Thursday, January 30, 2020
Public Safety and Privacy Essay Example for Free
Public Safety and Privacy Essay Abstract            After the terrorist attacks of 9/11, the U.S. constantly tries to find the correct balance between privacy and public safety. Connecticut Department of Public Safety v. John Doe has revealed the important implications of public safety towards privacy in the United States.   Introduction            The terrorist acts of 9/11 have revealed serious inconsistencies between public safety and privacy in the legal system of the United States. Numerous laws, legal norms, and Supreme Court decisions have only increased the growing tension between the two notions of public safety and privacy. The natural state’s desire to protect its citizens from terrorist threats has evidently neglected the importance of stable balance between public safety and privacy. As a result, the state cannot effectively promote both legal values and has to sacrifice one legal notion for the sake of protecting the other.            Connecticut v. Doe: summary of the case Among other things, Connecticut’s ‘Megan’s Law’ requires persons convicted of sexual offenses to register with the Department of Public Safety (DPS) upon their release into the community, and requires DPS to post a sex offender registry containing registrant’s names, addresses, photographs, and descriptions on an Internet website and to make the registry available to the public in certain state offices. (Supreme Court of the United States, 2002) In the case of Connecticut Department of Public Safety v. Doe, the Supreme Court of the United States has actually overturned the orders of the lower district courts, which prescribed Connecticut Department of Public Safety to shut down its official website, which presented the visitors with the information about convicted sex offenders, and to prevent public access to printed information about sex offenders. The lower courts concluded that spreading information about sex offenders and making it public initially implicated the liberty interests of those who could become potential registrants of the discussed website (Supreme Court of the United States, 2002).            Supreme Court of the United States has completely disagreed with the previous decisions of the lower courts. John Doe was trying to defend his position by stating that he was not dangerous during the time when he was registered at the website. However, the Supreme Court has come to conclusion that regardless the danger sex offenders actually presented, they had to be registered. Objectively, it does not matter whether the sex offender is dangerous or not. Connecticut’s â€Å"Megan’s Law†does not refer to any particular level of danger, according to which sex offenders should or should not be registered at Connecticut’s DPS website. It was sufficient for the U.S. Supreme Court to state that sex offenders were given an opportunity to contest their guilt during the sex offense court proceedings. Regardless the danger sex offenders represent, they must be registered at Connecticut DPS website, and to make their personal information publicly accessible.            Connecticut v. Doe: implications            The discussed case has generated acute public response. Beyond that, the case has carried profound implications for the social policies in the public safety area in the United States. To start with, â€Å"Connecticut’s Megan’s Law applies, with a few exceptions, to persons convicted after October 1, 1988 of criminal offenses against a minor, violent and nonviolent sexual offenses, and felonies committed for a sexual purpose†(Brooks, 1996). When sex offenders are released and enter the community, they are obliged to register with the sex offenders’ informational registry developed by Connecticut Department of Public Safety. Certainly, this is an effective measure of providing the community with the objective information its potential dangerous members. Simultaneously, sex offenders are not deprived of traditional personal and privacy rights. As a result, Connecticut’s Megan’s Law risks breaking the discussed privacy rights of those who has already been convicted and released from jail.            With the desire to promote public safety, the U.S. has proved that such cannot exist in line with the privacy rights of those who can easily breach public safety again. Connecticut v. Doe has pushed the importance of public safety to the foreground, making it more important than privacy rights of sex offenders. The case has directly implied that social policies in the area of public safety require better focus on privacy rights. It is interesting to note, that in his justification of the Supreme Court’s decision, Justice Scalia compared Connecticut’s Megan’s Law with the law which prohibited everyone under age of 16 to drive a motor vehicle: â€Å"that is why, [†¦] a convicted sex offender has no more right to additional ‘process’ enabling him to establish that he is not dangerous than a 15-year-old has a right to ‘process’ enabling him to establish that he is a safe driver†(Supre me Court of the United States, 2002). Having drawn this analogy, the Justice has actually left no hope for the privacy rights’ defenders to protect privacy against public safety. The case has proven that the U.S. public safety policies lack profound understanding of what constitutes substantial risk to public safety and what factors could justify the breach of privacy rights.            