Transcript Your assignment

Getting into the rhythm of
CJ 299 – Associate Capstone projects
Sentencing Project
There are several types of sentencing.
Each is designed to help reduce recidivism while
serving as a general and specific deterrent.
Terms to know:
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Sentencing: When a judicial authority
imposes a criminal sanction.
Recidivism: The repetition of criminal
behavior.
Deterrent: Inhibiting criminal behavior
through fear of punishment.
Your assignment
In a paper, define, describe and discuss the
advantages and disadvantages of indeterminate,
determinate, and mandatory sentencing.
Define: State the meaning of these kinds of
sentences.
Describe: Give an account of these kinds of
sentences by telling more about them, such as
when and where they are used.
Discuss: Give examples of these kinds of sentences
currently and historically, talk about how they
are used, and any benefits or drawbacks they
may have.
Sentencing terms to know:
Indeterminate – relatively unspecific terms
(one to 10 years, for example) meant to
encourage rehabilitation.
Determinate - a fixed term of imprisonment
that may be reduced by good time.
Mandatory – Required sentence with no
leeway. Clear-cut punishments are
mandated for specific offenses, and also for
habitual offenders convicted of a series of
crimes.
Find at least five outside references.
Articles from academic journals, or peerreviewed journals, are preferred.
Your paper must have 5-7 pages of content – what
you have gathered from the journal articles.
Also, you need title, abstract and reference pages,
which means the paper will be at least eight
pages long.
Submit your paper by Tuesday, January 25th, in
the basket titled Unit 3: Sentencing Project.
Remember
I am here to help you!
Ask for help in advance of the deadline not after.
Midterm Project –
Search and Seizure
For this project, you will read a story, or
scenario – that is, a description of an event and
what happened afterward – and you will write
about it by answering four questions.
The event is a homicide.
The Scenario
Mary Ellis, a widow, lives in a townhouse that she
shares with her adult son, William, who does not
pay rent.
Mrs. Ellis wakes up Saturday morning, goes to her
walk-in closet, and finds a man she recognizes as
a neighbor, Clyde Stevens, lying on the floor
unresponsive.
Mrs. Ellis calls 911, and soon police and EMS
personnel arrive.
Mr. Stevens is pronounced dead from an
apparent stabbing. A large butcher knife is
sticking out of his back.
Mrs. Ellis, a senior citizen, is transported to the
hospital for observation because she is so
upset.
Police establish a crime scene and call for
detectives and crime scene specialists.
Detectives begin a canvass and interview
Mr. Stevens' wife, Sheila. Mrs. Stevens tells
police that William Ellis has entered her
townhouse several times unannounced. On one
occasion, he appeared to be trying to get into
her bed.
Mrs. Stevens gives the police consent to search
the house for any potential evidence that might
identify her husband's killer.
In William’s bedroom, technicians develop a
blood fingerprint adjacent to a light switch,
using an amino acid stain, after locating the
print using the absorptive properties of blood
and a portable argon laser.
The crime scene investigator photographs the
print and recovers a sample of the blood for
DNA analysis.
The print is from the right index finger of
William Ellis, and DNA analysis matches the
blood to Clyde Stevens.
On the basis of this and associated evidence
from the Stevens and Ellis residences, an arrest
warrant is issued for William Ellis.
William is arrested in Utah and extradited to
Illinois to stand trial. His lawyer files a motion
to exclude evidence.
Now that you know the scenario, you will
write a paper based on 4 questions.
1.
How would William's lawyer argue to have the
physical evidence excluded? (In other words,
what will the lawyer base his or her argument
on - which facts of the case will be used?)
2. Will the exclusion pertain to all the evidence, or
is there a difference between the evidence
collected from the Ellis and Stevens homes?
(One consideration is who has “standing,”
which is the power to grant the authorities the
right to search without a warrant).
3. Discuss the exclusionary rule and the "fruit of
the poisonous tree" doctrine, and determine
whether these concepts apply to this scenario.
Support your answer by citing legal cases and
other research, such as:
Flippo vs. West Virginia determined that
police do not have a “crime scene
exception” that allows them to conduct a
broad warrantless search of a homicide
crime scene. The Supreme Court reversed
a West Virginia court’s conclusion that
officers acted properly when they
conducted a thorough search of a murder
scene without a warrant.
