The role of innocence in the exoneration process Essay

The role of innocence in the exoneration process - Essay Example However, this is not always to be, and there is always the likelihood that an innocent person is convicted2. This paper attempts to explain ways that people wrongly convicted get proof of their innocence. The causes of wrong convictions are wide ranging and comprise all features of the pre-trial and trial stages of the criminal justice process ranging from false allegations, incompetent police investigation, police misconduct, erroneous forensic science and evidence, and poor representation from criminal defense lawyers. Once an alleged victim of an unjust conviction has lost their appeal, there is a slight opportunity that the courts will be in a position to stop the conviction3. In these cases, victims of wrongful convictions are likely to have exhausted the legal aid unit and it will be up to them, their friends, supporters, families, pro-bono lawyers and voluntary groups to uncover the evidence of innocence and present it to the relevant authorities such as the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC). 2Investigating a suspected wrongful conviction is a long and challenging process. Cases of high profile injustices like the Cardiff Newsagent Three and Sean Hodgson show that it can take several years of investigation before the evidence that leads to the quashing of the conviction is found4. Many projects that attempt to exonerate innocent people out of prison have come up. One such project is the Innocence Network project founded in 1992 whose principle objective is to get as many innocent people out of prison as possible and turn the experience of these people into a learning experience that could help repair the systematic failings in the criminal justic e system5. The project exonerates people by use of post-conviction DNA where the DNA from the crime scene is tested against the DNA of the accused. Often, people wrongly convicted of serious crimes like homicide or abuse has

Poetry College Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Poetry College - Essay Example People were kidnapped or trapped in a manner to be tortured only to attain the money. Stealing, robbery, theft were increasing day by day. It was not only suffering in life but terror of slaughtering getting high to its peak. Blacks were suffering from the injustice of Whites, poor were suffering from the miseries country facing due to the colonizing, Children were killed, a totally a horrifying condition was being seen in the country which was only be settled down by changing the thoughts of mind and soul. Many of the authors and poets in addition with the politicians and government tried psychologically to eliminate the major crimes like, terrorism of slaughtering, racism, tortures and literate people from the sufferings and miseries faced by the country due to diasporas and colonized. Margret Atwood, one of the famous Canadian writer known for her novels, but is a good author and writer to brief poems, articles, short stories and few she worked for television and movies as well. She was born in Ottawa, Ontario on 18 November, 1939 and started her writings since she was young. She qualified herself in English literature and taught English for some time in University of British Columbia. She was near to nature and wrote many poems and novels about the environment, personalities, and natural world. Moreover, she was a fervent writer for the kids and though wrote many poems and short stories for them. She was a keen observer and wants to participate herself in the efforts to make the country hygienic to breath in freely. She enthusiastically wrote many short stories and poems to tell the world and the people of her country what they are suffering with and morally help them to eliminate the crimes. "Footnote to the Amnesty Report on Torture" was written in 1978. It wa s a poem compiled in simple English explaining the conditions of the torture chamber along with different shocking and horrifying images in the poem about the torture chamber showing the harsh features of politics. She from the very first stanza clarified the view of the torture chamber by resembling it with something very worst. She made the readers imagine that it neither resembles the dungeon with cob webs, nor it reminds you of opera sets which are being fully designed but by words the dangerous one. It actually looks a lot like to a dirty, grimy, smutty and unclean railway station. However, this railway station is being cleaned every time by a hooked man but still it smells stinky as if it's a hospital with the smell of antiseptics and spirits. These stinky smells are in cooperated with the smell of blood. Her simile for the smell of the blood is equivalent to the one rising from the butcher's shop. She in her following stanza of the poem mentions the briefs about the man working there as a sweeper, cleaning floors all the time. This man cleans all the remnants spread all over the chamber the previous night. The torture is so harsh that people who are brave they forgets their bravery, innocent people may die, their torn fingers, or may hacked tongue are thrown away. To this all that cleaning man is grateful that e has this job to clear vomit, covering the dead bodies or collecting fingers rather than breaking or killing somebody. The words, Margaret Atwood used in the poem "Footnote to the

Biological And Psychological Theories Of Crime Criminology Essay

