International Human Rights Treaties Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

International Human Rights Treaties - Essay Example Hathaway (588) states that there are two main UN-chartered based enforcements. The two are declarations and conventions. The extent to which declarations are effective enough to attract compliance is limited. This is because; declarations depend on the willingness of the host country to enforce certain laws. In addition, declarations are not legally binding. However, declarations have major political implications in terms of enforcement and the willingness to comply by the members bound by the said declarations. Under the international law on the other hand, conventions are legally binding. According to Neumayer (925), it is common knowledge that international human rights are generally under-enforced. The reason given for this under-enforcement is due to the nature of enforcement of such treaties, which is mainly done through transitional legal processes. The international legal processes in this context refer to the collaboration between various legal institutions across the world. Kinney (1457) also shows the distinct difference between obedience and enforcement. Obedience does not involve any consequences other than the fact that disobedience of the law may have indirect political, economic, and social implications. However, enforcement is subject to punitive measures in terms of violations. This implies that laws that are enforced attract legal measures and implications at the behest of the international community. The situation is often complicated when some nations are not part of any international community.

The Ambition and Idealism of Benito Mussolini Essay Example for Free

The Ambition and Idealism of Benito Mussolini Essay The rise and fall of the Fascist dictator Benito Mussolini in Italy during the early half of the twentieth century demonstrate the story of a man’s vision pursued, but eventually doomed. The reign of Mussolini in Italy is one remembered in history as a violent suppression of human rights in name of a ruthless ambition to revive the past glory of Italy and ultimately (re)create an Italian empire (Smith). Born in a small Italian village in the district of Predappio, his beginnings were humble (Roberts, 2006). However, his educated parents gave him an education which broadened his view of the world and led him to be dissatisfied and restless about the opportunities a man like him could have in Predappio. His father, who was a blacksmith, actively participated in Socialist concerns and voiced out his opinion against dubious policies that affected their labor (Roberts, 2006). His mother, who worked as a schoolteacher in a small village for a meager salary, taught the young Benito discipline and focus. He was educated in a strict Catholic school which proved to be unsuitable for him because of his restlessness, inclination to rebellion and uncontrolled and violent temper (Haugen, 2007). After transferring to a different school, Mussolini blossomed into his adolescence with a great aptitude and flair for writing and oration. He became interested in politics, poetry and literature. Around 1902, he attempted to work as a schoolteacher but failed miserably at it, so he decided to migrate to Switzerland to find opportunity and also to escape the military draft during that time in Italy (Roberts, 2006). Upon his return to Italy in 1904 and the subsequent pardon of all draft dodgers in exchange for their enlistment in the army, Mussolini realized that his future was in the country of his birth (Roberts, 2006). His appetite for adventure, socialism, journalism and politics landed him an editorial job in Trent near the Italian-Austrian border where he asserted and promoted his Socialist beliefs. He also trumpeted the pride of being Italian and spoke about the â€Å"Latin genius and courage† (Roberts, 2006, 19). After being evicted from that district because of its anti-socialists sentiments, he moved to Forli near his birthplace to work for a socialist newspaper and engaged himself in more political work (â€Å"Benito Mussolini†). It was in Forli where he was elected as the secretary for the Socialists. His popularity grew as he became more voracious in his writings and speeches. He drew support from his radical decisions such as the strike he organized in Forli which resulted to his imprisonment (â€Å"Benito Mussolini†). When World Ward I broke out, Mussolini opposed the participation of Italy claiming that he would only support class war and threatened a proletariat revolution if Italy continued their support (Smith). But, he retracted soon after and encouraged young men to enlist; this decision resulted in his expulsion from the Socialist party (â€Å"Benito Mussolini†). He formed the Fascist party through the establishment of a pro-war group called Fasci dAzione Rivoluzionaria (Smith). However, Mussolini failed to secure the seats he needed in senate to gain power and control. After the breakdown of a weak alliance with the dominant party Popolare, Mussolini decided that he won’t win the seats democratically, so he staged a siege in Rome which ended in the invitation of the king for him to build a new government (Smith). It was at this point as the head of the National Fascist Party that he established himself as dictator, Il Duce (â€Å"Mussolini†). From that point on he would demand blind trust from the people after insisting through propaganda that he was after all their â€Å"infallible, irreplaceable duce† (Griffin, 2000, 31). As a dictator, Mussolini knew that absolute control was key in ensuring the attainment of his goals. He formed a powerful military force and a secret police to vanquish insubordination (â€Å"Mussolini†). He converted the state economy into â€Å"corporate state† wherein all Italians in professional organizations were put in corporations controlled by the central government (â€Å"Mussolini,† Smith). Propaganda was crucial in Mussolini’s career as dictator. He spent considerable time in planning and propagating his ideas through the press, films and school books (Smith). His training as a journalist and orator helped him broadcast his imperial ideas. To proselytize younger generation, he banned history books in school and indoctrinated them with the tenets of fascism (â€Å"Benito Mussolini†). Under his rule, he abolished the parliament and rewrote the laws to ensure the loyalty of every citizen to the Fascist party (Smith). He tempered his ruthlessness with popular decisions such as the approval of Vatican’s independence. However, the people’s support to him started to wane as he made erratic, unplanned and senseless military and political decisions. In an effort to expand Italy’s territory, he waged war in Ethiopia; this was met with worldwide protest (â€Å"Mussolini†). After the League of Nations condemned his imperialist decisions, he forged allegiance with the Nazi party although he previously opposed Hitler because of Mussolini’s fear of losing Austria to the Germans. His allegiance to the Nazi marked the beginning of his gradual downfall as he supported the World War waged by Hitler (â€Å"Benito Mussolini†). Further, he spread anti-semitism in Italy which Lindemann (2007, 1) pertains to as an â€Å"opportunistic, unsystematic and unprincipled† decision. As the Allied powers encroached German territories, Italy’s weak military force gave in to the pressure of defeat. Mussolini sought refuge under the German forces and attempted to escape to Switzerland. However, anti-Fascist rebels seized their vehicle and got custody of Mussolini and twelve other Fascist party officials (Smith). They were summarily executed and their corpses were hung in public where the people ridiculed and mocked their dead bodies. The ambition for power and control and its inevitable disintegration ended the twenty year reign of Mussolini in Italy. Some historians claim that with the way Mussolini ruled Italy, it is doubtful whether he has as much idealism in him as his speech and propaganda portrayed (Griffin 2000). Whether it his idealism or his ambition which motivated his decisions, the scars of his dictatorial rule in Italy will remain in history as one of the deplorable outcomes of fascist dictatorial rule. References â€Å"Benito Mussolini. † (2008). ThinkQuest Library. Retrieved 30 January 2009 from http://library. thinkquest. org/17120/data/bios/mussolini/ Griffin, R. (2000). How fascist was Mussolini. New Perspective 9. 1 pp. 31-35. Haugen, B. (2007). Benito Mussolini: Fascist italian dictator. Minneapolis, Minn. : Compass Point Books Lindemann, A. (2007) Benito Mussolini. UCSB History Department. Retrieved 30 January 2009 from http://www. history. ucsb. edu/syllabi/spring07/Lindemann/Mussolini2. pdf â€Å"Mussolini, Benito Amicare Andrea† (1999). Who’s Who in the Twentieth Century. Oxford University Press. Oxford Reference Online. Retrieved 30 January 2009 from http://www. oxfordreference. com/views/ENTRY. html? subview=Mainentry=t47. e1187 Roberts, J. (2006). Benito Mussolini. Minneapolis: Lerner Publishing. Smith, D. M. Benito Mussolini. Groiler Online. Retrieved 30 January 2009 from http://www. grolier. com/wwii/wwii_mussolini. html

The Relationship Between And Mother And Daughter English Literature Essay

The Relationship Between And Mother And Daughter English Literature Essay The most intriguing and challenging relationship on the planet is the one of mother and daughter. It is no shock as to why. There are so many factors involved in this relationship. There is a special and unmistakable connection between mothers and daughters. When a baby girl is born, the mother has an immediate connection that transcends comprehension. She knows that child is the best pieces of her. This child is connected to her as if she were her soul mate. so beautiful, rapturous , pregnant with their child. She told no one but she knew the baby was to be a girl. It would be herself again, reborn and this time perfect. As this little girl grows up, the relationship gets complicated. Intense love and intense hatred surface. Women are sociable. Talking about lifes problems comes easy to a young girl and her mother. She comes home from school and tells her Mommy about her day, her friends and her dreams. As she grows up she will go to her mother for advice about boys and have many laughs together. When she becomes a teen, mother daughter relationship can go one of two ways. One Is just as likely to happen as the other. Either the Mother and Daughter will come together emotionally and bond over lifes trials and tribulations. Or theyll become adversaries, suddenly making the mother who loved and nurtured her daughter, who was once her best friend, suddenly arch-enemy number one. The Mothers desire to be her daughters best friend conflicts with her daughters need to be an individual. Mrs. Dietrich is a divorcee mother that is yearning for meaning and love in her life. Nola is a young adult looking for independence and to feel like a grown woman. This is the theme throughout the story. Nola saw Mrs. Dietrich watching her and walked away angrily and when Mrs. Dietrich caught up with her she said, I cant stand it, Mother. Her voice was choked and harsh, a vein prominent in her forehead. Let me go. For Christs sake will you let me go. This relationship is a typical one of a seventeen year old girl and her mother, marked with the intensity only a teenage daughter can bring out of her mother . As Nola glances up, startled, not prepared to see her mother in front of her, their eyes lock for an instant and Mrs. Dietrich stares at her with hatred. Cold calm clear unmistakeable hatred. She is thinking, Who are you? What have I to do with you? I dont know you, I dont love you, why should I? Teenage girls want their mother both close to them and far away emotionally, but they are not sure how to achieve this so they give mixed signals. The daughters push away and instinctively their mothers try to regain control of their connection by pursuing the emotional closeness. In the attempt to keep their relationship close, mothers tend to smother their teenage daughters. Mrs. Dietrich sees Nola as her only source of love so she tries to keep that alive, unbenonst to her she is smothering Nola with her overbearing need to feel attachment. Sometimes in weak despondent moods, alone, lonely, self-pitying, when she has had too much to drink, Mrs. Dietrich thinks she is in love with her daughter. Mrs. Dietrich is not her own woman. Her divorce, compounded by her loneliness and alcoholism forces her to need Nola in a way that is not healthy. She hides behind her daughter because she doenst know how to live anymore. She spent her whole life being needed, by her husband and her daughter , and now that she doesnt feel needed she essentially is in crisis mode. As she tries to hold on to every little glance, every word and every breath her daughter takes, Nola asserts herself