Disability On DeathRow Article

Warren Lee Hill was set to be put to death on July 19th by the State of Georgia . Albany Herald reported that the execution did not happen because his lawyer came with an injunction.This injunction was regarding the new law, which stated the new drug used to execute prisoners is unknown to the public or defendant; and if it is unknown then the inmates attorney is able to challenge the execution. This injunction bought his lawyer time to bulk up his real reason for stopping the execution, which was Mr Hill's mental state of mind. Hill's lawyer argues that it is unjustifiable to execute a person that is mentally disabled and have little to no control over their actions.

Hill was sentenced to life in prison in 1986, for shooting his then girlfriend eleven times and killing her. Hill was again on trial in 1990, as he was sentenced to death by execution, for killing his cellmate in his sleep with a board. The first incident in my opinion should have been a reason to report his mental state and send him to a mental hospital rather than a prison. Since this did happen in 1986 they might not have had the facilities to house specific inmates, but in 2013 they should take this problem into consideration.

Huffington Post reported, Mr.Hill was reported to only have an IQ of 70 which would be mentally challenged on a common scale.

The Supreme Court made it illegal to sentence mentally challenged people to death by injection but left the choice up to the states to determine which inmates are eligible for this exception. In my opinion there should be requirements for every state that are agreed upon by all the states with requirements made by the Supreme Court and Intellectual Disabilities Committee.

The President’s Committee for People with Intellectual Disabilities was founded in 1966 by President Lyndon Johnson with hopes of giving extra efforts to support mental disabilities community, while determining people intellectual disabilities.

The alternative that should be brought to the attention of the judicial system is that these mentally disabled inmates should have a separate facility and form of punishment for their actions. These facilities would be used to teach the inmates how to prevent themselves from getting into situations as well as getting them the right medical help to assist their mental condition and let them live a life progressing. In the current justice system the inmates are punished and are not made aware of their wrong doings; this causes a risk of them repeating the same mistakes, I believe putting them to death is not helpful because you are punishing a person who knows not of their wrong doings.

I believe that the advocate groups should raise money and get support from our government to make a tax to build facilities to help these inmates learn while being punished with their mental disabilities. These facilities would be beneficial to all parties. Inmates families would get to stay in contact and see them progress from their mistakes in life and the Justice system would not have to worry about cases like Mr.Hill's, because he would not have been housed with the ability to commit such a crime.

The washington post reported, " The average inmate in minimum-security federal prison costs $21,000 each year." This projects that it will be a financial hardship for the government but I feel that it should be taken into consideration, because of the positive aspects that can result from these facilities.

There should always be punishment for a crime committed, but different mental states should have equal consequences. Just as you do not punish a child for an adult crime, there should be alternatives for adults with child mindsets that commit adult criminal activity.










http://www.walb.com/story/23434787/group-aims-to-change-part-of-ga-death-penalty-law

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/16/warren-hill-clemency_n_1676205.html

http://www.albanyherald.com/news/2013/aug/26/ga-supreme-court-to-hear-warren-lee-hill-appeal/

Using The N Word As A Convience/Payday

This story consist of a lady who part of a organization named STRIVE and in this organization one of the creators and bosses, Rob Carmona, called one of his employees ,Ms. Brandi Johnson, the "N" Word. My argument with this article is that black people use the "N" word to be offensive only when its convenient for them. I do not think the jury should have awarded her 280,000 dollars over a "Racial Slur" that comes from someone of your same decent. I feel that if her personal friend was to call her the N word she would not take this any kind of way this was all a ploy to get her free money. This is newsworthy because the N word is a still a national issue that's why i feel this an relevant to write about because I feel that the word is just a word but others take it to offense. The question is this word that big of an issue to the price of 280,000 dollars , I don't think so. I think that it was unjust to try to make an example out of Mr. Carmona and it shows how our justice tries to settle national issues by making examples and over punishing individuals. People use this word daily not to offend others but as a greeting and term of endearment so who is to say what is offense and what is not.

http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/ny-case-puts-word-blacks-trial-20139860

People Get Offended By The "N" Word Conveniently

Ms. Brandi Johnson, was awarded $280,000, because she was the victim of a racial slur incident that occurred while she was working at STRIVE, a nonprofit organization.  Rob Carmona, the founder and an African American male, went on a four minute rant degrading and repeatedly calling Ms. Johnson the "N word". She said she was embarrassed and felt disrespected and shouldn’t have to put up with these conditions in a workplace.

