Drug-trafficking in the USA Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Drug-trafficking in the USA - Essay Example The Sinaloa Cartel supplies all five illicit drugs to expanded areas of the United States including cities and regions in the South. Los Zetas, Gulf Cartel, and Juà ¡rez Cartel mainly sell cocaine and marijuana to regions including New York, Florida, Southeast, Southwest and so on. BLO supplies cocaine, heroin, and marijuana while the remaining two cartels – LFM and Tijuana Cartel – sell cocaine, heroin, marijuana, and methamphetamine in almost the same primary regions. Overall, Mexican TCOs have their presence in more than thousand cities of the United States (US Department of Justice 2011, 7). Columbian TCOs also operate in various cities of the United States but mainly as remains of larger drug cartels. Columbian TCOs are involved with producing two illicit drugs, heroin and cocaine, as well as its transportation across the Columbian border. Transportation occurs primarily via smuggling pathways involving both air and sea channels often transiting through the Caribb ean. The primary regions of their operations are eastern markets of the US including major cities like New York and South Florida. Columbian TCOs also sell their drugs to Mexican traffickers and supply drugs to European markets.Ethnic Vietnamese TCOs, based out of Canada, are also active in the drug trade. They deal in MDMA and marijuana produced in Canada and smuggle them out of the country via the US-Canada border. The Northern Border acts as the main transportation route for the Canadian-based Asian traffickers.