further from her grasp. When Nola is away she seems to forget her mother entirely-doesnt telephone, certainly does not write. Its the way all their daughters are, Mrs. Dietrichs friends tell her. Mrs. Dietrichs divorce from Nolas father is also a driving force behind each womans behavior. In theory, divorce need not mean disconnection. In reality, it often does. One large survey in the late 1980s found that about one in five divorced fathers had not seen his children in the past year, and less than half of divorced fathers saw their children more than several times a year. A 1981 survey of adolescents who were living apart from their fathers found that 52 percent had not seen them at all in more than a year; only 16 percent saw their fathers as often as once a week. Moreover, the survey showed fathers contact with their children dropping off sharply with the passage of time after the marital breakup. (world without fathers)   Ã‚  Once the oldest child hits adolescence, parents are catapulted into a process of life review. Where have I been, where am I now, where am I going? These questions gnaw at parents who observe their children at the brink of adulthood.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  It hits hardest the parent who is the same sex as the adolescent. Mothers and daughters actually have more difficulty than fathers and sons. In either case, the children tend to serve as a mirror of their younger lost selves, and bear the brunt of parents regrets as parents distance themselves. Among parents who have gone through a real divorce, the emotional divorce that occurs between adolescents and their parents can heighten difficulty. It may reawaken feelings of sadness. Parents who dont have many interests outside the family are also vulnerable. Their kids are telling them to Get a life! and that is exactly what they need to do.(adolencents whose hell is it)

Peyronies Disease :: essays research papers

Peyronie's disease What is Peyronie's disease? Peyronie's disease is a disorder affecting the penis that can cause:  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  a lump within the shaft of the penis  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  pain in the shaft of the penis  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  abnormal angulation of the erect penis ('bent' penis). Not all of these features are necessarily present, but, typically, a man would first notice a tender lump in the penis, which might later be followed by bending of the penis when erect, sometimes at very odd angles. The flaccid penis is not usually deformed. It is important to remember that a degree of upward (towards the head) angulation of the erect penis is quite normal and not a feature of Peyronie's disease. Good advice Noticing a lump in the penis can be a frightening experience. Men are often concerned that they have developed a cancer. Cancer within the penile shaft is very rare indeed, while Peyronie's disease is by far the most common cause of such lumps. If you find a lump, it is important to seek prompt medical advice, but you should not be too fearful that a serious cause will be found What causes Peyronie's disease? The penis consists of basically three cylinders, covered by several sheaths of tissue and, finally, by skin. A pair of corpora cavernosa form the erectile tissue that becomes engorged with blood during erection, acting like the inner tube of a tyre. They are surrounded by the tunica albuginea, a tough, inelastic, fibrous sheath, which might be compared with the tyre itself. When the penis becomes erect, the inner tubes (corpora cavernosa) inflate, filling the space within the tyre (tunica albugenia), making it more rigid. In Peyronie's disease, tough, fibrous plaques spontaneously appear within the tunica albugenia, and are felt as tender lumps. When the penis becomes erect, it inflates unevenly and tends to bend around the plaque, causing the characteristic deformed appearance of Peyronie's disease. Experts are not certain why some men get Peyronie's disease and others do not. Several factors might be involved, including:  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  genetics: occasionally the disease has a tendency to run in certain families (inherited or genetic predisposition), but this is not common.  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  injury: Peyronie's disease is more common after injury to the penis, such as penile fracture or forceful bending of the erect penis. It also occurs more frequently in men that give injections into the penis for the treatment of erectile dysfunction (impotence).  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  circulatory disorders: more men with Peyronie's disease seem to be affected by high blood pressure and hardening of the arteries (atherosclerosis), so these conditions might possibly be involved in its development.

Indian tribe`s inherent sovereign authority Essay

INTRODUCTION: U.S Chief Justice John Marshall, in his milestone trilogy of   his decisions on Indian law in 1] Cherokee Nation v.Georgia 2] Johnson v.Mclntosh and 3] Worcester v. Georgia framed the foundation for Indian law viz. Indian tribes are under the trust protection of the federal government which stands good even today. As such, many tribes are enjoying the quasi-sovereignty status and have organized their own governments together with functional legislative, executive and judicial branches. Indian tribal courts function more or less in their Anglo-American colleagues and offer an intra-tribal tool for dispute resolution. The Supreme Court held in â€Å"Oliphant v.Suquanmish Indian Tribe â€Å"that for want of congressional action, tribes lacks inherent jurisdiction to punish outsiders.   