Draft - Photo Essay

The strict mandatory sentencing guidelines now being enforced to fight the “war on drugs” have affected the female population greatly. Twenty eight percent of women who are behind bars are there for committing non violent crimes. (source 1) Research across the board shows a large increase in women being handed long sentences for non violent drug offenses. Not only are these sentences unforgiving, a large majority of these women are the sole caregivers to minor children, leaving a path of destruction.

When women who are mothers are sentenced to prison they are not the only one to suffer a loss. In this photo young children of all races are bonding with their mothers who are currently in prison. There must be more programs in place for mothers and children to spend quality time in a positive environment while the woman is incarcerated. Most women report they do not get a visit from their child while in prison. (http://www.sentencingproject.org/doc/publications/womenincj_total.pdf)

It is obvious that children of incarcerated parents, especially mothers, have a greater chance to also one day enter the criminal justice system. There is also a 5x more likely chance the child of an incarcerated mother will enter foster home than an incarcerated father. (source 5) By locking these mothers behind bars for many years, for non violent crimes, is putting the next generation at risk. Often times it is the child who pays the ultimate price of having an incarcerated parent.

This intimidating looking visiting room is where prisoners get to spend time with their loved ones. While speaking through a telephone with a thick piece of glass between you is not the most ideal situation, it is your only choice. It may or may not surprise you that most women in prison do not get regular visits with their children, even though they are allowed to visit. Unfortunately, because the majority of incarcerated mothers are held over one hundred miles from home, over one half of the women have never gotten a visit from her child while in prison, and about one third has not spoken to them. (source 1)

According to The Sentencing Project, a startling 60% of women in prison had admitted to having an issue with drug dependence. (source 2) These women in prison are uneducated with only about half graduating high school. They are more likely to be on welfare, unemployed, a victim of abuse, and have a mental illness. (1)  It would seem some women are likely to be committing these nonviolent crimes to satisfy their drug addictions. In non violent cases, perhaps a rehabilitation would help women get their lives in order, whereas prison will only destroy it further.

The federal governments “war on drugs” is not only failing, but it is putting the wrong people behind bars. The focus should be on the higher level drug lords and instead the lowest level dealers and mules are getting strict sentences handed to them. If more lenient sentences were awarded there it would be more likely that person would work with the police to take down the higher level drug dealer. The policies in place need to be changed in order to change or occur. It is simply just not working.

My sources are not in MLA format yet so i noted in places i plan to formally cite.

Argument Proposal

For my argument paper I would like to write about the link between crime and education level. I think it is a controversial issue because people could argue that some white collar crimes are committed by very educated individuals. I would like to look at the difference between violent and non violent crimes and compare them to the criminals education and where they live. I do have some knowledge of the issue, however, it may more be of an opinion than actual knowledge. I plan to research the subject by searching for credible articles and searching crime databases if possible. I will link this argument paper to a photo essay easily, as there are many photos of crimes floating around. 

The John next door.

This was an interesting article about prostitution and more exclusively on the "johns". A study done in Newsweek comparing men who buy sex and men who don't are said to "share many attitudes about women and sex, [and] differ in significant ways". Well, duh, isn't that obvious? The author goes into detail that everybody uses prostitutes, even cops and school teachers, with the majority of the men being married or partnered. A scary fact from the study was that 8x more of the johns said they would rape a woman if they could get away with it. These are the men out on the streets paying for sex, and these women have no idea who they are dealing with. The men who pay for sex are also more likely to have committed other types of crimes than men who do not. It is also scary that some of the sex buyers said they paid for sex for the power, which they will not have with non prostitutes, and can lead to violence. The article explains that more prostitutes are usually arrested than johns, but it is shifting that more johns are being taken into custody. I believe that would be more effective. The women will no doubt go back to the street and look for another customer. A man, who may have a wife, children and good job will think twice before looking for another prostitute. There are some people who argue that prostitution should be legal, and that if regulated correctly it could be a safe and lucrative business. You may  be surprised to find out more women think that  than men. In all, this article was another easy and informational read.

Why cockfighting still persists.

