Essay, Research Paper
The Son of Sam trial occurred in New York, New
York on May 8, 1978. David R. Berkowitz was the
Defendant, he was on trial because he was a mass
killer. He killed six and wounded seven from
October 1976 to August 1978. Hundreds of Detectives
were assigned to find the .44-caliber killer, so
called because of the unusually large hand gun
bullets he used. They found him because he got a
parking ticket in front of a fire hydrant near the
seen of the crime. Cops found his car and found a
duffel bag full of guns behind the front seat. He
was seized when he came outside, carrying a
.44-caliber revolver in a small paper bag. He was
found guilty and got six twenty-five years to life
terms with an additional fifteen to twenty-five
terms for assault and attempted murder.
One of the reasons for these outrageous acts
were because his stepmother, whom he was attracted
to, died. He was extremely depressed for a long
time. As a result of his stepmothers death he went
out to search for his birth mother. He found her,
but was disappointed with her physical appearance,
so he decided to take it out on the entire female
race.
The second reason for David Berkowitz actions
was because his dog ordered him to. Berkowitz
claimed that his neighbor, Sam Carr, was a high
demon and sent evil messages through his pet
Labrador. These messages ordered him to kill.
Berkowitz says he tried to kill the dog, but he
couldn t. He claims the dog was possessed.
From this court case a law was produced. This
law clearly states that every person or
organization contracting with any person accused or
convicted of a crime, with respect to the
reenactment of such a crime, by way of a movie,
book, magazine article, radio or television
presentation or from the expression of such
person s thoughts, opinions, feelings or emotions
about such a crime, shall pay over all profits to
the Crime Victims Board.
The Dred Scott Case
Dred Scott was born a slave. He lived in
Missouri with his owner Peter Blow, where he had no
freedoms. Next he was sold to a doctor in Illinois.
After this Doctor died he was sold to this family,
who lived in a free state . But this family was
different they wanted to free him and help end
slavery. Yet they wouldn t release him. They wanted
him to take this to the lower courts. One of the
lower courts actually ruled in his favor, but the
Missouri State Supreme Court later reversed this
decision. After eleven years in the court they
finally got it to the U.S. Supreme Court. The
Justice Roger Taney s reason for this ruling was
that slaves were not citizens, and just because
Scott lived in a free state didn t mean he was
free . The significance of this case is that Dred
Scott Decision actually ended the Missouri
Compromise.
Scott s clam was that he had become a free man
when his owner had taken him to a free state, which
had made him free under the 1820 Missouri
Compromise. It was decided he was a slave
regardless were his owner took him, during the 1856
December term.
Название реферата: Son Of Sam And Dred Scott Cases
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