Innocent Man by John Grisham Essays -- essays research papers

The innocent man is the story of Ron Williamson who was unjustly convicted of murder and spent twelve years on death row before being exonerated by DNA evidence. Ron Williamson was born in Ada, a small town in Oklahoma. His future looked bright when he was young and he was an exceptional athlete who was drafted by the Oakland Athletics. After an unsuccessful career in the minors Ron Williamson became a drug addict and an alcoholic whose life steadily got worse. He could not keep any job and he began spending most of his time in bars, and living with various friends. He soon accumulated a criminal record that included DUI?s, check fraud, and two rape charges that did not result in conviction. He became a heavy user of prescription drugs on top of his alcohol abuse, and after his baseball career ended he developed several mental llnesses and began to spend brief spans of time in mental hospitals. When a waitress who worked at a bar he often frequented was raped and murdered he became a suspect. Eventually he was convicted of the crime which he did not commit and was sentenced to death. A friend of his, Dennis Fritz was also wrongfully convicted as an accomplice and sentenced to life in prison. It was a terrible ordeal that Ron Williamson and Dennis Fritz suffered being wrongly convicted of a murder. They both spent 11 years in prison, fritz serving a life sentence and Williamson on death row, locked up with heartless killers and treated like an animal. The book also has a subplot revolving around the abduction of another girl in Ada who to this day has never been found. Two men, Tommy Ward and Kurt Fontenot were convicted of a rape and murder and are currently serving life sentences. Although no concret... ...tem. It is unbelievable how lax, inadequate, and unjust the justice department can actually be in our country that we thought was civilized. It is ludicrous that many of the same people who convicted two innocent men of crimes and nearly got one killed are still working in the same offices even after they were proven unethical, and disrespectful to their duty. This book was not written help Ron Williamson or Dennis Fritz, they have already been exonerated and have received compensation. It was probably not written for money, John Grisham stated in a speech that he feared a lawsuit. (law.virginia.edu) This book was written to make a political point. Even though this book is somewhat biased against the death penalty it still should enrage an American citizen who believes that a person is ?innocent until proven guilty,? and ?has a right to remain silent.?

12 Table of Roman Law Essay

As advanced civilizations developed throughout the world, a common trend was observed regardless of time and location. That trend was the development of a law and government. Each civilization developed some form of law, the Babylonians had Hammurabi’s Code, the Hebrew had Mosaic Law, and the Greeks had the Draconian Law. Although these were all great forms of law, one of the most important advances in legal history was the Romans and their development of the 12 Tables of Roman Law. The 12 tables of Roman law reflect the social structure, government, and moral values of the Roman Empire. The 12 tables of Roman law provide an ample amount of evidence to support the idea that the Romans had a distinct social structure. When one analyzes the 12 tables of Roman law it is clear that the romans perceived women, slaves and even children to be inferior beings, which meant they were at the bottom of the social hierarchy. Table 5 Law 1 is one example of how the women were socially viewed in Roman society. Table 5 Law 1 states â€Å"Females should remain in guardianship even when they have attained their majority†. 1 This meant all females immediately had to transfer from the guardianship of their fathers to the guardianship of their husbands. By the same token, women also did not have any control over the wealth or land that the family owned, which makes it evident that they were not trusted or respected as independently acting individual or as equals with the males of society. Additionally, women had no control over the fate of her children. This is made evident based off the information given in Table 4 Law 1 where it states, â€Å"A dreadfully deformed child shall be quickly killed.† 2 The law does not set a clear standard as to what is considered a deformity therefore, the decision was always left up to the male to decide if a child should be killed or not. The ideals and moral values of the Romans also can be found in the examination of the 12 tables of the Roman law. The romans were a very ruthless civilization. This ruthless mindset is most evident in Table 4 Law 1 where it states â€Å"A dreadfully deformed child shall be quickly killed†3 The romans believed that once a young boy reached adulthood, it was his duty to serve in the military. Therefore, if a boy was born with deformities or not perceived as strong enough to become a solider he was killed. Another ideal or moral value that is evident in the 12 tables of Roman law is the belief of honoring your word and repaying debts. Several of  the roman laws address the summoning of one to court. Table 1 Law 2 states â€Å"if he shrinks or runs away let the summoner lay hands on him†4. This law gave the summoner the authority to physically punish the summoned if he decided to run or hide when called to come to court. From this law and others like it in Table 1, it can be implied that the Roman civilization valued integrity and honesty. The establishment of a strong government is also evident from the 12 Tables of Roman law. The Law of the Twelve Tables was the ancient legislation that stood at the foundation of Roman law. Although the 12 tables of Roman law were not perfect, due to its early time of creation, they still needed a strong central government to enforce this legislation. The many laws about landownership in the Tables also make it very apparent that the government was greatly influenced by the opinions of local wealthy landowners. This means that the early Roman government was most likely an Oligarchy. Since they were an Oligarchy the parliament and landowners met together to make important decisions for the Roman Empire. In conclusion, the 12 table of Roman law had a great effect on the social structure, government, and moral values of the Roman Empire. The impact that these 12 Tables have had on future legislations and the Roman Empire is profound.

The Great Depression Of The 1920 S - 1385 Words

Following WW I in the 1920’s, there was a decade of an economical explosion. The post-war era brought about many changes. Businesses showed great profits, migration to big cities of industrial companies occurred with the hopes of making a better life, people were given the opportunity to purchase things on credit, while others borrowed money making poor decisions buying high priced stocks with the intention of selling stocks for a profits to repay lenders. When Black Tuesday occurred on October 29, 1929, this marked the beginning of the Great Depression that left devastating economic hardships for the American people. Although it was always my belief that the stock market crash was the sole contributor of the Great Depression, there was†¦show more content†¦S. and other countries that had industries charged high import taxes on good that were offered for sale. These taxes prevented counties from selling the goods they needed to earn the money to repay loans to the U.S . banks. In a three year period over 9,000 banks went bankrupt or had to close their doors to avoid bankruptcy which led to a decline in purchasing powers. When the banks started failing people lost their saving because the banks were uninsured. The banks weren’t as willing to offer new loans. At the same time this was occurring, there was the distribution of unequal income. Businesses were showing great profits during the 1920‘s, however the working class only got a small portion of this wealth with their low wages. People with low incomes purchased merchandise on credit. People thought that they had more money to spend on materialistic possessions using credit. Advertising increased, enticing people with the â€Å"buy now, pay later† slogan which in turn caused many consumers to accumulate so much debt that were unable to keep up with payments on the items they purchased, and they were repossessed. Once the slowing of manufactured goods occurred, inventory accumulated and there was a backlog of purchasing merchandise which caused even less spending that didn’t help the economy. Another problem contributing to the Depression was the epic drought that occurred in 1930. During WWI, thousands of farmers migrated to the Great Plains area because of its rich