Congress yet to legislatively recognize the Oliphant by extending jurisdiction to tribal courts to try criminally any non-Indians for the felony committed in the Indian regions This research paper will divulge how this jurisdictional predicament causes a practicable problem in United States Judiciary and possible ways and means to address the issue. INDIAN SOVEREIGN AUTHORITY TO EXERCISE CRIMINAL JURISDICTION OVER NON-INDIANS- AN ANALYSIS: Crimes against native Indians are unleashed by non-Indians on daily basis. Crimes committed by non-Indians are cognizable offence that can be prosecuted only by federal district court by federal prosecutors. Unfortunately, many federal prosecutors have abandoned their duty to pursue crimes in Indian country committed by non-Indians due to overburden. The emergence of the Indian courts owed its origin to the tribal justice systems that predate the European settlement of America. On the basis of the age old convention, Congress has recognized the sovereign authority of tribes to maintain their own courts. But, Congress has limited that sovereignty as tribal courts have little jurisdiction over non-Indians .This is mainly intended to ensure that Indians are guaranteed the same constitutional rights as other Americans. As a result, tribal courts over the last two decades have lost their elite authority to try cases involving grave felonies and to enforce criminal penalties on non-Indians. In the year 1990, Supreme Court stripped Indian tribal courts of the power to hear cases involving Indians of a different tribe. But the Senate Select Committee on Indian Affairs later voted to reinstate that right to tribes for the next two years. [1992 to 1994]. In 1968, Congress established the Indian Civil Rights Act to offer on tribes requirements akin to those found in the Bill of Rights. There are about 147 tribal courts that exercise jurisdiction over nearly two million Indians in the United States in the year 1992. Tribal courts have exclusive jurisdiction over civil cases that arise between Indians on the reservations. But, if the plaintiff or defendant is other than Indian, state courts may have a simultaneous or even exclusive exercise rights to hear the case. In, â€Å"Oliphant v.Suquamish Indian Tribe† , 435 U.S, 55 L.Ed , 2d , 98 S.Ct, 48 U.S.L.W .4210 it was held that no inherent rights is ascribed to any Indian tribal courts to prosecute and punish non-Indians for offenses committed on Indian lands. It was the contention of the Indian tribes that jurisdiction is automatically conferred on them for trying any offenses of criminal nature on non-Indians in tribal lands as Supreme court made an opinion describing Indian tribes as â€Å" quasi –sovereign entities’. However, Supreme Court has observed in the present case that whenever efforts have been exercised in the past, it has been observed that there exists no jurisdiction. The tribal is having no authority to try non-Indians as it was established by earlier judicial opinions and also according to the general view of the executive authorities. But Judge Marshall, joined by the Chief justice dissented in the above case by taking the view that the power of preserve order on the reservation was a sine quo non of sovereignty that the Suquamish originally possessed. He further noted that in the absence of positive extraction of such rights by any treaty or statue ,the tribal enjoy as a necessary aspect of their sovereignty the right to try and punish all persons who commit offenses against tribal law within the reservation. In the past years, several Supreme Court rulings have drastically delineated the power of American Indians to govern their territories. The High Court ruled in 1978 that tribal courts cannot prosecute whites or other non-Indians for some felonies committed on tribal land. In one case, the justice held that a tribal court has no jurisdiction over crimes committed on that tribe’s land by members of another tribe. There are certain rulings that restricted Indian authority in taxation and zoning. Tribal leaders argue that U.S government apparent move away from recognizing ‘inherent sovereignty â€Å"of the Indian nations, which predate the arrival of whites to this continent makes them to worry. Though, the tribal leaders were not asking to overturn the Supreme Court’s ruling in Oliphant v. Squamish Indian Tribe but they were demanding to overturn the High Court rulings in Duro V. Reina, which prohibited the Salt River Prima-Maricopa Indian Community in Arizona from prosecuting on a misdemeanor of weapons charge by an Indian man who lived in Salt River but was a member of a tribe in California. Thus, the rulings left a judicial void in states that do not assume jurisdiction over such misdemeanors and Congress temporarily restored jurisdiction to the tribes during 1990. 2.1 CRIMINAL JURISDICTION TO TRY NON –INDIANS TO COMBAT TERRORIST THREAT: In their effort to revive an amendment to the Homeland Security Act that would offer criminal jurisdiction over non-Indians to combat terrorist threats on Indian lands. But opponents were of the view that it will topple a 25-years –old Supreme Court decision â€Å" limiting and defining Indian sovereignty â€Å" and could lead to tribal power grabs which may affect of millions of non-Indians. Further, there is a proposal to reclassify the tribal governments as â€Å"states â€Å"under HSA law which facilitate tribes to receive sufficient federal funding and technical expertise to play a meaningful role in fighting terrorism. During 2003, the Senate Indian Affairs committee tried to add some amendments to homeland security bill but it was not successful as some group hit the panic button claiming that amendment would authorise control over all people for all purposes. The vested group fears that there would be other jurisdictional grabs by the tribal governments and tribes could exert authority over non-Indians by ignoring the fact that non-Indians cannot vote in tribal elections. The proposed amendment which has been officially designated as S.578 and the department itself has supported the first 12 sections of the amendment or those that would authorise the reclassification of tribal governments as states [not local government] in dealing with terrorism. But as per Heffelfinger, who is also chairman of the Attorney General Advisory Committee’s Native American issues subcommittee commented that the departments itself is not supporting section 13 , which would offer tribes the power to â€Å" enforce and adjudicate violations of civil , criminal and regulatory laws committed by any person on land under the jurisdiction of an Indian tribal government. But, as per 2000 census, non –Indians account for more than 48% of reservation residents who live on or near Indian reservations from discrimination â€Å"by state, federal or tribal government or their policies. Some critics view the proposed amendment to the Homeland Security Act violates the 1978 â€Å"Oliphant v.Suquamish Indian Tribe† rulings where Supreme Court observed that tribes do not have criminal jurisdiction to try and punish non-Indians. In real situation, the state or federal government is toothed with the power to arrest and try criminal offenders who are not Indians on Indian lands.   