How To Write a Victim Impact Statement

Among the most effective tools victims have in the fight against crime is the victim impact statement, which is used at the sentencing of defendants and, in many states, at parole hearings. All 50 states allow some form of victim impact information at sentencing. Most states allow oral or written statements, or both, from the victim at the sentencing hearing and require victim impact information to be included in the pre-sentence report and given to the judge before imposing sentence. In most states, victim impact statements also are allowed at parole hearings; in other states a copy of the original statement is attached to the offenders file to be reviewed by the parole board. Some states allow these statements to be updated by the victims to include any additional impact the original crime has had on their lives. Part of the Justice Process In a few states, victim impact statements are allowed a bail hearings, pretrial release hearings, and plea bargain hearings. For most crime victims, these statements provide an opportunity to focus the courts attention on the human cost of the crime and allow the victims to become part of the criminal justice process. More than 80 percent of crime victims who have made such statements consider them to be a very important part of the process. In some states, the law allowing victim impact statements requires the judge or parole board to consider the statements in making decisions, giving them more impact on the judicial process and outcome. Elements of a Statement Typically, a victim impact statement will contain the following: The physical, financial, psychological, and emotional impact of the crime.The harm done to family relationships by the crime, such as the loss of a parent or caregiver.Medical treatment or psychological services required by the victim because of the crime.The need for restitution.The victims opinion of an appropriate sentence for the offender. How to Write a Statement Most states have victim impact statement forms for victims to complete. If the state does not have a form, focusing on the above questions is helpful. Also, all states have victim assistance programs, which anyone with questions about completing the statement can contact for help or clarification. Completing Your Statement Many people will read your statement, including the judge, attorneys, probation and parole officers, and prison treatment personnel. Here are some considerations: The answers should be written neatly or typed.Writing the answers first on a separate piece of paper will allow for errors to be fixed before transposing the information to the final form. Ask for additional forms if you make a mistake or decide to reword your answers.It is not mandatory that the answers fit into the space provided. Include additional sheets if necessary.Try to keep the answers concise, but write descriptively. You want to express the depth of how you feel—fear, trauma, and severe loss—and using descriptive words will help people identify with your experience. Filling Out the Form Here’s what to put on the form: How you felt while the crime was taking place and the emotional impact this crime has had on your life.The physical, psychological, and financial impact of the crime.Examples of how the crime has changed your life.Documented and itemized financial losses, major and minor, as a result of the crime: loss of work; moving expenses; cost of gas for trips to doctors offices as a result of injuries during the crime; and future expenses. What to Avoid Here’s what you should not put on the form: Do not include information that identifies your physical address, phone number, place of employment, or email address. The defendant will have access to your letter or the statement you read in court and could use the information to contact you in the future.Do not introduce new evidence not covered at the trial or repeat evidence already presented.Do not use derogatory or obscene language. To do so will diminish the impact of your statement.Do not describe any harm that you hope the offender will experience in prison. Reading the Statement in Court If you do not feel that you can read your statement in court or you become too emotional to finish it, ask for an alternate or family representative to read it for you. If you want to show a picture or some other object while giving your statement, ask the courts permission first. Write out your statement before speaking to the judge. Reading a statement can become very emotional, and it is easy to lose track of what you are saying. Having a written copy will help you cover all the points that you want to convey. Focus on speaking only to the judge. If you want to speak directly to the defendant, ask the judges permission to do so first. Directing your comments to the accused is not necessary. Anything you want to convey can be done by speaking directly to the judge. Avoiding Manipulation Do not let the defendant manipulate you into losing control. Many times criminals will purposely try to anger the victim during the statement so that they do not finish. They may snicker, laugh, make sarcastic faces, yawn loudly, or even make obscene gestures. Some criminals will even shout out derogatory comments about the victim. By staying focused on the judge, you can help keep the criminal from sabotaging your statement. Do not express anger about the trial, the attorneys, the court, or the offender. This is your time to express the pain you have experienced and influence the sentence the defendant will receive. Anger, explosive outbursts, obscene language, or references to what kind of harm you hope the defendant will face in prison will diminish the impact of your statement. Laws regarding victim impact statements vary from state to state. To find out the law in your state, contact the local prosecutors office, the state attorney generals office, or a local law library.

