The End

This officially will be the last time that I post on my blog, Justice. It has been a great experience. I may actually make a new account and continue blogging with starting a fresh. It is amazing when you are able to write about something that you are truly interested in. When I first began blogging, I thought that it was going to be a boring assignment that I had to do twice a week. After the first few times I posted my blogs, I actually began to love it. It was the first thing I would do before any other homework because it was actually fun. It allowed me to research crime stories that I would be researching on my free time anyway. This blog was one of the best assignments I have ever been given throughout my entire journey through college. I will leave my blog followers with one last story before I go.
So after graduation, I intend to test for the Pima County Sheriff’s Department. I know that the job can be dangerous, but usually it is just routine police work, such as traffic stops. This story freaked me out a little.
Today, the Pima County Court house was evacuated after a private elevator became stuck with two people inside, an inmate and a corrections officer. It took about an hour, but eventually firefighters and police were able to get the two out safely.
I know that during in the police academy they teach you how to handle particular dangerous situation, but I doubt that something like this is covered. Hopefully after intense training I will be able to handle any situation.

Immigration in Arizona

Tucson, AZ made CNN national news when a police officer sued over the immigration law. Officer Martin H. Escobar said, in his lawsuit against the policy, that it will "seriously impede law enforcement investigations and facilitate the successful commission of crimes." Escobar also stated that there are no "race-neutral criteria or basis to suspect or identify who is lawfully in the United States,". The bill signed by Jan Brewer will allow any person to be stop and asked for proof of citizenship.

It is difficult to prove whether or not there is racial bias going on, but it seems that of course their would be in this case. I think that the government is doing what they believe is right to protect our community, but it also contradicts the no racial profiling laws.

Many students at the University of Arizona have already began a fight against SB 1070being made an offical law. Some students are outraged and have begun writng letters and creating petitions.

Tweleve students at UA said "We believe that it is a law based in fear and racism. The law targets not only immigrants, but all Latinos (even those who are U.S. citizens) as well as any U.S. citizen who may associate with members of either group," the letter states. "We want to halt the prejudicial momentum of Arizona's legislators and keep the campus of the University of Arizona a free, safe place for persons of all races, backgrounds and ethnicities."

It will be up to the cizitens of Arizona to either protest this bill or let it stand. If we really don't believe in it then we will see how far it gets.

Free Speech

The first Amendment of the United States Constitution prohibits any law that infringing the freedom of speech. It is the right of any person to speak freely about any opinion that they wish to discuss. The problem with this right is that there are many controversial issues that may be offensive and provoke violence when discussed. For that reason we must create some type of laws prohibiting what is allowed to be spoken in public. Stanford University and the University of Michigan have established their own codes in order to eliminate the act of violence directed by speech and stop discrimination. Students should be able to speak their opinion, but not if outcome results in violence. Alexander Meiklejohn argues that freedom of speech is a right to all citizens, but should not be used out content. It is our right to give our opinions, but only when it is for our own good. For example, at a town meeting citizens are allowed to speak freely, but only when the chairman gives them permission. We must create a code to protect individual’s freedom of speech and at the same time protect action that may be caused by speech.
There have been many cases taken to court over freedom of speech issues. And many of them have won. Who decides what is appropriate to speak about anyway?? The first Amendment was created to allow people to express their opinions and beliefs without being penalizes. It was not created to encourage violence, harassment and discrimination. Therefore we must create laws to protect society.

Wrongful death?

One of the hardest parts about learning about the law is that the law is constantly changing. Of course, no two court cases are exactly the same. Then why do we use precedents to determine the outcome of another case??
Today, in class we were discussing the costs and beliefs of capital punishment. The debate can go on forever and right, morals, freedom, and justice. In the U.S we have decided that we do need capital punishment to deter crime and punish murders. Except, there are no study that proves that the death penalty actually deters crimes. Regardless, it defiantly punishes murders. What about cases that result in a death penalty verdict on an innocent person. How can we be 100% sure that we got the right guy??
After being accused of burn his own home down, with his children inside, Cameron Willingham was sentenced to death. He was convicted of murder in 1992 and executed in 2004. After his executed, four national arson experts concluded that the investigation may have be flawed. They proclaimed that the fire may have been set accidently and Willingham could have been innocent. During the trial, the jury found him guilty because investigators said that the scene looked like arson. Also, a jail house snitch told the jury that Willingham confessed to the crime in jail. The snitch was a drug addict and was on psychiatric medication.
I haven’t made up my mind if I am for or against the death penalty and I would need to do a lot more research before making my decision, but this is just one story of mistaken charges by flawed evidence. When it comes to a human life, prosecutors need to be much more careful.

