Car Accidents in Saudi Arabia Research Proposal Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 1

Car Accidents in Saudi Arabia - Research Proposal Example   According to the figures by the Saudi health ministry, 598, 300 accidents occurred in Saudi Arabia in 2012(Toumi, 2015). These figures show that an average of 1,614 accidents occurred every single day in Saudi Arabia, and 67 accidents an hour. A look at the history of traffic accidents in Saudi Arabia shows that the problem of traffic accidents is among the greatest causes of death in Saudi Arabia; the history of traffic accidents in Saudi Arabia also shows that the rate of traffic accident in Saudi Arabia has been increasing steadily since 1971 (Ansari, Akhdar, Mandoorah, and Moutaery, 2000). According to the public health statistics, between 1971 and 1997, 564, 762 people died or were injured in traffic accidents in Saudi Arabia. During this period, 66, 914 people were confirmed dead due to road accidents in Saudi Arabia (Ansari, Akhdar, Mandoorah, and Moutaery, 2000). This means that between the years 1971-1997, one person died and four people were injured in every single Houthis high rate of road accidents has been attributed to over speeding and disobeying of traffic rules and regulations by the drivers in Saudi Arabia. A further look at the recent history of road accidents in Saudi Arabia shows that there has been significant increase e in the rate of accidents in Saudi Arabia between 2009- 2012. This increase in the rate of accidents in Saudi Arabia has been caused by chaotic driving culture and blatant violation of traffic regulations by some dishonest drivers.

Social Media's Small, Positive Role in Human Relationships Assignment

Social Media's Small, Positive Role in Human Relationships - Assignment Example She supports this claim by stating that the people are using extensive amounts of data when conversing on the social media platforms. People are using social media to maintain connectivity between themselves and people with whom connectivity could not have been possible without social media. Surveys also indicate that most families view social media is a way of improving their family lives since it enables them to keep in touch more frequently. The author’s purpose is to show the flaws that exist in the research and articles that condemn social media as one of the ways that lead to isolation and disconnect. This is to persuade the society to view social media in a different way and embrace its powerful connectivity capabilities. The intended audience includes social media users and its opponents. The author intends to inform the opponents of the mistakes they make when they overlook the positive part of social media, which she advocates for. This article is very significant to the contemporary world as it seeks to challenge a view by the majority who view social media as source of isolation. The article shows the capabilities of social media that should not be overlooked with specific concern to connectivity. Tufekci, Z. (2012). Social Medias Small, Positive Role in Human Relationships. Retrieved from

The terms leadership and management are often used interchangeably Essay

The terms leadership and management are often used interchangeably where some writers argued to clear distinction between management and leadership whether is it simply a function of management - Essay Example The research on the literature published on the specific field proved that a series of differences exist between leadership and management. This phenomenon is common in all industrial sectors, including the airline industry on which this paper focuses. Researchers have used different criteria in order to describe leadership and management – as developed in modern organizations. In accordance with Nurmi et al. (1997) the leadership can be characterized as ‘an influencing force’ (Nurmi et al., 1997, p.135) within the organization. It is at this point that leadership is differentiated by management; more specifically, it is noted that ‘a manager can be appointed while leadership can be earned’ (Nurmi et al., 1997, p.135). Moreover, Weihrich (2007) states that leadership can be defined as ‘the art or process of influencing people so that they will strive willingly toward the achievement of group goals’ (Weihrich, 2007, p.347). In accordance with the above views, leaders need to have increased skills compared to managers. The latter may be appropriately educated but may not be charismatic enough in order to be leaders. In other words, leadership refers to a combination of technical and inte rpersonal skills while management can be related to specific educational and professional background. In practice, the potential limitation of management towards the leadership may not be identified. This is the case, for instance, where the manager has not to act as a leader, a phenomenon common in mid-managerial positions. A similar approach is adopted in the study developed by the Pergamon Flexible Learning (2007); in the above study it is noted that management is differentiated from leadership at the following points: a) the manager focuses on the administration of various organizational activities while the leader tries to promote innovation across the organization, b) the manager focuses on

Social Media's Small, Positive Role in Human Relationships Assignment

