Government

Category Archives: Government

Children and Violence

How far does violence extend, how do we determine exactly who is responsible for the violence that children are seeing on television and in music. What about video games, who is taking the responsibility for the violence and awful things that, are occurring right before the eyes of the youth today. Many politicians are looking to eagerly blame the media and entertainment industry. Is that the correct place to lay the blame? Perhaps parents are the people ultimately to blame.

More parents today than ever before are working longer hours just to stay afloat financially. This alone results in phenomenal numbers of children being left with a television as the babysitter in charge of teaching right from wrong. How does a child learn the difference between right and wrong, when their parents are nowhere to be found? Where does the parents’ responsibility to parent a child and the governments’ right to parent a child merge?

Contract Formation

Contract law is one of the most important area of the law that affects us all in our daily lives. Although we seldom sign a written document, we go into shops daily, we travel on public transport, we park in parking lots – these are largely all contracts into which we bind ourselves to terms and conditions. We may not be strictly aware of it, but we all participate in contractual obligations on both sides of the fence every single day. It is therefore no surprise that the issue of when exactly a contract is formed is of the utmost importance in regulating commerce and life as a consumer. Furthermore, how can we enforce our contracts, and what rights do we have under these contracts that we agree to almost subliminally day in day out. In this article, we will look at some of the key issues surrounding contract formation, and general principles of the law on contract, which govern transactions we experience in our daily lives.

Parole -Should it be Used?

For those who do not know, parole is a program that is used to allow criminal offenders early release from the prison system. It is designed to reflect prolonged periods of ‘good behavior’ and reform and rehabilitation, although it has come under a great deal of criticism at many different levels for allowing criminals to roam free before serving their time. Parolee’s are not given a free pass into public however; a parole officer monitors them at all times during their free time to ensure their behavior is appropriate and to ensure no further criminal activity is being undertaken. The parole officer is essence acts as the guards did in prison monitoring the behavior and movements of the offenders, with the difference being that the offender is allowed to integrate back into society on a graduated basis to avoid the chance of reoffending and any potential danger to the public. In this article, we will look at some of the key arguments for and against parole as a method of rehabilitating and reintegrating prisoners back into society.

Prison Reform

Many states are faced with a daunting number of inmates who are incarcerated currently for a variety of crimes. Each state is given the responsibility for ensuring the prisons meet federal guidelines in accordance to housing requirements. There are prisons around the country that are housing more inmates than they have the capacity to handle. Who is looking out for the inmates to ensure they are treated humanely in accordance with the constitution? In this article, we will look at some of the key suggestions put forward for reform of the penal system at federal and state level, in addition to analyzing the arguments for both sides in attempting to reach a conclusion that is fair and just for both the victim and the offender, as well as society.

The Concept of Ownership

One of the most fundamental concepts in private law, regardless of the jurisdiction, is the concept of ownership. What belongs to who is fundamental in many aspects of the law, ranging from who bears the risk during the process of sale through to whether or not a theft has been committed. Furthermore, ownership can be vital in cases of personal insolvency and taxation law, showing its significantly wider implications on the legal systems in which it forms a part.

For the most of Europe and America, the common law forms the bulk of the law of the jurisdiction. That means that the law if a formulation of past results, interpretations, cases, and authoritative academic writings, and sort of moulds into what is required of it, thus creating an advantageous flexibility and dynamism that is necessary to strengthen and boost economies. In the common law jurisdictions, property ownership naturally differs greatly, as there are a number of different interpretations, depending on which jurisdiction you follow. Largely it is decided in a way that fits within the specific private legal sector, and can be modified or changed to reflect areas of weakness as they arise. This flexibility, however, comes at the price of certainty, and it is often complicated to effectively and definitively determine who has what right at what time.

The Trust Mechanism

In legal terms, there is no mechanism quite as flexible and valuable as the trust. Usually an imperative asset in the tax-planner’s tool box, the trust mechanism is a legal fiction that is present in the majority of jurisdictions across the world. It is in effective a tripartite relationship between a truster, a trustee and a beneficiary, although these names vary across jurisdictions. The truster is the party transferring property, which then becomes property of the trust as an entity and hence is administered by the trustee, usually an accountant or investment banker, for the benefit of the beneficiary. Usually, they are used for charitable purposes, or indeed as a way to minimise potential liability and alienate assets to avoid creditor seizure. Unusually, the trust structure is relatively vague, and in many jurisdictions little more than a written deed is required to constitute a trust. In this article we will look at why a trust should have a more formal establishment criteria, and why it is as effective as it is as an invaluable legal instrument.