death penalty

The Death Penalty 

The death penalty is the legal process of executing a convicted person as punishment for crimes.  It is also known as capital punishment, death sentence, execution, and judicial murder.  Crimes that result in a death sentence are known as capital crimes or capital offenses. There have been quite a few states that have already abolished the death penalty, the main reason being that it is found to be unconstitutional under the 8^th amendment. The main method used for the death penalty is lethal injection but recently the drugs need to carry out executions have become unavailable in the united states, causing a lot of controversy as to whether the executions by lethal injection should continue but with using different drugs and combinations of drugs. There was a recent case in Arizona using a new combination of the new and untested two-drug combination of midazolam and hydromorphone, the state of Arizona began pumping the drugs into Wood at 1:57 p.m. His death was not pronounced until about two hours later at 3:49 p.m. According to a reporter who witnessed the execution, Wood gasped 660 times before he died. In April, Oklahoma carried out what some people are calling the worst lethal injection in U.S. history. In this execution, the doctors pushed an IV straight through a vein in Clayton Lockett’s groin, which caused the drugs to fill his tissue rather than his bloodstream. Lockett writhed and gasped for air, and the executioners closed the curtains and tried to call off the execution but before they could stop it Lockett died of a heart attack. Also, there have been studies done on the rate of innocence of prisoner convicted to death and put on death row that shows for every 100 prisoners on death row at least 4 are innocent (4%). This has caused much controversy on whether the death penalty is constitutional because of wrongful convictions.

ALFA and Senior Living Public Policy

One issue that seems to be highly important in today’s society is care for senior citizens once they are no longer able to care for themselves. There are multiple options for senior care, one of which is assisted living. Assisted living facilities are typically communities in which each person has their own house or apartment so they feel as though they still have control and the staff help with the activities required in daily life such as cooking, bathing, or getting dressed, although some facilities are buildings similar to a hospital when the patients have rooms and the staff are a little more involved than those in the communities. ALFA, the assisted living federation of America, is a federation that is committed to educating senior living and assisted living communities and businesses throughout the country of the regulations and licensing requirements of their state. They also monitor the assisted living statutes in each state and maintain contact information with each licensing organization so that care providers have easy access to information needed to comply with laws and regulations and also so that they can provide care for their residents. Assisted living is mainly regulated on a state level, but some things are still regulated at a federal level such as creating legislation that’s in the best interest of older Americans. ALFA is particularly concerned with developing policies that ensure effective and accessible long term services for and protect seniors from financial, physical, and emotional abuse. As well as encourage progress in fighting diseases that affect the senior population. The main goal of this organization is to make sure that seniors everywhere have a choice to dignity, independence, quality of life and affordable services and supports.
 Assisted living is a long term care option preferred by many people and their families because of resident choice, dignity, and privacy. Assisted living communities provide 24hr staffing and services including daily activities such as bathing, dressing, and medication administration. Most assisted living communities provide additional assistance for people with Alzheimer’s and other mental diseases. In 2012 the federal government continued releasing data from the first nationally representative survey of assisted living facilities. The studies found that there were 31,100 facilities with 971,900 licensed beds serving 733,400 residents. This shows how assisted living has progressed over the years to accommodate more residents who have greater needs.  37 percent received assistance with ADLs (activities of daily life) and 42 percent had Alzheimer’s or other dementias. In 2012 18 states reported making regulatory, statutory, or policy changes regarding assisted living communities 

http://www.alfa.org/alfa/Public_Policy_Positions.asp

                The United States judicial system

The first thing you should know about the United States judicial system is that it is composed of two court systems. The federal government composes one and the other is for the state governments. Each hears specific types of cases. The two systems often interact and share the goal of fairly handling legal issues. The Constitution created a government structure known as federalism and this means that there is sharing of powers between the federal and state governments. The Constitution gives only certain powers to the federal government. The rest of the powers are reserved for the state governments. The federal court system deals with legal issues granted to it by the Constitution. The state courts deal with state constitutions and the legal issues that the Constitution did not give to the federal government. For example, since the Constitution gives Congress authority to make all laws concerning bankruptcies, a state court would not have the power to rule over thus case. Also, since the Constitution does not give the federal government authority in family law matters, a federal court would not have any power over the ruling in a divorce case. There are three main levels in the federal courts system, district courts, circuit courts which are courts of appeals, and the Supreme Court of the United States. There are 94 district courts, 13 circuit courts, and 1 Supreme Court in the United States court system. Courts in the federal system work differently than state courts. The primary difference for civil cases is the kinds of cases that can be heard in the federal system. Federal courts have limited jurisdiction, so they can only hear cases based on the United States Constitution. The federal district court is the beginning for any cases under federal jurisdiction. This is called original jurisdiction. In some cases there can be original jurisdiction in state and federal courts, meaning cases can be brought in both courts. Criminal cases are not up for question as to jurisdiction. States may only bring criminal cases in state courts, and the federal government may only bring criminal cases in federal court.

www.uscourts.gov
www.justice.gov

Filibustering in the senate

            A filibuster is one of the many tactics used in the United States senate in order to prevent a measure from being brought to a vote. This is used during a debate in order to sway the opinions of senate members as to gain votes to the side of which the person is filibustering for. The most common form of a filibuster is when a senator is attempting to delay or completely prevent a vote from on a bill and he or she does so by extending the debate. The senator is allowed to debate or talk about his or her stance on the issue for as long as he or she can continue to talk. There has even been instances where there are cots brought in for the senators to sleep on so that when one person is done filibustering the other senators can just jump right in and debate against the previous filibuster. In order to end a filibuster without the actual senator stopping by themselves there has to be a ¾ majority or 60 out of 100 senators vote to invoke cloture. In the past, filibustering has been used in the house of representatives as well as in the senate but revisions to the house rules limit debate, in the senate debate continued on the grounds that any senator had the right to debate as long as he or she wanted or felt necessary on any issue.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Filibuster_in_the_United_States_Senate
https://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/common/briefing/Filibuster_Cloture.htm

Impeachment

The US Constitution states in Article 2, Section 4: "The President, Vice President and all civil Officers of the United States, shall be removed from Office on Impeachment for, and Conviction of, Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors."

