Science and the Judicial System
Science and the Judicial System are two concepts that at face value seem to be very distinct and unique in their own nature, but at their cores they share interesting similarities and connections. They each propose a different way of understanding how we comprehend and place order. In this paper I'll address my understanding of both concepts, analyze their theories, backbones and failures, and then bring them both together through connections hopefully to support my idea that they are both inextricably connected to what we call life and its relationship to the human mind.
Science is a controversial subject very much like Judicial System. Although Science is largely composed of observation, experiments and their results, it raises controversy because imagination and perspective play a key role in those interpretations. As we know that imagination and perspective vary with each person due to education, background, and experience; how is it possible that we can assign a concrete truth to such a varied conceptualization. Thus, we cannot formulate any concrete truth. In this sense I see Scientists more as Philosophers. Another issue I find when dealing with traditional scientific theories is that Science often fails to provide theories and explanations for phenomenon's that hold truth and validation in both a scientific context and the context of the human mind. I feel that Science often caters to a "black and white" way of formulating answers; it fails to recognize the gray areas. Often times people try to find the most common and accepted ways to support their theories and in doing so they adapt to the standard and more traditional ways of viewing the world. This leaves less room for creativit...
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...ly in value but also politics.
Both science and the judicial system produce gray areas when trying to understand and rationalize. Science and the judicial system are inextricably connected to life. We systematically try to put life in a box to create order, order insures a comfort, and that comfort often gets in the way of open-mindedness. The human mind by itself is a convoluted vast universe. We as scholars, scientists, and human kind need to understand and that by assigning truths, right or wrongs we are limiting the extend of our intellectual capacities.
References
1)The Truth of Science, Physical Theories and Reality, An article from Harvard University Press
http://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog/NEWTRU.html
2)An Overview of American Abortion Laws, A thorough explanation of the laws concerning abortions
http://hometown.ao.com/abrtbng/overview.htm
Janda, K., Berry, J., Golman, J., & Hula, K. (2009). The Challenge of Democracy: American
“ ….Judgments, right or wrong. This concern with concepts such as finality, jurisdiction, and the balance of powers may sound technical, lawyerly, and highly abstract. But so is the criminal justice system….Law must provide simple answers: innocence or guilt, freedom or imprisonment, life or death.” (Baude, 21).
In Act 2 Scene 1, Macbeth is alone in his castle before he kills Duncan. While he is by himself he has a hallucination of a bloody dagger. Macbeth sees the dagger and tries to grab it but there is nothing. He believes that this hallucination is a sign of the murder he is about to commit. In this scene, it shows the motif blood symbolizing a mental illness because it is shown to Macbeth through a hallucination that is not a normal occurrence. The next mental occurrence Macbeth has happens in the following scene.
Koelbe, T. and Lipuma, E. (2008), 'Democratizing Democracy: A PostcolonialCritique of Conventional Approaches to the 'Measurement of Democracy', Democratization , Vol.15, No.1, Pp. 16-18
Science is a way of approaching the world, knowing why and how things around us are occurring. The scientific method allows scientists to be precise and focused. Through that medium, they can determine which hypotheses are consistently supported such that they become theories and which need more modification or rejection. This type of knowing can be tested and quantified. Scientists strive to make their observations as objective as possible, to be devoid of human interest. Scientists try to control all the variables ...
1. Janda, Kenneth. The Challenge of Democracy. Houghton Mifflin Co. Boston, MA. 1999. (Chapter 3 & 4).
For my research paper I decided to observe at the North Justice Center in Fullerton, CA for the morning session. My goal entering there was to watch the process of a criminal trial since I felt that would be the most interesting and would allow me the opportunity to witness all the working parts of our justice system in action. While waiting for the criminal trial to open its doors and start, I managed to come across a post- arraignment court, where I was able to watch a different side of our criminal justice system. This is the side that enforces the punishment and makes sure that restitution is paid for whatever crime was committed. By far the most interesting thing I took from this experience was the differences in how the judges conducted themselves in their courtrooms and the amount of discretion that they were allowed to use. For this paper I will be going over what I observed in both the post-arraignment court and the criminal trial and analyze my findings in a sociological context.