Public safety remains the preliminary concern within the contemporary American legal system. The U.S. Patriot Act has become the culmination of the U.S. fight for public stability, safety, and peace. In the light of constant terrorist threats privacy rights seem to lose their relevance and turn into secondary legal elements. Although it is difficult to compare and equal terrorism to sex offense, sex offenders still create one of the major criminal dangers in the society, taking into account the extremely high level of recidivism among them (Inbau, 1999). There is no guarantee that a convicted and released sex offender would not commit another crime of sexual character. This is why the state makes it possible to justify the emphasis on public safety for the account of privacy rights.            In reality, the discussed case creates some generalizations about the state of public safety policies in the United States. On the one hand, the U.S. Patriot Act and legal enforcement agencies promote the importance and prevalence of public safety principles over the privacy rights. On the other hand, several organizations promote the importance of preliminary research before privacy rights are breached for the sake of public safety. Development and implementation of social policies should be based on research whenever possible. It should be noted that to date, few research studies about community notification have been conducted. The research that has been completed has not been able to conclude that community notification reduces recidivism or enhances community safety. (Solove, 2003) However, even when we lack scientific information which could justify community notification and privacy breach to protect public safety, the society has not yet invented more effective means of eliminating public safety threats. Sex offenders and terrorists equally represent serious threats to peace and stability in the society. This is why society invents numerous measures to protect itself from the safety threats and to release itself from the safety pressures. It seems that the U.S. will hardly be able to produce any relevant balance between privacy and public safety. The Supreme Court of the United States constantly confirms the real state of legal affairs in the state: privacy means less when it comes to protecting the public safety of the American nation, although we forget that the American nation is made of separate privacy rights and issues which also require protection.            It is stated that â€Å"public safety can be enhanced and limited resources used more efficiently, when, the most aggressive notification practices should be reserved for those offenders who are at highest risk to reoffend and therefore require the most intensive interventions†(Brooks, 1996). However, we must be objective and realistic. When proponents of privacy rights express their desire to utilize sound evaluation procedures, and to protect privacy rights of those who are no longer dangerous to the society, they frequently forget that the American legal system lacks such evaluation models. Public notification has been invented to facilitate the control of public safety and to introduce the timely corrective measures. From the viewpoint of the current legal situation in the United States, the American nation ultimately has to decide what should be more important: privacy rights or public safety. Connecticut v. Doe implies that the country which has gone through terrorist attacks similar to 9/11, cannot any longer neglect the importance of public safety, even when it initially breaches legal privacy principles.            In order to justify breaching of privacy rights, the state should develop a set of legal criteria, which will help determine whether a person or an action represents serious threat to public safety. In contemporary legal environment, the American society has not yet produced any other legal alternatives besides community notification. Specialists and human rights’ proponents may argue that the U.S. laws completely neglect the importance of personal privacy; but Connecticut v. Doe implies that when privacy threatens the whole society it can no longer be relevant.            