Breast Cancer Community Resources Essay - 887 Words

Breast cancer is the predominant form of cancer diagnosed in America women, second only to skin cancer and the primary cause of cancer deaths, surpassed only by lung cancer. Approximations suggest that one in eight women in the United States will develop invasive breast cancer during the course of their life (American Cancer Society, 2013). As with any disease, a diagnosis of breast cancer can be tremendously challenging and freighting experience not only during the time of treatment and post treatment, but also as a survivor of the disease. Encouragement, reassurance, and support are crucial components in managing, coping, surviving, and living with breast cancer. Support can be initiated through national organizations such†¦show more content†¦The incidence rate during the measurement period of 2006-2012 for Maricopa County came in at 117.7 cases per 100,000 females (Arizona Health Matters, 2014). Early detection is especially important allowing for treatment to begin at the earliest stage of breast cancer. In the fight against breast cancer, self-examination and mammograms are two important tools as it relates to early detection. Given the significant importance of the mammogram only 69.5 (2012) percent of Arizonan women (state level) reported having had a mammogram in the past two years. In Maricopa County the mammogram history yields better results with an average of 74.3 (2010) women reporting having had a mammogram in the last two years (Arizona Health Matters, 2014). Although these figures seem relatively low they are higher than the national average of 67.1 (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2012). Maricopa County has available an extensive assortment of programs and financial resources, which support and encourage all women to partake in regularly scheduled mammograms regardless of their ability to pay. 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Adult Criminal Court Processing Times

Question: Discuss about the Adult Criminal Court Processing Times. Answer: Current research will base on youth criminal justice act of Canada due to the increasing crimes of youth in the Canadian environment. This act comes into operation in the year 2013 which specifies the guidelines for convicting criminal offenses among youth in Canada as they will give one chance of improvement to all the youths ( Deepa et. All, 95). The definition of youth is clearly explained in the act to differentiate the criminal offenses committed by an individual. An individual falls in the age limit of 12 years or older but under the maximum limit of 18 years old is considered as a youth in accordance with the youth criminal justice act. With the increasing crime among youngsters in Canada, it is essential to spread the knowledge of criminal justice act to reduce the criminal offenses committed by all the youngsters (Marc, et.all, 85). Aim of the current act of youth criminal justice act is to protect the interest of all the aggrieved party who are suffered from the immature actions of all the youngsters. This act aims to give a chance of improvement to all the individual lies in an age limit of 12-18 years to learn from their mistake ( Paul, Bartingham and Kinney, 360). Punishment is given to all the youngsters of the Canada in accordance with the act. In the operation of this act, a latest study reveals that 72% of the overall peoples of the Canada will not trust on the functionality of the act due to excessive crimes committed by youngsters. Aggrieved party in Canada does not trust the officials of the Canadian government in taking any legal action on the guilty party (Christine LM and Romano, 502). Majority of local residents of the Canada thinks the irrelevancy of the involvement of legal system in handling the sensitive cases of the child crime as they think that parents and community members plays a signific ant role in resolving the issue rather than the interference of the legal system ( Jenny and S. Chuang, 0743558418767624). A parent can understand the mentality of their child which helps in overcoming its problems with the passage of time as the external interference of the legal system will ruin their childhood as they consider wrong path rather than coming back on a right track again. The present research plan will be conducted by a researcher with an aim to achieve all its desired targets and the objectives to complete in a stipulated time period. This research study emphasizes on the current crimes takes places in Canada along with its relationship with the youngsters in Canada (Ashley, 1). Youth criminal justice act is one of the authentic and reliable sources to identify information related to a current issue.This act also emphasizes on the juvenile Delinquents act where, an individual below 18 years are requested to live in the juvenile homes to understand its mistake as this home is considered as a mild punishment home where officers will teach a lesson about moral values to all the youngsters who have committed crimes without the intention of hurting the other party is sent to these homes. Data about the juvenile home is collected using the Canadian government website by taking approval of the higher authority to access all the information available on the website. By taking interview of all the youngsters convicted to juvenile homes will helps in knowing their experiences of living in a juvenile home along with the behaviour of all the officers in the same manner ( Donna and Tempesta, 151). The changes in the behaviour of a youngster in the juvenile home help an individual in knowing the effectiveness of the legal system. It is also helpful in knowing how they will contribute to improving the behaviourof an individual. Preliminary thesis statement The effectiveness of the youth criminal justice act in Canada is a preliminary thesis statement which will explain in deep throughout the research study.The main issue of this study is to evaluate the authenticity of the problem that how effective is the system in resolving the crimes committed by all the youngsters in Canada. According to the latest research, the resident of the country does not trust on the reliability of the act in getting rid of the problems of their residents. A common issue faced by the legal system is that the person does not trust the system as they think they will not get the justice on time as the legal system is not appropriate. The reliability of the sources used in a research will play an integral role in concluding the entire research on a good note. A researcher uses various