the good life exists when you stop wanting a better one; it is the condition of savoring what is, rather than longing for what might be. -anonymous

1. The general response I received about bullying, is that more people would stand up and help someone rather than ignore them. Most people know what it is like to be bullied and I know that they would not want someone else to go through what they went through. I commend individuals for standing up to people and actually having a voice rather then ignoring the situation and turning the other cheek. 

1. Danielle said "Now that I'm an adult, I'd say of course I would stop the bullying. I can't imagine why people our age think it's okay to do it after all the education we received about bullying growing up and how much we hear about it on the news today".

1. Jessica said "I can honestly say I would definitely help people. No one deserves it".

1. Matt C said "I hope that I would step in and stop it. Bullying is messed up".

1. PJ said "I have my life for a reason. I am now an advocate for the campaign to Write love on Her Arms, and going to school to become a counselor. I want people to know bullying isn't right, life experiences happen and you are who you are for a reason".

1. Kudos to those that responded with such positivity! 

Once all the information comes out about the Trayvon Martin story I would like everyone's input on what you think should happen to Zimmerman who said that the reason for his shooting was self defense.

Let me know your opinion blogging world!

So, my blogging friends, what is new in the world of justice today? Well, I would be more than happy to tell you!

Opening arguments began Monday in the sex abuse trial of church official Monsignor William Lynn who is accused of covering up evidence of sexual abuse. Lynn served as the secretary for clergy under the former Philadelphia archbishop.

Monsignor WIlliam Lynn and the Rev. James Brennan appeared before the Common Pleas Judge Teresa Sarmina inside a nearly filled Philadelphia courtroom. Commonwealth prosecutor Jacqueline Coelho told jurors in her nearly hour long opening statement that Lynn's role was to protect priests, the church and privacy "at any cost."

From 1992 until 2004, Lynn was responsible for investigating reports that priests had sexually abused children. Brennan, 48, is accused of assaulting a 14 year old boy in 1996.

BOTH PLED NOT GUILTY.

Last year a Philadelphia Grand Jury report accused the archdiocese of failing to investigate claims of sexual abuse of children by priests. The Grand Jury report led to the Philadelphia district attorneys office criminally charging four Philadelphia priests and a parochial school teacher with raping and assaulting boys in their care, while Lynn was accused of allowing the abusive priests to have access to children.

The charges are unusual because they go beyond accusations against priests and included a church higher up charged with covering up the abuse, which church experts say has never happened in the United States before.

Lynn would face a maximum of 14 years in prison if convicted of all charges

A total of 23 priests in the Philadelphia are have been placed on administrative leave by the archdiocese, 21 on March 7, 2011.

It's sad that when someone who is suppose to guide you through your journey in life, and teach you the right way about life and God does this to children.

I guess the saying still goes ... "innocent until proven guilty"....

THE VERDICT IS IN!

Ravi as found guilty of the most serious of charges for spying on his room mate, Tyler Clementi, having a gay sexual encounter in 2010, a New Jersey jury ruled today.

Ravi was convicted of invasion of privacy, bias intimidation, witness tampering, and hindering arrest, stemming from his role in activating a webcam to peek at Clementi's date with a man on Sept 19, 2010.  Ravi was also accused of encouraging others to spy during a second date, on Sept 21,2010, and intimidating Clementi for being gay.

Ravi was found not guilty of some of the 15 counts of bias intimidation, attempted invasion of privacy, and attempted bias intimidation.

So, Ravi was not charged in connection with Clementi's death. But, charged with the invasion of privacy. Hopefully, this man gets deported back to India, and the max penalty of 10 years.

So much is wrong with this world today.
Deliberations began a few days ago in the Rutgers trial, Dharun Ravi is on trial on a 15 count indictment for allegedly spying on and intimidating his room mate, Tyler Clementi who jumped off the Ben Franklin bridge. If convicted on all counts after the more than two week trial, Ravi could be sentenced to 10 years in prison. 