Conclusion            From the legal viewpoint, Connecticut v. Doe has finally clarified the official state’s viewpoint on the importance of privacy rights vs. public safety. The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision has underlined the importance of public safety and the prevalence of public safety principles over privacy rights. Legal professionals still fail to find a correct and justified balance between public safety and privacy rights. This is why it would be more appropriate to develop legal criteria for the assessment of risks a person or an action may produce against the state’s public safety. Of course, community notification about sex offenders â€Å"can create vigilantism†(Solove, 2003). As a result, the state requires thorough re-consideration of all legal and law enforcement practices which are aimed at protecting public safety, and which risk breaking privacy rights. References Brooks, A. (1996). Megan’s Law: Constitutionality and policy. Criminal Justice Ethics, 15, 99-101. Inbau, F.E. (1999). Public safety v. individual civil liberties: the prosecutor’s stand. Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology, 29, 129-134. Solove, D.J. (2003). The virtues of knowing less: justifying privacy protections against disclosure. Duke Law Journal, 53, 6-15. Supreme Court of the United States. (2002). Connecticut Department of Public Safety et al v. Doe, individually and on behalf of all others similarly situated. Retrieved March 8, 2008 from
Wednesday, January 22, 2020
austins theory of law :: essays research papers
Laws in the most general sense are rules made by one intelligent being for the guidance of another intelligent being, the former having power over the latter. - All laws are a species of command, a command being an expression of a wish or desire that some other person do something. Commands can only be issued by one who has the power and intention to inflict a sanction in the event of disobedience. - A legal duty is a liability to a sanction for refusal to comply with a command. Hence, commands and duties are correlative; there can’t be one without the other. Commands are said to bind or oblige the person to whom they are directed. Sanctions are always intended to be evils, never goods. Rewards (bribes) cannot be sanctions. - Conclusion regarding the basic definition of law: a command that obliges a person to observe a general course of conduct, issued by a superior (in power) to an inferior. - Special problems: Customary laws and rules of common morality which may appear to oblige independently of any superior power are not really laws until recognized by a court. Common laws (judge-made law) likewise may appear not to stem from a superior power. Austin argues such laws are tacitly commanded by the state. Legal rights are creatures of law, but they are not exercised by following orders; the option to exercise a right is up to the owner of the right. Austin: no law creates a right without also creating a correlative duty, hence the link with commands. - Positive Law is a set of commands issued by a sovereign to his subjects. The sovereign is a determinate person or group (a) who receives habitual obedience from the bulk of society (he is the superior power within his society) and (b) is not in a habit of obedience to a like superior group (independent of any other
Tuesday, January 14, 2020
Night World : Daughters of Darkness Chapter 2
You see, we're both lonely guys,†Todd said from the back. â€Å"†There aren't any girls our age aroundhere, so we're lonely. And then when we comeacross three nice girls like you-well, we just natu rally want to get to know you better. Understand?†â€Å"So if you girls play along, we can all have fun,†Vic put in. â€Å"Fun-oh, no,†Rowan said, dismayed. Jade knew she had caught part of Vic's thought and was tryingvery hard not to pry further. â€Å"Kestrel and Jade are much too young for anything like that. I'm sorry, butwe have to say no.†â€Å"I won't do it even whenI amold enough,†Jade said. â€Å"But that isn't what these guys mean anyway they mean this.†She projected some of the images she was getting from Vic into Rowan's mind. â€Å"Oh, dear,†Rowan said flatly. â€Å"Jade, you know we agreed not to spy on people like that.†Yeah, but look what they're thinking, Jade said soundlessly, figuring that if she had broken one rule, she might as well break them all. â€Å"Now, look,†Vic said in a tone that showed he knew he was losing control of the situation. He reached out and grabbed Jade's other arm, forcingher to face him. â€Å"We're not here to talk. See?