Social Media's Small, Positive Role in Human Relationships - Assignment Example She supports this claim by stating that the people are using extensive amounts of data when conversing on the social media platforms. People are using social media to maintain connectivity between themselves and people with whom connectivity could not have been possible without social media. Surveys also indicate that most families view social media is a way of improving their family lives since it enables them to keep in touch more frequently. The author’s purpose is to show the flaws that exist in the research and articles that condemn social media as one of the ways that lead to isolation and disconnect. This is to persuade the society to view social media in a different way and embrace its powerful connectivity capabilities. The intended audience includes social media users and its opponents. The author intends to inform the opponents of the mistakes they make when they overlook the positive part of social media, which she advocates for. This article is very significant to the contemporary world as it seeks to challenge a view by the majority who view social media as source of isolation. The article shows the capabilities of social media that should not be overlooked with specific concern to connectivity. Tufekci, Z. (2012). Social Medias Small, Positive Role in Human Relationships. Retrieved from

Film Production Movie Review Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Film Production - Movie Review Example This paper will look at the basic five elements of production such as image, time, motion, sound, composition among others that producers use to adapt the book to the screen using a true story based on a book. Image is one of the basic elements that producers consider in making films. From the film, it is evident that this aspect was given an upper hand in the process of pitching the book into a film. Formulating images of a film require capturing light and recording devices that are projected on a screen. Images plays a vital role in determining how the directors and producers will place the actors and objects on the screen. This shows that the producer of the film considered pitching the book out of the gate before making any step of negotiation. This stage enables the producer to read and review the book and determine if it can be presented for film production. Given that the book is based on a real life experience and is a survival story of a ship captain, it is easy for the producers to figure out scenes and images that can be incorporated in the film. Also, the book itself shows a story of adventure and courage that gives an upper hand to the producer to figure out the scenes and im ages that can give intimate details of the whole scenario. For instance, in the book, the captain outlines the adventure of the high seas, extreme temperatures, death threats and chances of escaping that can easily resonate with the scenes that should be incorporated in a film. Therefore, it is evident the producer considered scenes and images in the book before they made any step of getting the project in pure form without altering the content of the book (Regis, n.d). Also, the producers of the movie considered the time frame before coming up with the film. The diegetic time of the story lasts for 114 minutes to give the real story of what transpired when the

Books Were an Important Part of Life in the Late 18th Century Essay Example for Free

Books Were an Important Part of Life in the Late 18th Century Essay Learning is one of important processes in human being life. It is self-evident that human development cannot stand without a proper learning. Since Learning provides unlimited Benefits, people should learn and experience it. The Reading is being reimagined over the time period. I’ll discuss about it later in this section. There are several ways that promotes Learning such as Books, electronic books, Movies, Periodicals such as Magazine, journals or Newspapers and Audio/Visual clips. Nowadays Libraries plays a critical role on keeping the Books alive due to the invention Mass media communications. I’ll talk further about this later in this section. Let’s take a closer look about Books. The book is one of the valuable sources of knowledge that provided numerous benefits, such benefits are it takes us into different worlds and cultures and it helps to learn other languages as well. So, we can tell that a book can be a truthful friend which helps to learn how to behave in practical life. Books cover different genres such as Comedy, Drama, Romance, Adventure, fiction etc. Director General of UNESCO addressed 1972 as the â€Å"International Book Year† and taking â€Å"Booking for all† as their Motto. UNESCO organizes a yearly event called â€Å"World Book day or International Day of the book† on 23th April every year worldwide to promote Reading, Publishing and Copyright. So we can understand How Important it is Reading in a life of Mankind. It was first celebrated on 23th April 1995. Writing believed to be developed between the 7th millennium BC and 4th millennium BC in china. Ancient people used to write using stones but wood was the first medium to write in the actual form of Book. From time to Time, the new technology inventions played vital part in the World. The Cambridge University Press was founded in 1534 and the first book was printed in 1583. Also the first press was founded in Cambridge, Massachusetts one of the North American British colonies in the year of Year 1639. Then first North American Public library was founded in Boston in the year of 1653. Eighteenth Century Americans were mainly interested in reading books about practical arts, religious and the politics as well. American does have a long tradition on reading habits since long back. Thus they are proved to be improved in vocal, public expressions both towards and against throughout reading skills. Novels are the entertaining seldom read by Americans in the 18th century. The nation’s first novel was published in the late 18th century. The first two novels to be published were Digges’ â€Å"Adventure of Alonso† and Brown’s â€Å"The power of Sympathy†. Women were also contributed to the success of Novels, Such writers were Susuana Rowson for her novel â€Å"Charlotte: A tale of truth†. This navel was re-issued under the title of Charlotte Temple, which sold more than million and half copies. The growth of novel reading grew rapidly towards the end of the year 1750. The main reason for the growth of novel readers was the rapid growth of the source of book materials such as book seller, public library and lending library. An average person was able to obtain their reading materials from