Preview

The Ethicality Of Double Jeopardy Law

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
666 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
The Ethicality Of Double Jeopardy Law
This year in the Unites States, countless murderers, rapists, thieves, and other criminals will walk free among you and your loved ones due to the existence of a law which protects them from their arrest. It doesn't matter whether these acquitted convicts have confessed, or new evidence surfaces, they will not be sentenced. This bill, which has the ability to create corruption in the ordinance process and keep a killer from being locked up, is known as the double jeopardy law.
To understand the logistics of what is wrong with the double jeopardy law, you must first know what it is. The double jeopardy law prohibits an individual from being tried on the same charges twice. This means that if someone is found not guilty of a crime they were accused of, they cannot be tried again. It was originally founded upon the 5th amendment to prevent double punishment, which i believe is a good concept, but the trouble arises in situations where new evidence on the case surfaces, or the criminal confesses and there is nothing the law can do because the accused has already been acquitted of all charges.
…show more content…
These tools have many helpful uses and should be able to be utilized by police and detectives to help unearth the most accurate information. Today, devices that could only have been dreamt about 20 years ago are a reality. Drones, Smartphones, and Biometric information (fingerprints and retina scanning) are just a few of the many leaps and bounds we have made in terms of technology. This means that cases from long ago have not been examined with the full potential they could be. The world and the way we use technology is changing and expanding, and i believe that the law system should grow with it. With the double jeopardy law still being implicated, it is not possible for this to

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Satisfactory Essays

    2) I think it is very important that we reexamine past cases because of the improvements. It is very unfair for those who have been imprisoned due to the inadequate technology. The disadvantage to this is that old cases means old evidence that may not be of any use because of the case's age. Samples may have dried up etc.…

    • 740 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The fifth amendment prohibits double jeopardy (del Carmen, 2014). The concept behind prohibiting double jeopardy is to protect the defendant from being tried and punished twice for a single crime, but this doesn’t mean that after a verdict is handed down the process ends (del Carmen, 2014). They can try and get an appeal so that their case and verdict will be reviewed (del Carmen, 2014).…

    • 335 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    2. Forensic science has been increasingly used by the criminal justice system because of its growing accessibility. Technological advances over the last hundred years have made methods such as finger printing, blood and DNA analysis, and other forms of identification much easier for forensic scientists to perform, thus paving the way for the development of this field. Similarly, there has been an increased popularity for…

    • 625 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    George Davis Case

    • 643 Words
    • 3 Pages

    In his argument, Davis alleges that “Count 1-Robbery with a Dangerous and Deadly weapon, Count two First Degree Assault, [and] Count 8 Use of a Handgun in the Commission of violence” should merge. For the reasons stated herein, Davis is precluded from asserting that first degree assault and robbery with a dangerous weapon should have merged. Moreover, the offenses of use of a handgun and robbery with a dangerous weapon should not have merged. We, therefore, hold that Davis’s rights under the Fifth Amendment’s double jeopardy clause of the U.S. Constitution were not…

    • 643 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Double jeopardy, in law, is the protection against the use by the state of certain multiple forms of prosecution. In general, in countries observing the rule of double jeopardy, a person cannot be tried twice for the same crime based on the same conduct. In U.S. law, double jeopardy does not attach until the jury is sworn in a jury trial or until the first witness is sworn in a bench trial. There are several examples of double jeopardy. An easy and simply understood example is if a man is tried for murder, he cannot be tried for manslaughter. This is because manslaughter and murder may be two different crimes but are based on similar conduct. But if the same man committed murder and robbed a store, the Fifth Amendment does not protect him. Double jeopardy also keeps the state from retrying a person for the same crime after he has been proven not…

    • 721 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Most people, when not involved in a criminal case, are under the assumption and believe that our civil rights are protected by the U.S. Constitution, specifically the Fifth Amendment, which states an individual cannot be charged twice for the same crime; known as the “double jeopardy” rule. Although this is accurate, what many individuals do not understand is that this will only apply if a defendant has been either convicted or acquitted of a crime. For example, if a defendant is acquitted of a murder, the state is able to charge him with the same crime, and then continually go to trial until a conviction is made. However, if the defendant goes to trial and the trial ends in either a mistrial or hung jury, the state will often charge the defendant again (Balko,…

    • 1194 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Best Essays

    reduction and prevention, and are also used as a factor to determine the success of the criminal…