†He gave her a little shake. Jade studied his features a moment, then turned her head to look inquiringly into the backseat. Rowan's face was creamy-pale against her brownhair. Jade could feel that she was sad and disap pointed. Kestrel's hair was dim gold and she was frowning. Well?Kestrel said silently to Rowan. Well?Jade said the same way. She wriggled as Victried to pull her loser. Come on, Rowan, he's pinching me. I guess we don't have any choice,Rowan said. Immediately Jade turned back to Vic. He was still trying to pull her, looking surprised that she didn't seem to be coming. Jade stopped resisting and lethim drag her in close-and then smoothly detached one arm from his grip and slammed her hand upward. The heel of her hand made contact just under his chin. His teeth clicked and his head was knocked backward, exposing his throat. Jade darted in and bit. She was feeling guilty and excited. She wasn't used to doing it like this, to taking down prey that was awake and struggling instead of hypnotized and docile. But she knew her instincts were as good as any hunter who'd grown up stalking humans in alleys. It was part of her genetic programming to evaluate anything she saw in terms of â€Å"Is it food? Can I get it? What are its weaknesses?†The only problem was that she shouldn't been joying this feeding, because it was exactly the opposite of what she and Rowan and Kestrel had come to Briar Creek to do. She was tangentially aware of activity in the backseat. Rowan had lifted the arm Todd had been using to restrain her. On the other side Kestrel had done the same. Todd was fighting, his voice thunderstruck. â€Å"Heyhey what are you-â€Å" Rowan bit. â€Å"What are you doing?†Kestrel bit. â€Å"What the freak are you doing? Who are you? What the freak are you?†He thrashed wildly for a minute or so, and then subsided as Rowan and Kestrel mentally urged him into a trance. It was only another minute or so before Rowan said, â€Å"That's enough.†Jade said, Aw, Rowan †¦ â€Å"That'senough.Tell him not to remember anything about this-and find out if he knows where Burdock Farm is.†Still feeding, Jade reached out with her mind,touching lightly with a tentacle of thought. Then she pulled back, her mouth closing as if in a kiss as it leftVic's skin. Vic was just a big rag doll at this point, and he flopped bonelessly against the steering wheeland the car door when she let him go. â€Å"The farm's back that way-we have to go back tothe fork in the road,†she said. â€Å"It's weird,†she added, puzzled. â€Å"He was thinking that he wouldn't get in trouble for attacking us because-because of something about Aunt Opal. I couldn't get what.†â€Å"Probably that she was crazy,†Kestrel said unemotionally. â€Å"Todd was thinking that he wouldn't get in trouble because his dad's an Elder.†â€Å"They don't have Elders,†Jade said, vaguely smug.†You mean a governor or a police officer or something ? Rowan was frowning, not looking at them. â€Å"All right,†she said. â€Å"This was an emergency; we had to do it. But now we're going back to what we agreed.†â€Å"Until the next emergency,†Kestrel said, smiling out the car window into the night. To forestall Rowan, Jade said, â€Å"You think we should just leave them here?†â€Å"Why not?†Kestrel said carelessly. â€Å"They'll wake up in a few hours.†Jade looked at Vic's neck. The two little wounds where her teeth had pierced him were already almost closed. By tomorrow they would be faint red marks like old bee stings. Five minutes later they were on the road againwith their suitcases. This time, though, Jade was cheerful. The difference was food-she felt as full of blood as a tick, charged with energy and ready to skip up mountains. She swung the cat carrier and her suitcase alternately, and Tiggy growled. It was wonderful being out like this, walking alonein the warm night air, with nobody to frown in disapproval. Wonderful to listen to the deer and rabbits and rats feeding in the meadows around her. Happiness bubbled up inside Jade. She'd never felt so free. â€Å"It is nice, isn't it?†Rowan said softly, lookingaround as they reached the fork in the road. â€Å"It's the real world. And we have as much right to it as anybody else.†â€Å"I think it's the blood,†Kestrel said. â€Å"Free-range humans are so much better than the kept ones. Whydidn't our dear brother ever mention that?†Ash, Jade thought, and felt a cold wind. She glanced behind her, not looking for a car but forsomething much more silent and deadly. She realized suddenly how fragile her bubble of happiness was. â€Å"Are we going to get caught?†she asked Rowan. Reverting, in the space of one second, to a six-yearold turning to her big sister for help. And Rowan, the best big sister in the world, said immediately and positively,†No. â€Å" â€Å"But if Ash figures it out-he's the only one whomight realize-â€Å" â€Å"We are not going to get caught,†Rowan said. â€Å"Nobody will figure out that we're here.†Jade felt better. She put down her suitcase and held out a hand to Rowan, who took it. â€Å"Together forever,†she said. Kestrel, who'd been a few steps ahead, glanced over her shoulder. Then she came back and put her hand on theirs. â€Å"Together forever.