Corrections Trend Evaluation Essay Example for Free

Corrections Trend Evaluation Essay This paper explains the many trends in the public and institutional criminal justice system. These trends, starting from the past, push the research into the present and future with the implementation of continuing trends and perspective ideations to aid in the progress and advancement of criminal procedures. This paper starts with the history of community and commercial criminal justice and attaches the proceedings to the present-day standing. This paper also shows an idealistic and theoretical analogy of how the criminal justice system may look in the future based on current trends. Past Trends Stories mentioning jails are throughout history even back to biblical times, however, America did not have an official penitentiary until 1790 at which time Philadelphia constructed the Walnut Street Jail. It was during this time that the root word of penitentiary took on its new form. Prisoners in early times were sent with the aim of the punishment in the form of penance, thus with any luck resulting in purity of personal reform. Inmates are kept in single cell units at all-times, even for meals. Recreation was not an option. In the rare event, that an inmate did leave the cell, a mask, or hood is required (Johnson Dobrzanska, 2005). The goal is to lead a monk style life, thus providing a Bible to all inmates is mandatory, and it is a hope that the offenders would spend their sentences preparing to live law-abiding lives as governed by Gods word, following their release. This type of containment for inmate is known as the separate system. On the flipside of the separate system is the congregate system, and the first notation of its use, is by the Auburn Prison (Johnson Dobrzanska, 2005). Prisoners still lived a life of confinement while in their cell, but with this system, they coexist with other inmates for work and meals. Although this is a change, inmates never speak a word and many recall the only sound coming from workshops within the prison and the marching of inmates (Johnson Dobrzanska, 2005). Present Trends Much has changed following the days when inmates donned masks or hoods just to walk down a corridor within prisons walls. Prior to the 1960s, both the public and the courts developed a hands off policy toward the conditions and practices within criminal facilities (Martin, Katsampes, 2007). The reasoning behind this was a notion that correctional administrators knew how to best control both inmates and correctional facilities. However, during the 1960s and the 1970s, while people outside were rallying for civil rights of different groups of people, inmates were inside prisons rallying for prisoners rights. At this point, the criminal justice system and treatment of inmates take a poignant turn in history. The decision of the courts allowed the trend to move from inmates living a monk style lifestyle to inmates who currently have access to courts, counsel, mail, more choices for reading material and libraries, medical care, food services, recreation, exercise, and due process. Because of this society now, sees correctional facilities were inmates coexist around other inmates, as well as seeing inmates legally counseling other inmates in their cases as well as appealing and representing themselves in court. We have TV crews going into facilities and providing the public with firsthand accounts of life within the jails. However with the changes come downfalls in the goals for incarceration. No longer is the goal one of penance, it has since changed to a goal of punishment. The focus is holding an offender accountable for illegal acts as well as a means to discourage offenders from committing future criminal acts, and with any luck discourage others in communities from following in the same tracks as current inmates. Because of this trend, the judicial systems as well as correctional facilities have increased to a level of concern. Another unfortunate outcome of the changing of times comes the changing of the importance behind rehabilitation. According to Martin, and Katsampes (2007), rehabilitation, and reintegration rank as secondary goals. Noted, especially for this theory are the jails, as they do not attempt to provide inmates with opportunities for self-help or change to deter future criminal behavior. Luckily, community-based corrections are stepping up to assist in the rehabilitation of offenders. Programs such as community-based centers are offering their assistance in reintegrating inmates back into society. These types of centers operate within a private sector and offer assistance in areas, such as returning to school for finding employment as well as enrolling the participants into classes such as cognitive self-changing classes, parenting classes as well as drug and alcohol programs. Another example of community-based corrections focuses on