booksellers, public libraries as well through lending libraries which were a cheaper option since they were able to rent the books for a small fee. Due to the vast number of readers between the year 1773 and 1798 the number of book trading companies as well as the number of public libraries grew rapidly at faster rate than the increasing population. While the population doubled in the period of 1790’s, the numbers of the circulating libraries were tripled. So in the late 18th century, the circulation libraries played a huge influence placing reading interest among the American public. Social libraries were able to expand their firms by joining the book selling companies and they were able to purchase and loan the books for a lower rate. By the year of 1790, books were the main source of entertainment, information and literature for an average person. According to the catalogues of the sellers, the percentage of fiction readers increased by nine percent between 1754 to 1765 and increased to thirteen percent between 1791 to 1800. Circulating Library catalogues contained fifty-eight percent fiction by the year of 1800 which was higher compared (twenty-eight percent) to the early 18th century. Though the books were little expensive at that period, the people were able to join in the circulating libraries for lower rate which is another proof that people were encouraged to read during this century. During the late 18th century, the book sellers showed interest requesting novels from their suppliers. As an example Robert Ben Winans (1975) states that â€Å"In 1801, a bookseller in North Carolina wrote to his supplier requesting that â€Å"Mr. Carey will be so obliging as to send as many of the Novels as he procure; it will be mutually our interest to keep a good collection, as the good folks her love light reading†. This letter accompanied an order called a -typical order of the period about 1800, which listed sixty-three books every one of them a novel†. (â€Å"The Growth of a Novel-Reading Public in Late-Eighteenth-Century America. Early American Literature. Vol. 9. No. 3 (Winter, 1975): 267-275. Print). This is a proof that tells the novels were read by rapidly growing people in the late 18th century. This period is described as Novel reading age. I strongly believe that books today have been replaced by other forms of mass communication such as Media, newspape r and magazine, Web. Though there were so many significant political, economic developments redesigned the new world, the dramatic and unprecedented centralization of the countries and their expansion, regulations and professionalization of the state forces are still appreciable. Every time a new invention strikes in mass communications, obviously the books had to compete with that invention. The first American newspaper called â€Å"Publick Occurrences, Both Foreign and Domestick† published in early 18th century. During the early 18th century, the weekly Newspapers acted as the means of carrying of intercolonial news and also the newspapers carried war news at that period . So people were interested in reading newspapers than Books at that period. Then the industrial era started from the nineteenth century initially with the telegraph applications. The first African-American newspaper was published in 1827 called the Freedoms Journal. Also this has been followed by the inventions such as magazines, telegraph, printers, phonograph, postal discounted rates, photographic films and radio were in particular. So the century that belongs to the industrial revolution start for the mass media that affected the books and readers. Since the radio, television and movie inventions in the early 1900s, the information had started passing through voice than text form. People started feeling that listening to audio is more comfortable than reading. In 1980, first online newspaper was published on web . From time moves on, the physical form of book transformed in intangible form of text due the new inventions in this world. During the late 1980s, Information has transformed to digitalized manner and the revolution of Computer started striking the world. People believed that physically storing information was not safe, so they started storing information in digital code. In 1985, Voyagar Company stored books in CD-ROM which was the first step to the era of eBook. From then onwards, the learning has come to digital manner. Then the biggest bang to the book sales was the invention of the World Wide Web in the year of 1991. Then the first online blog was published in the year of 1997. Due to high volume of readers, authors showed an interest in writing online blogs. Convergence of Media (Video and Audio) introduced in the later 1990s. For example:-We can see presidential debates live on YouTube. So the information can be stored as Video or audio forms as well than the text form. Google has announced the Google Library Project which is digitalization of books in 2005. Nowadays libraries are playing an important role in preserving the books for the next generation. It is self-evident that physically books can’t long last because of the material and size. It is good in a way that if we store information in digital code it can long last than physically storing in a book. This generation people show interest in reading/learning, just the sales of the eBooks readers, pdf readers are the proofs. If we look into Amazon. com, we can see tons of EBooks and they also sell books as well. If we want, we can download the eBook instantly or else we have to wait till they ship it. Though the form of text (book) has changed due to new inventions, but the rate of readers has increased in the world. Earlier we had only text form but now we do have text, audio and video form as well. Nowadays people look for a better ways. I would say storing an eBook is far more convenient than carrying a book (physical book). Though the new innovation impacted the sales of the books (physical form), it’s good for the next generation to preserve the valuable information.

