Summary of the Article “The role of victim characteristics in the disposition of murder cases”
This article examines the effect of casualties’ characteristics on the outcome of murder cases. The authors explain that most important legal considerations for disposition as the gravity of the crime, characteristics of the case, or characteristics of the accused individual (Baumer et al., 2000). The features of the victim also have a significant influence on the outcome for the defendant. Victim characteristics may affect murder cases in a variety of ways, for instance: the victim’s conduct can influence the judges in their decisions, judges conceive crime against upstanding individuals to bear more gravity compared to an offense against criminals. Also, statistical interactions and demographic characteristics of a victim; their race, age or gender, may also influence the kind of justice they get. For instance, murder crimes against small children result in more outrage for justice, compared with a homicide case for the elderly. Murder cases against whites are punished more severely compared to a crime against other racial groups.
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Summary of the Article “Multiple regression and event history analyses of homicide clearance in Los Angeles County”
This article entails an experimental study whose primary focus is the solution of murder cases by examining the various factors that result in the clearance of these cases. It addresses the issue as to which victims’ characteristics lead to their cases receiving ‘more law’ compared to the other cases. The study begins with a hypothesis, that some extralegal factors like age, gender and racial differences are great determinants as to whether a case is cleared or not, and also the speed at which the cases get solved. The claim is that cases of young people (aged between 0-15), compared to those of the elderly, receive more swift justice, homicide cases against non-whites, women, basically the disreputable group, has a less likelihood of being solved. They test this hypothesis over a period of 4 years in Los Angeles. After putting all factors into consideration analyzing and analyzing homicide cases in the area, they come up with a conclusion. Extralegal factors might indeed have an impact of if and when a case get solved, but there are also other factors taken into consideration, such as homicide location, a murder weapon, or relationship of the victim with the offender.
In a homicide case or any criminal case, the characteristics of the victim have a lot to say about the nature of that case. Whether the case will attract investigations or not, whether the case will get solved or not, and the kind of punishment the offender will receive, is almost entirely dependent on the victim's characteristics. Donald Black in his book, The Behavior of Law, introduces the concept of some people being ‘more equal’ than others, he explains that law and justice are not served equally to everybody; some people receive ‘more law’ than others do (Black, 1976). These deterministic characteristics include demographic factors and moral uprightness.
In the 1900’s, race was a commonly practiced vice, non-whites were not regarded as equal members of the society. Homicidal cases involving non-whites as victims were therefore not thoroughly pursued to a point where it got solved, but if it did, the defendant received lenient punishment. Gender is another demographic characteristic that acted as a determinant in the nature of the criminal cases. History reveals that women, have always undergone stigmatization, societies have through time risen to support their rights. The killing of a lady in the community, therefore, is viewed as more than just crime, but also gender violence. Homicide cases involving women, therefore, have a higher likelihood of getting cleared. The other demographic characteristic is the age of the victim. Killings of young people between the age of 0 – 15 results in so much uproar by the communities, which explains why they chances of getting cleared are high. Homicide cases with an elderly as a victim, on the other hand, does not cause so much chaos.
Personal characteristics of the victim also affect the nature of homicide cases. The murder of a morally upright citizen is bound to cause more harm than the killing of a disreputable individual. A prominent person will gather more sympathy from the society and demand for justice would be higher. Their conduct at the time of murder has a significant influence on the judges’ decisions. If the victim was the attacker, they are perceived as blameworthy, and the individual accused may face lesser charges. Also, the call for sentencing may be weaker in cases involving victims who have taken part in disgraceful behavior.
Demographic traits such as race, gender and conduct at the time of incidence are among the most significant extra-legal factors attributed with determining of justice response. A study carried out in Chicago shows that homicide cases against non-whites (Blacks and Latinos) are more likely to go without convictions. Some explanations for this situation was that blacks are rarely cooperative in investigations involving murder cases; the minute the witnesses refuse to take part in investigations, prosecutors are not able to make a case against a particular person. As a result, such cases do not make it to the next steps in the judicial system.
Gender is the other crucial factor that determines the legal actions a case passes through and reaches. Homicide cases involving women victims have a more likelihood to reach prosecution and get convictions on the most serious charge.
In the cases of victims with disputable conducts or incriminating behavior at the time of the killing, the behaviors decide if or not the blame lies on the victim will determine the legal course that case goes through. Prosecutors predict the likelihood of a conviction by how the jury will assess the victim’s moral character; if the victim is disreputable and their morality is questionable, the cases will not proceed to trials, prosecutors in such cases would just negotiate guilty pleas.
Most of the extra-legal factors play roles is determining the course of nature of homicidal crimes. In the discriminatory racial era, some of the factors such as race are still used to establish cases of all sort of offenses. For instance, theft or assault on a black neighborhood is not treated with the same gravity as it gets in the other parts of the community; this should not be so; these extra-legal factors should only play the role of giving a deeper understanding of the case, not solving it. Victim characterization should not be determinants in the course of nature a case takes; neither race, nor gender should be used to determine the gravity of a situation, and type of punishment, but rather, the nature and seriousness of the crime. The killing of a toddler is just a grave offense as the killing of an 89-year-old man in an elderly home; the fact that they were old do not make their death less painful. Just because the homicide victim had a criminal record does not make their murder justifiable. In murder cases, statutory factors of evidence such as presence or absence of witnesses and murder weapon, or characteristics of the offender, should be the true determinants of whether the cases get solved or not.
References
Baumer, E. P., Messner, S. F., & Felson, R. B. (2000). The role of victim characteristics in the disposition of murder cases. Justice Quarterly, 17 (2), 281-307. doi:10.1080/07418820000096331
Black, D. J. (1976). The behavior of law . New York, NY: Academic Press.
Lee, C. (2005). The value of life in death: Multiple regression and event history analyses of homicide clearance in Los Angeles County. Journal of Criminal Justice, 33 (6), 527-534. doi:10.1016/j.jcrimjus.2005.08.002