Biological And Psychological Theories Of Crime Criminology Essay As the famous English playwright and poet, William Congreve, said in his play titled; The Mourning Bride: a tragedy;Heavn has no rage, like love to hatred turnd, Nor hell a fury, like a woman scornd. This famous quote is nowadays more known as Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned and I believe, shows the hidden power within a woman; the power to deceive the conventional image of a woman, that is to neglect all the characteristics often associated to a woman, and to commit crime. This in turn, I believe, is the reason why so many people are intrigued with learning about why women do what they do. Often enough, we tend to look at a woman as a gentle being, capable of bearing and taking care of children, someone who is calm and low tempered, as well as, capable of holding a family together. This, however, is the conventional portrayal of a woman and is highly associated with the Sex-role theory by the Functionalists which explains the socialisation of females and males. This claim states that males are inclined to be tough, risk taking and to be aggressive, but females, on the other hand are socialised to be gentle. Hence, according to the functionalists, males are more likely to be criminals. Sociologist Frances Heidensohn also argues that women are less involved in crime because crime is gendered as a male activity whereas females exhibit soft characteristics. Nonetheless, many women around the world have committed crimes, as can be seen in the case studies and statistics in the sections below. Women have loitered, stolen, stalked, and even murdered. This functionalist theory does not, in any way, explain why a woman, in the first place would commit crime, however, it does somewhat relate to a theory by Cesar Lombroso (1835-1909). Lombroso believed that all crime was a Biological Atavism. This involved the examination of the cranial capacity as well as the facial features which in turn could identify biological criminal traits. Lombroso concluded that females who committed crime had more masculine traits whereby the brain capacity and difference in skull was more inclined to that of a male. In his studies, results showed that female criminals also carried the worst possible female characteristics which include; a lack of sensitivity to pain as well as a lack for compassion which are generally controlled in women by what he called feminine weakness and underdeveloped intelligence. This in turn, could mildly explain the vicious and dangerous personality of a female criminal. According to Lombrosos study, criminal women had deficient moral sensibilities, unstable characters, excessive vanity, irritability, revengefulness, and an uncontrolled sexual desire. Lombroso went on to say that the only way to end female c riminality was to prohibit criminal meaning so as to avoid the biological traits from passing onto another generation genetically. More recent explanations look at hormones such as testosterone which is proven to control levels of aggression and anger. A certain James M. Dabbs, Jr, from the department of psychology at Georgia State University in Atlanta, conducted a lot of research on how high testosterone levels are linked to crimes. He noted that high testosterone levels were strongly linked to more violent crimes, and violations. This was also proven in women, whereby high testosterone levels were related to crimes of unprovoked violence, increased numbers of prior charges, and decisions against parole. Dalton (1964) studied the effects of menstruation cycles upon female behaviour. Parker (1960) concluded that sixty-two per cent of the crimes of violence committed by female prison inmates were committed in the premenstrual week. Parker claimed that hormonal or menstrual factors can influence women to commit crime in certain circumstances. Although biology seems to produce a convincing starting point as to why women commit crime and is nowadays more commonly used as an explanation, sociologists often dismiss biological factors as they take a deeper look into the environmental background of women who commit crime and the society which they live in. Feminist Sociologist Carol Smart was a very important figure within the Feminist Criminology world. In her 1977 writing she stated; Our knowledge is still in its infancy. In comparison with the massive documentation on all aspects of male delinquency and criminality, the amount of work carried out on the area of women and crime is extremely limited Since her writing, one may actually find more theories and ideas related to female criminality, yet a few broad theories related to this aspect of sociology continuously overlook the idea that gender may indeed be a factor influencing criminality. This is despite the fact that official figures suggest that gender is perhaps the most significant single factor in whether an individual is convicted of crime (Smart, 1977). Women, due to the social portrayal of roles as already mentioned above, is depicted as someone who is unable to commit crime. This in turn leads us to the Mad not bad theory (Lloyd, 1995: xvii). This is the idea that a woman who commits crime must indeed be mad as opposed to bad since she dared to go against [her] natural biological givens such as passivity and a weakness of compliance' (Lloyd, 1995). As a theory, this may, in turn, reflect the low number of female prisoners, however, if we had to apply this theory to Malta, research has shown that by the end of December 2011, Mount Carmel had 268 males and 252 females who formed part of the sleeping-in population. Although I am not able to say if any of these patients actually had anything to do with any sort of criminal behaviour, by simply looking at the numbers, one can conclude that the theory is inefficient in explaining the Maltese situation because the numbers of females to males is less. Another theory is the Liberation Theory also known as Freda Adlers theory of Emancipation. This theory deals with the idea that ever since the liberation of women, the rate of female criminality has increased. Research, however, shows that female criminality was on a rise before the liberation of women. James and Thornton studied women prisoners and from their studies revealed that the women who were imprisoned originally came from poor and uneducated backgrounds. When asked for a reason as to why they offended, the responses received did not appear to be linked to liberation (1980). Upon looking for Sociological theories, I realised that Carol Smart was actually right in her accusation. Not a lot of sociological theories are in fact linked solely to female criminality. Sociological theories try to find a reason as to why people in general