Crime and Punishment Weekly Polls

A Gallop survey reported in October 2009 shows that the percentage of Americans who feel the gun laws should be stricter is at a new low of 44 percent down by 5 points compared to last year. What is your opinion?

Poll: Should the current gun laws be stricter?

1) Yes
2) No
3) Undecided

See Also: Record-Low Support for Stricter Gun Laws

Billy Joe Johnson is a white supremacist gangster who was convicted to 45 years in prison for murdering a man, but then later confessed to two more murders and asked for the death penalty. Was Johnson seeking redemption for his crimes? Apparently not, but rather to do his time on death row which he believes will offer him amenities he is currently without.

Also, as his attorney says, Johnson figures by the time the appeal process runs out he'll be 65 or older and will not want to live anyway.

Poll: Does the appeals process for death row inmates take too long?

1) Yes
2) No
3) Undecided

A Virginia man, Eric Williamson, was arrested and charged with indecent exposure for being nude in his home.

According to Williamson, he was in was in his home, packing and going back and forth to his kitchen at 5:30 a.m., in the nude. During that time a woman with her son cut through his lawn and spotted him in the house.

The woman, who was allegedly trespassing on his property, told police she thought Williamson purposely exposed himself to her and her son. Williamson said he never saw the woman and the entire incident took him by surprise.

Should the police drop the charges?

1) Yes. She was trespassing.
2) No. You shouldn't walk around nude if there is a chance you can be seen.
3) I don't know.

Five Florida teenage boys are accused of setting 15-year-old Michael Brewer on fire over a dispute about a video game and a bike. According to the Broward County Sheriff's Office, one 13-year-old and four 15-year-old boys allegedly doused Brewer with rubbing alcohol and then one boy flicked a lighter, setting him on fire.

Four of the accused have been charged with aggravated battery and the one teen that flicked the lighter is facing second-degree attempted murder charges.

Poll: Should the 15-year-old boys be tried as adults?

1) Yes
2) No
3) Undecided

The tragic death of Chicago high-school honors student Derrion Albert, 16, clearly demonstrates the violence which exists in and around schools across the nation.

Albert, who had never been involved in gang activity, was on his way to the bus stop after school when he was attacked by rival gangs made up of Chicago Fenger High School students.

Poll: Is there enough being done to make school zones safe for our children?

1) Yes. The authorities and school officials are doing their best.
2) No. If they were, this kind of incident wouldn't have happened.
3) Undecided

Oscar-winning movie director Roman Polanski is being held for extradition to the United States to face charges of having sex with a 13-year-old girl in 1977.

Poll: Should Roman Polanski be prosecuted?

1) Yes, he raped and sodomized a child.
2) No, the victim doesn't want to go through a possible trial.
3) Undecided

Last week a 20-year-old man known to some as horrocore rap singer Syko Sam was arrested and accused of killing a Virginia pastor and possibly three others in a Farmville, Virginia home.

Much of the lyrics of horrocore music focuses on such topics as Satanism, cannibalism, suicide, mutilation, murder and rape as can be seen in a song recorded by McCroskey called "My Dark Site" which goes, "You're not the first, just to let you know. I've killed many people and I kill them real slow. It's the best feeling, watching their last breath. Stabbing and stabbing till there's nothing left."

Poll: Does music with violent lyrics promote actual violence?

1)Yes
2)No
3)Undecided

A 64-year-old ex-convict plead no contest and served one year in prison for the sexual assault of a 4-year-old girl. Prosecutors said they agreed to the plea bargain because of a lack of evidence in the case and the judge approved it.

Poll: Should plea bargains like this be permitted in cases involving the sexual assault of a child?

1) Yes. It's better than nothing.
2) No. It serves no purpose.
3) Undecided

Case Background

The Tulsa World filed a lawsuit in Sept. 2009 against the U.S. Marshals Service seeking the release of jailhouse photos of federal inmates. The federal government protects the mug shots of its inmates, citing privacy rights. Oklahoma's Open Records Act, however, considers jail mug shots to be public documents.

Poll: Do you agree or disagree that jailhouse photos of federal inmates should be released?

1) Agree
2) Disagree
4) Undecided

Lynette "Squeaky" Fromme, the Charles Manson follower who tried to assassinate President Gerald Ford to gain publicity for a new trial for Manson was released on Aug. 14, 2009, from federal prison after serving 34 years behind bars.

Poll: Are you surprised Squeaky Fromme got paroled?

1) Yes.
2) No.
3) Undecided