The ideal society we would all be considered equal, but reality often defies this idealism. When we think of police officers, we think of people working hard to keep us all safe, but this may not always be the case in today 's society. This is demonstrated in an opinion piece published in the Miami Herald, entitled “Need a ‘big, bad dude’? White criminals need not apply” by Leonard Pitts Jr. The article opens by discussing the shooting of African-American man Terence Crutcher, where the police officer who shot him stated it was due to him not obeying her orders and reaching inside his SUV for a weapon. However, the video of the shooting shows that this did not happen. The article also goes on to discuss other African-Americans shot in recent
The media plays a big role in shaping the people’s perceptions about the court system. Without media we would remain uneducated to the occurrences outside our social groups. Media and especially news coverage provide us with important point of contact with the rest of society. In debunking popular myths about our court system we will look at the “facts” (the truth, the actual event, a real thing). With a myth being based upon “exaggeration” or heightening of “ordinary” event in life. Myths become a convenient mortar to fill gaps in knowledge and to provide answers to questions social science either cannot answer or has failed to address. Myths tend to provide the necessary information for the construction
Wiarda H. J. and Skelley E. M., 2005, Dilemmas of Democracy in Latin America: Crises and Opportunity, Rowman and Littlefield Publishers Inc
The symbolism of blood prior to, and immediately following Duncan’s murder amplifies the magnitude of Macbeth’s treachery. Following the prophecy of the witches, Macbeth contemplates the possible effects of murdering Duncan in order to gain the crown. Macbeth believes the killing of Duncan will provide "bloody instruction" to Scotland and will in turn "plague th' inventor" (1.7.9-10). This quotation characterizes the murder of Duncan as a bloody deed, therefore amplifying the severity of the crime. Prior to the murder of Duncan, Macbeth hallucinates bloody splotches on his dagger. Macbeth voices this hallucination when he states, "I see thee still, and on thy blade and dudgeon gouts of blood, which was not so before" (Macbeth 2.1.46-48). The false appearance of blood on Macbeth's dagger asserts his hesitancy to murder Duncan. In this case, blood symbolizes the possible guilt of Macbeth upon the murder of Duncan. Immediately following the murder of Duncan, Macbeth uses the symbol of blood to assert the magnitude of his crime. Macbeth conveys immediate concern when he states, "Will all great Neptune's ocean...
The most vivid example of guilt using the symbol of blood by Lady Macbeth is in Act 5 scene 1 lines 35-40, where she walks in her sleep and tries to rub off the spot of blood on her hand. (“Out damned spot! I say! One: two: why then ‘tis time to do’t: hell is murky. Fie, my lord, fie, a soldier, and afeard? What need we fear who knows it, when none can call our power to account? Yet who would have thought the old man to have had so much blood in him?”). Her hallucinations of blood on her hands and her constant efforts to wash it off show the agony of having guilty feelings is making her go mentally disturbed. Later on, it strains her s...
Democracy is robust, widely accepted and highly anticipated around the world. It is the triumphant form of government; dominantly used in Europe, North and South and America and becoming reformed and taking new roots in Africa and Asia. Although the term democracy is based on its Greek origin, demos kratos, meaning people rule, the term cannot be simply understood as such. Due to vast coverage, the adaptation of democracy has varied greatly, whether regionally, nationally, by state or through different branches of government. Perhaps this can be advantageous when the different categorizations listed above can use democracy to rule and suit themselves best, but other factors, such as globalization and neoliberalism, has caused the need for
The image of blood plays an important role throughout Macbeth. Blood represents the murders that Macbeth had committed, the guilt that went along with the murders and the pain that it brought on him during his downfall. The soldier describes the violence and bloodshed, in the war between Scotland and Norway, "Except they meant to bathe in reeking wounds." (I. ii. 43) foreshadows the violent nature of the play filled with murder, guilt and pain. Blood in the murder of King Duncan also plays a major role because it represents Macbeth's guilt as well as his shame for slaying King Duncan. Macbeth observes his blood stained hands and remarks "As they had seen me with these hangman's hands." (II. ii. 28) This reveals his guilt and shame because he is comparing his hands to those of an executioner's. After the murder, Macbeth refuses to return back to the bed chamber of Kind Duncan to smear the blood on the sleeping guards, because he is afraid that the blood will incriminate him further. Lady Macbeth smearing the blood onto the guards represents them trying to rub their guilt off onto the guard. "I'll gild the faces of the grooms withal, for it must seem their guilt" (II. ii. 73) but this proves to be ineffective because Macbeth ends up murdering t...
Zakaria, F. (2007). The Future of Freedom: Illiberal Democracy at Home and Abroad (Revised Edition). New York: W. W. Norton.