Unanimous Versus Non Unanimous Jury Verdicts Law Essay

Unanimous Versus Non Unanimous Jury Verdicts Law Essay In the United States, 48 states require unanimous criminal jury verdicts. A unanimous jury verdict indicates that all jurors came to a common decision in the criminal proceedings. Louisiana and Oregon are the only two states that allow non-unanimity jury verdicts. Louisiana statue allows juries to convict felony suspects by votes of 10 to 2 and allows such non-unanimous verdicts in felony cases where the punishment is imprisonment with hard labor. The only punishment that requires a unanimous 12 juror vote verdict is the death penalty. The Oregon State Constitution allows for non-unanimous guilty verdicts to be returned when 10 of 12 jurors agree on guilt, except in cases of first degree murder, where unanimity is required. Within the last year, two major cases; Miller v. Louisiana (2005) and Bowen v. Oregon (2007) have been decided in controversy. This has re-established the question of Louisiana and Oregons constitutionality and fairness in respect to the defendants Sixth Amendment rights. In May 2009 Corey C-Murder Miller was convicted of 2nd degree murder by a 10 to 2 jury decision and in August sentenced to a mandatory life imprisonment with no possibility of parole in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. In Millers case, initially three jurors believed he was not guilty but one changed her vote (C.J. Lin, 2009). Ms. Jacob was the deciding vote and stated in a newspaper interview that, she does not feel that the prosecutors proved their case beyond a reasonable doubt. But she said she voted once to convict Miller just to end deliberations because of the brutal pressure applied by some jurors on another juror who thought the rapper was innocent (C.J. Lin, 2009). Louisiana declined to rehear the case on the groun ds brought by the NAACP President. In October 2009, the United State Supreme Court announced they would not hear the case of an Oregon man Scott Davis Bowen sentenced to 17 years, who was convicted of sexual abuse, sodomy and rape of his 15-year old stepdaughter by a split jury, which put an end to the issue of non-unanimity to the higher state court until another case is brought forward (Green, 2009). History of Jury Trials The Supreme Court originally held that the Sixth Amendment right to a jury trial indicated a right to trial that was based on Englands common law when the Constitution was adopted in 1787. Therefore, juries had to be composed of twelve persons and that the verdict had to be unanimous. When the Fourteenth Amendment was established the Supreme Court extended the right to trial by jury to defendants in state courts. The number of jurors was re-examined and it was held that twelve came to be the number of jurors by historical accident, and that six jurors would be sufficient but anything less than six would deprive the defendant the right of a fair and impartial jury. On the basis of history and precedent the Sixth Amendment mandates unanimity in federal jury trials, however, but the Supreme Court has ruled that the Fourteenth Amendments Due Process Clause requires states to provide jury trials for serious crimes but the Fourteenth Amendment does not incorporate all the elements of a jur y trial within the meaning of the Sixth Amendment in which jury unanimity is not required. Statement of Problem This research paper will examine the constitutionality and impartiality of Oregon and Louisianas statues on Non-Unanimous Jury Verdicts. Criminal convictions based on non-unanimous verdicts are at risk of increasing and providing harsher punishment that is given without reconsideration. The thoroughness of jury deliberation is questionable because of the lack of interest in being a juror to a time consuming case, as well as the decrease in hung juries in the states court system which eliminates the chances of retrials to introduce newly found evidence or to re-examine original evidence. Unanimity ensures the value of each individual juror and preserves the jurys independence from the courts influences as well as affirms the reasonable doubt standard. Research Questions Are unanimous jury verdicts a violation of criminal defendants Sixth Amendment rights? What are the effects of Louisiana and Oregons statues on the conviction rate of violent crimes (Murder, Forcible Rape and Armed Robbery)? What impact do Louisiana and Oregon statues have on clearance rate compared to the surrounding states? For the purpose of this research, the following terms have been defined for a clearer understanding of the authors points and suggestions. Key Terms Sixth Amendment: In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district where in the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the Assistance of Counsel for his defense (Constitution, 1791). Fourteenth Amendment: No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protections of laws (Constitution, 1868). Unanimous: of one mind; in complete agreement; agreed (Unanimous, 2010). Non-Unanimous: unable to reach an agreement with majority and minority groups. Murder: the unlawful killing and intentional killing of a human being; in some instances the killing of another while in the commission or attempted commission of another crime (Falcone, 2005). Forcible Rape: The aggravated form of rape, where sexual intercourse with a female is gained by