Upon Google searching (2017), “define manslaughter”, one will discover that is is “the crime of killing a human being without malice aforethought, or otherwise in circumstances not amounting to murder.” In other words, manslaughter is the unintentional act of killing a human being. After Google searching (2017), “define murder”, it is evident that it is “the unlawful premeditated killing of one human being by another.” Alternatively, it means one human being plans to kill another human being and does it. Is taking a person’s life due to driving under the influence an intention or unintentional wrongdoing? Some may attest that the intoxicated driver did not conspire to kill someone, therefore, it is manslaughter. Others may inquire that the …show more content…
Most of the states in the United States consider driver under the influence and kill someone, vehicular manslaughter. According to Stim (2015), Alaska, Montana, and Arizona are the only three states that more often than not charge defendants with murder over manslaughter in vehicular deaths caused by driving under the influence. To put it in perspective, 94% of the states in the United States prefer manslaughter convictions over homicide. Vehicular manslaughter is broken down into two divisions. Vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence and vehicular manslaughter with ordinary negligence. Gross negligence comes from driving that is extremely reckless. Ordinary negligence spawns from the driver failing to take the precautions as a typical driver, and injury/death is caused. For example, if an intoxicated driver is swerving all over the road and strikes a car that results in death for the opposing driver, that would be gross negligence. Now if an intoxicated driver fails to yield properly and t-bones a car that results in death of the other driver, that would be ordinary negligence. If a defendant is found guilty of vehicular manslaughter, they face at least 4-10 years behind bars for each person killed. Therefore, if a car has two people in it that were killed, the sentencing can be doubled. In comparison, if a murder charge sticks, the defendant’s sentence can range from 10 years to lifelong imprisonment. McCurley (2014) argues that both of the drivers involved in the accident could be found to be intoxicated. “If one driver lives and the other dies, why should the driver that survives be charged with murder?” He is saying that both drivers can be at fault as they were both intoxicated. The reason we lock away homicidal people is because of their mental state. We do not want them to be able to roam the free world and possibly commit murder again. When people drive under the influence and take a life, that does
If a person consumes alcohol to the point they are unable to safely control an automobile and still make the choice to get behind the wheel resulting in a collision causing death, I believe they should, at least, be charged with second-degree murder. If a person with a history of driving drunk kills while drunk, they should be required to serve their time in jail (a long time, I hope) in solitary confinement. Driving under the influence, commonly known as "drunk driving” which refers to driving a motor vehicle while one's blood alcohol content is above the legal limit. Alcohol hinders your ability to react quickly, make proper judgments, and drive as well as you usually do. Social and Environmental Influences are factors that can contribute to alcohol impairment while driving which often comes from friends and the situations their friends helped to put them in. These influences account for many of the reasons to drink and drive. Heavy intoxication often occurs in response to encouragement from friends. For example, friends may promote heavy drinking to feel more comfortable in their own over-consumption. Drink driving is a factor in about 20 percent of all fatal car accidents due to over drinking.
How much longer will we be forced to endure the pain and atrocities due to the carelessness of drunk driving? Drunk driving has been a problem in the United States since the introduction of automobiles; however, it did not become an important social issue until the 1980’s. At that time the political atmosphere defined crime in terms of personal choice and individual responsibility. Drunk driving was defined as a problem located within individuals. Drunk driving is illegal in every state. It is not only illegal, but unsafe to operate an automobile if you are under the influence of alcohol.
Alcohol-impaired driving fatalities were 1,028 in 2008 for the state of California (Century Council). Of those deaths, 68% of the drivers were considered “Hardcore Drunk Drivers”; drivers who had a BAC level of 0.15+ (Century Council). Unfortunately, the drivers who got behind the wheel of those vehicles now have to deal with the fact that they slaughtered a person(s), because they made the choice to drive their car when they knew they had consumed alcohol.
Involuntary Manslaughter Involuntary manslaughter is an unlawful killing where the defendant does not have the intention to kill or cause GBH. The lack of intention is what distinguishes involuntary manslaughter from murder. There are two ways of committing involuntary manslaughter. These are unlawful act manslaughter and Gross negligence manslaughter. The maximum sentence for involuntary manslaughter is life imprisonment, thus giving the judge discretion to impose any sentence, which is suitable for the particular circumstances of the offence.
