6/14/08 Crime Poll: Atkins Seeks Compassionate Release
Former Charles Manson follower, Susan Atkins, 60, is expected to live less than six months due to a terminal illness, and wants "compassionate release" from prison to live freely in her last days. Atkins is one of the three Manson Family women responsible for the 1969 brutal slayings of seven people, including actress Sharon Tate.Poll: Should Susan Atkins be given compassionate release from prison?
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1) Yes. She has spent 37 years in prison for her crimes.
2) No. She was a brutal murderer and should die in jail.
3) Undecided
See Also:
Profile of Susan Atkins
Pictures of the Manson Family
6/7/08 Crime Poll: Are "Bait Cars" a Crime Deterrent?
In an effort to reduce auto theft, many police departments utilize decoy cars, or bait cars, which are equipped with cameras and tracking equipment. The program is supposed to deter would-be car thieves because the programs are widely publicized.Poll: Is the practice of using "bait cars" to catch car thieves a deterrent to crime or is it entrapment?
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1) Deterrent
2) Entrapment
3) Undecided
5/31/08 Crime Poll: The Hate Crime Debate
In Queens, New York, Nicholas Minucci, a Caucasian, fractured the skull of African American Glenn Moore with a baseball bat and robbed him in June 2005. Witnesses testified that Minucci used a racial slur before and during the attack.In October 1998, near Laramie, Wyoming, Russell Henderson and Aaron McKinney robbed, beat, and tied Matthew Shepard, a gay man, to a fence. Five days after the attack, Shepard died from his injuries.
In Houston, Texas, David Tuck attacked and sexually assaulted a Hispanic teenager with a pipe in April 2006. Tuck shouted “white power," raised his hand in a Nazi salute and yelled racial slurs during the attack.
Minucci was convicted of a hate crime. Wyoming, where Shepard was murdered, does not have a hate-crime statute. Houston authorities did not charge Tuck with a hate crime because the charges against him already carried a life sentence.
In many cases, hate may be seen or perceived to be the motivation for a crime, but criminals may not be charged with a hate crime for a variety of reasons — many of the same reasons that the debate on hate-crime laws continues in this country.
Other major questions in the debate includes the question for this week's poll:
Is it possible to determine without a doubt the motive behind a person's criminal acts?
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1) Yes, based on what they say while planning or committing the crime.
2) No. It's impossible to know for sure what motivates a criminal act.
3) Undecided.
Source: National Institute of Justice
5/24/08 Crime Poll: Does the Sentence Match the Crime?
Two 26-year-old mothers were at a bar when their house burned down, resulting in the death of five of their children. The women pleaded no contest and received a prison sentence of one to two years and five years' probation.The women told police that the children were under a babysitter's care, but a police investigation determined two eight-year-old boys were left in charge. The fire began as a result of the children playing with matches.
Poll: Does the sentence match the crime?
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1) Yes. One to two years is a tough enough sentence.
2) No. The sentence is as lax as the mothers were in caring for their children.
3) Undecided.
5/16/08 Crime Poll: Should This Dad Go To Jail?
An Ohio man who was ordered by a juvenile court judge to make sure that his daughter passed her GED exam has been sentenced to six months in jail because his 18-year-old daugher and the mother of an 18-month-old child, has yet to pass the test.Poll: Is the judge's sentence fair?
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1) Yes. The father should have raised his daughter better.
2) No. He did everything he could.
3) Undecided.
See Also:
Girl Fails GED, Dad Sent to Jail
5/9/08 Should Bad Prosecutors be Convicted?
So many convictions have been overturned when DNA evidence later exonerated defendants one district attorney says prosecutors who intentionally withhold evidence from the defense should face criminal charges or other sanctions.Poll: Should prosecutors who intentionally withhold evidence from the defense face criminal charges?
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1) Yes. Withholding evidence undermines our judicial system.
2) Yes. They should get the same sentence as the defendant.
3) No. Too many guilty criminals get off on technicalities.
4) No. They should be disbarred.
5) It depends on the case.
See Also:
5/2/08 Crime Poll: D.C. Madam Commits Suicide
Deborah Jean Palfrey, also know as the D.C. Madam, was found dead by suicide in a shed by her mother's house in Florida. Palfrey was facing sentencing after being found guilty of running a prostitution service and convicted of money laundering, using the mail for illegal purposes and racketeering.Poll: Was the government too aggressive in its prosecution of Palfrey?
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1) Yes, after all, prostitution is a misdemeanor.
2) No, they were doing their jobs.
3) Yes, the investigation was politically motivated.
4) I'm not sure.
See Also: Federal Jury Convicts 'D.C. Madam'