the use of force or threatened use of force, generally with a weapon of some sort (Falcone, 2005). Armed Robbery: the direct taking of property (including money) from a person (victim) through force, threat or intimidation, Armed robbery involves the use of a gun or other weapon which can do bodily harm (Falcone, 2005). Clearance: Any instance where a known Uniform Crime Report violation is cleared to the satisfaction of the police or other law enforcement agency (Falcone, 2005). Literature Review Supreme Court Decisions Williams v. Florida 1970 Question: Did a trial by jury of less than 12 persons violate the Sixth Amendment? The Court held that the 12-man jury requirement cannot be regarded as an indispensable component of the Sixth Amendment (Williams v. Florida, 1970). The Court found that the purpose of the jury trial was to prevent oppression by the Government (Williams v. Florida, 1970), and that the performance of this role was not dependent on the particular number of people on the jury. The Court concluded that the fact that the jury at common law was composed of precisely 12 is a historical accident, unnecessary to affect the purposes of the jury system and wholly without significance except to mystics (Williams v. Florida, 1970). Decision: 6 votes for Florida, 2 votes against Apodaca v. Oregon 1972 Question: Is a defendants right to trial by jury in a criminal case in a state court (as protected by the Sixth and Fourteenth Amendments) violated if the accused is convicted by a less-than-unanimous jury? The Court held that the most important function of the jury is to provide commonsense judgment (Apodaca v. Oregon, 1972) in evaluating the respective arguments of accused and accuser. Requiring unanimity would not necessarily contribute to this function (Apodaca v. Oregon, 1972). Decision: 5 votes for Oregon, 4 votes against Johnson v. Louisiana 1972 Question: Do less-than-unanimous jury verdicts in certain cases violate the Due Process and Equal Protection Clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment? The Court held that less-than-unanimous convictions did not violate the reasonable doubt standard embodied in the Fourteenth Amendments Due Process Clause. Justice White argued, that a minority opposing conviction does not prevent the other jurors from reaching their decisions beyond a reasonable doubt (Johnson v. Louisiana, 1972). Furthermore, the presence of dissenting jurors does not indicate that the state failed to uphold this standard. Finally, allowing less-than-unanimous decisions in certain cases serves a rational state purpose, not offensive to the Constitution (Johnson v. Louisiana, 1972). Decision: 5 votes for Louisiana, 4 votes against In Favor of Unanimity Oregons Measure 72 to Bring Balance to the Jury Process in Murder Cases Measure 72 does not give new right to victims rather it allows Oregonians to give up their right to be convicted by unanimous juries. Measure 72 is dangerous to the minority communities in Oregon, where innocent defendants would otherwise be saved from conviction by a twelfth juror. This measure is expensive to the state of Oregon and may lead to the early release of criminals. The overcrowded jails will continue to increase with criminals because of the elimination of bail and restricting options like work release and home detention (Oregon, 1999). Bowen v. Oregon Petition for Writ of Certiorari to the Oregon Court of Appeals In the case of Scott David Bowen v. State of Oregon (2007), those in favor of the Petitioner Bowen, believes unanimity promotes robust jury deliberations. When unanimity is required, juries are opted to utilize their time more efficiently before coming to a verdict. When unanimity is not required jurors tend to end their deliberations soon after the required majority was reached. Robust deliberations provide an opportunity for those in the minority to persuade their fellow jurors to change their opinions. It allows nonconformist to point out the fine distinction that leads to a consensus that the defendant is not guilty, or that a lesser included charge is more appropriate, after a thorough consideration of the evidence (Scott David Bowen v. State of Oregon: On Petition for Writ of Certiorari to the Oregon Court of Appeals, 2009). The National State Courts provided questionnaires from approximately 3,500 jurors of information on the jurys first ballots and final verdicts. Over 10 percent of the cases, jurors who favored a minority position at the same time of the first ballot were able to convince the majority jurors to adopt the minoritys favored verdict. The felony juries in those cases in which only one or two jurors were the minority on the first ballot, only 2.9% ended with a hung jury. In the 83%, if the cases in which hung juries did occur, the minority position was initially supported by at least three jurors (Scott David Bowen v. State of Oregon: On Petition for Writ of Certiorari to the Oregon Court of Appeals, 2009). Preserving the Value of Unanimous Criminal Jury Verdicts in Anti-Deadlock Instructions Hung juries are a very important element to the jury system especially in states such as Louisiana and Oregon who do not require an unanimous verdict. A hung jury is a social and monetary cost to the court system, to the affected parties and, on a larger scale, to the community. The partiality for unanimous jury exists in need of avoiding coercing jurors to comply with a verdict with which they do not agree. If there is no unity the trial will end without a verdict. If the judge pushes the jurors too hard to come to an agreement, any resulting verdict must be reversed. The unanimity requirement is an important part of the jury process: 1. It empowers each jurors vote with individual meaning. Each juror has a voice, the discussions are often more vigorous and in-depth, and the results usually represents the voice of each person in the room (BoveIII, 2008). 