Thompson vs. Louisiana. The Court affirmed its
unanimous decision in Mincey v. Arizona in
1978: There is no “murder scene” exception to
the Fourth Amendment.
Search of a homicide scene requires consent or a
warrant.
Mapp v. Ohio, in 1961, held that the exclusionary
rule was binding on the states through the
Fourteenth Amendment, which guarantees
due process. Until this case was decided, most
states had rejected the exclusionary rule.
4. Describe what steps you would have taken if
you had investigated this case.
What would you have done differently, and
why?
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Canvass – go door-to-door to gather evidence in a
neighborhood.
Amino acid stain – substance used to detect
fingerprints.
Argon laser – gas laser used to detect fingerprints.
“Fruit of the poisonous tree” – means illegally
gathered evidence is inadmissible in court.
Extradite – surrender of a suspect from one jurisdiction
to another.
Exclusionary rule – incriminating evidence must be
gathered according to due process or it cannot be used
in a criminal trial; that is, it will be excluded.
Your paper should be 5-7 pages of content you
find in your research. You also need a title
page, abstract page and reference page. That
means your paper will be a total of at least 8
pages.
Use 5-7 outside references, preferably from
original court cases, along with academic
journal articles.
Submit your paper by Tuesday, February 8th in
the basket titled Unit 5: Midterm Project.
Remember
I am here to help you!
Ask for help in advance of the deadline not
after.
Over the last several decades police agencies
have been working to gain the respect and the
cooperation of the communities they serve.
Now you will write a paper about Community
Oriented Policing (COP). That is the project.
Your paper will be based on 5 questions.
Your assignment
Describe, define and discuss
Community Oriented Policing
(COP). Include in your discussion
the various methods of
implementing the program.
Base your paper on these 5 questions
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
What are some of the most important concepts
of COP?
Define Problem Oriented Policing (POP).
How is it related to Community Oriented
Policing?
Can the physical structure of the organization
help or hinder COP and POP?
What are the challenges of COP?
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Your paper must include 5-7 outside
references, with at least one peer-reviewed
journal article.
Your paper must contain 5-7 pages of content,
along with a title, abstract, and reference pages.
This means your paper will be
at least 8 pages long.
Submit your paper by Tuesday, February 22nd
in the basket titled Unit 7: Community
Policing Project.
Remember
I am here to help you!
Ask for help in advance of the deadline not
after.
The Professional Development Journal marks
the end of your capstone course, and for many
the successful conclusion to the first two years
of your academic journey.
The Professional Development Journal serves
three functions:
1. It’s a place for you to record critical reflections
on your education, and to define its value in
relation to your personal and professional
growth.
2. The journal serves as a valuable tool in
assessing your comprehensive knowledge of
the field of criminal justice.
3. Based on your critical reflections and learning
assessment, the journal helps you outline a
plan for lifelong learning and development that
meets your goals for academic, professional,
and personal success.
Rather than waiting until the end of the class,
you should work on the journal throughout the
course, adding and refining your thoughts as
part of a process of discovery.
A Professional Development Journal is like a
diary in which you reflect on current events –
in this case, your education here at Kaplan – as
a way to put your thoughts down in writing.
It allows you to look at what you have written,
assess what you have learned and how to
apply it to your work, your life, and your
future.
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Using the journal this way, you will be
surprised how easy it is to do goal-setting
activities and organize your efforts towards
those goals.
Your journal should include at least 5 shortterm (6 months to a year) and 5 long-term (5
years) goals, with a plan on how to reach those
10 goals. You are strongly encouraged to
include any thoughts about your Kaplan
experience and especially this class.
You may use the “journal” function that is part
of the class, or you may submit your journal
through the Dropbox as a Word document.
Also, you can use a PowerPoint presentation
with at least eight slides.
Remember that one page will not fulfill the
requirement. A minimum of 3, well-written,
double-spaced pages will be fine.
You’re ready to begin!
Watch your grammar and spelling, because, as a
professional in training, your professional
communication skills are important. Do enjoy
writing the journal – it should not be a burden.
Submit your Professional Development Journal
by Tuesday, March 8th in the basket titled
Unit 9: Professional Development Journal .