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Showing posts from June, 2012

Everything Affects Everything

“You don’t know what goes on in anyone’s life but your own. And when you mess with one part of a person’s life, you’re not messing with just that part. Unfortunately, you can’t be that precise and selective. When you mess with one part of a person’s life, you’re messing with their entire life. Everything…affects everything.”  – Jay Asher,  Thirteen Reasons Why

Where is the Justice in "The Justice System?"

For many years now, I have been interested in the justice system; a justice system I believe needs a lot of help. We do not have a united front against crime in this country and that leads to the failure to appropriately and accurately convict and sentence.  To prove this consider the story of Troy Davis, a young man accused of murdering a Savannah, Georgia police officer. Davis was convicted and sentenced to the death penalty. However, people accused of crimes equal to or worse than Troy Davis’ alleged crime have not been executed. Why? Because only some states still consider capital punishment legal, when in reality it is a paradox and the epitome of cruel and unusual punishment.  As Troy Davis awaited his execution date, he filed numerous appeals and was denied clemency by the Georgia Board of Paroles and Pardons. This happens fairly often, but this case was different. Troy Davis' appeals were denied even though the majority of the witnesses from the original trial came...