higher level of support for life without parole as an alternative punishment. Recommendations for further research are discussed.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2012
- Identifier
- CFE0004338, ucf:49437
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0004338
- Title
- THE DEATH PENALTY DEBATE:A CRITICAL EXAMINATION OF THE MORAL JUSTIFICATIONS FOR CAPITAL PUNISHMENT.
- Creator
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Mann, Whitley, Coverston, Harry, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
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ABSTRACT Capital punishment is a forceful moral issue that is frequently overlooked. This is possibly due to the reverence many have toward the rule of law or a passive acceptance of the status quo. In this thesis I will begin with a discussion of context to the topic of the death penalty in order to address potential biases. Then I examine not only the ethical merit of the death penalty but the foundational justifications for a system of criminal justice to show that the special relationship...
Show moreABSTRACT Capital punishment is a forceful moral issue that is frequently overlooked. This is possibly due to the reverence many have toward the rule of law or a passive acceptance of the status quo. In this thesis I will begin with a discussion of context to the topic of the death penalty in order to address potential biases. Then I examine not only the ethical merit of the death penalty but the foundational justifications for a system of criminal justice to show that the special relationship between the state and its citizens does not lend itself to or allow for the instantiation of the death penalty. I look first to several theories of punishment selecting the most viable theory in order to make the most plausible case in favor of the death penalty. From there I establish that there is some intuitive merit to the notion that the vicious deserve unhappiness and see how far that intuition might extend. In this section I examine the merits and demerits of Kantian retributivism in order to address the many intricate ethical and political issues involved in the death penalty debate. I've chosen the Kantian ethical framework because of the nuance with which many of the problems of retribution are solved. Kant insets the enlightenment principles into his moral framework and provides reasoned explanations for there insistence, as such his work provides a background from which I will work through details and resolve contradictions. I will then make an argument for the moral personhood of the state and sketch the special relationship it has to its citizens. Finally I will offer a system that incorporates the ideas developed in the previous sections and gives a practical answer to the death penalty debate. It is my ultimate argument that there is no absolute ban on the death penalty, possibly even some intuitive merit to the scheme, but ultimately many moral limitations on its implementation.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2015
- Identifier
- CFH0004742, ucf:45342
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFH0004742
- Title
- RECESSION TO DEPRESSION: A CRITICAL DISAMBIGUATION OF THE 2007/2008 FINANCIAL CRISIS AND A MODEL FOR NEW AGE SECURITIES REGULATION.
- Creator
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Walters, Christian, Milon, Abby, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
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During the late 2000s the United States economy was faced with the most traumatic event in United States financial history since the Great Depression. Large multibillion dollar corporations collapsed, families lost their life savings, and the United States economy stood on a precipice for total destruction. In the wake of the Financial Crisis, investment firms such as Merrill Lynch collapsed and their portfolios were sold to competitors for far lower than their estimated value (Sorkin). In...
Show moreDuring the late 2000s the United States economy was faced with the most traumatic event in United States financial history since the Great Depression. Large multibillion dollar corporations collapsed, families lost their life savings, and the United States economy stood on a precipice for total destruction. In the wake of the Financial Crisis, investment firms such as Merrill Lynch collapsed and their portfolios were sold to competitors for far lower than their estimated value (Sorkin). In 2008, the Financial Crisis impacted the working man the most. With foreclosures on the rise, an estimated 81.2% increase from the year before, average citizens lost their homes, savings and certainty in the United States Government to protect their best interests (Armour). One of the hardest hit states, Nevada, saw a total foreclosure rate of about 7.3% which was an increase from the previous year of a staggering 125.7% (Armour). All these foreclosures rippled throughout the U.S housing market and made it nigh impossible for the banks securing the loans to collect upon the principle amount loaned, yet alone the interest. The shock from the United States financial sector echoed throughout the world. Correlating with the Financial Crisis, United States and global suicide rates were on the rise. According to a 2009 Article published by the British Medical Journal, United States suicide rates in men age 45-64 increased by over 6.4% of the expected trend ("Male Suicide Rate Rose during 2008 Global Economic Crisis, Says Time-Trend Study"). The Financial Crisis made it so that average individuals felt increased economic strain and an ever looming sense of disparagement. This is an examination and evaluation of the perhaps one of the greatest schemes in the history of global financial markets; this is a critical analysis of how greed, power and a lack of moral decency reshaped the world. This is an examination of how, in an age of deregulation, the powerful seemingly take precedence over the masses. This is the Story of the 2007/2008 Recession, of what has been done, of what we need to do, and of moving forward to assign blame and punishment to those responsible for the pain and suffering incurred by so many.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2015
- Identifier
- CFH0004817, ucf:45474
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFH0004817