    • 1668 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Best Essays
  • Good Essays

    Double Jeopardy Claims

    • 434 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Native Americans have always had problems in the United States. Over recent years it has gotten better. Problems include: poverty, unemployment, murder, suicide and deportation.…

    • 434 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    159). The issues with the Double Jeopardy Clause is that the clause does not prevent the possibility that a single criminal act may lead to more than one prosecution. "One criminal act can produce several statutory violations. But a single criminal act with multiple victims could result in several prosecutions because the identity of each victim would be an additional fact or element of proof in each case” (Mallor et al., 2015, pg.159). Also, the Double Jeopardy Clause “does not bar a private plaintiff from pursuing a civil case” (Mallor et al., 2015,…

    • 676 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    The United States criminal justice system prides itself on being fair and just. Even if it is one of the best systems in existence, it is not flawless. Wrongful convictions continue to occur despite existing safeguards aimed at limiting wrongful convictions. According to the Global Registry of Claims of Innocence, approximately 15% of inmates claim to be innocent nationwide (2014). Based on exoneration rates, of the 15% claiming innocence between one and five percent of inmates are truly innocent (Global Registry of Claims of Innocence, 2014). Several factors prevent wrongfully convicted individuals from proving his or…

    • 2617 Words
    • 11 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Fifth Amendment addresses the right to a grand jury indictment in a felony case. Regarding double jeopardy or subjection to the same offense twice in court proceedings when jeopardy is attached in the first and were no mistrial was declared (2012). However, the prosecution is able to retry a defendant upon the deceleration of a mistrial or upon granting a new trial.…

    • 838 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Wrongful Convictions

    • 3217 Words
    • 13 Pages

    Every year in the United States of America, millions of crimes are committed that violate and harm the individual rights, properties, and freedoms that are not only guaranteed to American citizens of this country, but also naturally inherent to mankind as whole. Based on the founding principles of our country, which are derived from the Constitution of these United States, justice is dealt accordingly to the perpetrators of these crimes. While this justice is usually fair, due to certain rights given to those who may be charged with crimes, sometimes an error is made. A simple mistake, a missing or broken link in the chain that represents the investigation and trial processes, causes an innocent bystander to become caught up in an investigation, and in many cases, can result in a wrongful conviction. This mistake can come in many forms: a mistaken eyewitness identification, a false confession, misconduct of the governing authorities, improper forensic investigation, or even lazy or unskilled litigation by the defense attorneys. Legal miscarriage like this is not something that should be taken lightly, especially since those affected must not only endure the years spent in prison, but also deal with lost wages, isolation from friends and family, scrutiny from potential employers, and ostracization from their community. According to C. Ronald Huff, director of the Criminal Justice Research Center at Ohio State University, roughly 10,000 United States residents who are not guilty of a crime are convicted every year, a "conservative" estimate of 0.5% of the 1,993,880 index crimes used for his research that was completed in 1990 . Even more alarming are the 138 Death Row inmates who have been exonerated sine 1973 as a result of further DNA testing; while anywhere between a concrete group of 8 and another 31 "possible innocents" have been executed in the United States…

    • 3217 Words
    • 13 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Unjust Conviction

    • 1450 Words
    • 6 Pages

    The most disturbing fact individuals are faced with today, is that innocent people have been sentenced to death, and lots of them. Statistics show that one hundred thirty people, wrongfully convicted people, were sentenced to death and were lucky to, eventually be exonerated and released. It is also said that DNA, can’t guarantee the court system won’t execute innocent people(Schabas23). Obviously, if someone is convicted and later found innocent a judge can release him/ her from prison, but unfortunately not from the grave. Twenty-one inmates have been released since 1993, including seven from the state of Illinois alone(Banner7). Many of these cases were discovered not because of the normal appeals process, but as a result of many new scientific techniques, investigations, and the dedicated work of multiple attorneys. In 1993, the Death Penalty Information Center was asked by…

    • 1450 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Jennings vs. Armington

    • 500 Words
    • 2 Pages

    The Fifth Amendment states, “No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of War or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offence to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation..” (Legal Dictionary, 2013) The way it is seen in the courts, the Double Jeopardy Clause applies only to legal proceedings brought by state and federal governments in criminal court and it will not apply to civil tort suits individuals bring forth in civil court.…

    • 500 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays