Reforming the mandatory minimum sentencing policy Research Proposal

Reforming the mandatory minimum sentencing policy - Research Proposal Example The spread of mandatory minimum penalties for offences together with the great increase in the numbers of people in prison has led to those dealing with criminal justice to re-evaluate this age-old issue. The number of people in US prisons has increased by approximately eight hundred percent since the eighties and this has forced the federal prisons to operate at almost forty percent above their normal capacity (Reamer, 2003). Despite the fact that the US has only 5% of the inhabitants of the world, its prisons hold almost twenty five percent of all the prisoners in the world. There are more than half a million federal prisoners in United States prisons and almost half of all these prisoners have been locked up for crimes that are linked to drugs and abuse of various substance. Furthermore, about nine million more people go through the country’s jails every year while around forty percent of the forty percent of people previous held as federal prisoners and almost sixty percent of those formerly held as state prisoners are arrested again of have their supervision canceled only three years after they leave jail. The mandatory minimum sentencing laws oblige compulsory prison sentences of specific lengths for the individuals who are found guilty of particular federal and state offences. These rigid legislations may appear as quick fix solutions for crime but they destabilize justice through inhibiting judges from giving the punishments to individuals based on the circumstances of their crimes. These laws have resulted in the number of prisoners increasing exponentially and thus leading to overcrowded prisons, unreasonable costs to the taxpayers as well as diversion of funds from other areas such as law enforcement (Cole & Smith, 2013). Most of the sentences under these laws are applicable for crimes associated with drugs; however, they also target other crimes such as specific gun, pornography and economic crimes. The mandatory minimum

PART 2 Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

PART 2 - Term Paper Example The law and the doctor’s code of ethics as well lays out the right of patients’ to confidentiality of their medical information or records. Breach of this confidentiality is punishable by law. If a hospital is proved to have made public such private information or voluntarily enabled third parties to access such information, its image can be damaged completely. Since health care is a very sensitive issue to individuals seeking treatment and they require their information to be treated with utmost confidentiality, it is very difficult for them to seek treatment to an institution where they are not certain of confidentiality. Therefore, a health organization can lose mush of its clients. This is also accompanied by financial losses as people will seek medical care elsewhere. Health organizations that operate through financial support from donors and well-wishers can lose this support if proved to be negligent of the right of patients in terms of confidentiality of the med ical records. On the other hand, breach of private medical information can also have adverse effects on the part of the patients. Some information is very sensitive and if it falls into the wrong hands, patients can be emotionally affected. For instance, disclosure of a patient’s HIV/AIDS status can lead to discrimination and stigmatization. There are a lot of negative effects that are associated with discrimination such as stress, or mental torture. Some people have even been reported to commit suicide as a result of discrimination and stigmatization. Disclosure of such information can also affect the social life of an individual as s/he may feel embarrassed if some private information falls way into the public. If private medical information of an individual falls into the hands of employers, some people may lose their job based on the severity of their medical problem. Some medical conditions have been proved to affect productivity of individuals in the workplaces as they may skip some days or take breaks from work to seek medical care. Therefore, an employer may terminate employment if such information falls into his/her hands. In addition, this may also directly affect other family members as they may also be discriminated against. For instance, a wife may be stigmatized or discriminated against if her husband’s HIV status is known by the public. In some parts of the world, certain medical conditions are regarded as a taboo and punishment from God hence may lead to discrimination (Cordess, 2001). In a nutshell, breach of patient’s medical records or information may have negative effects to the health care provider, patient, as well as other family members. References Banker, E. A. (2006). Institutional Review Board: Management and Function. New York, USA: Jones and Bartlett Learning. Cordess, C. (2001). Confidentiality and Mental Health. New York, USA: Jessica Kingsley Publishers. Assignment 2 Potential causes of breach of confidentia lity and assessment Confidentiality of patients’ medical records has been a sensitive issue over the recent past. As evidenced in many sources, there have been a lot of cases involving patients complaining of breach of confidentiality in terms of their medical records. In fact, many health care providers have in the past been sued and found guilty. This paper describes the possible causes of breach