commit crime and rarely focus solely on female criminals. However, when looking for biological theories many were actually found and these seemed to focus a lot upon why females commit crime and what brings them to commit it. Could this mean that female criminality is largely linked to biology as opposed to environment, since research seems to direct us to this conclusion? Could female criminality be the perfect answer to the Nature vs. Nurture argument, again due to the theories found and how they are mainly linked to biology? The nature vs. nurture argument is one that has been discussed for years, and continues to be discussed. This argument tries to figure out as to whether crime is something which is controlled genetically or environmentally. The Nativists take on the extreme heredity Position whereby they assume that the features together with the characteristics of a human being are a result of evolution and individual differences evolve from our unique genetic code. In other words, they take on the nature approach, whereby our biology and genetic code can determine as to whether we are more likely to commit crime or not. For example, if my mother is a criminal, this theory believes that I too am very likely to become a criminal as was my grandmother. On the other hand we find the Empiricists (not to be confused with the scientific Empiricists). These are the environmentalists whom take up the nurture approach. They believe that at birth, everyones mind is a tabula rasa which means a blank slate (a t erm often used by John Locke). Over time this tabula rasa is filled as a consequence of experience (e.g. Behaviourism). In other words it is through experience that one might become a criminal and another may not. Personally, I believe that no matter how much we try to wrack our brains to ultimately figure out the reason as to why females commit crime, it is not one that as such can be answered. We can continue trying to come up with theories, which will eventually always be criticized by someone who thinks otherwise. The truth is that every human being has their own way of thinking, and trying to come up with a universal explanation as to how people think or why they do what they do is rather impossible. The Judiciary System and Female Criminals Apart from theories regarding why women commit crime, other theories take a closer look into the judiciary system and female criminals. Many believe that female criminality and court sentencing are linked together in a very unusual manner. Some believe that the Judiciary system can ultimately be affected by such a thing as gender. In other words, some believe that females receive a different sentence than men for the sole reason that they are females. Some of these theories can be seen below. A theory which looks at female criminality and sentencing is the Chivalry Theory. This theory deals with the idea that female offenders tend to be sentenced in a more lenient manner than that of men. This theory is highly linked to the sex-role theory presented earlier by the Functionalists. Females are seen as nurturers and caregivers, and hence this theory believes that females should be given a much more merciful sentence because they are weak and fragile. According to Otto Pollak (1950) in his book The Criminality of Women men have a protective attitude towards women and hence Men hate to accuse women and thus send them to their punishment, police officers dislike to arrest them, district attorneys to prosecute them, judges and juries to find them guilty, and so on David Farrington and Alison Morris (1984) studied the sentencing of 408 theft cases in a magistrates court. All these cases happened in Cambridge that same year. Around 110 of these offences were committed by women. Through these cases, it was shown that even though the male offenders received more severe sentences than the women did, research found that this difference had disappeared when the severity of the offences was then taken into account. Furthermore, Farrington and Morris concluded that there was no independent effect of sex on sentence severity. Nagel and Hagan (1983)believe that females are treated more leniently than males as long as they are committing less serious offenses and exhibit behaviours consistent with their appropriate gender role: acting passively( Ruth T. Zaplin. Female Offenders: Critical Perspectives and Effective Interventions) This leads us to the second theory related to the criminal justice system; The Evil Woman theory. This theory deals with the idea that since women are stepping out of their social roles and actually committing crime they are treated in a harsher manner than men who commit the same crime. It is hard for one to actually pinpoint which theory, if any, is most commonly put into practice. According to Joanne Belknap and Kristi Holsinger, it is important for us to keep in mind that the hypothesis best reflecting reality may depend on the type of crime and stage of the system where the decision is made (i.e., policing, courts, and corrections). In other words, each case will have to be taken individually and each stage will need to be looked at in depth. The Maltese SituationC:UsersuserDesktopUNIVERSITYAssignementsprison StatisticsLogo.jpg C:UsersuserDesktopUntitled.jpg C:UsersuserDesktopUNIVERSITYAssignementsprison StatisticsStatistics per year.jpg C:UsersuserDesktopUNIVERSITYAssignementsAnnual CCF Population.jpg The above information has been obtained from the site http://www.crimemalta.com/prison.html. In turn, this information was provided by Corradino Correctional Facility, Valletta Road Paola, Malta, PLA 1518. The tables and charts above present us with the exact number of prisoners present in the Maltese prison and the amount of males as opposed to females who are or have carried out a prison sentence. Through the tables, one can look at the prison population over the years, the population of prisoners monthly throughout the year 2011, the amount of prisoners over the months of 2012, as well as a weekly update of the current month. The Maltese prison carrying capacity is actually meant to be 500 