Hazing

I was reading an article on the worst college hazing acts ever recorded. According to Tru TV online, a student at the University of Tennessee was arrested after she covered a pledge in ice, chocolate, and eggs. She then kicked and punched the girl repeatedly causing internal bleeding and a concussion.
Ten male students from Louisiana's Tulane University were arrested after two male pledges wound up in the hospital with second and third degree burns. The students poured boiling water on at least ten pledges and covered them with wasabi, cayenne peppers and flour. The chapter was also slapped with a wrongful death suit when a student die as a result of alcohol poisoning after he was forced to drink excessively by the older students.
After reading a few more stories, I realized that a majority of the problems were directly due to drinking. Older students have adopted these ridiculous drinking parties that require pledges to drink a disgusting amount of alcohol to strengthen their bonds with the members. Of course, this isn’t a problem for all sororities or fraternities, but it is a problem for some. Most of these kids are away from home for the first time and given a large amount of freedom that they are not used to. They look up to older students and are struggling to fit in to a new place. It is such a waste to end your life in such a horrible way. It seems that all these frats and sororities that are accused of participating in these acts already have long lists of behavior problems. It seems that someone should have had an eye on them.

Hiding anything on Facebook??

Networking sites, such as Facebook and MySpace, have gotten bad reviews over the years for being directly linked to criminal activity. Many people have been the victims of murder and assault, as a result of these networking sites. Children have committed suicide after being bullied over the internet. Girls and boys have been lured by older men that they have met over the internet and many have resulted in tragic endings. People have to be extremely careful when using these sites to meet new friends, or in other words, strangers.
On the other hand, police and now saying that they are able to use these sites to their advantage. They are using Facebook and MySpace to local witnesses that they may never have been able to contact without the sites. In fact, the FBI is able to hack into any persons networking site if they feel that they need to. Even if a person sets their profile to private, it still does not ensure their privacy. When the FBI is reviewing a person for possible employment, they will hack into their accounts to obtain the information.
These sites are actually a great way for colleges and employers to find out information that otherwise they would not be able to obtain. The sites have positive and negative aspects and the reality is that people are going to continue to use them. Since they are going to be around for a long time, we might as well use them to our advantage.

WOODS

It seems like every where you look these days, there is some kind of cheating scandal in the news. Men are using the excuse that they are addicted to sex in order to try to take the blame anyway from their actions. As long as they recognize that they have a problem and they are trying to get help for it, it is supposed to be overlooked. The fact is that these men don't had a sex addiction, they just have no morals.

When you can a mistake, the best thing that you can do is admit your fault and deal with the consequences. Blaming your actions on others or addiction is the easy way out. Since many of these men are in the spotlight, they feel that admitting their faults will only cause them more trouble. The problem is that most level headed people know the truth.

It not only sex addiction that is the problem. Celebrity are constantly in and out of rehab for drugs and alcohol. It's obvious that many of them don't need treatment, they just need to behave. Many times when a celebrity is caught drinking and drinking or using drugs, they immediately go into rehab. This is their way of saying, I have a problem and need help. The reason they do it , is because they think that their fans may stay true to them if they are trying to get better. Most likely, it's just an excuse to blame the drug and not themselves.

Mystery Solved

A man has come forward after 22 years of knowing the truth about his sister. Ernest Samuel Christie III was sixteen years old when his older sister, Lysandra Marie, disappeared. No one was charged in the woman’s disappeared and the case grew cold. Now, 22 years later, Christie, has come forward to authorities to solve the mystery. Apparently, the 16 year old witnessed his father murder his 27 year sister in 1988. His father forced him to help burn the woman’s remains and he has lived with the guilt for the last 22 years.
After his father died in 2006, Christie couldn’t take it anymore and confessed to the police about his involvement. He led the police to the area where Lysandra’s remains were buried and they were positively identified. Christie is not facing any criminal charges at this time.
I cannot possibly understand how a parent can kill their own child. You hear in the new about young mothers murdering their babies and dumping their bodies, as if they were trash. In this case the woman was 27 years old. Her brother told authorities that his father tortured many women over the years that he lived with him. Many women have come forward to confirm his comments.
I can understand that the boy was terrified of his father and what may happen to him if he told anyone. At the same time, I think that he had the opportunity to inform police and could have saved many others if he had done so.

