Judith Anne Neelley Essay Example for Free

Judith Anne Neelley Essay Judith Anne Neelley belongs to the growing list of women offenders convicted for heinous crimes. Just 18 years old, she was convicted in 1983 in Alabama for the brutal murder of a young girl and was meted the death penalty. However, contrasting views of whether the death penalty should be implemented and racial bias as well, influenced a former governor of the state to commute her sentence to life imprisonment in 1999 (ProsandCons.us, 2009). Her Crimes Sometime in 1980, she robbed a woman inside a mall at gunpoint (Ramsland, 2007). Two years later, she lured and kidnapped Lisa Ann Millican, 13 years old of Rome, Georgia, who was under the auspices of a home for neglected girls (Ramsland, 2007). She was sexually assaulted, stabbed, injected with drain cleaner, shot to death and her body pushed down a mountain where it was found days later (Ashley, 1999). After this, she persuaded a man and his companion to ride with her and show her around the town because she was new there. She then shot but did not kill the man John Hancock and took her girlfriend Janice Chatman to a motel where she and her husband molested and raped her (O’Shea, 1999). Over-all, she was involved in 15 murders that occurred not only in Georgia but also in Tennessee and Alabama (O’Shea, 1999). She also continually committed minor offenses such as swindling, car theft, petty theft, robbery and minor assaults (Furio, 2001). Social Background Judith Neelley did not attend middle school or high school and she was not known to hold any permanent job, doing odd jobs and also swindling and robbing in order to survive (Wetsch, 2005). As a teenager, she spent time in a youth center, having been abandoned by her parents. There she claimed that she was sexually assaulted (Wetsch, 2005). She was pregnant during her detention for armed robbery and at 15-years old she gave birth to twins (O’Shea, 1999). Her third child was also born in prison just before her trial for the murder of Lisa Millican. There is no mention of her family or childhood in the literature encountered as she was not fond of giving interviews. Marriage and Family Life At a very early age, she married Alvin Neelley who was twice her age, an ex-convict who served time for shooting his first wife. With their common behavior of being violent towards women, Alvin figured as a partner in the crimes she instigated. They referred to themselves as The Nightrider and Lady Sundance (Ramsland, 2007). Following his release from prison for their robbery in 1980, Alvin took a job at a gas station and used his earnings to buy two cars with CB radios installed (Wetsch, 2005). Judith will drive around to look for the next victim and will radio Alvin to join her when the victim is in the car. Their relationship, though sexual in nature, was at times violent and lasted because of this partnership. Â  According to her husband, Judith’s personality was very dominant and she was violent which accounted for her strong influence over him. Alvin Neelley later stated that he went along because his wife had such power over other people and he was left with no choice (Ramsland, 2007). On the other hand, Judith stated during the trial that she took women and young girls to please her husband because he wanted them, that he willingly planned and executed the acts, that he battered her and threatened her children to force her to take part (O’Shea, 1999). However, investigators and the jury eventually agreed that Judith actively participated in the killing sprees as the brains behind the murders (Kelleher Kelleher, 1998). While on predating sprees, she brought her children along. They helped her earn the trust of the people she lured. The toddlers witnessed the sexual molestation and torture of Lisa Millican and the other victims by their mother. This type of parenting, husband and wife relationship and over-all family life deviates from what is typical. Contributing Factors She was not found by the jury to be mentally disturbed or to be an abused wife factors which could help explain her brutal behavior. After her conviction, she appealed to the court but exhausted the appeals process with futility (ProsandCons.us, 2009). Does this person fit the profile of the typical offender for this type of crime? Judith Neelley did not fit the profile of the typical murderer. She was female, white, a young mother, slim and blond. Females were generally regarded as soft, caring or docile and not aggressive or violent (Schurman-Kauflin, 2000). At the time she committed murder, the stereotype of persons who had the capacity to perform such crimes was male and probably black. For this reason, it was not seriously believed at first that she perpetrated the murders (Texas AM International University, 2004). Initially, the burden of accountability for the acts was brought heavily on her husband because he was the male. At the end of the trial, she got the death penalty while her husband got two life terms. Based on current information on criminal behavior however, Judith Anne Neelley fits the profile of a female serial team killer. Because she lacked the strength to subdue victims or carry dead bodies, she raped and killed together with her husband who was also a sexual killer (Kelleher Kelleher, 1998). Only one thing sets her apart from other females in serial team killing she had already attempted to kill a man by shooting him before she even met her husband (Furio, 2001). She was delinquent as a teenager and before age 20, performed her first serial killing. Very sociable, she was able to talk her victims, either when they were alone or with their companions, into going for a ride with her in her car (TAMIU, 2004). She felt herself superior over others and called the authorities about Lisa Millican and where her body could be found, implicating a warden as the one responsible. She was cruel, merciless and delighted in the suffering and death of her victims. During the trial, she played the role of victim in saying that she was a battered wife so that her husband would get the maximum penalty while she will serve time only as an accomplice (TAMIU, 2004). Which crime theory that we have studied comes closest to explaining this offender’s behavior? The strain theory of crime causation comes closest to explaining Judith Neelley’s behavior. The extreme stress from social and economic factors that she experienced as a young girl being abandoned by her family, her poverty and then being sexually molested while in a juvenile center, all contributed in pushing her to commit crime. Unsuccessful in obtaining power from money or education, she killed others to feel powerful. List of References Ashley, D. (1999). Woman Loses Death Row Appeal. Retrieved 9 April 2009 from http://www.equaljustice.ca/cgi-bin/forum.cgi/noframes/read/6290. Furio, J. (2001). Team Killers: A Comparative Study of Collaborative Criminals. New York: Algora. Kelleher, M. and Kelleher, C.L. (1998). Murder Most Rare: The Female Serial Killer. Connecticut: Praeger Publishers. Â  O’Shea, K. (1999). Women and the Death Penalty in the United States: 1900-1998. Connecticut: Praeger Publishers. ProsandCons.us (2009). Conversion of a Killer. Retrieved 9 April 2009 from http://prosandcons.us/?cat=61