people. However, as one can note, the amount of prisoners actually staying in our Maltese prison adds up to over 600 people, of which only 45 are female prisoners. Looking through statistics, one can see the largest gap of prisoners between 2006 and 2007, whereby the amount of female prisoners increased by 12 whereas in the following years we can see that the number was kept rather constant. Through these statistics, one can conclude that in proportion to the total amount of prisoners present, Malta has an extremely small number of female prisons. Nonetheless, this does not mean that actual female criminality is very low. One must keep in mind that a lot of crimes go unreported or undetected. Therefore, one cannot assume that there arent many female criminals in Malta. In fact, it is known that a lot of domestic violence cases on men go unreported for several reasons, one being humiliation. As Katryna Storace stated in her article THE UNFAIR SEX; Domestic violence has traditionally been understood as a crime perpetrated by domineering men against vulnerable women. But recent data is slowly beginning to reveal a growing number of male victims. Ms. Ruth Sciberras, Manager of Domestic Violence Services at AppoÄ ¡Ãƒâ€žÃ‚ ¡, the national social welfare agency, seconds the idea that a lot of domestic violence cases upon men are not the actual figures and that in actual fact there is a hidden figure concealed. Such an example proves to one how the rate of female criminality in Malta could very well be higher than what our prison is indicating. Even so, one cannot help but ask for the reasons as to why the 49 female prisoners are actually there. The following table, obtained from Formosa S., (2012) CrimeMalta, www.crimemalta.com presents us with a good idea of the offences for which women were incarcerated during the 2000s (2000-2009). Catagory Over 10 Years % Theft 43 16.8 Arson 1 0.4 Blackmail 1 0.4 Breach of Conditions 14 5.5 Court Order 1 0.4 Conversion of Fines 50 19.5 Drugs 51 19.9 Contempt of Court 3 1.2 Defilement 1 0.4 Disturbances 1 0.4 Escaped from Custody 1 0.4 Falsification 12 4.7 False Evidence 1 0.4 Fraud 15 5.9 Threats 5 2.0 Homicide 1 0.4 Loitering 14 5.5 Migration 5 2.0 Others 36 14.1 Total 256 100 Although Loitering is often the common assumption as to why women go to prison, the table above actually shows that women who have in fact ended up in prison were mainly for conversion of fines (which is when a person has received several fines, those fines are not paid, so therefore converted into a prison sentence), drugs and also theft. Through this research and statistics we are now not only able to determine the exact amount of women in the Maltese prison, but also have a clear indication of the crimes that are mostly committed by Maltese women of crime. Case Studies Here are two examples of the most Notorious female criminals; Bonnie Parker Famously known as Bonnie and Clyde, were shot to death by officers on May 23, 1934 in Louisiana. They were believed to have murdered 13 people, and involved in several robberies as well as burglaries. Aileen Wuornos A former prostitute who was executed in 2002 for killing seven men in the late 1980s and early 1990s. As can be seen from all the research, a log of people have tried to find the reason and solution for women and criminality. Through shown statistics, Malta has a very low number of female criminals. This, of course, does not include hidden statistics i.e. crimes which go undetected. The reasons as to why women end up in prison in Malta have also been shown to be safer then those abroad, whereby very little lives have been taken away by Maltese female criminals. This topic has taught me a lot regarding the female sex and social expectations upon us. Nonetheless to every rule there is an exception, and no social construct can prevent criminality.

I Am a Humanist :: Personal Narrative Essays

I Am a Humanist One Sunday afternoon, under the warm, unrelenting gaze of the sun, a revelation interrupted my usual observations of the psychological flux seemingly inherent in all family relationships. Since the fact which I had noticed seemed relevant to the conversation, I saw no harm in prodding out the truth by a simple statement, "My sister is one too." Of course I meant it partially in jest, since she had made no such rebellious declarations. A few inconsequential discussions had made me consider stating her liberalism valid, and I took only a small step further by calling her an equal. Some would call such a leap flattering, but my mother thought the statement horrendous. "You may hold your own beliefs, but she's just a little girl! How could you?" The exact wording, time, and place are not important -- the tone of intolerance and look that made me want to proclaim,"Yes, I'm cold-hearted" are what have stayed with me. Such a response was justified by society -- and, as I have been repeatedly informed, extremely calm by almost any comparison. I was not referring to political alignment, but something far more serious and controversial. The group I had unjustly compared her to was the outcast of society's philosophy; I had called her a cold-hearted atheist. There are many good reasons for such anti religious intolerance in a social structure worried about the individual. How can godless ones be comforted -- in life and death? My mom, with good reason, was worried about my sister's soul; on Earth she would face a lifetime not knowing about a universal and unconditional love and her status in the afterlife was too scary to contemplate. Such a view was undoubtedly skewed by parental concern which concentrated on the child and not the world at large. Society, regardless of rigidity, is built upon moral rules that distinguish participants from simple feuding creatures. Most problems arise from the fact that the citizens of these advanced moral institutions find breaking the rules to be beneficial -- and are sometimes unable to resist the temptation. It is rather judicially expedient to proclaim God's judgment in all sentences and refer crimes to the afterlife. Both solutions require a believing population.