In other words, there is no need to arm the tribal government to initiate criminal proceedings on non-Indians on tribal lands as the state or federal government has adequate power to execute the same. [1] 2.2 OVERBURDENS OF FEDERAL COURTS: One the problem faced by tribal is that some of the felonies committed by non-Indians on tribal have been let off due to overburden of cases in federal courts and Supreme Court judgment which   had declared that non-Indians can not be prosecuted by the tribal courts. For instance, military courts do not have jurisdiction to prosecute the civilians who have infringed military’s interest. In such cases, â€Å"special assistant United States attorneys† [SAUSA’s] have the authority to prosecute such violators who have committed crimes against military personnel and property. The same strategy can be followed in the tribal cases also. Thus, the department should authorize Indian prosecutors to sue in the federal courts for the crimes committed by the non-Indians within Indian country.   2.3 USE OF MEHTAMPHETAMINE: Another issue encountered by the American tribes and tribal groups is their relentless fight against use of methamphetamine which they regard an epidemic on tribal lands. Lummi Nation of Washington, an American tribe is waging war with meth by imposing rigorous punishment to offenders. Some tribes are addressing the issue through new drug courts. Methamphetamine production and trafficking on tribal reservation with huge geographic areas or tribes adjacent to the U.S. –Mexico border is rampant. As the tribal states enjoy sovereign status, criminals are generally not subject to state jurisdiction in most of the cases. As the local law enforcement authorities have no jurisdiction in Indian country and tribal law enforcement agencies take the responsibility to enforce the relevant law enforcement functions. To combat the use of meth in tribal areas, Indian Tribes Methamphetamine Act of 2007 and Indian Tribes Methamphetamine Reduction Grants Act of 2007 were introduced in January 2007.   The legislation would permit Indian tribes to be eligible for funding through the department of Justice to exterminate the scourge of meth production, sale and usage in Native American communities. Enough safeguard measures are built in to avoid any potential misrepresentation of the above legislations. It has been clearly stated in section 2 [a] [4] of the bill , the Department of Justice’s Bureau of Justice Assistance is toothed with power to award grant funds to a state ,territory or Indian tribe to â€Å" explore ,detain and indict individuals â€Å"   involved in illegal meth activities. Further, it does not authorize a grantee state, Indian tribe or state to pursue law enforcement activities that it otherwise has short of jurisdictional authority to pursue. 2.4 PUBLIC LAW 280 Normally, states do not have jurisdiction over the internal legal of the sovereign tribal governments. Under certain circumstances, Congress has extended special exceptions this general principle. Under Public Law 280, six states were given exclusive jurisdiction over the Indian country within the state borders. Thus, states like New York, Kansas have the exclusive right over to prosecute the crime committed within the Indian country as the federal government has ceded its jurisdiction. Federal government ceded their prosecuting authority to states in these states. But it has created unfavorable situations as most states are reluctant and intransigence to cognize crime on Indian reservations seriously. Many state district attorneys are reluctant to exercise their limited resources on Indian crime. Thus, Public Law 280 has resulted in lawlessness in almost all Indian reservations. Ceding the federal authority over Indian territories to states has ended in a lacuna. It is painful to note that even if a state government has inherent authority in a particular Indian region, it sometimes lacks institutional strength to exercise authority in that region. Further, there exists always simmering tension between Indians and state governments. It is to be observed that since Worcester v.Georgia, states have no authority or very little authority over Indian country. The real reason for tension between tribal and state government is the criticism of action of state police department as they always rubbing on the wrong side of the tribal cultural practices. A study conducted by Carole Goldberg Ambrose[2] revealed that relationships between state and tribal are often got off to potholed and sometime unfeasible. Frequently, California tribal members complained that when state police tried to solve the tribal problems, they often failed as they were disrespectful to tribal sovereignty, lacked cultural compassion and always deployed excessive force. Further, if the alleged offence is a violation of generally applicable federal statutes like sedition and mail theft, the federal government is alone having exclusive jurisdiction to try the offence and natives are not exempted from such offence 2.5 OLIPHANT V. SUQUAMISH INDIAN TRIBE’- AN ANALYSIS: In, ‘Oliphant v. Suquamish Indian Tribe’ case, Supreme Court held   that as the tribal court lacks inherent jurisdiction to prosecute non-Indians for the felonies committed on Indian jurisdiction and recommended that it is the Congress to decide whether Indians tribes should finally be authorized to try non-Indians . Thus, Supreme Court decision may not be final and binding since Congress retains authority in exercise of its plenary power. Oliphant case centered around the incidents that happened on the Suquamish Reservation located near Port Madison, Washington. Indian tribes had waived all of their land claims in Washington state under the Treaty of Point Elliott which was signed in 1855 and accepted to settle on a 7300 –acre reservation located near Seattle. The tribes adopted a criminal code in 1973 and any infringement of tribal’s criminal code is prosecuted in the Suquamish Indian provisional Court. It is the claim of the tribes that they have jurisdiction to try non-Indians for any violation or infringement in their land. In support of their claim, they have displayed billboards in prominent places at the entrances to the Port Madison Reservation warning the public that entry onto the Reservation would be deemed implied consent to the criminal jurisdiction of the Suquamish tribal court and one may hilarious to note that