Drunk Guy

Alright, so I know that I usually blog about criminal stories that I am sincerely concerned about because I feel that people should be aware of dangerous crimes that happen every day. However, this is kind of just for fun. Kind of.
As I was skimming through the justice pages on the CNN website, I found this bizarre story and I could not help but blogging about it. According to a report from CNN, man has been arrested with attempting to resuscitate a road killed opossum. Yes, you read that correctly, an opossum. Apparently, the man was highly intoxicated and was trying to save the animals life. The problem was that the animal had been flattened by a car and was already dead. It was not mentioned exactly how the man was trying to resuscitate the animal and I would rather not know the facts of the story. I can imagine that it was a pretty gross looking scene. He was charged with public drunkenness. I guess you really cannot be charged with trying to save the animal, but I am not exactly what the law is in regards to road killed opossums.
I guess I would have to say that the moral of this story is watching the amount of alcohol that you consume? Actually, I have no idea what the moral of this story is. There are some crazy people out in this world. Hopefully, the man sobered up and doesn’t attempt this again.

High School Drama?

In high school, I remember my biggest fears were what my plans were going to be over the weekend. There were no scandals involving teacher student relationships or sexting during classes. Whatever that means. These days it is impossible to open the CNN website with finding some horrible incident involving high school students. Kids are shooting up their school and bring illegal weapons to class with them. We never even worried about any of these things when I was growing up. The biggest news was maybe who was smoking a joint under the football stadium, but that was the worst of it.
Recently, I was reading a news article on CNN that involved nine students that were arrested for a nine month event that ended in a student committing suicide. She was found hanging in her parent’s apartment on January, 14, after an awful day of being harassed by her peers in school. Apparently the harassment was witnessed by other students and EVEN faculty members.
I remember that girls in high school were extremely brutal to each other, but this draws the line. Girls are constantly putting other girls down and diminishing their self esteem. It was been a problem for decades, but this is unheard of. This is not even the first case of a young female student that was committed suicide directly as a result of bullying.
The fact that faculty member witnessed the harassment and did not report it is beyond me. I think that these employees need to be held accountable of their negligent actions or lack of. It baffles me than a child can be so evil toward another human being that can result in this horrific event.

Walmart

A sixteen year old male was arrested on Friday after announcing on the speaker intercom that all the blacks in the store need to leave. I understand the right of people to express how they feel about others, but this just seems like an act of pure evil. I realize that many people are raised in racist families or discriminate because of an act of betrayal that was provided from a particular race, but this is ridiculous. It wasn’t noted whether the person was an employee or not, but I am assuming that he was not. I have heard my share of racial jokes and yes I have laughed at a few, but I don’t understand how people can discriminate against people that they can never meet. If you just think about all of the relationships that could be lifelong that they are missing out on. I have really never personally felt discriminated against and therefore cannot even imagine how awful it must feel. Hopefully the individual will be punished and it is still possible to change his mind about the way he feels toward people. This is just one of the dozens of times that Wal-Mart has been in the middle a discrimination case. There has been lawsuits against Wal-Mart presenting evidence that women employees where making less money than male employees with the same job title. Large corporations, such as Wal-Mart needs to be extremely careful when it comes to cases of discrimination because they can get very expensive.