alleviating the overcrowding issues seen within the correctional facilities. These programs encompass opportunities such as bail supervision programs, community service orders, work-release centers, electronic monitoring, probation, or other alternative measure programs (John Howard Society of Alberta, 1998). Each of these community-based correctional programs poses significant benefits to alleviating the correctional facilities problem with them experiencing just too many inmates. The bail supervision programs release the offender to a member of the community, while that person is awaiting trial. This program not only holds the offender accountable for not screwing up while awaiting trial, it also holds someone else accountable for those peoples actions as well. Many times this takes place in the form of bail or following the release of an offender on recognizance also known as RoR. Community service is another fine example of the serving of punishment. This program allows offenders to give back to the community by means of working within the community. Many times community service takes place at a local store such as the Youth Ranch, other times it will be strictly with the city or county, doing things such as working at the local landfill, or cleaning court offices and other associated buildings. Offenders in this program, report at a scheduled time to the jail and receive their daily work assignment, form that point until the remainder of their day, they work under the supervision of the jail staff. Work release centers offer the opportunity for inmates to leave the facility to fulfill work schedules obtained prior to sentencing. Most inmates must pay a higher fee for this opportunity but can have someone approved by the facility to transport the inmate to and from work, however, the inmates are also subject to random checks by authorities to ensure they are accounted for at all times. Future Trends and Issues As time continues to evolve, the judicial system is bound to encounter the continuation of trends as society is beginning to see in both past and present times. It impossible for one to say what will or will not happen to the future correctional facilities, but through monitoring of the past, one can begin to see a devastating trend form. By removing the rehabilitation aspect and imposing the punishment aspect, the system continues to enable the cycle, thus bringing it to the point it is today. Research suggests that the trends both courts and facilities will face include that of continued prison growth as well as the potential for early release patterns (The Sentencing Project, n.d.). By the courts handing down sentences strictly for a punishment reason, they are enabling the continuation of a growth that already exceeds maximum capacity within the facilities. A suggestion to combat this scenario and alleviate the congestion within the facilities is to take advantage of the community-based programs available for offenders who do not pose a significant threat to themselves, or to society. The punishment aspect of the crime is satisfied by the courts and the chances of rehabilitation are greater in this case than they would be, compared to taking advantage of the smaller programs available while in jail. This scenario plays on with the second possible trend that if offenders are still sent to the correctional facilities, not only will the continuation of over crowdedness still be in place but also eventually something will have to take place to correct it. The something will have to include releasing certain inmates earlier than intended by the courts, thus risking the safety of not only others in society but also the released inmates, and increasing the possibility of recidivism. Conclusion This paper covers many trends in the public and institutional criminal justice system. These trends, starting from the past, push the research into the present and future with the implementation of continuing trends and perspective ideations to aid in the progress and advancement of criminal procedures. The first section of this paper covers the history of the commercial criminal justice and follows it up through the present-day. Finally, the paper details through logic how the criminal justice system may look in the future based on the current trends already set in motion. References John Howard Society of Alberta. (1998). Community Corrections. Retrieved from http://www.johnhoward.ab.ca/pub/C29.htm Johnson, R., Dobrzanska, A., and Palla, S. (2005). The American prison in historical perspective. Retrieved from http://www.jblearning.com/samples/0763729043/Chapter_02.pdf Martin, M., Katsampes, P. (2007). Sheriffs guide to effective jail operations. Retrieved from http://static.nicic.gov/Library/021925.pdf The Sentencing Project. (n.d.). U.S. prison population: Trends and implications. Retrieved from http://www.prisonpolicy.org/scans/sp/1044.pdf

