Law Homework Help

1. A murderer, who experienced years of abuse at the hands of his victim, finally “snapped” and killed his girlfriend. Should this offender be considered for a sentence of community supervision? Why or why not? In addition to providing justification with resources, detail two factors you took into consideration in determining whether or not they should receive this sentence.

I believe that a murderer, who experienced years of abuse at the hands of his victim, finally “snapped” and killed his girlfriend should not be considered for a sentence of community supervision. Depending on the length of their sentence, this person might be eligible for supervised release after 85% of their time (“What We Do”, n.d.). I would rather this person spend the extra 15% of their time engaged in behavioral and cognitive change efforts (Burke et al., 2019, ch8.5). One of the factors that should determine community supervision for this person is their likelihood of completing parole. For example, only 50% of people on parole complete it in a given year (Burke et al., 2019, ch 9.11). If this person failed to complete parole by attacking someone or losing contact with their parole officer, another public member might be harmed. The second factor that should determine community supervision, in this case, is what the victim’s family wants. The victim’s family should be centered in the discussion of justice and early release to feel the justice system is fairly punishing their daughter’s killers.

1. A college student who has no previous criminal record engaged in reckless driving and a pedestrian was killed as a result. Should this offender be considered for a sentence of community supervision? Why or why not? In addition to providing justification with resources, detail two factors you took into consideration in determining whether or not they should receive this sentence.

A college student who has no previous criminal record and engaged in reckless driving killing a pedestrian should be considered for a sentence of community supervision. Two factors affect my decision. This person is a first-time offender, which courts also look to when sentencing criminals (Burke et al., 2019, ch 8.9). Additionally, first-time offenders do not have a pattern that shows they are likely to continue engaging in this behavior. The second factor is that this college student’s license can be taken away, and they could be put on an ankle monitor to ensure that this behavior does not continue ((Buurke et al., 2019, ch 9.3).

2. A murderer, who experienced years of abuse at the hands of his victim, finally “snapped” and killed his girlfriend. Should this offender be considered for a sentence of community supervision? Why or why not? In addition to providing justification with resources, detail two factors you took into consideration in determining whether or not they should receive this sentence.

I believe he should be considered for community supervision as this murder seems to be an act of defense instead of senseless killing. Though they are wrong in what they did, it was done not out of malice but for survival. When it comes to community supervision, it is usually used with non-violent crimes, but that doesn’t prevent it from being used with violent ones. It is far too often that domestic abuse occurs, and it is too late for the victim to be saved, so when a case like this comes up, its sensitivity should be in favor of the abused person but still be a just, fair punishment. You also have to consider the mental health of the victim/murderer since they were abused; they could have seen that murdering their aggressor was their only way out.

A college student who has no previous criminal record engaged in reckless driving and a pedestrian was killed as a result. Should this offender be considered for a sentence of community supervision? Why or why not? In addition to providing justification with resources, detail two factors you took into consideration in determining whether or not they should receive this sentence.

I believe this person shouldn’t be considered for community supervision because he took the life of a seemingly innocent person from their reckless actions. Though their plan wasn’t to kill someone, the fact they engaged in reckless driving in the first place, they should have taken the dangers that a pedestrian could have on the receiving end into account.
Another thing to consider is the possibility of a grieving family; if this person were to receive community supervision, who’s to say that the family couldn’t exact their own “justice” if they believe the sentencing is unfair. This, in turn, would create another instance of crime instead of resolving an issue how it should be handled.