Vampire Academy Chapter 23

TWENTY-THREE I'D NEVER HAD SO MUCH trouble staying out of Lissa's head before, but then, we'd never been through anything like this together either. The strength of her thoughts and feelings kept trying to pull me in as I hurried through the forest. Running through the brush and woods, Christian and I moved farther and farther from the cabin. Man, how I wished Lissa had stayed back there. I would have loved to see the raid through her eyes. But that was behind us now, and as I ran, Dimitri's push on laps and stamina paid off. She wasn't moving very quickly, and I could feel the distance closing between us, giving me a more precise idea of her location. Likewise, Christian couldn't keep up with me. I started to slow for him but soon realized the foolishness of that. So did he. â€Å"Go,† he gasped out, waving me on. When I reached a point close enough to her that I thought she could hear me, I called out her name, hoping to get her to turn around. Instead, what answered me was a set of howls – a soft canine baying. Psi-hounds. Of course. Victor had said he hunted with them; he could control those beasts. I suddenly understood why no one at school recalled sending psi-hounds after Lissa and me in Chicago. The Academy hadn't arranged that; Victor had. A minute later, I reached a clearing where Lissa cringed, back against a tree. From her looks and bond feelings, she should have fainted long ago. Only the barest scraps of willpower kept her hanging on. Wide-eyed and pale, she stared in horror at the four psi-hounds cornering her. Noticing the full sunlight, it occurred to me that she and Christian had another obstacle to contend with out here. â€Å"Hey,† I yelled at the hounds, trying to draw them toward me. Victor must have sent them to trap her, but I hoped they'd sense and respond to another threat – especially a dhampir. Psi-hounds didn't like us any better than other animals did. Sure enough, they turned on me, teeth bared and drool coming out of their mouths. They resembled wolves, only with brown fur and eyes that glowed like orange fire. He'd probably ordered them not to harm her, but they had no such instructions regarding me. Wolves. Just like in science class. What had Ms. Meissner said? A lot of confrontations were all about willpower? Bearing this mind, I tried to project an alpha attitude, but I don't think they fell for it. Any one of them outweighed me. Oh yeah – they also outnumbered me. No, they didn't have anything to be scared of. Trying to pretend this was just a free-for-all match with Dimitri, I picked up a branch from the ground that had about the same heft and weight as a baseball bat. I'd just positioned it in my hands when two of the hounds jumped me. Claws and teeth bit into me, but I held my own surprisingly well as I tried to remember everything I'd learned in the last two months about fighting bigger and stronger opponents. I didn't like hurting them. They reminded me too much of dogs. But it was me or them, and survival instincts won out. One of them I managed to beat to the ground, dead or unconscious I didn't know. The other was still on me, still coming on fast and furious. His companions looked ready to join him, but then a new competitor burst on the scene – sort of. Christian. â€Å"Get out of here,† I yelled at him, shaking off my hound as its claws ripped into the bare skin of my leg, nearly toppling me over. I was still wearing the dress, though I'd shed the heels a while ago. But Christian, like any lovesick guy, didn't listen. He picked up a branch as well and swung it at one of the hounds. Flames burst from the wood. The hound backed up, still compelled to follow Victor's orders, though also clearly afraid of the fire. Its companion, the fourth hound, circled away from the torch and came up behind Christian. Smart little bastard. It sprang at Christian, hitting him back first. The branch flew from his hands, the fire immediately going out. Both hounds then leapt onto his fallen form. I finished my hound – again feeling sick over what I had to do to subdue it – and moved toward the other two, wondering if I had the strength to take on these last ones. But I didn't have to. Rescue appeared in the form of Alberta, emerging through some trees. With a gun in hand, she shot the hounds without hesitation. Boring as hell perhaps – and completely useless against Strigoi – but against other things? Guns were tried and true. The hounds stopped moving and slumped next to Christian's body. And Christian's body†¦ All three of us made our way over to it – Lissa and I practically crawling. When I saw it, I had to look away. My stomach lurched, and it took a lot of effort not to throw up. He wasn't dead yet, but I didn't think he had much longer. Lissa's eyes, wide and distraught, drank him in. Tentatively, she reached out toward him and then dropped her hand. â€Å"I can't,† she managed in a small voice. â€Å"I don't have the strength left.† Alberta, leathery face both hard and compassionate, gently tugged her arm. â€Å"Come on, Princess. We need to get out of here. We'll send help.