Discussion 1

Patterns of Crime and Punishment before Civil War

Before the civil war, it was easy to recognize patterns of crime and punishment along sectional lines. The crimes included the following. First, personal crimes refer to crimes that are committed against a person. Citing Roth (2011), these offenses included rape, kidnapping, homicide, and assault. Second, with property crimes, they are categorized as those committed against property. In this case, criminals interfere with the property of another. These crimes included burglary, forgery, robbery and theft, and receipt of stolen goods. Third, moral offense crime refers to a crime that is committed with no one filing a criminal case against another. The behavior involves two consenting adults who engage in an illegal activity, but they do not file a criminal complaint.

During this period, punishing criminals was based on association, which created isolation. Criminals were confined and isolated in prisons and penitentiaries (Roth, 2011). Other punishments included death penalties.

We can associate civil war with the separation of North and South, which entailed comparing association with wealth disparities. Besides, the wealth disparities encompassed trade associations that included traders from the North and those from the South (Raza, 2011). The punishment for crimes committed was a death penalty. In the case of slaves, the capital punishment was associated with rights of citizenship, which increased the risk of blacks being affected. Moreover, the blacks were in danger of unusual punishments for crimes that involved fighting for equality, freedom and avoiding their owners.

Kinds of violent trends that exist in my region include homicide and gun violence. Homicide involves one individual killing another regardless of the intention. Gun violence entails criminals using guns to commit an offense.

An international comparison that I can use includes the South African Apartheid. Another good example is the fall Tibetan dynasty. These two examples are all associated with crimes of wealth disparities. Criminals were sentenced to death by association.

Discussion 2: Domestic Terrorism

Domestic terrorism encompasses violent acts that threaten the life of a person, violate criminal laws and are executed by people or groups that operate within the country. The two examples of domestic terrorism during the civil war included the following. First, the American Revolution employed the tactics of domestic terrorism to fight the British colonizers so that they could accomplish their objectives. Second, the Whiskey Rebellion depended on domestic terrorism and used military forces to respond to cases of violent uprising.

In recent years, domestic terrorism has caused a significant concern to the citizens of the United States. Currently, domestic terrorists are inspired by international terrorists and al-Qaeda to cause mass destruction or assassination. They aim to influence the society on certain issues or coerce the civilian population. Some of the domestic terrorist groups that exist include anarchists, animal rights extremists, White supremacists and eco-terrorists (Caruso & Locatelli, 2014). These groups continue to instill fear in citizens.

The frequent cases of domestic terrorism have led to improvements in the criminal justice system. One major improvement involves the role of prosecutors. Many states in the U.S have passed antiterrorism legislation, which includes refocusing on the responsibilities of the prosecutor.

Discussion 3

The current information on domestic terrorism that we get from the national news are associated with Nigeria and countries in the Middle East. A question that we should ask ourselves concerns the role of the United States in domestic terrorism in countries it purports to help. Examples of international, domestic terrorism include the Boko Haram of Nigeria, which continues to cause suicide bombing in the region. In Afghanistan, we have the Taliban and the Islamic State who have conducted many attacks on civilians and security force. The Al-Shabab militants carry out their operations in Somalia, and they have caused a lot of deaths.

I think that the United States is experiencing a similar level of domestic terrorism because currently, domestic terrorism is among the greatest problems in the nation. The government is hunting down terrorist suspects across the world, but it has failed to curb terrorism that takes place within the country (Caruso & Locatelli, 2014). In the United States, acts of terrorism happen almost every day. Terrorist execute their plans to instill fear into the minds and hearts of the population. Domestic terrorism is being propelled by the intense political polarization and the widespread distrust of the government (Caruso & Locatelli, 2014). Some of the domestic terrorists include Timothy McVeigh who bombed Oklahoma City and Erick Rudolph who was the behind the bombing of Atlanta Olympics (Caruso & Locatelli, 2014).

The government should take the following measures to counter terrorism. Firstly, the security department must ensure that they prevent terrorist travel and improve the screening of passengers. The security department must make sure that they get information in advance on the flight that is coming into the country (Alperen, 2011). With this measure in place, the security team can identify high-risk travelers. Secondly, the security department should ensure that they protect critical infrastructures in the country since terrorists use them as a target. According to Alperen (2011), the implementation of the antiterrorism standards will help prevent terrorism at chemical facilities.

References

Alperen, M. J. (2011). Foundations of homeland security: Law and policy. Hoboken, N.J: John Wiley.

Caruso, R., & Locatelli, A. (Eds.). (2014). Understanding terrorism: A socio-economic perspective. Emerald Group Publishing.

Raza, A. E. (2011). Legacies of the racialization of incarceration: from convict-lease to the prison industrial complex. Journal of the Institute of Justice & International Studies, 159(11), 159–170.

Ronczkowski, M. R. (2011). Terrorism and organized hate crime: Intelligence gathering, analysis and investigations. CRC Press.

Roth, M. P. (2011). Crime and punishment: A history of the criminal justice system (2nd ed.) Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Publishing.

 
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