†Rowan said it solemnly; Kestrel said it with a quicknarrowing of her yellow eyes. Jade said it with utter determination. As they walked on, Jade felt buoyant and cheerfulagain, enjoying the velvet-dark night. The road was just dirt here, not paved. They passed meadows and stands of Douglas fir. A farmhouse on the left, set back on a long driveway. And finally, dead ahead at the end of the road, another house. â€Å"That's it,†Rowan said. Jade recognized it, too, from the pictures Aunt opal had sent them. It had two stories, a wraparound porch, and a steeplypitched roof with lots of gables. A cupola sprouted out of the rooftop, and there was a weather vane on the barn. A real weather vane, Jade thought, stopping to stare. Her happiness flooded _back full force. â€Å"I love it, she said solemnly. Rowan and Kestrel had stopped, too, but their expressions were far from awed. Rowan looked a hairs breadth away from horrified. â€Å"It's a wreck,†she gasped. â€Å"Look at that barnthe paint's completely gone. The pictures didn't show that.†â€Å"And the porch,†Kestrel said helpfully. â€Å"It's fallingto pieces. Might go any minute.†â€Å"The work,†Rowan whispered. â€Å"The work it would take to fix this place up †¦Ã¢â‚¬ â€Å"And the money,†Kestrel said. Jade gave them a cold look. â€Å"Why fix it? I like it. It's different.†Rigid with superiority, she picked up her luggage and walked to the end of the roadThere was a ramshackle, mostly fallen-down fence around the property, and a dangerous-looking gate. Beyond,on a weed-covered path, was a pile of white pickets as if somebody had been planning to fix the fencebut had never got around to it. Jade put down the suitcase and cat carrier and pulled at the gate. To her surprise, it moved easily. â€Å"See, it may not look good, but it still works-â€Å"She didn't get to finish the sentence properly. The gate fell on her. â€Å"Well, it may not work, but it's still ours,†she said as Rowan and Kestrel pulled it off her. â€Å"No, it's Aunt Opal's,†Kestrel said. Rowan just smoothed her hair back and said, â€Å"Come on.†There was a board missing from the porch steps, and several boards gone from the porch itself. Jade limped around them with dignity. The gate had given her a good whack in the shin, and since it was wood,it still .hurt. In fact, everything seemed to be made of wood here, which gave Jade a pleasantly alarmed feeling. Back home, wood was revered-,and kept outof the way. You have to be awfully careful to live in this kindof world, Jade thought. Or you're going to get hurt. Rowan and Kestrel were knocking on the door,Rowan politely, with her knuckles, Kestrel loudly, with the side of her hand. There wasn't any answer. â€Å"She doesn't seem to be here,†Rowan said. â€Å"She's decided she doesn't want us,†Kestrel said, golden eyes gleaming. â€Å"Maybe she went to the wrong bus station,†Jade said. â€Å"Oh-that's it. I bet that's it,†Rowan said. â€Å"Poorold thing, she's waiting for us somewhere, and she's going to be thinking that we didn't show up.†â€Å"†Sometimes you're not completely stupid,†Kestrel informed Jade. High praise from Kestrel. â€Å"Well, let's go in,†Jade said,to conceal howpleased she was. â€Å"She'll come back here sometime.†â€Å"Human houses have locks,†Rowan began, but this house wasn't locked. The doorknob turned in Jade's hand. The three of them stepped inside. It was dark, even darker than the moonless nightoutside, but Jade's eyes adjusted in a few seconds. â€Å"Hey, it's not bad,†she said. They were in ashabby but handsome living room filled with huge, ponderous furniture. Wood furniture, of course dark and highly polished. The tables were topped with marble. Rowan found a lightswitch, and suddenly the roomwas too bright. Blinking, Jade saw that the walls were pale apple green, with fancy woodwork andmoldings in a darker shade of the same green. It made Jade feel oddly peaceful. And anchored, somehow, as if she belonged here. Maybe it was all the heavy furniture. She looked at Rowan, who was looking around tall graceful body slowly relaxing. Rowan smiled and met her eyes. She noddedonce. â€Å"Yes.†Jade basked for a moment in the glory of having been right twice in five minutes–and then she remembered her suitcase. â€Å"Let's see what the rest of the place is like,†she said hastily. â€Å"I'll take the upstairs; you guys look around here.†â€Å"You just want the best bedroom,†Kestrel said. Jade ignored her, hurrying up a wide, carpeted flight of stairs. There were lots of bedrooms, and each one had lots of room. She didn't want the best, though, just the farthest away. At the very end of the hall was a room painted sea-blue. Jade slammed the door behind her and puther suitcase on the bed. Holding her breath, she opened the suitcase. Oh. Oh, no.Oh, no †¦ Three minutes later she heard the click of the doorbehind her, but didn't care enough to turn. â€Å"What are you doing?†Kestrel's voice said. Jade looked up from her frantic efforts to resuscitate the two kittens she held. â€Å"They'redead!