2. Requiring unanimity reinforces the symbolic legitimacy that attaches to a jury of the defendants peers (BoveIII, 2008). Justice, Democracy and the Jury The trial process is perceived as being consistent with democratic ideals and expressions of the communitys voice. These general perceptions of the process are improved by the unanimity requirements impact on deliberations. Beyond the pursuit of justice, juries provide individuals with an opportunity to engage in participatory democracy to a greater extent than in other areas of civic life (Gobert, 1998). When Democracy is Not Self-Government: Toward a Defense of the Unanimity Rule for Criminal Juries Jury service requires people from all walks of life to gather together and decide the fate of another member of their own community. Unlike the decentralized legislative process or national electoral campaigns, jurors sit on the front line of their decision and debate with each other directly (Primus, 1997). Jury in Spector Murder case tells Judge it is Deadlocked Phil Spector was accused of killing actress Lana Clarkson in 2003. After deliberating for seven days, the jury indicated that it was deadlocked; noting that the split was 7 votes to 5 without revealing which side had the majority. The jury indicated the disagreement was on the meaning of reasonable doubt and confusion on how to weigh evidence and interpret the instructions for second-degree murder. In the end, the judge simply re-read most of the instructions, and removed the language he said misstated the law, and added additional instructions on what constitute reasonable doubt. After another week of deliberation, the judge declared a mistrial due to the deadlock. Jury indicated two holdouts prevented the convictions. The major problems with how the decision came about were: The jury is likely to put great emphasis on everything that the judge says or asks (Archibold, 2007). Altering the jury instructions which suggested to the jury that the court preferred some type of conviction in the case even if its on a different charge rather than a mistrial (Archibold, 2007). Not in Favor of Unanimity Oregons Measure 72 to Bring Balance to the Jury Process in Murder Cases The Oregonians concurred that the ability of the jury to acquit or convict a person for any crime except Murder or Aggravated Murder by a vote of 10 to 2 has worked well with their court system. Since the 1930s Oregonians have understood that one juror, who has discriminatory or pre-determined ideas, would never convict or acquit anyone regardless of the statue or evidence provided should not be allowed to determine justice. In relevance to this measure is the case of Andrew Whitaker, a 16 year old boy who admitted purposely murdering a 12 year old girl was luckily given the sentence of Second-Degree Manslaughter in order to avoid the case resulting in a hung jury. Whitaker served a 28 month sentence because one of the jurors refused to vote for murder because her son had been involved in a traffic accident involving a child (Oregon, 1999). Letting the Supermajority Rule: Non- unanimous jury verdicts in criminal trials The jury represents the people standing between a possibly oppressive government and the lonely, accused individual (Glasser, 1997). Statistics show that hung juries can lead to a mistrial in 5 to 12 percent of the more than 200,000 felony criminal jury trials that occur in the United States each year (Glasser, 1997). Reducing the frequency of hung juries without sacrificing justice should be a priority to increase the efficiency of the criminal justice system. Majority-rule juries render a verdict more quickly and tend to adopt a verdict-driven deliberation style, which jurors vote early and conduct discussion in an adversarial manner, rather evidence-driven style, in which jurors first discuss the evidence as one group and vote later. The majority-rule juries generally vote sooner than unanimity rules juries (Glasser, 1997). Why non-unanimous jury verdicts are Constitutional in criminal cases Schwartz state that unanimity in criminal jury verdicts are not worth preserving and would rather have majority verdicts given by jurors who are strongly encouraged to stick to their principles. The elimination of the unanimity rule would also eliminate the use of peremptory challenges. Both eliminations would create more fully deliberative juries because the jury would better represent a fair cross section of the community and more voices will be heard (Schwartz, 2009). Case Study Are Hung Juries a Problem Hannaford-Agor, Hans, Mott and Munsterman (2002) did a four year study under a grant from the National Institute of Justice, the National Center for State Courts (NCSC) on juror deadlock. Methodology Broad-based survey of federal and state courts to document hung jury rates The project team selected four courts for an in-depth jurisdictional study on nearly 400 