The Circularity of Life in Tess of the DUrbervilles :: Tess of the DUrbervilles

The Circularity of Life in Tess of the D'Urbervilles  Ã‚   Thesis: Hardy is concerned with the natural cycles of the world, and the disruption caused by convention, which usurps nature's role. He combats convention with the voice of the individual and the continuing circularity of nature. Phase the First: The Circles of Life The circularity of life is a major theme of the novel. Hardy treats it as the natural order of things. The structure of the novel reflects this reigning image of the circle at several levels. First, the use of seasons to denote the passage of time implies circularity rather than a linear world-view. Years are shown as repetitions with variations rather than as new creations. Tess herself views time in this way, as she reflects on the various recurring dates which mark events in her life. "She philosophically noted dates as they came past in the revolution of the year; the disastrous night of her undoing at Trantidge with its dark background of the Chase; also the dates of the baby's birth and death; also her own birthday; and every other day individualized by incidents in which she had taken some share. She suddenly thought one afternoon... that there was yet another date, of greater importance to her than those; that of her own death" (149). In the novel, the past and the future are merely points on the cycle which nature designs. Reveals the destructive aspect of this realization to Angel when she declares her disinclination to study history which will only tell that she is "one of a long row only... just like thousands' and thousands'" (182). Secondly, the plot itself is not only circular, but contains a myriad of smaller circles within it. The main circle of the plot is from the discovery of the D'Urberville Tombs to Tess's death. Within this circle revolve others. The life and death of Sorrow is a small circle within the larger one. Alec D'Urberville's repentance and recantation form another. Clare's and Tess's physical journeys towards and away from and back again to each other represent more circles. Hardy's consistent use of these circles in the plot reinforces their importance to the theme. The diction of the novel seems designed to forcefully remind the reader of this theme. At the start of the novel Tess and her companions dance in a circle on the gr een; at it's end, she stops to rest at Stonehenge.

The Knight´s Yeoman Essay -- Knight Yeoman Essays

The Knight ´s Yeoman He was born in a castle sometime during the twelfth century. It was the same castle that his father and grandfather before him had been born and lived in all their lives. The estate was magnificent and completely self-sustaining. The grounds around the main citadel stretched for miles and included vineyards and farmland as well as fields for cattle and sheep. A small freshwater lake nearby fed several streams which supplied water to the manor house and provided for irrigation. Only a few miles away on the coast was a harbor which attracted trading ships from all around Europe. The castle itself was enormous and could house hundreds in complete comfort and security. Outer walls had been constructed one hundred feet high and twelve feet thick to withstand the fiercest of sieges. Inside the barbicans, however, these same walls were covered with luxurious handmade tapestries depicting scenes of everyday life to maintain the warmth dispersed by the many fireplaces within. Overall the stru cture rivaled in opulence and fortifications the palaces possessed by the wealthiest and most powerful of kings. Unfortunately, it wasn't his castle, nor would it ever be. He entered the world with a particular status in life. Unless misfortune befell him, he would leave the world as an old man just as he had entered it, a yeoman in servitude to a knight of the realm. The yeoman's education came as an apprenticeship in a trade. Only royalty or those destined for the church ever learned to read or write. There would never be any choice for what profession or for what goals one might wish to achieve. One simply did whatever one was born into doing. There was a rigid caste system to follow, and so in the steps of his father and grandfather, he learned the art of being a woodsman. From the earliest moments of his life, the yeoman spent his youth serving the needs of the woods surrounding the estate learning how to use every element of the forest. Whether it was cultivating wood for carpentry, or studying the migratory habits of game animals, he learned to survive and exist under the trees. There would be no other teachers for him other than his father and the older apprentices also in servitude. The apprentices would sometimes spend weeks and even months in the surrounding forests. Living in shelters made from branches and wearing clothes fabricated f... ...th life and battle and had little respect for the ways of chivalry. His first love was for women, and he cared little for devotion to either God or the kingdom. On many occasions long into the night before a battle when time should have been spent praying for divine protection, he was found in the arms of a woman. He had been lucky so far that his recklessness had not gotten him killed or captured. Nevertheless, all this was of little concern to him, he was young and handsome and felt that he had a world of women to conquer. Chaucer in describing the lusty bachelor stated that: "So hote he loved that by nightertale. He slepte namore than dooth a nightingale" And so it came to pass one spring that upon returning from a winter campaign, the knight felt it an opportune time to take his son on a pilgrimage to visit the shrine of St. Thomas Becket at Canterbury. It would be both an opportunity for them to express their sincere devotion to God as well as spend some pleasurable time together. They would spend several weeks on the road and so again the yeoman was conscripted as their servant. He would act as their valet as he watched over them while they traveled along the road.