Suquamish tribal specifically excluded non-Indians from serving on tribal court as juries. Supreme Court had placed the burden of proof on the tribe to substantiate its contention of jurisdiction. The tribe argued that its jurisdiction over non-Indians emerged involuntarily from the Tribe’s retained innate powers of government over the Port Madison Indian Reservation. Tribe has argued that flow of criminal jurisdiction is automatic over all persons on a reservation –Indian or non-Indian and is arising out of a ‘sine qua non ‘of tribal sovereignty. Supreme Court has rejected the argument of tribal claiming inherent jurisdiction on multiple grounds. Supreme Court concluded that Congress had positively expressed its intention not to grant Indian tribes the power to punish non-Indian after thoroughly examining the opinions of attorney generals, history of treaties, legislative history and district court decisions. Supreme Court once again asserted that Congress which is being law making authority is having sole discretion to decide whether the tribal can prosecute non-Indians for felonies in their land. In the Oliphant’s case, Justice Marshall joined by Chief Justice Burger took the opposite view as the Marshall believed that tribes processed the innate jurisdiction over non-Indians and that congressional action was necessary to strip off Indians of that jurisdiction. Oliphant decision was a major set back to Indian community claim of sovereignty in the following respect: It publicized that Indians were toothless to dissuade non-Indians from committing crimes against them. Tribes viewed that Supreme Court decision had indeed handcuffed their law enforcement activities. Tribes viewed the decision as a major blow on their powers to safeguard their own people. Decision culminated to an awkward situation to tribes by restricting their power to judge, prosecute or punish with tribal law and tribal courts, the non-Indians who commit felonies on tribal land. 2.6 DURO V.REINA- AN ANALYSIS: Duro v.Reina is a subsequent case after Oliphant. This case has further minimized the power of the tribal court to punish â€Å"outsiders â€Å", people who are not members of the tribe. Albert Duro was the member of one sect of Indian tribe namely Torres-Maritinez Band of Cahuilla Mission Indians. It was alleged that Duro killed a boy on the Salt River Indian reservation. Salt River Indian tribes attempted to prosecute Duro in their tribal court. The federal district court restrained the Salt River Prima –Maricopa Indian Tribe to prosecute Duro who belongs to Torres tribe. Thus, Supreme Court also concurred the federal district court view and held that Indian tribes did not have jurisdiction over Indians who were members of other Indian tribes. This made the Congress to exercise its plenary power and Supreme Court decision was amended or altered by the Congress through amendment U.S.C 1301 to authorize the tribal courts to exercise â€Å"criminal jurisdiction over all Indian and not just member of Indians. Critic’s view that Supreme Court had crushed the Indian rights is a bit of hypocritical as the Congress can always make use of its plenary power –a-type of legislative veto –to correct the intrinsic relationship as articulated by the Court. 2.7 ANALYSIS OF SURVEY OF U.S. JUSTICE DEPARTMENT: According to survey conducted by Justice Department of U.S., American Indians suffer from certain violent crimes like robbery, rape at a rate twice the national average. About 30,000 crimes of violence are committed against Indians each year. Native Indians complained that their attackers were under the influence of alcohol or meth at a greater than the national average. It is alarming to note that Indians were fatalities of interracial violence at a startling rate of 72% and 91% of sexual assaults against the tribal members. Further, offenders against Indian tribes were about 70% It is to be noted that a crime committed against an Indian by non-Indian which occurs outside of Indian country is subject to state jurisdiction and therefore is not reported in the above statistics. Thus, the above statistics reveal a disturbing picture of crimes against Indians and Indians face a disproportionately higher rate of violent crimes than any other races in U.S.A. For instance, Indian victims are reporting about 30,000 possible violent crimes to police each year and out of this, police could not solve more than 28,000 incidents or about 94% of the crimes reported remain uninvestigated or go unpunished. Further, Indians are also affected by the property crimes and victimless crimes committed by the non-Indians and these were not included in the above statistics since these were of civil nature.   The main reason for such alarming rates of criminal reports are being uninvestigated is mainly due to great distance between federal courts and tribes and overburdened law enforcing department. One of the allegations against Indian judiciary is that Indian courts do not bestow equal justice to non-Indians. For example, in Oliphant case, the Court took note of the fact that non-Indians were excluded from occupying juries’ role in Suquamish.   Thus, a doubt arises whether non-Indian constitutional right to be tried by an Indian jury could deliver unquestionable justice to the accused. The Indian Civil Rights Act of 1968 ensures basic due process protections to Indians who are tried in tribal courts and to ensure non-Indians offenders rights, the same process of protection can be extended to non-Indians. As such, non-Indians allegation that tribal courts are iniquitous may not hold good. 2.8 POSSIBLE SUGGESTIONS FOR AVOIDING OLIPHANT TYPE OF INCIDENTS IN FUTURE: Federal court is already overburdened with cases like violations under a]Patriotic Act , b]Money Laundering Act 3] RICO 4] Narcotic Offenses 5] Interstate Crimes 6] National Security Offenses 7] Stock Exchange Commission 8] Other type of Crimes .Whereas , offenses committed by non-Indian in tribal areas are of nature of minor offences like 1] reckless or speed driving 2] drunk driving 3] petty assault 4] petty theft 5] Vandalism 6] Littering   7] Parking Violations . Naturally federal prosecutors do not give more importance to these offenses and hence lion’s share of these offenses went unpunished. To instill confidence on tribal community, Congress should seriously think of creating exclusive federal courts which may be designated as â€Å"special courts â€Å" for prosecuting offenses committed on tribal by non-Indians in tribal areas.   