Radicalism :: essays research papers

The world of American radicalism has changed greatly over the past century. Organizations ranging from the Ku Klux Klan, founded in 1866 to more recently organized groups like the Militia Movement, only about ten years old show the transitions in American radicalism, and the different states it has endured.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  It is believed that the first incarnate of the racist right, as a political position started during the French Revolution with the myth of a Jewish conspiracy. Over many years this spread into the 20th century gaining popularity in the 1920’s. This was an added inspiration for the Ku Klux Klan, and added to their anti-black and anti-catholic agendas.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The Ku Klux Klan was started by six young men who organized a fraternal club where they would wear costumes and ride around after dark. They soon realized they were instilling fear into the community, but predominantly in the areas where the former slaves were living. Seeing this effect they quickly gained members, and within a year they began to structure rules for their organization. Inciting terror was their first goal, but it didn’t take long for them to act out further by harassment, arson and even murder of not just Blacks, but also Northern teachers, judges, politicians, or anyone they felt went against their code.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  From 1915 until 1924 the Ku Klux Klan enjoyed a huge growth in membership. At one point they claimed more then 100,000 members, and at one point 40,000 of them marched in Washington D.C. during a Democratic National Convention. The Klan was so influential that it actually attracted new allies and members from the political body, primarily in the Mid-West. As the Klan grew it became increasingly violent and uncontrollable. This went against the image they were trying to present of â€Å"Law and Order.† Shortly after, in 1929 the Ku Klux Klan dissolved into many dozens of smaller, local groups.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Though currently suffering its greatest decline since the 1940s, with its three most prominent national units of the era: the United Clans of America, the Invisible Empire Knights of the KKK and the Knights of the KKK, either defunct or factionalized, America's oldest hate group, the codes of the Ku Klux Klan continues to operate on a local level, in some instances still engaging in illegal acts of violence and intimidation.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The Christian Knights of the Ku Klux Klan was formed in 1985 by Virgil Griffin and based in Mount Holly, North Carolina.

