Did I Hear a Niner in There?

Did’ga Know That…
There is direct, indirect, formal, and informal social control? Let’s make a grid!!!


So, hard core church goers would be influence by informal social control. They would feel like crap if they committed a ‘sin’ or they would see someone else loose everything for their ‘sins’. Either way, it sucks. You get YOU ARE GOING TO (fill in the blank) YOU SINNER! Or you see your neighbor getting the 'royal' treatment and think, “umm, guess that was a bad idea. Sorry ‘bout that Roger!” Lol, jk! In all seriousness though, they might see another member of their faith get into trouble for doing something that they thought was ok, but now they know that it isn’t so they aren’t going to do that particular thing. Get it? I personally think that formal can be more fun… *insert evil laugh here*. No, really, formal direct is like getting a speeding ticket and formal indirect is when you just get a warning or you see the cop and slam on your breaks. I think all four of these controls work together in someway shape or form to help us stay within the boundaries of being a good citizen in our own communities.


Did’ga Know That…
There are three types of plea bargaining? Yep, there is charge bargaining, count bargaining, and sentence bargaining. “What are these bargains?” you may ask… and “why do you want to know?” shall be my reply. Planning on doing some dirty deed and wanting to know how best to plead? Well, I suggest that you first fall down on your knees, sob hysterically, beg for mercy from ‘your most honorable judgeship, sir,” and try to look as utterly pathetic as possible so they will do anything to get you out of the courtroom as fast as they humanly can. And if that works, please contact me, because I want to do it just for the heck of it. Kidding! (Or am I?) Ok! Back on track, figuring out what these bargains actually are is really quite simple; charge bargaining=less severe charges or eliminating one of the charges all together if you pleade guilty to the others, count bargaining=the number of time you are being charge with the same crime will be reduced if you atmit to them, and sentence bargaining=when you plead guilty to everything and ask the judge to be lenient on his sentencing (but it is up to the judge to choose if he will actually be lenient or not). Were I in a situation like that, I wouldn’t trust the judge to actually be merciful. I would go for charge or count bargaining before I’d even think about putting myself in such a vulnerable position.

A website on plea bargains is http://www.expertlaw.com/library/criminal/plea_bargains.html

Five Little Monkeys Jumping on a Bed, Pushed One Off and Now He's DEAD! (jk ;-P)

Did’ga know that…
Actus reus, mens rea, and concurrence are needed for all crime? And when you know what these terms mean, it’s kind of obvious. Actus reus is the actual act, so if you don’t do anything, you don’t commit crime! Imagine that…:-P. Mens Rea is the specific intent to reach a certain conclusion or result, and concurrence means that the act and the result of that act must be within a reasonable amount of time. So, if you throw a rock at someone with the intent of hitting them and you actually hit them (I wouldn’t, my aim is terrible) then you have committed a crime. But if you don’t hit anything, or if you don’t throw the rock in the first place, you are scotch free! Well, unless the person you missed got mad at you and decided to reciprocate (Run awaaaaay!)

Did’ga know that…
Even if you don’t complete a crime, if it can be proven that you were actually going to do the crime and for some reason got stopped or delayed, you can still be charged for that crime? If the prosecutor can prove that you attempted the crime and failed, asked someone else to do the crime for you (even if they don’t do the crime), or agreed with someone else to commit a crime together, you are accountable for that crime. The intent was there, just not the act. But proving this to the point of being able to take it to court is pretty hard. Unless the police stopped you right outside of the bank you were going to rob seconds before you robbed it. Then you’re just out of luck; my sympathies.

P.S. here is a radom youtube video that I found about, not dumb robbers, but suicidal cashiers! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mN4msh5k1Ew

FOUR!

Did'ga know that...
There are actually “actors” in a courtroom? The ‘lead roles’ are the judges, the prosecutors, and the defense attorneys. They are in charge of what is said and done in the courtroom. The ‘supporting roles’ are defendants, the witnesses, and the jury. They just provide reasons for the lead roles to be there.

Did'ga know that...
There are four different types of jurisdiction? There is personal, subject matter, geographical, and hierarchical. Personal jurisdiction is the authority the court has over a person that comes in contact with the court in some way shape or form. Subject matter jurisdiction covers a particular type of case. Geographical jurisdiction has to do with where the court is located. And hierarchical involves the different duties of the court levels.

Chapa' Thwee'

Did'ga know that...
The Bill of Rights didn’t apply to the state governments until after the Fourteenth Amendment was passed in 1868, seventy-seven years later? At the time that the Constitution was written, people were afraid of a strong central government. Can you blame them, after King George, who can blame them? So the Bill of Rights only applied to the federal government and not the state/local governments.

Did'ga know that...
Many people feel that judicial review gives the courts too much power over the other branches of the government? Judicial review lets the courts evaluate a law and determine whether or not it is constitutional. But take into consideration the question, who else can keep the other branches in check?

Chapta' Two

Did'ga know that...
Crime control and due process should compliment each other? Crime control equals stopping crime before it happens. Due process makes laws and legal proceedings fair for everyone. (Yay!) So, the way we try to stop crime should include making the laws equal but still having fair legal procedures to 1punish the offender should they commit a crime and 2deter them from doing the crime again.

Did'ga know that...
There are two different types of crime? Raffale Garofalo tried to make a natural definition of crime. His definition was really considered a comparison between ‘natural’ law and honorable law. In other words, we now have what is called mala in se crimes and mala prohibita crimes. Mala in se crimes are universally just plain evil; things like planned, cold blooded murder and molesting children. Mala prohibita crimes are evil because we say so, or rather we have forbidden them, such as driving without a seat belt and playing music loud enough to cause birds to explode at three o’clock in the morning (and if you are guilty of this you should be charged with animal cruelty!) ;-P


Did'ga know that...
Trying to figure out if law is socially defined or if “law” just exists is very intriguing. Think about it. Are there “laws” that aren’t written down or enforced, but we still have to follow them? Law of gravity anyone? If we as a society determined that gravity was no longer a law would we still be stuck to the ground or could we just float away like a little cloud? BUT if we didn’t have laws that were created by our society, would we be able to survive as peacefully as we do now? If there weren’t any speed limits, how many people would die? Honestly? Lots! So which is it? Or is it a little of both? Food for thought, no?

Chapter Uno!

Did'ga know that...
One of the oldest known written code of law was from Babylonia? It was called the Code of Hammurabi, who was a King of Babylonia and lived from 2123 to 2081 BCE .

Did'ga know that...
The Code of Hammurabi was found written on a 7' 2" pillar that had a statue of Shamash (their Sun God) giving the code to Hammurabi? And yet we have no idea if his code was used by the officials that were head of the daily management of his kingdom! Wouldn't you want to follow a law that was given to you by a deity? I'd be scared not to!

Did'ga know that...
Almost every philosopher's perspective on law was different? Plato- justice and wisdom had to be reached through wisdom. Aristotle- the law is for making as many people as possible happy, and not even the rulers were exempt from it. Thomas Hobbes- law must keep human's violent nature at bay. And, John Locke- the individuals must voluntariily give up a few liberties and punnish transgressors themselves. They all dissagree, is some way or form. Good thing most of them weren't born in the same generation!