†she wailed. â€Å"Well, what did you expect? They need to breathe, idiot. How did you expect them to make it through two days of traveling?†Jade sniffled. â€Å"Rowan told you that you could take only one.†Jade sniffled harder and glared. â€Å"I know.That's why I put these two in the suitcase.†She hiccuped. â€Å"At least Tiggy's all right.†She dropped to her knees and peered in the cat carrier to make sure he was all right. His ears were laid back, his golden eyes gleaming out of a mass of black fur. He hissed, and Jade sat up. He was fine. â€Å"For five dollars I'll take care of the dead ones,†Kestrel said. â€Å"No!†Jade jumped up and moved protectively in front of them, fingers clawed. â€Å"Not likethat,†Kestrel said, offended. â€Å"I don't eat carrion. Look, if you don't get rid of them somehow,Rowan's going to find out. For God's sake,girl, you're a vampire,†she added as Jade cradled the limp bodies to her chest. â€Å"Act like one.†â€Å"I want to bury them,†Jade said. â€Å"They shouldhave a funeral.†Kestrel rolled her eyes and left. Jade wrapped the small corpses in her jacket and tiptoed out after her. A shovel, she thought. Now, where would that be? Keeping her ears open for Rowan, shesidledaround the first floor. All the rooms looked like the living room: imposing and in a state of genteel decay. The kitchen was huge. It had an open fireplace and a shed off the back door for washing laundry. It also had a door to the cellar. Jade made her way down the steps cautiously. Shecouldn't turn on a light because she needed both hands for the kittens. And, because of the kittens, she couldn't see her feet. She had to feel with her toe for the next step. At the bottom of the stairs her toe found something yielding, slightly resilient. It was blocking herpath. Slowly Jade craned her neck over the bundle of jacket and looked down. It was dim here. She herself was blocking the light that filtered down from the kitchen. But she could make out what looked like a pile of old clothes. A lumpy pile. Jade was getting a very, very bad feeling. She nudged the pile of clothes with one toe. It moved slightly. Jade took a deep breath and nudged it hard. It was all one piece. It rolled over. Jade looked down, breathed quickly for a moment, and screamed. A good, shrill, attention-getting scream. She addeda nonverbal thought, the telepathic equivalent of a siren. Rowan! Kestrel! You guys get down here! Twenty seconds later the cellar light went on andRowan and Kestrel came clattering down the stairs. â€Å"I have told you and toldyou,†Rowan was sayingthrough her teeth. â€Å"We don'tuse our-†She stopped, staring. â€Å"I think it's Aunt Opal,†Jade said.
Sunday, January 5, 2020
Leading God ( Exodus 14 - 1605 Words
Leading God (Exodus 14:13-14) When the Israelites came out of Egypt and were heading to the land of Canaan, they lost their way in the vast wilderness. However, as they came to the entrance of the desert, God manifested Himself by sending a pillar of cloud by day to protect the Israelites from heat and a pillar of fire by night to light their camp as bright as day, in this way He lead the Israelites. He did not tell them that they would find the way to the land of Canaan on their own, but guided the Israelites through His set road. 1. God who led them with a pillar of cloud and a pillar of fire God, who showed them the way to go to the land of Canaan, lead them with a pillar of clod and a pillar of fire (Exodus 13:21). Exodus 14:13-14†¦show more content†¦Where is the Holy Spirit? The Lord said, â€Å"And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever--for he lives with you and will be in you†(John 14:16). Another Counselor is specially sent to help us by God. Jesus is the first Counselor. He came to us to forgive our sins, to cast out the demons, to heal the sick, to feed the hungry, and to hold us to make us prosper spiritually, physically, and materially. The Lord came not to judge us but to save us. Jesus said, â€Å"I will ask the Father to send us another Counselor after I leave you.†But one day we must know that for 4 thousand years in the Old Testament, the Father worked in forefront. For 4 thousand years, Yahweh led his people and took care of them. However, after Jesus came and being baptized in Jordan River, He was filled with the Holy Spirit and carried out the ministry of the Gospel for 3 and half years, it was the time of the Son. But after Jesus died and went to heaven, on the day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit came and now it is the era of the Holy Spirit. Now the Father works through the Holy Spirit and the Son works through the Holy Spirit. The Father and the Son appear when the Holy Spirit works. It’s the era of the Holy Spirit. When the Holy Spirit works, Jesus and God also work. Then how can the Holy Spirit lead us? 1) He leads us through the Word of God. 2) The Word of God leads you and the Holy
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