The current impeachment process is as follows:

Impeachment is started by members of the House of Representatives and are then turned over to the Judiciary Committee which then decides whether the allegations are worth being formally voted upon

The entire House votes for or against impeachment, needing majority for approval.

If approved, the Judiciary Committee has an investigation to see if there is enough evidence to impeach the President. The next step is to draft articles of impeachment based on charges supported by evidence.

If the Judiciary Committee sends any articles of impeachment, the house takes a vote and will win by majority.

If at least one of the articles of impeachment are approved then the president is considered impeached and the case is then sent to the senate.

The trial of the President is held in the Senate with the Chief Justice presiding. The President may have a lawyer or can represent him or herself.

The Senate may conduct the trial or the case may be given to another committee and in which case said committee would report all case evidence to the senate

The trial is held in a courtroom with the examination of witnesses. During questioning, Senators remain silent, all questions from the senate must be given directly to the chief justice in writing.

After all evidence and closing arguments have been gone through, the Senate decides behind closed doors and then proceeds to vote in open session. In order to convict the president the vote must be a two thirds majority, (67 senators). In this case, the President is removed from office and then the vice president becomes president. The decision is final and there is no right of appeal.

In United States history there has technically only been 2 presintial impeachments. Although some people belive there has been 3, Nixon technically was never impeached. He resigned and was then given a pardon for the crimes he commited (Watergate scandal)

http://www.historyplace.com/unitedstates/impeachments

/http://www.historynet.com/were-u-s-presidents-johnson-nixon-and-clinton-impeached.htm 

Media and US politics

The way technology has changed over the past 10 years is very influential to politics in more ways than one.  first, now you can choose the news that you are hearing or watching. Dan Pfeiffer, the White House communications director, recently said, “With the Internet, with YouTube, with TiVo, with cable TV, people are selective viewers now. . . . People approach their news consumption the way they approach their iPod: You download the songs you like and listen to them when you want to listen to them.” With people being able to choose what they watch and when they watch it, it gives people who are campaigning a disadvantage because people don’t have to listen to what they have to say if they don’t want to.  second, by sharing via social media sites. A good example of this is when President Obama announced that he was running for office on a web video and announced his vice present by text message. third, by people being able to like or dislike things on web pages they give politicians a general idea of how the public feels about a certain issue, which helps candidates campaign in a better way to win support. Lastly, internet fundraising has been a very influential strategy used by many politicians such as John McCain, Ron Paul, Barack Obama, and Scott Brown. President Obama raised hundreds of millions from online fundraising throughout his presidential campaign.

http://www.usnews.com/opinion/slideshows/5-ways-new-media-are-changing-politics

Political Participation

http://www2.fiu.edu/~milch002/CPO3643/outlines/participation.htm

The article attached explains different types of political participation and why people do or don’t choose to participate in politics. First off, it explains what political participation is, the actions of private citizens by which they seek to influence or to support government and politics. Participation in politics involves more than just voting, political participation is the freedom to speak out, assemble and associate, and the opportunity to register as a candidate, to campaign, to be elected and to hold office in government. Next, there are 2 types of participation, conventional vs. unconventional. The first type, conventional, conventional participation is a relatively routine, added behavior that uses the channels of representative government. There are 2 behaviors expressed in conventional government, supportive and influencing. Supportive behaviors are used to show allegiance to your government and country and influencing behaviors are used to modify or reverse government policy. Compared with other countries, American citizens are less likely to vote in elections, but more likely to engage in other forms of conventional participation. The other for of political participation is unconventional participation. Unconventional participation is an uncommon behavior that changes or defies the government, and it is usually stressful for participants and their opponents. Americans generally disapprove of unconventional political action, especially the ones that interfere with daily living. Unconventional participation has been successful in influencing government decisions. People participating in unconventional ways tend to share three beliefs: distrust of political system, strong sense of political efficiency, and a highly developed sense of group consciousness. Americans are more likely to participate in unconventional politics than are citizens in other democratic countries. The reasons for political participation are political socialization, the process by which an individual acquires his or her political beliefs, and agents of socializations, numerous things that influence people such as family, media, and schools. Participation rates are a function of resources and civic skills.

https://www.boundless.com/political-science/textbooks/boundless-political-science-textbook/political-participation-and-voting-9/voting-as-political-participation-67/other-forms-of-political-participation-374-4271/

 This article talks about the different ways that citizens can participate in politics.  New media, such as social networking sites, blogs, and online campaign donations, have provided new ways for political participation. Citizens can participate in civil society, an important part of political participation, with activities like volunteering, attending events associated with causes, or joining a civic organization. Citizens can protest, riot, or refuse to vote to show unhappiness with certain elements of the political system. Citizens can also participate in politics by being directly involved in campaigns, they can run for office themselves, donate money or time to candidates, or discuss political issues and campaigns with friends and family.