† Turning back to Christian, I forced myself to look at him and let myself feel how much Lissa cared about him. â€Å"Liss,† I said hesitantly. She looked over at me, like she'd forgotten I was even there. Wordlessly, I brushed my hair away from my neck and tilted it toward her. She stared for a moment, blank-faced; then understanding shone in her eyes. Those fangs that lurked behind her pretty smile bit into my neck, and a small moan escaped my lips. I hadn't realized how much I'd missed it, that sweet, wonderful pain followed by glorious wonder. Bliss settled over me. Dizzying. Joyful. Like being in a dream. I don't entirely remember how long Lissa drank from me. Probably not that long. She would never even consider drinking the quantities that would kill a person and make her a Strigoi. She finished, and Alberta caught me as I started to sway. Dizzily, I watched as Lissa leaned over Christian and rested her hands on him. In the distance, I heard the other guardians crashing through the forest. No glowing or fireworks surrounded the healing. It all took place invisibly, occurring between Lissa and Christian. Even though the bite's endorphins had numbed my connection to her, I remembered Victor's healing and the wonderful colors and music she must be bringing forth. A miracle unfolded before my eyes, and Alberta gasped. Christian's wounds closed. The blood dried up. Color – as much as a Moroi ever had, at least – returned to his cheeks. His eyelids fluttered, and his eyes regained their life again. Focusing on Lissa, he smiled. It was like watching a Disney movie. I must have keeled over after that, because I don't remember anything else. Eventually, I woke up in the Academy's clinic, where they forced fluids and sugar into me for two days. Lissa stayed by my side almost the entire time, and slowly, the events of the kidnapping unfolded. We had to tell Kirova and a few choice others about Lissa's powers, how she'd healed Victor and Christian and, well, me. The news was shocking, but the administrators agreed to keep it secret from the rest of the school. No one even considered taking Lissa away like they had Ms. Karp. Mostly all the other students knew was that Victor Dashkov had kidnapped Lissa Dragomir. They didn't know why. Some of his guardians had died when Dimitri's band attacked – a damned shame, when guardian numbers were so low already. Victor was now being held under 24/7 guard at the school, waiting for a royal regiment of guardians to carry him away. The Moroi rulers might be a mostly symbolic government within another country's larger government, but they had systems of justice, and I'd heard about Moroi prisons. Not any place I'd want to be. As for Natalie†¦that was trickier. She was still a minor, but she'd conspired with her father. She'd brought in the dead animals and kept an eye on Lissa's behavior – even before we left. Being an earth user like Victor, she'd also been the one to rot the bench that broke my ankle. After she'd seen me hold Lissa back from the dove, she and Victor realized that they needed to injure me to get to her – it was their only chance to get her to heal again. Natalie had simply waited for a good opportunity. She wasn't locked up or anything yet, and the Academy didn't know what to do with her until a royal command came. I couldn't help but feel sorry for her. She was so awkward and self-conscious. Anyone could have manipulated her, let alone her father, whom she loved and from whom she so desperately wanted attention. She would have done anything. Rumor said she'd stood screaming outside the detention center, begging them to let her see him. They'd refused and hauled her away. Meanwhile, Lissa and I slipped back into our friendship like nothing had happened. In the rest of her world, a lot had happened. After all that excitement and drama, she seemed to gain a new sense of what mattered to her. She broke up with Aaron. I'm sure she did it very nicely, but it still had to be hard on him. She'd dropped him twice now. The fact that his last girlfriend had cheated on him probably wasn't helping his confidence any. And without any more hesitation, Lissa started dating Christian, not caring about the consequences to her reputation. Seeing them out in public, holding hands, made me do a double take. He didn't seem able to believe it himself. The rest of our classmates were almost too stunned to even comprehend it yet. They could barely process acknowledging his existence, let alone him being with someone like her. My own romantic state was less rosy than hers – if you could even call it a romantic state. Dimitri hadn't visited me during my recovery, and our practices were indefinitely suspended. It wasn't until the fourth day after Lissa's kidnapping that I ran into him in the gym. We were alone. I had come back for my gym bag and froze when I saw him, unable to speak. He started to walk past and then stopped. â€Å"Rose†¦Ã¢â‚¬  he began after several uncomfortable moments. â€Å"You need to report what happened. With us.† I'd been waiting a long time to talk to him, but this wasn't the conversation I'd imagined. â€Å"I can't do that. They'll fire you. Or worse.† â€Å"They should fire me. What I did was wrong.† â€Å"You couldn't help it. It was the spell†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"It doesn't matter. It was wrong. And stupid.† Wrong? Stupid? I bit my lip, and tears threatened to fill my eyes. I quickly tried to regain my composure. â€Å"Look, it's not a big deal.† â€Å"It is a big deal! I took advantage of you.† â€Å"No,† I said evenly. â€Å"You didn't.† There must have been something telling in my voice because he met my eyes with a deep and serious intensity. â€Å"Rose, I'm seven years older than you. In ten years, that won't mean so much, but for now, it's huge. I'm an adult. You're a child.† Ouch. I flinched. Easier if he'd just punched me. â€Å"You didn't seem to think I was a child when you were all over me.† Now he flinched. â€Å"Just because your body†¦well, that doesn't make you an adult. We're in two very different places. I've been out in the world. I've been on my own. I've killed, Rose – people, not animals. And you†¦you're just starting out. Your life is about homework and clothes and dances.† â€Å"That's all you think I care about?