Part Five Chapter VII

XII Halfway down his packet of Rolos, Robbie became extremely thirsty. Krystal had not bought him a drink. He climbed off the bench and crouched down in the warm grass, where he could still see her outline in the bushes with the stranger. After a while, he scrambled down the bank towards them. †M thirsty,' he whined. ‘Robbie, get out of it!' screamed Krystal. ‘Go an' sit on the bench!' ‘Wanna drink!' ‘Fuckin' – go an' wai' by the bench, an' I'll gerra drink in a minute! Go ‘way, Robbie!' Crying, he climbed back up the slippery bank to the bench. He was accustomed to not being given what he wanted, and disobedient by habit, because grown-ups were arbitrary in their wrath and their rules, so he had learned to seize his tiny pleasures wherever and whenever he could. Angry at Krystal, he wandered a little way from the bench along the road. A man in sunglasses was walking along the pavement towards him. (Gavin had forgotten where he had parked the car. He had marched out of Mary's and walked straight down Church Row, only realizing that he was heading in the wrong direction when he drew level with Miles and Samantha's house. Not wanting to pass the Fairbrothers' again, he had taken a circuitous route back to the bridge. He saw the boy, chocolate-stained, ill-kempt and unappealing, and walked past, with his happiness in tatters, half wishing that he could have gone to Kay's house and been silently cradled †¦ she had always been nicest to him when he was miserable, it was what had attracted him to her in the first place.) The rushing of the river increased Robbie's thirst. He cried a bit more as he changed direction and headed away from the bridge, back past the place where Krystal was hidden. The bushes had started shaking. He walked on, wanting a drink, then noticed a hole in a long hedge on the left of the road. When he drew level, he spotted a playing field beyond. Robbie wriggled through the hole and contemplated the wide green space with its spreading chestnut tree and goal posts. Robbie knew what they were, because his cousin Dane had showed him how to kick a football at the play park. He had never seen so much greenness. A woman came striding across the field, with her arms folded and her head bowed. (Samantha had been walking at random, walking and walking, anywhere as long as it was nowhere near Church Row. She had been asking herself many questions and coming up with few answers; and one of the questions she asked herself was whether she might not have gone too far in telling Miles about that stupid, drunken letter, which she had sent out of spite, and which seemed much less clever now †¦ She glanced up and her eyes met Robbie's. Children often wriggled through the hole in the hedge to play in the field at weekends. Her own girls had done it when they were younger. She climbed over the gate and turned away from the river towards the Square. Self-disgust clung to her, no matter how hard she tried to outrun it.) Robbie went back through the hole in the hedge and walked a little way along the road after the striding lady, but she was soon out of sight. The half-packet of remaining Rolos were melting in his hand, and he did not want to put them down, but he was so thirsty. Maybe Krystal had finished. He wandered back in the opposite direction. When he reached the first patch of bushes on the bank, he saw that they were not moving, so he thought it was all right to approach. ‘Krystal,' he said. But the bushes were empty. Krystal was gone. Robbie started to wail and shout for Krystal. He clambered back up the bank and looked wildly up and down the road, but there was no sign of her. ‘Krystal!' he yelled. A woman with short silver hair glanced at him, frowning, as she trotted briskly along the opposite pavement. Shirley had left Lexie at the Copper Kettle, where she seemed happy, but a short way across the Square she had caught a glimpse of Samantha, who was the very last person she wanted to meet, so she had taken off in the opposite direction. The boy's wails and squawks echoed behind her as she hurried along. Shirley's fist was clutched tightly around the EpiPen in her pocket. She would not be a dirty joke. She wanted to be pure and pitied, like Mary Fairbrother. Her rage was so enormous, so dangerous, that she could not think coherently: she wanted to act, to punish, to finish. Just before the old stone bridge, a patch of bushes shivered to Shirley's left. She glanced down and caught a disgusting glimpse of something sordid and vile, and it drove her on. Part Five Chapter VII VII ‘Fuckin' shurrup, Robbie! Shurrup!' Krystal had dragged Robbie to a bus stop several streets away, so that neither Obbo nor Terri could find them. She was not sure she had enough money for the fare, but she was determined to get to Pagford. Nana Cath was gone, Mr Fairbrother was gone, but Fats Wall was there, and she needed to make a baby. ‘Why wuz ‘e in the room with yeh?' Krystal shouted at Robbie, who grizzled and did not answer. There was only a tiny amount of battery power left on Terri's mobile phone. Krystal called Fats' number, but it went to voicemail. In Church Row, Fats was busy eating toast and listening to his parents having one of their familiar, bizarre conversations in the study across the hall. It was a welcome distraction from his own thoughts. The mobile in his pocket vibrated but he did not answer it. There was nobody he wanted to talk to. It would not be Andrew. Not after last night. ‘Colin, you know what you're supposed to do,' his mother was saying. She sounded exhausted. ‘Please, Colin – ‘ ‘We had dinner with them on Saturday night. The night before he died. I cooked. What if – ‘ ‘Colin, you didn't put anything in the food – for God's sake, now I'm doing it – I'm not supposed to do this, Colin, you know I'm not supposed to get into it. This is your OCD talking.' ‘But I might've, Tess, I suddenly thought, what if I put something – ‘ ‘Then why are we alive, you, me and Mary? They did a post-mortem, Colin!' ‘Nobody told us the details. Mary never told us. I think that's why she doesn't want to talk to me any more. She suspects.' ‘Colin, for Christ's sake – ‘ Tessa's voice became an urgent whisper, too quiet to hear. Fats' mobile vibrated again. He pulled it out of his pocket. Krystal's number. He answered. ‘Hiya,' said Krystal, over what sounded like a kid shouting. ‘D'you wanna meet up?' ‘Dunno,' yawned Fats. He had been intending to go to bed. ‘I'm comin' into Pagford on the bus. We could hook up.' Last night he had pressed Gaia Bawden into the railings outside the town hall, until she had pulled away from him and thrown up. Then she had started to berate him again, so he had left her there and walked home. ‘I dunno,' he said. He felt so tired, so miserable. ‘Go on,' she said. From the study, he heard Colin. ‘You say that, but would it show up? What if I – ‘ ‘Colin, we shouldn't be going into this – you're not supposed to take these ideas seriously.' ‘How can you say that to me? How can I not take it seriously? If I'm responsible – ‘ ‘Yeah, all right,' said Fats to Krystal. ‘I'll meet you in twenty, front of the pub in the Square.'