Prosecutors offered Ravi a plea deal that would have let him avoid jail time in exchange for 600 hours of community service and counseling. Prosecutors also offered to help Ravi avoid deportation, though they said they could not guarantee it. Ravi is a citizen of india who had been studying on a visa at Rutgers University. 


Molly Wei was another student that confessed to joining Ravi watch a surreptitious webcam encounter involving Clementi and another man in September 2010. Wei reached a plea deal in May 2011 that required her to testify against her friend and former high school classmate, as well as to complete a three year program on cyber bullying and do 300 hours of community service.


I have a question though, this came up in my criminal justice class a few weeks ago, if this Ravi fellow is convicted he will most likely have to serve the entire 10 year prison sentence, where as he could have pled guilty and received no prison time. 


The question is: is there an extra penalty for those that invoke their right to a trial? 
Ravi denied his plea agreement, and if found guilty he will be in prison for the next 10 years. I will update once there is a verdict and I will give my opinion of that question once I get some feedback!

My open thread topic question will be about something that most people know about all too well; bullying. I have been following a case about a teenage student from Rutgers University, Tyler Clementi, who jumped off the Ben Franklin bridge in 2010 after his room mate hid a web cam and video tapped him having an intimate relationship with another gay man.


I followed this case from day one because I was working the day the student jumped off the bridge, and I was around the corner from the Ben Franklin bridge in Philadelphia when the police shut the bridge down causing all kinds of crazy traffic. When I turned the radio on and found out what had happened I was shocked to find that a kid jumped from the bridge and now the search was on to find him in the Delaware River.


Less than a month after the suicide, President Obama released a videotaped message condemning bullying, and In November, Clementi's family consented to the use of his name on federal anti-harassment legislation called the "Tyler Clementi Higher Education Anti-Harassment Act,"  this law would require schools that receive federal student aid "to create policies prohibiting the harassment of any student.


The open question I have is what would you do if you noticed someone being bullied? Would you go get help? Would you engage in the bullying yourself? How would you make a difference?


Everyday there are children who are treated so wrongfully, it does not matter your age, gender, sexual orientation, or race, everyone at one point in their life was bullied. You can ALL make a difference in one person's life just by talking to them, be sociable with everyone, smile at people in the hallway or even hold the door open for someone who is struggling with a ton of books.


I will not stand for bullying, I will befriend anyone and anyone who is willing to listen to me, and I hope everyone in this world can help to be the change they wish to see in this world! 


There are so many outlets for helping to spot and stop bullying, but to hold it all in and not tell anyone is the worst thing you can possibly do. Tell an adult, tell a friend, tell your priest, tell who ever you are comfortable with, and there are also many support groups associated with helping to aid those who were bullied.


I want to live in a world where I am not afraid to speak my mind, dress how I want, listen to whatever music interests me, or date who ever I want, I will NOT let ANYONE stop me, nor make me feel inferior.


:) 
Here are some links about bullying and how you can help!


Bully Free Zone
Bullying Facts
HopeLine

!

A jury found George Huguely, 24, guilty of second-degree murder and grand larceny in the May 2010 death of Yeardley Love.  However, the recommendation for his sentencing is 26 years!
I was watching CNN when the verdict came in, and it was a complete shock to me that the jury only recommend that he get 26 years. Yeardley Love's mother read a letter to the jury and to the defendant George Huguely that was completely heartbreaking and honest. The letter said that this young girl who had so much potential in this world, such a big kind heart, who wanted to help people, who wanted to go to New York City when she graduated, was taken away from them. To end the letter, Love's mother said "Every year that goes by, I'm afraid I'm forgetting a little piece of her,". And now here is this man who committed such a horrid crime, could be out on the streets again by the time he is 50! Where is the justice?
After reading his emails and how he threatened his ex girlfriend, and accused her of cheating on him with a team mate from a competing team, now this young girl will never grow up, never have a family, never have her dreams come true. 
I don't understand the justice system some times.