Likewise, the dominant part of those butchered are essentially irreproachable losses whose behavior did not contribute to their passings. These last two declarations are both false. On attest age a crushed driver that murders has never been incorporated in an alcohol related mishap before and have no prior affections for inebriated driving. The part about the all inclusive community killed are basically immaculate bystanders is over exaggerated as well. An expansive part of the sloshed drivers victims are the drivers themselves, their frequently explorers, and the intoxicated pedestrians and cyclists. Despite this inebriated driving is still incredibly unsafe. It is the primary wellspring of surprising harm passings in America today. Undoubtedly it is said that stomach muscle out 40 % of the people will be incorporated in an alcohol related mischance in the midst of their life. Tanked driving is especially dangerous to youths, who have all the earmarks of being more included than others. Drunk driving is the most clear purpose behind death among adolescents, speaking to 20% of all passings from ages 15 to 20. Inebriated driving is such a hard thing to overcome in any case. In our overall population alcohol is overwhelmingly recognized as a facilitator of pleasant correspondence, and the giant bigger piece of adults beverage. Regardless, steps are being taken and the amounts of
The most devastating consequence of driving under the influence is the loss of life. My great grandma Mary was hit and killed by drunken priest and my great grandpa Felix hit and killed a man while drinking and driving. As tragic as these deaths were, they both could have been prevented. Moms Against drinking and driving, (MADD) website states that every two minutes, a person is injured in drunk driving crash. When drivers chose to drink and drive, they are risking their lives, and the lives of
* Reckless Driving: the driver did not intend for their actions to kill another is not as important as other factors e.g. speeding, DUI. Causation must be proven in this case. In some circumstances the accused has claimed poor road conditions.
Thesis: Drunk driving is a major risk to yourself, to occupants in the car, even innocent bystanders could even suffer fatal injuries.
A girl by the name of McKay was out at a bar late one night. She had way too much to drink and was not thinking straight. McKay made the bad decision of stepping into her car at 12:30 a.m. She then crossed a highway when she smashed into another car, with her speed set at 105 km/hr. In that moment, driving impaired cost the life of a husband, a wife, a five-year-old daughter, and two-year-old son (Mcadam, 2016). Unfortunately, this is not the first time people were killed from drunk driving, and it is certainly not the last unless there are harsher consequences. It is said that 2016 might go down as the worst year for drunk driving deaths. There are approximately twenty-eight people who are killed from drunk driving each day (Brennan, 2016). Drunk drivers deserve worse punishments because they bring serious danger to cities all around the world.
For someone to be convicted of murder, there needs to be an intention to kill. If therefore someone intends to claim insurance on the house or just to frighten someone, there is no intention to kill, as such they may be convicted of subjective reckless manslaughter. This is subjective as the defendant must be virtually certain that his action will cause death or grievous bodily harm, rather than a reasonable man, to be convicted of murder. Otherwise, if the defendant could not care less or appreciates the risk yet is reasonable in undertaking it, D may be found guilty of subjective reckless manslaughter. The test for this variety of manslaughter seems to be too lenient as it is questionable whether the defendant has not in principle murdered someone when death is probable, but not practically certain. The law commission warns us against an objective or more rigid test as it may lead to the conviction of someone who does not have a reasonable level of intelligence, suggesting therefore that they are being punished for having a lower level of intelligence or maturity. If a child does not have enough experience of the world to understand that gasoline is highly inflammable, therefore is not practically certain that death
Not all impaired drivers are fatally injured; over 1.4 million in 2007 were arrest before they were able to fatally harm themselves. Based on this statistics it does not show how the arrests were made; the driver could’ve been involved in an accident and was able to stagger away from the crash while injuring others or damaging property. The arrest rate averages 1 for every 142 licenses drivers in the United States. Authorities make 1 arrest for DWI for every 772 stops of driving within 2 hours of drinking and for every 88 occurrences of driving over the legal limit in the United States (FBI 2008).
Vehicular homicide is an offense that, in general, encompasses the death of a person other than the driver due to criminal, recklessness or deadly operation of a vehicle. When the vehicular homicide is unintentional, one is convicted of vehicular manslaughter or reckless assault. Vehicular manslaughter occurs when a person carelessly causes the death of another individual using of any kind of motor
According to Deathpenaltyinfo.org, as of July 1st, 2017 there were approximately 2,817 prisoners on death row. CNN.com says that, as of now, the death penalty is only legal in 31 out of the 50 states. Did you know that the average death row inmate will spend roughly 15 years in prison before they meet their final day; nearly a quarter of death row inmates die of natural causes while waiting for execution, and exhausting all of their appeals? How about that in Virginia death row inmates are now able to play games, watch TV, send emails, and have physical contact with visitors along with much more? Death row is for criminals that have committed heinous crimes and have been convicted by 12 unanimous jurors to death. So, why give them that many privileges?
Have you ever lost someone close to you because of a bad decision, or a bad decision someone else made? Drunk driving and driving under the influence of drugs is the leading cause of death in the United States. Everyday 28 people die in the U.S. because of a drunk or drug impaired driver. Everybody makes bad choices, even you and me, but there is a difference between a bad choice and a bad choice that can put others at risk of injury and death.
The death penalty is a prosecute that is used to kill criminals that have committed crimes that are so bad they should not be left alive. The idea of putting another human to death is hard to completely fathom. The physical mechanics involved in the act of execution are easy to grasp, but the emotions involved in carrying out a death sentence on another person, regardless of how much they deserve it, is beyond my understanding. Knowing that it must be painful, dehumanizing, and sickening. The Eight Amendment says” Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted” (Constitutions). And for the article Changing Views on\\e rate has gone down at a steady from the 1990 to now and that they death penalty is sometimes necessary, and it is our responsibility as a society to see that it is done.