For instance , in the District of North Dakota , Chief Judge Rodney Webb to address the problem faced   by Indians against felonies committed by non-Indians held meetings with the officials for their prosecution As per ICRA [Indian Civil Rights Act], Indian tribes may not impose any penalty or punishment which is longer than for a term of one year and a fine of $ 5000 or both. This clearly demonstrate that tribal courts have limited authority to try minor offenses like less serious felonies or misdemeanors there by leaving serious crimes to the federal government . Further, there is a misconception among non-Indians that tribal courts are not like Anglo-American tribunals. It is pertinent to note the remarks made by Justice Rehnquist in Oliphant that â€Å"some Indian trial court systems have become progressively much classy and resemble in many ways their state counter parts†. Hence, non-Indians should be properly educated and Congress should see that they are convinced by drafting a new legislation extending tribal courts power to prosecute non-Indians within the parameters designed by the Congress in this regard. One another remedy is to depute special law enforcement officer to investigate or prosecute the crime. A â€Å"special assistant district attorney â€Å"may be appointed to represent the district attorney for a particular case or a special investigating officer may be deputed to execute restricted law enforcement functions. Thus, the power to deputize is also known as a statutory grant. A statutory grant is having inherent power to specially deputize any higher officials. The deputization will be more advantageous as it would satisfy the interest of the all concerned including tribal and non-Indian offenders though the offenders will be punished under federal or state laws not under the tribal laws. CONCLUSION: De-facto immunity is being used as scapegoat by non-Indian offenders against Indians. It is really a shame that American judicial system is dissuading Indians to punish the non-Indian offenders who have committed felony in their lands under tribal criminal laws. It is real predicament that majority of the crimes against Indians by non-Indians escape punishment. The Oliphant v Suquamish Indian Tribe case is a severe blow to the Indian legitimate rights which Congress should come forward to redress. Congress should exercise its plenary power as it had done in Supreme Court decision in Duro v.Reina which was later amended or altered by the Congress through amendment U.S.C 1301 to authorize the tribal courts to exercise â€Å"criminal jurisdiction over all Indian and not just member of Indians. Further , to instill confidence on tribal community, Congress should seriously think of creating exclusive federal courts which may be designated as â€Å"special courts â€Å" for prosecuting offenses committed on tribal by non-Indians in tribal areas. One another remedy is to depute special law enforcement officer to investigate or prosecute the crime. The deputization will be more advantageous as it would satisfy the interest of the all concerned including tribal and non-Indian offenders though the offenders will be punished under federal or state laws not under the tribal laws. Deputization will assimilate all law enforcement agencies together to work unitedly.   Deputization is the need of the hour as it will bring all the parties involved under a single umbrella within the current jurisdictional. Further, as in the case of military courts which do not have jurisdiction to prosecute the civilians who have infringed military’s interest and in such cases, â€Å"special assistant United States attorneys† [SAUSA’s] have the authority to prosecute such violators who have committed crimes against military personnel and property. The same strategy can be followed in the tribal cases also. Thus, the department should authorize Indian prosecutors to sue in the federal courts for the crimes committed by the non-Indians within Indian country. BIBILIOGRAPHY Chiu, Elaine M. â€Å"Culture as Justification, Not Excuse.† American Criminal Law Review 43, no. 4 (2006): 1317+. Christofferson, Carla. â€Å"Tribal Courts’ Failure to Protect Native American Women: A Reevaluation of the Indian Civil Rights Act.† Yale Law Journal 101, no. 1 (1991): 169-185. Dutton, Bertha P. American Indians of the Southwest. Revised ed. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 1983. French, Laurence Armand. Addictions and Native Americans. Westport, CT: Praeger Publishers, 2000. Griffiths, Curt Taylor. â€Å"Natives and Criminal Justice Policy: the Case of Native Policing.† Canadian Journal of Criminology 26, no. 2 (1984): 147-160. Henderson, Dwight F. Congress, Courts, and Criminals: The Development of Federal Criminal Law, 1801-1829. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1985. Johansen, Bruce Elliott, ed. The Encyclopedia of Native American Legal Tradition. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1998. La Prairie, Carol. â€Å"Aboriginal Over-Representation in the Criminal Justice System: A Tale of Nine Cities.† Canadian Journal of Criminology 44, no. 2 (2002): 181+. Lawson, Paul E. â€Å"When States’ Attorneys General Write Books on Native American Law: A Case Study of Spaeth’s American Indian Law Desk book.† American Indian Quarterly 19, no. 2 (1995): 229-236. Nielsen, Marianne O. and Robert A. Silverman, eds. Native Americans, Crime, and Justice. Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1996 Nourse, V.F. â€Å"Reconceptualizing Criminal Law Defenses.† University of Pennsylvania Law Review 151, no. 5 (2003): 1691+. Parman, Donald Lee. Indians and the American West in the Twentieth Century. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press, 1994. Pevar, Stephen L. The Rights of Indians and Tribes: The Basic ACLU Guide to Indian and Tribal Rights. 2nd ed. Carbondale, IL: Southern Illinois University Press, 1992. Prucha, Francis Paul. The Great Father: The United States Government and the American Indians. Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska Press, 1984. Ramirez, Deborah A. â€Å"A Brief Historical Overview of the Use of the Mixed Jury.† American Criminal Law Review 31, no. 4 (1994): 1213-1224. [1] â€Å"Indian Wants Jurisdiction to Combat Terrorism Threat â€Å", Washington Times, Jan 26, 2004. [2] Carole Goldberg –Ambrose, â€Å"Public Law 280 and the problem of Lawlessness in California Indian Country, 44 UCLA L.Rev. 1405 [1997].

