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Media influencing the public about crime
Media influencing the public about crime
The influence of media on crime
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Rae, We Pray for you “Murder in the murderer is no such ruinous thought as poets and romancers will have it; it does not unsettle him, or fright him from his ordinary notice of trifles; it is an act quite easy to be contemplated.” Ralph Waldo Emerson Is Rae Carruth unsettled? Is he bothered? Is Carruth in the contemplative mood yet? I certainly hope he is. Rae Carruth has taken away a human life. He has violated that certain enjoyment that exists in life. It is what separates the human race, from all others. Logic and reason that we possess in such high quantities as human beings apparently are lacking in Carruth’s case. It seems to make little sense, especially in Carruth’s situation. He seemed to have everything going for him, having achieved his dream to become a professional athlete and supporting his parents and relatives on this newfound fame as he had always promised. Yet, something was happening to Rae Carruth. Obviously, he was not happy with his life at that point. Still, murder is not exactly a sensible action, not even as a last resort to most who have their wits about them. It seemed as though Carruth felt that he had no other choice. He seemed to take the classic, “I don’t like you, so I’ll beat you up,” mantra of the playgrounds to a much harsher end in this case. With Carruth you must question many things about him, his sanity, his maturity, his intelligence, and above all his reason. Obviously, he soon realized the magnitude of his act, as he fled as a fugitive until he was caught. Murder is not a crime of chance, you have to get the deed done and correctly, that is why Carruth hired a few thugs to do the job for him. Even if Carruth did not pull the trigger, it is very clear that he is still a murderer. His fate is the question to most. This will probably not be determined until Carruth goes to trial, probably in about a year. The prosecution will seek the death penalty for Carruth and rightfully so. In our current society today, only the most horrific of criminals usually get the death penalty because we do not operate on an eye for eye basis. In the present criminal justice system rehabilitation seems to be the operative word. It is not that Carruth is beyond rehibilition, but that he does not deserve to live.
Morley Callaghan’s novel More Joy in Heaven follows the short life of notorious bank robber and gunman Kip Caley. Callaghan's novel is based off and follows Red Ryan's now forgotten story almost word for word. Red Ryan and the fictional Kip Caley both face the effects of a being an outsider in a forceful, high-class society. Individuals and organizations play a huge responsibility role to ex-convicts; readers of More Joy in Heaven unfortunately see the side effects when selfishness and thirst for glory play into this important, delicate role. Nonetheless that readers see what the wrong individuals will do to an ex-convict, readers will also see what kinder individuals can do to someone trying to reform. Yet what the public does and does not do is not to be blamed systematically; Red Ryan and Kip Caley crave societies attention and even begin to depend on it before their story is over. Their craving for attention makes them vulnerable to being abused by society. Both society and parolees want to live the upstanding lives, but neither takes into account what the others wants and needs are, so who’s fault is it when a parolee fails to meet societies precast expectations?
Brian Conniff's article, "Psychological Accidents: In Cold Blood and Ritual Sacrifice," explains how Truman Capote's nonfiction novel demonstrates the psychological trauma that the murderers and the townspeople of Holcomb face after the murders of the Clutter family. Conniff begins his article by stating that in the last twenty-five years imprisonment and execution has reached an all-time high level of obsession among the American public. Since this type of violence has been so normalized it is rarely properly understood (1). With this in mind, prison literature has continually suggested that "the most fortified barriers are not the physical walls and fences between the prison, and the outside world; the most fortified barriers are the psychological walls between the preoccupations of everyday life . . .and the conscious realization that punishment is the most self-destructive kind of national addiction" (Conniff 1).
As a child he was sent to many reform schools. He has spent the last four decades behind bars. He will never get out prison. He will eventually die in prison. This is the life of Charles Manson. Charles Manson is a sick and cruel criminal.
Was Jonathan Wayne Nobles rehabilitated? We will never know. Steve Earle wrote “A Death in Texas”. Earle was a country musician who spent his own time in prison for drug charges, Earle was rehabilitated and let out to join society again. Exchanging letters with convicted murderer Jonathan Wayne Nobles for 10 years, Earle finally met Nobles for the first time just a month before he was killed by lethal injection. Jonathan Wayne Nobles, was a power seeking manipulating narcissist who broke into a home and knifed to death two young ladies, and attempting to kill a young man, stabbing him 19 times. There was no problem with conviction, Nobles confessed to the murders. Nobles started out having a rough childhood, he attempted
In the beginning of this excerpt when Synge relates the anecdote of the Connaught man who killed his father, he suggests that this experience relates the “primitive feeling of these people…that a man will not do wrong unless he is under the influence of a passion which is as irresponsible as a storm on the sea…[and] they can see no reason why he should be dragged away and killed by the law.” While this seems to be an accurate assumption for the majority of cases, this is a potentially dangerous statement. The premise of this argument rests on the notion that the accused murderer feels remorse and is forever changed by their action. Yet this argument falls apart and would be frankly naive if the person who committed the crime is deranged and knowingly and unreservedly killed the person. If this were
On the morning of July 4, 1954, Marilyn Sheppard was violently beaten in her home in Bay Village, Ohio, on the shore of Lake Erie. She was four months pregnant and had been felled by 35 vicious blows (Quade). Right away Sam Sheppard was accused of being the victim to do this. Sheppard had told investigators that he had been asleep downstairs and was awakened by his wife’s screams. Sheppard said when he went upstairs and entered the room he was knocked unconscious by the intruder. He denied any involvement and described his battle with the killer he described as “bushy-haired” (Linder). After a police investigation, Dr. Sam Sheppard was convicted of second degree murder and sentenced to life in prison. With the hectic media covering it, they were quick in decision that it was him that committed the murder. This was an unfair trial, ruined a man’s life, and gave him no time for a career.
