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Crime and Drugs

Current Issues

• Poverty Unemployment• Splinter Families Drugs• Firearms Handgun Control

Act• Assault Weapons Ban Violent Crime• Non-violent Crime• Violent Crime Control & Law Enforcement Act• Furman v. Georgia Gregg v. Georgia• Eighth Amendment Capital

Punishment

Background

Types of Crime• Non-violent crimes – crimes against property,

burglary, or car theft• Violent crimes – murder, rape, robbery, and

aggravated assault

More Money to Fight Crime

1994, The Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Actpassed by Congresssigned by President Clinton

Provisions:1. $30 billion to fight crime2. Add 100,000 police officers nationwide3. Ten-year ban on certain semiautomatic assault weapons4. Expansion of the death penalty5. Mandatory life sentences for those convicted of three

felonies for violent crimes.

Problems with this…1. Imprisoning people for long periods of time

wastes tax payers money2. State budgets have tightened so laws

requiring long sentences have been repealed

What causes crime?

• Poverty• Drug Abuse• Lack of employment• Lack of educational opportunities

Poverty

• Low-income people become depressed and frustrated so they are more apt to break the law

• Guns are available. Low-income people tend to live in more high crime areas therefore they tend to see a need to own a gun.

Gun Control Timeline

• 1993 Handgun Control Act (Brady law) Mandates a 5-day waiting period for anyone buying a handgun from a licensed dealer• 1994 Congress approves the Assault Weapons Ban

on the manufacture of certain types of semiautomatic assault rifles.

• 2002 Federal officials reject 136,000 applications for handguns due to background checks

• 2004 AWB expired.

Drugs

The sale of drugs, especially heroine and cocaine, contribute greatly to violent crime.

• Drugs are addictive and addicts commit crimes to support their habit.

• Drug trafficking causes violence because drug dealers compete for money and territory.

War on Drugs

Dept. of Health and Human Services 20038.3% of the population aged 12 and over were using some sort of illicit drug.Most Americans believe the drug problem is serious and must be addressedFederal gov’t puts aside more than ½ of its antidrug budget to curb the supply of illegal drugs Interdiction – Federal gov’t promotes policies in foreign countries to destroy crops used to make drugs.

Capital Punishment

Capital Punishment – death penaltyFurman v. GA, 1972 – Supreme Court ruled the

death penalty violated the 8th amendmentGregg – Supreme Court ruled states had revised

their death penalty laws to uphold the Court’s guidelines, thus reinstating the use of capital punishment.v. GA, 1976

Executing Juveniles

Timeline• 1989 Supreme Court said those under 15

could not be executed for their crimes• 2002 Supreme Court said the mentally

retarded who commit crimes could not be executed

• 2004 Supreme Court changes its mind and says no one under 18 can be executed

Why Not?

• Most have had terrible childhoods• Medical research has shown the adolescent

brain has not matured enough to deter impulses that may trigger a violent crime

• Psychologists say teenagers don’t have a realistic understanding of death and often think of themselves as immortal – death is NOT a deterrent

Prison or Treatment for Drug Offenders?

• Nixon was first American president to declare a “war on drugs”

• He advocated treatment over punishment• 1980s saw move to go with zero tolerance over

treatment• Today – still strong punishment along with

interdiction in South America• 2003 President G.W. Bush signs National Drug

Control Strategy added education and treatment as well as interdiction.

Medicinal Marijuana

• Marijuana is illegal• It’s the drug of choice in the U.S.• 1996 Proposition 215 legalized marijuana for

medicinal purposes.• 10 other states have similar laws• 2005 Supreme Court ruled all of these state

laws violated the federal laws