kinds of resources in moulding its entire research on a right track to collect all the facts and the information in achieving its research objectives within a stipulated time period. Youth criminal justice act is one of the sources to getting known about the relevant sections in prioritizing the crimes committed by a young individual is legal or illegal as per the act (Evan et. all 192). Another source used for the similar study included the past court cases and their decisions act as an additional help for the authority in giving the final verdict for a crime committed by a person. The court cases mention the nature of the cases which is helpful for the lawyers and an individual to compare its actual case with the past case to appeal for a low punishment. The intention of a youngster is also considered while giving the final verdict of the act as there two kinds of mistakes such as intentional as well as un-intentional mistakes committed by a user. Research notes play an important role in conducting a particular research as it helps an individual in performing its research in a systematic order by completing the entire step in the desired order. Research notes include a rough idea about the pre-completion of the research as a researcher will note down all the sources from which they collect the facts and the information to support its overall research study. A scrutinizer will mention the sources from which they have to collect the information and then arrange the collected data in forming a report to deliver the completed report to its end users (Darrel, 9). The expectations of the final clients depend on the action of a researcher that collects reliable facts to the research. The collected information is reviewed by them by taking the interview of all the parties associated with a research to judge its authenticity. Above research is based on the crimes committed by youngsters in Canada by explaining its relevancy in front of its external users of the overall research. It is concluded from the above research that youth criminal justice act needs to be modified according to the views of the local residents of Canada. This will also help in spreading the knowledge about the legal act among people. The main point of the essay is included in this step which helps a speaker to pick the most suitable while presenting the same in public. Primary points of the above research include the introduction of the youth criminal justice act, relevance of the act in Canada, legal cases and their verdict used as an additional help to an individual, perspectives of Canadian residents towards this act, favourable and unfavourable arguments on youth criminal justice act. The current essay is all about the explanation of the youth criminal justice act and the age limit to be called as a young individual under this act. Youth criminal justice act of the Canada government prescribes the regulations under a section of 2 of the act. This essay discusses the importance of theact ineradicating all the problems faced by a young individual. According to the study of ( Michele and Martin, 1) suggest that crimes are increasing with the passage of time which needs to be controlled by an individual by waking people about the punishments and severe causes to stop youngsters to commit the same. The mentality of an individual will get changed with the passage of time by organizing social campaigns. (Janice, 131) states that parents and the community members believe that the involvement of the legal system in punishing the youngsters who have committed the criminal offense is not good for their child. Local residents think that the interference of the legal system will spoil the sensitive matters of punishing youngsters who are not mature enough to take the decision of the court in a right manner. A parent thinks that they can change the criminal mentality of their child n a sensitive manner. Conclusion It is summarized from the above essay that people of Canada does not trust on the legal and justice system of the country as they think they will not get the justice due to the interference of the government in a sensitive manner. The involvement of the government in punishing youngsters whose age is less than 18 years old is not appropriate as per the residents of the country. References Alain, Marc, et al. "The thin line between protection and conviction: experiences with child protection services and later criminal convictions among a population of adolescents."Journal of adolescence63 (2018): 85-95. Brantingham, Paul, Patricia Brantingham, and Bryan Kinney. "Criminology in Canada: The Context of Its Criminology."The Handbook of the History and Philosophy of Criminology(2018): 360. Fox, Darrell. "Family Group Conference: Models and Processes."Family Group Conferencing with Children and Young People. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham, 2018. 9-25. Gervais, Christine LM, and Elisa Romano. "Safeguarding child rights and enhancing caregiver responsibilities among Canadian parents of youth who sexually offend."Child abuse neglect76 (2018): 502-514. Glozman, Jenny, and Susan S. Chuang. "Multidimensional Acculturation and Identity of Russian-Speaking Youth in Canada: The Role of Parents."Journal of Adolescent Research(2018): 0743558418767624. Harvey, Janice. "Endangered Children and the Montreal Ladies Benevolent Society Industrial School, 18831921."Youth and Justice in Western States, 1815-1950. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham, 2018. 131-160. Martinson, Donna J., and Caterina E. Tempesta. "Young People as Humans in Family Court Processes: A Child Rights Approach to Legal Representation."Can. J. Fam. L.31 (2018): 151. Maxwell, Ashley. "Adult criminal court processing times, Canada, 2015/2016."Juristat: Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics(2018): 1-38. McCuish, Evan C., et al. "The cross-cultural generalizability of the Psychopathy Checklist: Youth version for adjudicated indigenous youth."Psychological assessment30.2 (2018): 192. Nichols, Naomi E. "Producing youth Out of sync:the intersectional social relations of educational inequality."Journal of Youth Studies21.1 (2018): 111-128. Singal, Deepa, et al. "Screening and Assessment of FASD in a Youth Justice System: Comparing Different Methodologies."Ethical and Legal Perspectives in Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD). Springer, Cham, 2018. 95-124. Zappavigna, Michele, and J. R. Martin. "Approaching Restorative Justice."Discourse and Diversionary Justice. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham, 2018. 1-47.

