Criminal Law Assignment 2022

Running Head: CRIMINAL LAW
CRIMINAL LAW
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author’s Note

CRIMINAL LAW1
Table of Contents
CHALLENGES POSED BY GANGS AGAINST LAW ENFORCEMENT:................................2
THEORY ANALYSIS:...................................................................................................................2
WONGFUL CONVICTIONS AND INNOCENCE PROJECT:....................................................3
COMMON CAUSES OF WRONGFUL CONVICTIONS:............................................................4
 Police Misconduct................................................................................................................4
 Science..................................................................................................................................5
 Snitches.................................................................................................................................5
 Procedural misconduct..........................................................................................................5
POST 9/11 CRITICAL ISSUE:.......................................................................................................5
 Migration..............................................................................................................................6
 Organized Crime...................................................................................................................6
 Political Turbulence..............................................................................................................6
REFERENCES:...............................................................................................................................8

CRIMINAL LAW2
CHALLENGES POSED BY GANGS AGAINST LAW ENFORCEMENT:
Gangs engage in criminal activities by recruiting their new members in urban, suburban, and
rural regions across the boundaries of United States. They pose following threats to law
enforcement:
Violent Crimes: FBI Uniform crime Reporting of 2009 and 2010 data have stated that regions
like California, Arizona, Illinois, Oklahoma Texas and Florida are responsible for more than
90% of the criminal activities and have substantial gang presence. Conflict between gang and
their rivalry have resulted in increase of crimes and violence of gangs in many jurisdictions. In
2011, officials have reported a spree of murders, stabbings, robberies and drug distribution by
prominent gang organizations amount to more than 16 homicides in that period.
Drug Distribution and Trafficking: this is a serious threat to public safety and stability because
such distribution is conducted with lethal violence. Violent fights over control of drug territory
and enforcement of drug debts is a common occurrence in urban and suburban areas.
Juvenile Gangs: the organizations are recruiting juveniles for their vulnerability and
susceptibility to tactics. In addition, they are targeted to avoid harsh punishments and criminal
sentencing along with their willingness to engage in violence.
THEORY ANALYSIS:
Sampson and Laub (1993, 2005) has proposed Life-Course Developmental Theory which
states that the social factors of a juvenile is the driving factor for them to join gangs. The gang
organizations tend to provide them with social capital and improved relationships with peer

CRIMINAL LAW3
networks, and their families. However, in interactional theory as proposed by Thornberry and
Krohn (2011), states that the relationship between a juvenile and his anti-social peers had
significant effects on the gang membership in adolescence.
Vigil (2006, 2008, 2010) has explained multiple marginal theory which states that the
youth face economical marginalization including racism and repression with immigration and
ghetto living strain the social controls with family and society resulting in diminishing respect
for law enforcement. However Gilman et al. (2014) has explained social developmental
model comprising of social opportunities like rewards, bonding, trust and anti-social
opportunities like involvement, gang exposure beliefs, risks and so on, leading for juvenile to
join gangs.
WONGFUL CONVICTIONS AND INNOCENCE PROJECT:
No criminal justice system is perfect and such imperfections lead to the miscarriage of
justice. In USA, torture and police misconduct has led to the conviction of the innocents. In
addition, according to Death Penalty Information Centre (2014), in US, more than 143 people
have been released from the death penalty since 1973 on the grounds of innocence.
The legal terms have been dealt in tow concepts, firstly the prevention of wrongful
convictions meaning the investigations, evidences and inquiry should be beyond reasonable
doubt and secondly, compensation for the victims of wrongful convictions.
The citizens have made certain efforts to ensure innocent people are not convicted. In this
aspect, many fictional stories of innocent people wrongly convicted have been abounded
drawing our attention to their plight and loss. Such stories like A lesson before dying (1993), the