felony trials. Using surveys of judges, attorneys, and jurors, the NCSC examined case characteristics, interpersonal dynamics during jury deliberations, and juror demographics and attitudes and compared these traits in cases in which the jury reached a verdict to cases in which the jury deadlocked on one or more charges. A case study of 46 deadlocked cases from the in-depth jurisdictional study to develop classification of reasons for jury deadlock Data Collection Surveyors Responses Judges 90% Lawyers 88% Jurors 80% From approximately 100 non-capital felony jury trials in each of the sites between June 2000 and August 2001. The final dataset consisted of a total 382 cases, with which 13 percent of the cases hung on one or more charges. Findings The average hung jury rate was 6.2% only slightly higher than the 5.5% reported by Kalven and Zeisel in 1966, but with a great deal of variation ranging from 0.1% in Pierce County, Washington to 14.8% in Los Angeles County, California in which both states are immediately surrounding Oregon: a non-unanimous state. The proposal was to eliminate the requirement of all jurors to decide unanimously on a verdict reduces hung jury rates, but the limitation was the author ignored addressing why one or two individuals refused to comply with the majority. Twenty percent of jurors admitted that they did not begin to form an opinion about the evidence until they collaborated with the other jurors and one-quarter changed their minds about their first decision preferences because of deliberation. Conclusion The findings was juries that hung reported more trouble remembering the evidence and law, less thorough discussions of the evidence during deliberations, more conflict among the jurors and more domination by one or two jurors and a larger presence of unreasonable people on the jury. Hung jurors were also considerably less satisfied with the deliberation process than verdict jurors (Hannaford-Agor, Hans, Mott, Munsterman, 2002). Case Study- On the Frequency of Non-Unanimous Felony Verdicts in Oregon The Oregon Public Defense Services (OPDS) embark on the task to collect and analyze quantifiable data relating to the regularity of non-unanimous verdicts. Methodology Data was collected from the Oregon Judicial Information Network (OJIN) Calendar Year Felony jury trials that reached the verdict stage 2007 833 2008 588 Total 1421 Calendar Year Indigent Appeal Request 2007 320 2008 342 Total 662 (out of 1421) The 662 appeals represented 46.5% of all felony jury trials, which was divided into three groups and was classified by jury verdict form, the judgment and transcript recordation of the polling of the jury. Unanimous jury verdict Non-Unanimous jury verdict Unclear from records Findings 65.5% of all cases included a non-unanimous verdict on at least one count. 27 out of 833 felony jury trials in Oregon for 2007 resulted in a hung jury, yielding a hung jury rate of 3.2%. 15 out of the 588 felony jury trials Oregon for 2008 resulted in a hung jury, yielding a hung jury rate of 2.5%. Conclusion The data indicated that non-unanimous juries occur with great frequency in felony trials throughout the state. If we were to assume that all in the unknown cases, where polling was not conducted, and unanimity was the result, non-unanimity would still be present in over 40% of all felony jury verdicts. Oregon juries are frequently utilizing the non-unanimous option (Office of Public Defense Services, Apellate Divison, 2009). Too frequently, however, juries acquit deliberately guilty defendants, convict obviously guilty defendants of much lesser offenses, fail to deliberate sufficiently, or fail to reach a verdict in cases with overwhelming evidence. Methodology The data for this research were obtained through policy analysis such as precedent cases and constitutional laws from legal briefs. Quantitative data was constructed into charts to show arrest rates for murder, forcible rape and armed robbery in the year of 2007 and 2008. The charts also represent the clearance rate of those particular offenses and the percent change from 2007 to 2008. Additional states were included into the charts with Louisiana and Oregon to see if there is a difference in arrest rates and clearance rate in the immediately surrounding states. All quantitative data was collected from the Federal Bureau of Investigations Uniform Crime Report. Various case studies and professional opinions were collected through scholarly Criminal Justice and Law journal articles. The data begins from 1997 to 2009 because election time was approaching and this issue has been repeatedly trying to be amended to reverse the non-unanimity rule in Louisiana and Oregon. Data The following charts represent the arrest rates for violent crimes (Murder, Forcible Rape and Armed Robbery) in Louisiana and Oregon; non-unanimous states and the immediate four surrounding state that require unanimity. Each given number was computed to show the percentages. Federal Bureau of Investigations Uniform Crime Report Arrest Rates 2007 MURDER FORCIBLE RAPE ARMED ROBBERY TOTAL VIOLENT CRIMES Louisiana Non-Unanimous 242 (3.0%) 324 (4.0%) 1,119 (14.0%) 8,014 Mississippi Unanimous 83 (4.6%) 135 (7.5%) 545 (30.5%) 1,789 Arkansas Unanimous 60 (2.0%) 143 (4.9%) 416 (14.2%) 2,937 Texas Unanimous 759 (2.3%) 1,947 (5.8%) 7,593 (23.0%) 33,309 Oklahoma Unanimous 183 (3.2%) 319 (5.6%) 793 (14.0%) 5,665 Oregon