Money Makes the Mare Go Essay Example

Money Makes the Mare Go Paper Money is, no doubt, a miracle. It endows us with happiness, wipes our tears, soothes our wounds, makes our life mirthful and rosy, gives us laughter and joy and changes our dreams to reality. Though not for all of our problems, it is a panacea for most of them. In the eyes of the world a rich man is wise man. He gathers most friends. His prosperity makes him smart enough to collect as much friends as he likes. Wealth, even in the most improbable cases, manages to convey the aspect of intelligence. The golden key of money opens up even the trickiest locks of troubles thus rightfully giving its owner the prestige of being intelligent. Survival of the fittest is the law of nature. Those who struggle survive; those who shun effort become extinct. God says in His Holy book, ‘Man gets what he strives for’. It is a part of the nature of humanity to struggle for better food, better clothes and better lodging and surely money making is one of its basic needs. The art of getting rich consists not in industry, much less in saving but in a better order, in timeliness, in being at the right spot. We will write a custom essay sample on Money Makes the Mare Go specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Money Makes the Mare Go specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Money Makes the Mare Go specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer Though money is a terrible master and an excellent servant yet we ought not allow it to overwhelm all our abilities and master whole of our life. It was rightfully said by some one that he does not posses wealth that allows it to posses him. Rightfully, if we command our wealth we shall be rich and free, if our wealth commands us we are poor indeed. With out money we can’t even think of living a life of comfort and ease, so, yearning for wealth is a positive activity in itself but wealth shouldn’t be the ultimate end of all of our struggles. Money is like a serpent. If we know the trick to charm this creature it would be valuable for us but if we don’t know the mantra it would definitely bite us. Money has the seductive sting of engulfing all of our attention and abilities and at the end man becomes the epitome of the picture presented in the holy scriptures in the words of: ‘Although they posses more and more than enough yet they yearn for more’. This incessant urge for getting more is the real adversary of man’s spirituality. Admittedly, money is a source of solving all riddles in our lives but we should always keep in mind that worldly riches are like nuts; many a tooth is broke in cracking them but never is the stomach filled with eating them. The greatest wealth is contentment with little. It is an old saying that money makes the mare go and it is applicable on our life to day too. We see that there is nothing which is available to us without money. We have to install air conditioner, cooler or heaters to keep us cool and hot and even water is not available without money. If money is most necessary for properly running this life, we must have money and therefore, each one of us shall have to work and earn money. We shall need money for running our life and we also need money for the rainy days. We can fall ill and we shall turn old too and therefore, if we have no saving with us, we shall be facing difficulty. Money can be earned honestly and it is not necessary that we should adopt wrong methods to collect and save money. If we commit a crime, we shall be caught by the police and instead of having easy life with such money, we shall be attracting more and more problems for us and there are chances that we may be spending our earlier savings with the police or with the courts. Therefore, we should prepare ourselves to earn money with our own hands and we must adopt honest means to collect money. The people who have got proper education, proper training and they are properly adjusted at work, they are able to have money and they shall be happy to spend that money. People who collect money through wrong means, are not able to enjoy that money because they are always under fear compulsions and they do not enjoy life. Some people show that they are enjoying life with money which they had collected with wrong means, but we should be sure that such people are just showing that they are happy, but they cannot get sound sleep in the night and most of them live on drugs. Money may be most necessary for life, but it should be earned with proper care and through proper means and only then this money can play a good role in our life.