This article explains why cockfighting, illegal in all 50 states, still exists. The author writes about her childhood experience with cockfighting and tells the reader where they can go to get information and supplies to cockfight. Although I'm not interested in cockfighting the article was a little informational. I did not know that cockfighting is a felony in 39 states. I also did not know that they tied knives to the roosters to stab/slice the other rooster. I would say this article opened my eyes to how cruel cockfighting truly is. The title was what caught my attention and i believed it would be an interesting topic to read about, however, it was not. It was boring and more laid back than professional. The author explains magazines and lineage can be to blame for cockfighting that goes on today. The author interviews a man named Bo who was convicted of cockfighting, a  man she knew when she was younger and he outright denies all allegations his roosters were for fighting. As you read the story, it is easy to form an opinion that Bo is lying. The article ends with this quote from him saying, “I told them I was going to a cockfight as soon as I could. Not here in the U.S., but maybe in the Philippines or in Mexico or the D.R. My church has got missions all over the world. I’ll go on a trip and I’ll see a fight. What can they do to me then? Nothing.”  Your telling me he wasn't cockfighting? The author comes right out and says she saw cockfights at his house, by his father, when she was a child. In my opinion, the author writing this and Bo allowing her to interview him and print this makes them both look foolish. This was one of the worst articles I have ever read, definitely the worst so far for this class.

Kidnapped at birth

This is an emotional article about a young girl who was kidnapped as a baby. When 17 year old Netty found out she was pregnant she was required to present her birth certificate to receive prenatal care. The birth certificate her mother, Ann, had for her was a fake. Netty started to suspect Ann was not her mother. Years went by and Netty would search databases and google missing child cases until finally she got some information. She was reunited with her parents in Nov of 2011, 23 years after Ann allegedly had kidnapped her from a Harlem hospital when Netty was just 19 days old.Soon after finding her parents Netty flew out to New York to meet her parents. It is said this case is the longest case open with a child reuniting with its parents. Its a crazy story, and had Netty not gotten pregnant she would have never found she was kidnapped. Also, if she had not been so persist ant that Ann was not telling her the whole story, she would have never realized she had been kidnapped and found her birth parents. After reading this article, it seems all the people involved almost wish hadn't found them, as their relationships are not what they thought they would be.

 The beginning of the article is easy to read and flows well but when the author gets deep into "he said" "she said" and heavy quoting it gets a bit challenging to keep straight who said what. The article provides a great deal of details about the disappearance, reuniting and fall out of Netty and her birth parents, but some that is not necessary. The article is lengthy and full of drama, it almost loses the reader. What started off as a great read ended as a nuisance to finish. I don't think the writers style or approach changed, it was the switch of information he was providing.

Electrocution chair on trial

This author of this article takes on a touchy subject, the death penalty by electrocution. In Florida in 1999 a man was sentenced to death for murdering a pregnant woman and her two daughters. When someone is electrocuted they place a black hood over the prisoners head to protect the viewers from seeing the pain in their face. In this particular case when the switch was flipped the viewers saw the mans purple face and bleeding nose. Witnesses also reported that he was still alive when the switch was flipped off. There have been cases of inmates catching fire in the chair. There is a big controversy whether or not death by electrocution is humane. Some people are in favor of the chair because it is NOT humane, and think the criminal should have to suffer a little bit. The state of Florida is known for having “messy” executions and the Florida Supreme Court has put all executions on hold until they decide if they will continue to use the electrocution chair. I don’t believe that the death penalty deters anyone from committing crimes. I also don’t believe death by electrocution is humane, however, what the criminal did to receive the death penalty was obviously not humane. You get what you get. Sticking a needle in his/her arm and injecting them is too humane for some people.  The author did a good job organizing his information, keeping me interested and reporting on both sides of the topic.

Amanda Knox

The story of Amanda Knox has been widely publicized, but I am not very familiar with it. The article begins and immediately draws me in. Offering information about how Meredith was murdered and the details of her death I wasn’t to read more. Amanda Knox, Meredith’s roommate was sentenced to 26 years in an Italian prison for murder. Knox says when she came home Meredith’s door was closed, so she assumed she was asleep. She later returned with her boyfriend to investigate a burglary. According to the article the crime scene was severely damaged by the junior police who were the first to arrive on the scene.  On top of the scene being contaminated there was no evidence leading to Knox. Bloody finger and foot prints matched a 20 yr old they identified as Rudy. The police paint a picture of a psychotic when describing Knox. Knox unknowingly signed a confession and was sent to prison, along with her boyfriend. Later DNA evidence revealed it was NOT Knox, however, she remained in prison. The person whose prints they found admitted to being at the crime scene but says he didn’t commit the murder. Are you serious?!  They have absolutely no evidence on Knox or her boyfriend yet she remains in prison to try to not embarrass the Italian justice system. Aren’t they already embarrassed? They should be, they did not do one thing right in the entire case.  The article was quite lengthy and provided a great deal of information. It’s a sad story if she is innocent, which it sounds like she is. I do recently recall seeing a news story about Knox. She was being brought back to the US because her appeal was successful and she and her boyfriend were freed. This is a crazy story and it makes one nervous about leaving the county because you never know what may happen. She was clearly a scapegoat because she was American. And that is scary.