† â€Å"No, of course not. Not entirely. But it's all part of your world. You're still growing up and figuring out who you are and what's important. You need to keep doing that. You need to be with boys your own age.† I didn't want boys my own age. But I didn't say that. I didn't say anything. â€Å"Even if you choose not to tell, you need to understand that it was a mistake. And it isn't ever going to happen again,† he added. â€Å"Because you're too old for me? Because it isn't responsible?† His face was perfectly blank. â€Å"No. Because I'm just not interested in you in that way.† I stared. The message – the rejection – came through loud and clear. Everything from that night, everything I'd believed so beautiful and full of meaning, turned to dust before my eyes. â€Å"It only happened because of the spell. Do you understand?† Humiliated and angry, I refused to make a fool of myself by arguing or begging. I just shrugged. â€Å"Yeah. Understood.† I spent the rest of the day sulking, ignoring both Lissa and Mason's attempts to draw me out of my room. It was ironic that I should want to stay inside. Kirova had been impressed enough by my performance with the rescue to end my house arrest. Before school the next day, I made my way to where Victor was being held. The Academy had honest-to-goodness cells, complete with bars, and two guardians stood watch in the hallway nearby. It took a little bit of finagling on my part to get them to let me inside to talk to him. Even Natalie wasn't allowed in. But one of the guardians had ridden with me in the SUV and watched me undergo Lissa's torture. I told him I needed to ask Victor about what he'd done to Lissa. It was a lie, but the guardians bought it and felt sorry for me. They allowed me five minutes to speak, backing up a discrete distance down the hall where they could see but not hear. Standing outside Victor's cell, I couldn't believe I'd once felt sorry for him. Seeing his new and healthy body enraged me. He sat cross-legged on a narrow bed, reading. When he heard me approach, he looked up. â€Å"Why Rose, what a nice surprise. Your ingenuity never fails to impress me. I didn't think they'd allow me any visitors.† I crossed my arms, trying to put on a look of total guardian fierceness. â€Å"I want you to break the spell. Finish it off.† â€Å"What do you mean?† â€Å"The spell you did on me and Dimitri.† â€Å"That spell is done. It burned itself out.† I shook my head. â€Å"No. I keep thinking about him. I keep wanting to†¦Ã¢â‚¬  He smiled knowingly when I didn't finish. â€Å"My dear, that was already there, long before I set that up.† â€Å"It wasn't like this. Not this bad.† â€Å"Maybe not consciously. But everything else†¦the attraction – physical and mental – was already in you. And in him. It wouldn't have worked otherwise. The spell didn't really add anything new – it just removed inhibitions and strengthened the feelings you already had for each other.† â€Å"You're lying. He said he didn't feel that way about me.† â€Å"He's lying. I tell you, the spell wouldn't have worked otherwise, and honestly, he should have known better. He had no right to let himself feel that way. You can be forgiven for a schoolgirl's crush. But him? He should have demonstrated more control in hiding his feelings. Natalie saw it and told me. After just a few observations of my own, it was obvious to me too. It gave me the perfect chance to distract you both. I keyed the necklace's charm for each of you, and you two did the rest.† â€Å"You're a sick bastard, doing that to me and him. And to Lissa.† â€Å"I have no regrets about what I did with her,† he declared, leaning against the wall. â€Å"I'd do it again if I could. Believe what you want, I love my people. What I wanted to do was in their best interest. Now? Hard to say. They have no leader, no real leader. There's no one worthy, really.† He cocked his head toward me, considering. â€Å"Vasilisa actually might have been such a one – if she could ever have found it within herself to believe in something and overcome the influence of spirit. It's ironic, really. Spirit can shape someone into a leader and also crush her ability to remain one. The fear, depression, and uncertainty take over, and keep her true strength buried deep within her. Still, she has the blood of the Dragomirs, which is no small thing. And of course, she has you, her shadow-kissed guardian. Who knows? She may surprise us yet.† † ? ®Shadow-kissed'?† There it was again, the same thing Ms. Karp had called me. â€Å"You've been kissed by shadows. You've crossed into Death, into the other side, and returned. Do you think something like that doesn't leave a mark on the soul? You have a greater sense of life and the world – far greater than even I have – even if you don't realize it. You should have stayed dead. Vasilisa brushed Death to bring you back and bound you to her forever. You were actually in its embrace, and some part of you will always remember that, always fight to cling to life and experience all it has. That's why you're so reckless in the things you do. You don't hold back your feelings, your passion, your anger. It makes you remarkable. It makes you dangerous.† I didn't know what to say to that. I was speechless, which he seemed to like. â€Å"It's what created your bond, too. Her feelings always press out of her, onto others. Most people can't pick up on them unless she's actually directing her thoughts toward them with compulsion. You, however, have a mind sensitive to extrasensory forces – hers in particular.† He sighed, almost happily, and I remembered reading that Vladimir had saved Anna from death. That must have made their bond, too. â€Å"Yes, this ridiculous Academy has no idea what they have in either you or her. If not for the fact that I needed to kill you, I would have made you part of my royal guard when you were older.