The Power of Emotion Essay

The Power of Emotion Essay The Power of Emotion Essay The power of the human mind is remarkable. The emotions the mind creates influence the decisions and actions of individuals; these feelings can leads to one's success or one's failures. In William Shakespeare's Hamlet, the emotion of fear plays a significant role in the advancement of the plot through Hamlet's fear of the unknown, Claudius' fear of retribution, and Gertrude's fear of loneliness. Due to the unpredictable outcome of the future, Hamlet fears taking action in the present. Through out the play procrastination in one of Hamlet's predominant flaws that keeps him from following through with his course of action. Hamlet feels the needs to ensure that Claudius is responsible for his father's untimely death and does so by sharing his plan with Horatio. He instructs him to: "Observe mine uncle: if his occulted guilt do not unkennel in one speech, It is a dammed ghost that we have seen..." (3.2. 79-81) Hamlet continuously delays his plan for revenge by going to great lengths in order to prove Claudius' guilt. He needs confirmation numerous times before he takes action. These delays are a result of his fear for his unknown future. The immediate remarriage between Gertrude and Claudius following the death of Hamlet Sr demonstrates the vulnerability and fear of loneliness that Gertrude possesses. The sudden romance has an impact on Hamlet that causes him to display his distaste towards his mother when he says: Let me not think on't Frailty, thy name is woman! A little month, or ere those shoes were old With which she followed my poor father's body, Like Niobe, all tears;why she, even she, O God! a beast that wants discourse of reason Would have mourn'd longer, married with mine uncle, My father's brother, but no more like my father Than I to Hercules: within a month; (1.2. 147-153) Gertrude uses the attention of another man to overcome her grief. In this speech Hamlet compares her to a beast and expresses his feelings of betrayal by his mother. He recognizes her lack of independence and he refers to her as a disgrace. Gertrude's fear of loneliness affect her emotions and contribute to Hamlet's reasoning. Hamlet's unpredictable state of mind and impetuous actions leave Claudius uncertain and in fear of retribution. Following the performance The Mousetrap Claudius expresses his outrage towards Hamlet. He comes to

Free Essays on The Society Of The Victorian Age

Showing their role in society, women in literature are often portrayed in a male dominated position. Especially in the nineteenth century, women were repressed and controlled by their husbands as well as other male influences. â€Å"The writings of mid-century women often reveal much about their perception of themselves† (Rose). In "The Yellow Wallpaper", by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, the protagonist is oppressed and represents the effect of the oppression of women in society. â€Å"Gilman used the story to illustrate her belief in the great need for social reform in the Victorian Age and the potentially crippling effects that lack of opportunity has on women† (Johnson). This effect is created by the use of complex symbols such as the house, the nursery room, and the wallpaper which, encourages her oppression as well as her self expression. It is customary to find the symbol of the house as representing a secure place for a woman's transformation and her release of self expression. However, in this story, the house is not her own and she does not want to be in it. It represents a prison in which she is trapped. She declares it is "haunted" and that " there is something strange about the house"(Gilman 195). Although she acknowledges the beauty of the house and especially what surrounds it, she constantly goes back to her feelings that "there is something strange about the house"(Gilman 195). Her first impression of the house almost tells you that the narrator knows of the upcoming transformation that will take place in the house while she is there. The location of the house, 3 miles from the nearest village, its slight state of disrepair symbolizes the narrator’s mental condition as being that of isolation and segregation. Another significant setting is the nursery room, â€Å"It was a nursery first, and then a playroom and gymnasium, I should judge for the windows are barred for little children, and there are ... Free Essays on The Society Of The Victorian Age Free Essays on The Society Of The Victorian Age Showing their role in society, women in literature are often portrayed in a male dominated position. Especially in the nineteenth century, women were repressed and controlled by their husbands as well as other male influences. â€Å"The writings of mid-century women often reveal much about their perception of themselves† (Rose). In "The Yellow Wallpaper", by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, the protagonist is oppressed and represents the effect of the oppression of women in society. â€Å"Gilman used the story to illustrate her belief in the great need for social reform in the Victorian Age and the potentially crippling effects that lack of opportunity has on women† (Johnson). This effect is created by the use of complex symbols such as the house, the nursery room, and the wallpaper which, encourages her oppression as well as her self expression. It is customary to find the symbol of the house as representing a secure place for a woman's transformation and her release of self expression. However, in this story, the house is not her own and she does not want to be in it. It represents a prison in which she is trapped. She declares it is "haunted" and that " there is something strange about the house"(Gilman 195). Although she acknowledges the beauty of the house and especially what surrounds it, she constantly goes back to her feelings that "there is something strange about the house"(Gilman 195). Her first impression of the house almost tells you that the narrator knows of the upcoming transformation that will take place in the house while she is there. The location of the house, 3 miles from the nearest village, its slight state of disrepair symbolizes the narrator’s mental condition as being that of isolation and segregation. Another significant setting is the nursery room, â€Å"It was a nursery first, and then a playroom and gymnasium, I should judge for the windows are barred for little children, and there are ...