Non-Unanimous 82 (1.67%) 294 (6.0%) 1,173 (23.8%) 4,938 Washington Unanimous 115 (1.5%) 770 (10.1%) 1,915 (25.1%) 7,616 Nevada Unanimous 151 (2.7%) 186 (3.3%) 1,739 (31.1%) 5,595 Idaho Unanimous 33 (2.3%) 114 (7.8%) 74 (5.1%) 1,457 California Unanimous 2,022 (1.6%) 2,141 (1.7%) 21,064 (17.0%) 124,293 *Includes arrest rates for all ages (18 and younger and 19 and older) *Percentages are rounded up to the next factor *Violent crimes are offenses of murder and nonnegligent manslaughter, forcible rape, robbery, and aggravated assault. Source: Adapted by United States Department of Justice Federal Bureau of Investigations, September 2009. Federal Bureau of Investigations Uniform Crime Report Arrest Rates 2008 MURDER FORCIBLE RAPE ARMED ROBBERY TOTAL VIOLENT CRIMES Louisiana Non-Unanimous 183 (2.0%) 238 (2.6%) 1,035 (11.2%) 9,236 Mississippi Unanimous 135 (6.9%) 165 (8.5%) 572 (29.4%) 1,946 Arkansas Unanimous 118 (2.5%) 194 (4.1%) 623 (13.1%) 4,749 Texas Unanimous 863 (2.5%) 2,034 (5.9%) 8,199 (23.9%) 34,235 Oklahoma Unanimous 160 (2.7%) 316 (5.3%) 831 (14.0%) 5,956 Oregon Non-Unanimous 95 (2.0%) 276 (5.7%) 1,187 (24.5%) 4,844 Washington Unanimous 104 (1.5%) 675 (9.7%) 1,637 (23.6%) 6,943 Nevada Unanimous 11 (.17%) 31 (.48%) 369 (56.2%) 6,516 Idaho Unanimous 14 (.98%) 102 (7.2%) 97 (6.8%) 1,425 California Unanimous 1,850(1.48%) 2,088 (1.67%) 22,391(17.9%) 125,235 *Includes arrest rates for all ages (18 and younger and 19 and older) *Percentages are rounded up to the next factor *Violent crimes are offenses of murder and nonnegligent manslaughter, forcible rape, robbery, and aggravated assault. Source: Adapted by United States Department of Justice Federal Bureau of Investigations, September 2009. The following charts represent the clearance rates for violent crimes (Murder, Forcible Rape and Armed Robbery) in Louisiana and Oregon; non-unanimous states and the immediate four surrounding state that require unanimity. Federal Bureau of Investigations Uniform Crime Report Clearance Rate 2007 MURDER FORCIBLE RAPE ARMED ROBBERY Louisiana Non-Unanimous 14.2 32.4 141.7 Mississippi Unanimous 7.1 35.6 98.2 Arkansas Unanimous 6.7 44.7 106.7 Texas Unanimous 5.9 35.3 162.2 Oklahoma Unanimous 6.1 43.1 93.2 Oregon Non-Unanimous 1.9 33.5 76.4 Washington Unanimous 2.7 40.6 93.6 Nevada Unanimous 7.5 42.7 270.2 Idaho Unanimous 3.3 38.5 15.5 California Unanimous 5.8 24.2 188.8 *Per 100,000 persons *Populations are U.S. Census Bureau provisional estimates as of July 1, 2008 and July 1, 2007 Source: Adapted by United States Department of Justice Federal Bureau of Investigations, September 2009. Federal Bureau of Investigations Uniform Crime Report Clearance Rate 2008 MURDER FORCIBLE RAPE ARMED ROBBERY Oregon Non-Unanimous 2.2 30.5 69.7 Washington Unanimous 2.9 40.1 96.9 Nevada Unanimous 6.3 42.4 248.9 Idaho Unanimous 1.5 36.2 15.8 California Unanimous 5.8 24.2 188.8 Louisiana Non-Unanimous 11.9 27.9 135.9 Mississippi Unanimous 8.1 30.3 102.6 Arkansas Unanimous 5.7 44.8 95.8 Texas Unanimous 5.6 32.9 155.2 Oklahoma Unanimous 5.8 40.2 101.1 *Per 100,000 persons *Populations are U.S. Census Bureau provisional estimates as of July 1, 2008 and July 1, 2007 Source: Adapted by United States Department of Justice Federal Bureau of Investigations, September 2009. Federal Bureau of Investigations Uniform Crime Report Percent Change from 2007 to 2008 Clearance Rate MURDER FORCIBLE RAPE ARMED ROBBERY Louisiana Non-Unanimous -15.6 -13.9 -4.1 Mississippi Unanimous +13.2 -15.0 +4.5 Arkansas Unanimous -15.8 +9.2 -10.2 Texas Unanimous -4.9 -6.7 -4.3 Oklahoma Unanimous -5.2 -6.6 +8.4 Oregon Non-Unanimous +11.1 -8.9 -8.8 Washington Unanimous +9.6 -1.3 +3.6 Nevada Unanimous -16.2 -.08 -7.9 Idaho Unanimous -53.8 -6.2 +1.8 California Unanimous -5.7 -1.8 -2.2 *Per 100,000 persons *Populations are U.S. Census Bureau provisional estimates as of July 1, 2008 and July 1, 2007 Source: Adapted by United States Department of Justice Federal Bureau of Investigations, September 2009. Findings The following charts represent the averages of the data collected in percentages. Comparison of 2007 and 2008 Arrest and Clearance Rates **All averages were rounded to the nearest tenths. Arrest and Clearance in 2007 and 2008 were fairly even within each state with the exception of Idaho. Idaho is the only state that shows a true decrease in arrest from 2007 to 2008 with a trending increase in clearance. The Percent Change in Clearance Rate between 2007 and 2008 Idaho had a major decrease in clearance rate which is a unanimous state and Oregon a non-unanimous state had the least decrease in clearance rate Comparison of 2007 and 2008 Arrest and Clearance Rates **All averages were rounded to the nearest tenths. Louisiana and Arkansas has a small decrease in arrest rates from 2007 and 2008 but also has a decrease in clearance rate from 2007 to 2008. Overall there are no major differences from 2007 to 2008 in Arrest and Clearance. The Percent Change in Clearance Rate between 2007 and 2008 Majority of the states had a decrease in clearance from the year of 2007 to 2008 meaning more defendants were being convicted of criminal charges. Mississippi had a minor increase in defendants not being convicted from 2007 to 2008. Overall, Louisiana had the highest decrease, which shows approximately 20% difference versus the non-unanimity states. Conclusion In conclusion, the relationship between the Sixth and Fourteenth Amendme