† â€Å"You never would've had a royal guard. Don't you think people would have been weirded out by you suddenly recovering like that? Even if no one found out about Lissa, Tatiana never would have made you king.† â€Å"You may be right, but it doesn't matter. There are other ways of taking power. Sometimes it's necessary to go outside the established channels. Do you think Kenneth is the only Moroi who follows me? The greatest and most powerful revolutions often start very quietly, hidden in the shadows.† He eyed me. â€Å"Remember that.† Odd sounds came from the detention center's entrance, and I glanced toward where I'd come in. The guardians who had let me in were gone. From around the corner, I heard a few grunts and thumps. I frowned and craned my head to get a better look. Victor stood up. â€Å"Finally.† Fear spiked down my spine – at least until I saw Natalie round the corner. Mixed sympathy and anger flitted through me, but I forced a kind smile. She probably wouldn't see her father again once they took him. Villain or no, they should be allowed to say goodbye. â€Å"Hey,† I said, watching her stride toward me. There was an unusual purpose in her movements that some part of me whispered wasn't right. â€Å"I didn't think they'd let you in.† Of course, they weren't supposed to have let me in either. She walked right up to me and – no exaggeration – launched me against the far wall. My body hit it hard, and black star-bursts danced across my vision. â€Å"What?†¦Ã¢â‚¬  I put a hand to my forehead and tried to get up. Unconcerned about me now, Natalie unlocked Victor's cell with a set of keys I'd seen on one of the guardian's belts. Staggering to my feet, I approached her. â€Å"What are you doing?† She glanced up at me, and that's when I saw it. The faint ring of red around her pupils. Skin too pale, even for a Moroi. Blood smudged around her mouth. And most telling of all, the look in her eyes. A look so cold and so evil, my heart nearly came to a standstill. It was a look that said she no longer walked among the living – a look that said she was now one of the Strigoi.

Policies Against the Jews

Hitler was now in control of Europe with the start of World War II. Hitler’s discrimination against the Jews was now turning into downright control of the Jewish population as well as the rest of Europe. It started with the Nazi invasion of Poland. â€Å"The radical, planned programme of ‘ethnic cleansing’ that followed was authorized by Hitler himself (Kershaw 518). † From there, he and Nazi leaders began to dream up new ideas of how to approach the â€Å"Jewish Question. † The Nazi party had already attempted to pursue the Madagascar plan, which would deport all German Jews to the island of Madagascar, however this failed. Now Hitler had his eyes on the east; the Soviet Union to be exact. â€Å"He was now thinking about something else, not exactly more friendly (Kershaw 594). † Hitler was hinting at the takeover of the Soviet Union which was an inevitable event, and using this as a â€Å"dumping ground† for the Jews (Kershaw 594). † Hitler’s idea of what to do with the Jews was in no way a clear-cut vision. The recent invasion of Poland was an option for Hitler in the later months. For some time, there was uncertainty with what to do with the Jewish people and how they would complete their plan of ‘ethnic cleansing’ (Kershaw 521). In his Reichstag speech in October in 1940, Hitler also mentions the â€Å"ethnic resettlement as preparation for the ‘new order’ of ethnographical relations in former Poland (Kershaw 521). Poland would later be used as a place for Hitler to transport the Jews into concentration camps. Franz Rademacher, the new head of the Foreign Ministry’s ‘Jewish Desk’ had begun to devise options for solutions to the ‘Jewish Problem’ in the summer of 1940. He provided 3 options that included deporting the Jews to Western Europe, removing them from Europe entirely, or sending them all to Palestine. Complications would make it so that none of these options would work. Great Britain would have to be secured in order for the Madagascar plan to work and using Palestine was an unfavorable choice for the Nazi’s (Kershaw 578). In the meantime, Hitler was dealing with the British and Germany’s relations with the Soviet Union. The German’s and Soviet Union were now at a disagreement. This did not sit well with Hitler and he could see their relations with the Soviets slowly deteriorating (Kershaw584). Read also Analyze the Ways in Which British Imperial Policies The increasingly hostile relations between the two countries were giving way for Hitler’s justification of Operation Barbarossa. Hitler’s plan to evacuate and eradicate the Jews started with Operation Barbarossa. This plan was to take over the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe in order to have a place to â€Å"remove the Jews to†. Hitler was unsure of how well Operation Barbarossa was going to be executed. â€Å"Outwardly confident, he was inwardly less certain (Kershaw 589). † However unsure he was, this was going to be the plan to solve the â€Å"Jewish Question. The Nazi policies involving the Jewish people took a lot of time to finally complete. There were a lot of different options that Hitler and Nazi officials had discussed when attempting to find a solution to the â€Å"Jewish Question†, but ultimately, the final decision lie within the fate of Operation Barbarossa. It would be the success in the invasion of the Soviet Union that would determ ine the success of the relocation of the Jews in Europe. War was the only option that Hitler and the Nazi officials deemed reasonable for their final decision. Thus, Operation Barbarossa commenced.