Aruba Update

The F.B.I has reopened the Natalee Holloway case after five years with no new evidence. A couple that was on a cruise ship went scuba diving while the boat was dock in Aruba. The diving snapped a few photos under water and realized that one of the photos resembled the remains on a human. Aruban authorities never convicted anyone of the disappearance on Holloway and said there was no way of getting a conviction without a body to prove that she was murdered. Even after the main suspect admitted to the murder on camera twice, he was never been convicted. Hopefully if the remains are indeed the skeletal remain of Natalee Holloway, and then maybe the trial can be reopened and the case can be solved once and for all. I am a strong believer that the truth will always come out in the end. I can’t help but wonder whether or not the main suspect, Joran Van Der Sloot is panicky and what really happened that night. It is completely possible that the entire event was an accident that he panicked after Natalee died. I can understand how afraid a person can be in a situation such as this, but covering up a crime such as murder is a felony. In this case, it makes me believe that Van Der Sloot was the main cause of the murder. If the picture turns out to the legit and they are in fact the remains of Natalee Holloway, it would be like finding a needle in a hay stack and the truth was meant to be set free.

Spring Break

As it gets closer and closer to spring break, students are packing up their swimsuits and heading to the beach. College trips are a carefree time to hangout out with friends and drink a lot of beer. Many students are unaware of the dangers that lurk in every corner of the fun filled week off school. Living in Arizona, the closest beach we have in Rocky Point, Mexico. Many students gather in Mexico every year to stay on the beach and drink way too much alcohol. Not only are students putting themselves into a strange environment, most of them don’t know the language. If something happens to a student in Mexico, it can be extremely hard to translate the problem.
Recently, a California family has gone missing near the Mexican border. Joseph McStay, 40, his wife, Summer, 43, and their two children, Gianna, 4, and Joseph, 3, have not been seen or heard from since February 4. Police discovered the family’s SUV, two blocks from the Mexican border. The car was emptied and the police believe that a criminal act was involved. They don’t believe that the disappearance had anything to do with the Mexican drug cartel because the family had no link to them.
Whenever you are going on a vacation or are in a place that you are not familiar with, you need to take extra precaution to keep yourself safe. Especially if you are going into a foreign country with a completely different legal system. Danger is watching you and just waiting for you to stop watching for it.

Natalee Holloway

Many people remember the case of the missing teenager, Natalee Holloway, on May 30, 2005. Holloway was last seen leaving a bar with a teenage boy while on her senior trip in Aruba. The main suspect in the case was Joran Van Der Sloot, but he was never convicted of the crime. Since the disappearance, Van Der Sloot, has been secretly tape confessing to the murder and dumping the body in the ocean. When the tapes became public, he told prosecutors that he lied and that he was just trying to impress a friend. Impress? What kind of a friend would be impressed that a person had committed murder. After Van Der Sloot was arrested in the connection of the crime and I think that he has felt like he has become famous from it. All the publicity over the case has made him a national attention holder.
Recently, there has been a release of a television interview, where Van Der Sloot has admitted to the murder again. He tells reporters that he dumped Holloways body in a large swamp, just north of the island. Now prosecutors are skeptical to whether he is telling the truth. Because of the size of the swamp, investigators don’t believe that they will be able to solve the case of the missing teenager. Van Der Sloot has still not been charged.
I understand that there is an extreme lack of evidence in this case, but a confession is a confession. At this point, even if he is not guilt, he should be charged with something. Interference with a police investigation maybe? I feel that the court has information that they are with holding from the public and that this case should have been solved.

Spy Cam

The FBI is now involved in case involving a high school student in Pennsylvania. Apparently a school official spied on the student at home through is school issued laptop. The official caught the student engaging in inappropriate behavior and punished him when he returned to class. The parents of the student flied a lawsuit against the school district and now the case is being reviewed by FBI officials. I think that monitoring a student through myspace or facebook is a violation of privacy, but it is in part the students fault for supplying the evidence. This case is absolutely ridiculous because the student had no idea that he was being watched and this is a complete violation of his privacy. On Friday a school superintendent issued this statement,"At no time did any high school administrator have the ability or actually access the security-tracking software," he said. "We believe that the administrator at Harriton has been unfairly portrayed and unjustly attacked in connection with her attempts to be supportive of a student and his family. The district never did and never would use such tactics as a basis for disciplinary action." The school is now trying to defend their effort in trying to protect the student and his family by monitoring his actions. Again, this case makes me laugh.