She gathered information and acquired a lawyer and took Mr. Carmona to court saying that he should have to pay for his wrong doings. Though, I feel that this situation was wrong, I believe that she was more embarrassed by being inadequate rather than being offended by the "N word". Because, if you listen to the recordings that can be heard on CBSNews.com website, you will hear that Mr. Carmona disrespects Ms. Johnson from the beginning even before using the "N word" and not once does she ask him not to call her that word.

In my opinion this was all a ploy to get more money for herself for her own personal gain. This was planned and probably not the first time that he has spoken to her in this manner. This didn’t look like the first confrontation because of the fact that she took precautions by recording their conversation. The case focuses on the "N word" when I feel that it shouldn’t have.

In 2008, an African American employee of ArcelorMittal was awarded 25 million dollars for his racial harassment and uncomfortable working conditions in New York. My thoughts were that she researched similar cases and thought that she would receive the same or around the same dollar figure for her case. New York's judicial system sees this as a serious issue and wants to make examples for the public but with that, they are giving victims large amounts of money from cases with little to no change from 2008 until now. 

Although, Mr. Carmona is an African American the jury didn’t not let him pass even with his poor excuse for reasoning. According to CBSNews, Mr. Carmona disputed his case with the arguments "In his testimony, Carmona defended his use of the word, saying he used it with Johnson to convey that she was "too emotional, wrapped up in her, at least the negative aspects of human nature." This didn’t move the jury in his favor at all, jurors coming to the conclusion that the word is offensive no matter what your race or background maybe.

With that I feel to each its own, it was created as a derogatory term but now is used in so many ways that you can’t list them all. $280,000 for a word is drastic money to be losing over choice words. The freedom of speech amendment should be thrown out if everything someone said that offended someone else was punished that severely.

I believe they were trying to make an example out of Mr. Carmona, because of his strong position in the community. Ms. Brandi Johnson just used this as her free ticket to free money and I feel that that’s exactly what the government gave her free money. 

The word is used on a regular basis in some communities and used in so many different ways, I believe every person is in entitled to their opinions and feelings. Ms. Johnson may have felt strongly about the situation to feel that this was necessary but the court system used this case as an example to the country while not really resolving the real issue and giving Brandi Johnson a free payday. The dollar amount awarded to Ms.Johnson was outrageous, although their should be action towards this behavior $280,000 is not a fair price to pay in my mind.

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-201_162-57601041/use-of-n-word-among-blacks-on-trial-in-n.y-case/

Disability On Death Row

The article I chose to write up on is about a disability supporter who are trying to get the death penalty in Georgia to comply with inmates due to their mental state. They argue that Georgia's judicial system is the only state who makes these high requirements to prove disability to escape death. This is important because our judicial system is a great part of this country and the death penalty is Life or Death. This may affect a person or family members of an individual who is truly mentally disabled and put to death. This piece got me interested because I feel that people can be mentally disabled and through the mistakes that they have made either due to their disability or otherwise their disabilities are being overlooked in our judicial system. I argue that there should be more lenient laws when it comes to mentally disabled inmates because they cannot always control their actions or emotions and that has to be taken into consideration. The public would be interested to know how are judicial system in Georgia is punishing our citizens and affecting the families and friends of these individuals. I'm not saying that I would set them free, I just don’t feel that the death penalty is the way to approach this situation when dealing with mentally challenged inmates. There should be an alternative or something for the individuals to endure so that can learn from their mistakes just through a different process.

http://www.walb.com/story/23434787/group-aims-to-change-part-of-ga-death-penalty-law