Her psychological damage done from the mistreatment by her mother and having a baby non-consensually should be taken into consideration. None of these make murder okay; However she was clearly immature and scared at the time. It was a mistake that she made when she was very young. If she had remained in jail for 50 years, she would be a senior citizen when released. She would miss the majority of her life and her youth to pursuit major accomplishments and redeem herself. Taking away one’s the opportunity to contribute to the world or pursue their goals would almost be taking away his/her life. Our society should promote the value of life and its potential. Originally, I did not think of the sentence in that way, but the class discussion invoked thought. Recently turning 18 years old, I slowly fathomed the magnitude of a near life sentence for a crime committed as a teenager. Why should one’s opportunity be taken away if he/she has the desire and potential to redeem himself/herself? I came to the conclusion that her redemption attempt deserved a shot. All people, especially young ones, deserve a second chance and allowing her to pursue her degree gave her
Broken Lives written by Estelle Blackburn is an expository text, which through research has presented that nineteen year old John Button was wrongfully convicted of killing his seventeen year old girlfriend Rosemary Anderson in a hit and run. I believe through my reading of Broken Lives that the key factor of expository texts is to explore awkward questions deeply and critically. In this case who was guilty of killing Rosemary Anderson in a hit and run, John Button or Eric Edgar Cooke, and the effect of Cooke’s crimes and murders had on people.
Convicted for the murders of his wife and two kids, thirty-four years ago, Dr. MacDonald still endures the agony of being accused of killing his family. Even after twenty-four years of imprisonment and several unlawful court hearings, additional documentation continues to up hold Dr. MacDonald’s testimony.
Cullen, Dave. "What A Killer Thinks." Newsweek 160.6 (2012): 30-34. OmniFile Full Text Mega (H.W. Wilson). Web. 2 Apr. 2014.
In Andre Dubus’ short story “Killings,” the character Frank Fowler is violently murdered by his girlfriend’s ex-husband. Numerous readers agree that Richard Strout’s death is the result of revenge; however, Frank’s death is rarely examined. Even though his death is the pivotal point that swings the rest of the story into action, his demise is often overlooked because Richard’s death is so prominently analyzed, calculated, and questioned. So what is the origin of Frank’s murder? Although there are numerous reasons why Frank is killed, one apparent cause is his love for Mary Ann. Lieutenant Jimmy Cross from Tim O’Brien’s story, “The Things They Carried,” can certainly attest that the love of a woman is a powerful and blinding emotion. An emotion
However, Matt Fowler had different reasoning for his actions. After burying his twenty-one year-old son who was just on the cusp of graduating college, he finds that Strout, his son’s murderer, has been released on bail pending trial and until then he has resumed his normal life. Watching his wife not only mourning the loss of their son, but also having to see the killer in daily activities, has caused a mental and emotional strain on their life. The affect on Fowler’s family that Strout is walking around free and seemingly unconcerned is one of the main reasoning that is posed when Fowler and his friend Willis T...
David works as a gardener, people say he is kind and passive. In recent days family and friends have realized his behaviour had changed. While David was at a clients house he and the client were in an argument which escalated to the point where he beat her to death. In his trial the prosecutor argued and said he had lost his temper and beat the client to death which resulted David to life in prison.
To begin with, there were several events leading up to the shootings on the campus of Virginia Tech. Cho Seung Hui, 23, an English major from Korea, was identified as the person responsible for the shootings (New York Times). Many students and faculty members described Cho as a very quiet and lonely person who very seldom said anything. He always had a very depressed look to him as if he had someone really close pass away. It seemed as if no one really knew who he was or what he was about other than just walking by him or seeing him in class. Cho attended professor Nikki Giovanni’s creative writing class and it wasn’t long before she began to question some of his work (Washington Post). Cho’s work seemed to be very morbid and worry some of his classmates up to the point that his peers quit attending class because they began to be scared of what he could be capable of. Cho’s writing was so dark a...
I would anxiously search for the infamous Randall LeBeck; and find out his part in the changes, which had taken, over my existence. I positively and inwardly desired to have command over the urge of killing and hurting the innocent. After a while, I began to developed feelings of remorse for the young man whose life I had taken.