Well, my weekend was pretty productive, I booked my second trip to Jamaica for September which is pretty darn exciting cause I was just there last September and it was beautiful.  Also, I bought a Pandora bracelet with two charms, the start of a new collection :)

Secondly, a teenage mother and her young daughter who were snatched off a Cleveland street in Cleveland, Ohio, were found shot to death in a garage early Sunday. Thomas Lorde, the estranged boyfriend of 19-year-old Latasha Jackson and the father of 1-year-old Chaniya Wynn, was found next to them, dead of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head, police said Sunday. 

The alert named Lorde, 25, as the kidnapping suspect, warning that he was a "violent sexual predator with felony warrants out of New York," and armed and dangerous. All three were found unresponsive with gunshot wounds and pronounced dead on the scene, the statement said. Jackson's 14-year-old brother was walking with the pair when he said Lorde approached.

"He walked up on us and ... he pulled out the gun. He pointed it at me," the brother told CNN affiliate WEWS. "He told me to run."

What a lovely way to spend the weekend; what is wrong with people?!

I just read that the judge in the Jared Loughner case ruled that he can continue his medical treatment until June. His medical treatment was suppose to expire Wednesday of this week, but a psychologist found "measurable progress" in Lougner's mental state.

Now, if you are not sure who this Jared Loughner guy is, he was the man accused of killing six people and injuring 13 others during a January 2011 meet and greet with the then U.S. Representative Gabrielle Giffords in Arizona. Giffords was shot in the head and recently stepped down from her position in Congress just last month to focus more on her recovery.

Loughner suffers from schizophrenia and was declared incompetent to stand trial last May after an evaluation term at a federal mental hospital. In July, Loughner was suicidal inside the hospital, and was harming himself and claiming that the radio was inserting thoughts into his head.

No one can say for certain that his mental status will improve for him to stand trial, but as long as he continues his medication intake and psychologists are constantly evaluating him, then maybe he could finally stand trial and justice can be served for those victims.

The first criminal case I will be following is the trial of University of Virginia college lacrosse player George Huguely who is accused of beating his ex girlfriend to death. Huguely faces charges including first degree murder for the May 2010 death of Yeardley Love, a 22-year-old senior who was also a lacrosse player. The jury selection begins today, and the trial is expected to last two weeks. According to CNN.com, "George Huguely admitted on May 3, 2010 that he was involved in an altercation with Yeardly Love and that during the course of the altercation he shook Love and her head repeatedly hit the wall," Charlottesville Police Det. Lisa Reeves wrote in a sworn statement used to obtain a search warrant in the case. The medical examiner ruled the death was caused by blunt force trauma. 


in Virginia a plea deal can happen at anytime before the jury returns the verdict. Today Huguely will go before the judge and make a statement as to whether he pleads guilty or not guilty. Apparently, Huguely told investigators that he kicked in Love's bedroom door, and shook her, causing her head to hit a wall several times. 


Huguely, of Chevy Chase, Md., and Love were involved in a two-year relationship that ended not long before her death, and police have said they have evidence of an email Love sent Huguely about one of their fights.


This is a case of domestic abuse. If you or anyone you know is in a abusive relationship, speak up! Don't be afraid, and don't be a victim!

My daddy is a mummer with the South Philadelphia String band 

My name is Kaitlyn, I am a forensic chemistry major at west chester university. I created this blog for this english writing and computers class, before this class I never once thought about creating my own blog. Not that I don't have anything interesting to write about, but because I never thought anyone would be curious enough to read what I had to write. While trying to find a specific topic for this blog, I will be updating you all with things that I find relevant in my life, I am an emergency medical technician for an ambulance company in Pennsauken, NJ. I love staying up to date with current events in and around my city, and with all criminal cases that are being televised. So, this blog could be about all the different trials that are currently being tried, and it could be about past criminal cases. I am always reading about the different kinds of laws, and this blog is only to give you a detailed description about each case, and occasionally my opinion, otherwise, if anyone has any questions about criminal law, and about the cases I talk about, just let me know!

test