Article Rebuttal Essay

Abortion is a disagreement that has been discuss for years. Kenny, Ph. D. and Swope (2013) of American Thinker has share with its’ audience the understanding of the struggle women has in making a decision to continue a pregnancy or to abort an unplanned pregnancy. In analyze the information in the article the reliability, credibility, and validity of the data used by Kenny, Ph. D. and Swope comes from independent psychological analysis of women’s hidden, emotional response to pregnancy, abortion, and motherhood (Kenny, Ph. D. & Swope, 2013). The writers of this article indicated that the interviews took from 75 to 110 minutes, which require them to visualize, replicate, and use relaxation techniques in accessing these individual emotional minds, and to uncover deeply seated emotional needs and barriers (Kenny, Ph. D. & Swope, 2013). Significantly, some of these problems that relates to abortion are ethical, and religion. However, a woman has right to do whatever she want to her own body and upon her own judgment, whether it is to keep the baby or to have an abortion. In Fact, a woman has the authority to make the decision whether to have an abortion or not based on her personal desire, financial status, or unwanted pregnancy. Kenny, Ph. D. and Swope (2013) have provided information regarding the circumstances and how abortion can affect a woman mental state of mind. Most important is to deny a fetus by terminate the fetus merely does not mean that the person is slaughter a person. It could be that the pregnancy was an unplanned pregnancy from rape, incest, or the feeling of not wanting to bring a child in the world under certain circumstances. An example would be a medical condition that may be a live or dead situation or simply because she not ready for motherhood because of her age. For instant, a teenage girl between the age of 14 and 20 still in high school and going to college and who is struggling with finances are liable to have an abortion. She may become remorseful, but she has to think about how pregnancy can affect her future and life. In conclusion, a woman rights to be pregnant or to abort an unwanted pregnancy should solely be left up to her no matter what her reason may be. Because she is the one that have to deal with the issues of bring a child in the world or removing the fetus to remove the stress not those groups such as the pro-lifer.

Lab Report Spring Steel 60si2crva Foils With A Thickness...

Spring steel 60Si2CrVA foils with a thickness of 120 ÃŽ ¼m were purchased from Feintool Co, Shenzhen, Guangdong and used as the contacting foils. Foils with a diameter of 15 mm were cut out of the 60Si2CrVA foils. The under surface of these round foils were burnished with SiC papers and then polished with silk, and the thickness of contacting foils were reduced to ∠¼100 ÃŽ ¼m. After polishing, the round contacting foils were cleaned with acetone and then ethanol. The surface roughness of the polished surface of the contacting foil was ∠¼Ra 100 nm. A 3M black polyester tape (thickness of 80 ÃŽ ¼m) with a layer of glue (thickness of 10 ÃŽ ¼m) was then sticked to the upper surface of round contacting foils and covered with micro wave-like surface of†¦show more content†¦In this study, ABAQUS was used to compute the dynamic evolution of the micro-feature when subjected to LSWP impact. The contact type of the contacting foil and the micro-feature is â€Å"surface-to-surf ace contact† with â€Å"non-friction.† 3.1 Meshing For the treated feature to be round, an axisymmetric 2D model was constructed to simulate the LSWP process. The model comprised CAX4R elements (Continuum, Axisymmetric, 4 nodes, Reduced integration), with a BIAS function in x-direction and z-direction to allow a denser mesh near the micro-feature. The element size and quantity are shown in Fig. 3. The element quantity of the model was 32856. A convergence study was also conducted. The element quantity of the contrastive models was 79200 and 472480. The results show that the maximum residual stress error is 2.16%, and the maximum displacement error was 1.78%, indicating that the results of this study were convergent. To remove the effect of the reflective shock wave, infinite elements were used at the bottom and the edge of the model (as shown in Fig. 3) [7–9]. The contacting foil is also meshed. 3.2 Calculation steps The FEM calculation was performed in two steps, and ABAQUS/Explicit code was used in both the steps [9]. During the first step, a pressure pulse (Fig. 4) is applied to the contacting foil, and the total step time is 300 ns with an increment of 1 ns. The purpose of this step is to master the dynamic