Its In The Third Quarter The Essays

Its In The Third Quarter The Essays Its In The Third Quarter The Essays It’s in the third quarter. The fifth game of the 1980 NBA Finals. Lakers versus Seventy-Sixers. Maurice Cheeks is bringing the ball up the court for the Sixers. He snaps the rock off to Julius Erving, and Julius is driving to the basket from the right side of the lane against Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Julius takes the ball in one hand and elevates, leaves the floor. Kareem goes up to block his path, arms above his head. Julius ducks, passes under Kareem’s outside arm and then under the backboard. He looks like he’s flying out of bounds. But no! Somehow, Erving turns his body in the air, reaches back under the backboard from behind; and lays the ball up into the basket from the left side! When Erving makes this shot, I rise into the air and hang there for an instant, held aloft by sympathetic magic. When I return to earth, everybody in the room is screaming, â€Å"I gotta see the replay!† They replay it. And there it is again. Jesus, what an amazing play! Just the celestial athleticism of it is stunning, but the tenacity and purposefulness of it, the fluid stream of instantaneous micro-decisions that go into Erving’s completing it†¦ Well, it just breaks your heart. It’s everything you want to do by way of finishing under pressure, beyond the point of no return, faced with adversity, and I am still amazed when I think of it. In retrospect, however, I am less intrigued by the play itself than by the joy attendant upon Erving’s making it, because it was well nigh universal. Everyone who cares about basketball knows this play, has seen it replayed a thousand times, and marveled at it. Everyone who writes about basketball has written about it. At the time, the crowd went completely berserk. Even Kareem, after the game, remarked that he would pay to see Doctor J make that play against someone else. Kareem’s remark clouds the issue, however, because the play was as much his as it was Erving’s, since it was Kareem’s perfect defense that made Erving’s instantaneous, pluperfect response to it both necessary and possible- thus the joy, because everyone behaved perfectly, eloquently, with mutual respect, and something magic happened- thus the joy, at the triumph of civil society in an act that was clearly the product of talent and will accommodating itself to liberating rules. Consider this for a moment: Julius Erving’s play was at once new and fair! The rules, made by people who couldn’t begin to imagine Erving’s play, made it possible. If this doesn’t intrigue you, it certainly intrigues me, because, to be blunt, I have always had a problem with â€Å"the rules,† as much now as when I was younger. Thanks to an unruled and unruly childhood, however, I have never doubted the necessity of having them, even though they all go bad, and despite the fact that I have never been able to internalize them. To this day, I never stop at a stop sign without mentally patting myself on the back for my act of good citizenship, but I do stop (usually) because the alternative to living with rules- as I discovered when I finally learned some- is just hell. It is a life of perpetual terror, self-conscious wariness, and self-deluding ferocity, which is not just barbarity, but the condition of not knowing that you are a barbarian. And this is never to know the lightness of joy- or even the possibility of it- because such joys as are attendant upon Julius Erving’s play require civilizing rules that attenuate violence and defer death. They require rules that translate the pain of violent conflict into the pleasures of disputation- into the excitements of politics, the delights of rhetorical art, and competitive sport. Moreover, the maintenance of such joys requires that we recognize, as Thomas Jefferson did, that the liberating rule that civilized us yesterday will, almost inevitably, seek to govern us tomorrow, by suppressing both the pleasure and the disputation. In so doing, it becomes a form of violence itself. An instance: I can remember being buoyed up, as a youth, by reading

Improve Business Writing Skills with the Right Measurements

Improve Business Writing Skills with the Right Measurements Improving Business Writing Skills Requires Attention to Both SubstanceandSyntax Of the many challenges a business faces when it comes to improving the business writing skills of its employees, the biggest challenge is selecting a yardstick for comparison. Since writing is a subjective skill, deciding the appropriate standard to differentiate â€Å"good† business writing from â€Å"bad† business writing is difficult. Similarly, â€Å"good business writing† appears to be a fuzzy concept thatis difficult to measure. How then,can one define and measure good business writing skills? What should be measured and what tools can help? Improving Business Writing Skills Requires Attention to Both SubstanceandSyntax Luckily, there are two important criteria to determine the effectiveness of business writing: Substance Syntax Substance refers to the content of the document. Substance includes the information contained – the facts, the findings, the requests. It’s the â€Å"meat† of the document. Syntax, on the other hand, refers to the language of the document. This includes the words, sentences, and tenses used. Syntax carries the presentation of the documentand its readability. Syntax will shape the tone of the document. In essence, syntaxcarriesthe substance. Together, substanceand syntaxare two ways to judge a business document and decide whether it is good or bad. The substance of a document is more important than the syntax. If the basic idea and information for a specificaudience for a report are unclear, for example, the report won't carry the right information the reader needs, regardless of how grammatically correct it is. If you don’t get the substance right, syntax alone cannot fix content errors or omissions. As my grandmother used to say, â€Å"You’re just putting lipstick on a pig.† Nonetheless, syntax is also important. Honing good substance in business documents should always be a primary focus in business writing training, but syntax (the language and grammar) carries the meaning. Poor syntax is very unprofessional. With the advent of new tools and technologies, measuring and improving syntax has become easier than before. Here are the two ways syntax in business writing can be measured: 1) MeasureSyntax withMicrosoft's Readability Index Most writing software (including the very popularMicrosoft Word) offers areadability tool to measure syntax. It will measureactive voice and passive voice and the simplicity orcomplexity of sentence structure throughout the business document. This tool is also useful in assessing clarity. If passive voice is high and sentence structures are complex, it's a clear indication that clarity is lacking. Readability tools provide reporting on the words per sentence used, the percentage of passive sentences, and assign a readability score and grade to the overall document. When combined with the overall document content, this score helps you determine whether the appropriate message has been communicated in the document or not. As a rule of thumb, remember these three tips: The lower the passive voice used, the better the readability score. Flesh Reading Ease score should be just above standard for a well-written business document. Flesh-Kincaid grade level tends to vary with the complexity of the document, but lower is always better in business writing. We want to express, not impress. 2) Assess Grammar withGrammar Check Another easy-to-use tool to both measure and improve syntax is to check the grammar in the document. Thanks to Microsoft Word’s grammar check, some of the proofreading requirements have been reduced. It'sineffective and boring to teach your staff how to avoid spelling mistakes when as a single red or green dotted line on the Word file highlights potential errors. Spellcheck is far from infallible, but it will flag typos. Tip: watch for grammar error patterns in your own writing, or your employee’s writing. This will diagnose individual grammar errors, allowing you to focus on improving the issues that truly need attention. Remember to focus first on substance in business writing training. Once the substance is verified, then use syntax rating tools, such as Microsoft’s Readability Index and simple grammar check to verify syntax. To learn more on how to improve business writing skills for yourself and your employees, download the guideâ€Å"Four Steps to improve your Team’s Business Writing Skills† today!