1. UEQ : What factors contribute to lawlessness and what has the United States done to combat crime?

2.  Definition: Conduct that is prohibited and has a specific punishment  Categories:  Violent –account for about 10%  Does harm or threatens harm to another: rape, murder, assault, theft with a weapon  Non-violent – make up the other 90%  Doesn’t use physical harm: burglary, identity theft, vandalism, etc.

3.  Poverty  12.7 % of the US lives under the poverty line  2003 - $18,810 for a family of four; $14,680 for a family of three; $12,015 for a family of two; and $9,393 for an individual  Unemployment  Firearms  200 million handguns, rifles and shotguns.  Can be bought illegally easily  Hard to get rid of because of 2 nd amendment

4.  Drugs  6.1 % using marijuana (14.6 million) .8% use cocaine .4% use hallucinogens .1% heroin

5.  Gun Control Act of 1968  Passed when Robert Kennedy and MLK Jr. were assassinated  Limits gun ownership severely  Nobody under 18 unless parents consent  No felons, fugitives, addicted to substances, subject to restraining order, etc.  Brady Handgun Provision (1993) added the national background check  Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act (1994)  Outlawed the sale of semi-automatic weapons.  Allowed to expire in 2004

6.  8 th Amendment declares that cruel and unusual punishment can not be used against criminals  Capital Punishment – AKA Death Penalty (64% of people favor it!)  Furman vs. Georgia overturns most death penalty cases for being cruel and unusual  38 states still allow it  Georgia (lethal injection) – 107 on D.R.  Texas – 373 on D.R.  Executed the most people in 2007 with 26  Alabama – chair or injection – 203 on D.R.

7.  On the back of your notes, write 2 paragraphs. Each should be at least 5 good sentences.  Your goal is to convince me that the death sentence is either good or bad.  First paragraph should explain why your side is right. Second paragraph should explain why “their” side is wrong.