Doodling

A twelve year old girl was arrested in New York for doodling on her desk,"I love my friends Abby and Faith. Lex was here 2/1/10 :)". I can remember being extremely bored in middle school and scrawling pictures on my desk, but I was never arrested. The girl was put in handcuffs and taken to the police department, in front of her entire class. I understand that police are trying to crack down on crime, but this this extreme. At the most she should have been given detention and perhaps have her parents informed of the situation. The no tolerance rule has been taken to the extreme and needs to be evaluated. I can imagine how embarrassing it was for this scared little girl to be taken away in handcuffs in front of her entire class. The police has bigger issues than a child drawing on their school desk to worry about. The state of New York has one on the highest crime rates. The are much bigger issues to be dealt with. This entire news story has me laughing.

Facebook Murder/Suicide

Stephen Garcia, a 25 year man killed his one year old son and then committed suicide in the San Bernardino Mountains. After numerous restraining orders were filed and ignored by his ex-girlfriend, Katie Tangle, Garcia decided he didn’t want to live without her. The courts dismissed the requests from Tangle and stated that Garcia was not a threat to her or her son. Boy were they wrong. Garcia posted comments leading up to the suicide/murder days before it took place. Then he posted a final goodbye comment that stated “There now were both sleeping with you ”. Tangle’s mother believes this tragedy could have been prevented and I completely agree. The court system ignored many requests from Tangle when she expressed the concern for her son’s safety. There were many signs that lead up to this awful event and the correct procedures were not followed. Whenever there is a concern for a child’s safety, it is the responsibility of the criminal justice system to protect those who cannot protect themselves. I can’t imagine the pain this family is going through and I pray that God gives them strength during this painful time. There are too many random crimes being committed to children by strangers and there is no excuse to ignore the one’s that we have right in front of our faces. This little baby had his whole life ripped away from him by his own father and the system needs to take responsibility for their actions.

I have been following the case of the Tempe, AZ baby that has been missing since December 2009.Eight month old baby Gabriel was last seen in El Paso, Texas with his mother, 23 year old Elizabeth Johnson. Johnson was arrested in Florida after the baby was reported missing by the father, Logan McQueary. Elizabeth Johnson had been planning on giving the baby up for adoption and had a couple in Arizona was willing to take the baby. After the child’s father refused to give up his parental rights, Johnson took matters into her own hands. Elizabeth claims that she gave her baby to a couple in a San Antonio park and hasn’t seen him since. Yet, she called the father and told him that she had killed the baby and deposed the body in the trash. Johnson is currently being detained in a Maricopa County Jail. The Arizona couple that was trying to adopt the baby is also being investigated in this in the case. This is truly a frustrating time for the father who is desperately trying to locate his son. He is retracing the tracks that Johnson took to Texas in order to uncover any clues to the where abouts of Gabriel. This was a selfish act that Johnson committed to keep her son away from his father. It shows her true disregard and lack of concern for her son’s safety. At this point, police believe that the baby may be alive and well. I hope that when and if baby Gabriel is found he is safely returned to his father and can live a normal happy childhood. As for Johnson, she should get the maximum sentence and needs extreme therapy.

The Manson Murders

Bruce Davis was one of the members of the Manson family that was convicted of the murders of Gary Hinman and Donald Shea in 1969. Recently Davis has been recommended for parole by a two person Board of Prison terms panel. Apparently he has become a born again Christian and preached to others while in prison for four decades. Another member of the Manson family, Susan Adkins was denied parole and died in jail. So what determines who should be set free?

Breaking News

I have created this blog to inform people about criminal activity that is going on right now in our society. I want to allow my blog followers to be able to read the news and comment on it however they feel and put in their own opinions. Let me know if their is anything else that you would like to discuss about a criminal news and I will do my best to research it and get post it on my blog as soon as possible. Here is some breaking news I just found.

Dental records confirm that the skeletal remains found in a hayfield in Virgina are those of Va. Tech student, Morgan Harrington. Harrington was reported missing after leaving her friends during a Metallica concert last October. I have been following this story ever since the news broke about her disappearance. Although it seemed unlikely that she would be found alive, I have been praying for her safe return. My heart goes out to her family and friends at this devastating time. Hopefully her story will educated young women on the dangers of separating from friends and the evil that lurks all around us. I will continue to follow this story until the monsters responsible are captured and prosecuted.

R.I.P Morgan Harrington