Criminal Justice Reflection Paper 1
Reflection Paper 1 (Module/Week 1)
I believe that Natural Laws should be the determining factor of what is just and moral regarding man made laws. Any rational person can distinguish right from wrong, but there are those who cannot and therefore that’s where man made laws come in hand. For instance the Comanche society believed it is a husband’s right to kill his wife without reasonable cause (Inciardi, 2010, p. 29). For a rational person this is insane, thus we make laws to prohibit acts to those natures. Natural laws are the laws god has instilled into all of us as a way to govern ourselves, and we should use those as guidelines for our own laws. Sure things have changed with technology and the way we view the world but for the most part the natural laws have not changed. Thou shall not steal, thou shall not kill are probably the most well known of the natural laws. The laws for Thou shall not steal are robbery, burglary, and some offenses under property offenses. Robbery is the felonious taking of money or goods from a victim’s person, or in a victim’s presence and against his or her will, through the use or threat or force and violence (Inciardi, 2010, p. 68). Burglary is the breaking and entering of a dwelling with the intention to commit a felony of misdemeanor (Inciardi, 2010, p.71). Then the property offenses are Larceny, pickpocketing, shoplifting, and fraud to name a few (Inciardi, 2010, p.72-73).The laws for thou shall not kill are murder and manslaughter. Murder is defined as the felonious killing of another human being with the malice aforethought (Inciardi, 2010, p.64). While manslaughter is typically charged when a killing occurs under circumstances that are not severe enough to constitute murder yet are beyond the defenses of justifiable or excusable homicide (Inciardi, 2010, p.66). Man-made laws are made to be obeyed, in Hebrews 13:17 "Obey your leaders and submit to their authority. They keep watch over you as men who must
I believe that Natural Laws should be the determining factor of what is just and moral regarding man made laws. Any rational person can distinguish right from wrong, but there are those who cannot and therefore that’s where man made laws come in hand. For instance the Comanche society believed it is a husband’s right to kill his wife without reasonable cause (Inciardi, 2010, p. 29). For a rational person this is insane, thus we make laws to prohibit acts to those natures. Natural laws are the laws god has instilled into all of us as a way to govern ourselves, and we should use those as guidelines for our own laws. Sure things have changed with technology and the way we view the world but for the most part the natural laws have not changed. Thou shall not steal, thou shall not kill are probably the most well known of the natural laws. The laws for Thou shall not steal are robbery, burglary, and some offenses under property offenses. Robbery is the felonious taking of money or goods from a victim’s person, or in a victim’s presence and against his or her will, through the use or threat or force and violence (Inciardi, 2010, p. 68). Burglary is the breaking and entering of a dwelling with the intention to commit a felony of misdemeanor (Inciardi, 2010, p.71). Then the property offenses are Larceny, pickpocketing, shoplifting, and fraud to name a few (Inciardi, 2010, p.72-73).The laws for thou shall not kill are murder and manslaughter. Murder is defined as the felonious killing of another human being with the malice aforethought (Inciardi, 2010, p.64). While manslaughter is typically charged when a killing occurs under circumstances that are not severe enough to constitute murder yet are beyond the defenses of justifiable or excusable homicide (Inciardi, 2010, p.66). Man-made laws are made to be obeyed, in Hebrews 13:17 "Obey your leaders and submit to their authority. They keep watch over you as men who must