So throughout this process of writing my third paper for english, I have experienced the biggest case of writers block. I mean I know what I wanted to say but every time I went to write it down...nothing. Nothing made sense. I wrote as things came to mind which led to some of my ideas to not make sense or not "flow." See I probably did it just now. It makes sense to me but I'm sure it doesnt to other people.
I can't figure out why this happens to me. I know I have potential to be a great writer but it just doesn't click sometimes. It's like I've been given a halfway decent talent to write and can't ever seem to unleash it full force 100% awesomness. It is so frustrating to me. I hate to write but I love it at the same time. Maybe I just don't like writing in such a formal fashion. If I could just write how I wanted to it would be so much easier. I've been sick of this robotic writing style teachers implanted in me since the 5th grade.
This post probably seems random...but I wrote blogs all semester that weren't personal so I figured one of the last blogs I would write would be a little personal when it comes to my writing abilities.
Oh and by the way....I decided to totally direct my paper strictly towards eyewitness misidentification. I just felt like I was trying to cover too much info having the other things in my paper.
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
Outline for third paper
The Mistake that Costs Lives
I. Introduction
I. Introduction
- Attention grabber- statistic (still looking for a nationwide average of innocent people who faced prison time)
- Mention essay from book "The Death Penalty is a Step Back" and main point I am expanding on- "the wrongfully accused"
- Three areas to talk about- Eyewitness Misidentification, Impoper Forensic Science, Government Misconduct
II. Eyewitness Misidentification
- Eyewitness misidentifications contributed to over 75% of the more than 220 wrongful convictions in the United States overturned by post-conviction DNA evidence.
- Social science researchers prove eyewitness identification as unreliable
- Types of eyewitness/victim identification of perpetrator- standard lineup, array of photos
III. Improper Forensic Science
- Some forensic techniques are improperly conducted in an investigation
- These techniques include-hair microscopy, bite mark comparisons, firearm tool mark analysis and shoe print comparisons
IV. Government Misconduct
- Corruption within the system- fraud or misconduct by prosecutors or police departments
- Things they can do that is considered to be "misconduct"- ex. deliberate suggestiveness in identification procedures, mishandling, mistreatment or destruction of evidence, etc.
V. Conclusion
This is a just a start. I might make some changes so yea.
Sunday, April 5, 2009
Response to a Nonfiction Essay
So after thinking long and hard I think I know what topic I will discuss for the 'response to a nonfiction essay' paper.
I decided that I will respond to the essay we read titled "The Death Penalty Is a Step Back" by Coretta Scott King. I want to write a paper discussing one of her main points she addresses that deals with "mistakenly convicted people being put to death in the name of American criminal justice" aka the wrongfully accused.
Because I'm using King's essay does not neccessarily mean that I agree with her about being against the death penalty all together. I do however believe that someone should not be put under a death sentence unless scientifically proven guilty of the serious crime. In other words, I don't think someone should be accused and sentenced based only on an eyewitness identification process.
For example, in 1991 Tony Ford was wrongfully identified and sentenced to death for the murder of Armando Murillo. Here's the story: "On December 18, 1991, two people broke in to the home of Myra Concepcion Murillo in El Paso, Texas. Saying they needed to see “the man of the house,” and demanding to know where “the money” was, the two men became angry when their demands were met with confusion. Within moments, one of the men shot and killed Ms. Murillo’s eighteen-year-old son, Armando, then shot Ms. Murillo and her two daughters. Ms. Murillo and her daughters survived."
Apparently one of the surviving daughters was asked to look at an array of photos and identify the man who shot Armando. She chose the photo of Tony Ford. Tony and his lawyers tried to get the court to let them hire a professional to prove how unreliable the eyewitness identification was in this case but they were denied. Tony was sentenced to death. After an eyewitness identification post-trial examination done by the professional Ford's lawyers tried to get approved to help the case it turns out that Tony Ford looked very similar to the later known actual shooter named Victor Belton.
It is simply not enough to just "take someones word for it" when it comes to the death penalty. The justice system today should know that with such a punishment as death it shouldnt be given to a person based only on an eyewitness looking at an array of photos or a group of people standing in a row and picking which one looks like the familiar suspect. There should be scientific evidence that proves who is guilty as well. In most cases if the court would have taken time to dig deep and provide a thorough investigation there would be less innocent people being put to death.
I decided that I will respond to the essay we read titled "The Death Penalty Is a Step Back" by Coretta Scott King. I want to write a paper discussing one of her main points she addresses that deals with "mistakenly convicted people being put to death in the name of American criminal justice" aka the wrongfully accused.
Because I'm using King's essay does not neccessarily mean that I agree with her about being against the death penalty all together. I do however believe that someone should not be put under a death sentence unless scientifically proven guilty of the serious crime. In other words, I don't think someone should be accused and sentenced based only on an eyewitness identification process.
For example, in 1991 Tony Ford was wrongfully identified and sentenced to death for the murder of Armando Murillo. Here's the story: "On December 18, 1991, two people broke in to the home of Myra Concepcion Murillo in El Paso, Texas. Saying they needed to see “the man of the house,” and demanding to know where “the money” was, the two men became angry when their demands were met with confusion. Within moments, one of the men shot and killed Ms. Murillo’s eighteen-year-old son, Armando, then shot Ms. Murillo and her two daughters. Ms. Murillo and her daughters survived."
Apparently one of the surviving daughters was asked to look at an array of photos and identify the man who shot Armando. She chose the photo of Tony Ford. Tony and his lawyers tried to get the court to let them hire a professional to prove how unreliable the eyewitness identification was in this case but they were denied. Tony was sentenced to death. After an eyewitness identification post-trial examination done by the professional Ford's lawyers tried to get approved to help the case it turns out that Tony Ford looked very similar to the later known actual shooter named Victor Belton.
It is simply not enough to just "take someones word for it" when it comes to the death penalty. The justice system today should know that with such a punishment as death it shouldnt be given to a person based only on an eyewitness looking at an array of photos or a group of people standing in a row and picking which one looks like the familiar suspect. There should be scientific evidence that proves who is guilty as well. In most cases if the court would have taken time to dig deep and provide a thorough investigation there would be less innocent people being put to death.
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