My First Time Entering A Courtroom - 1624 Words

On Tuesday, November 10, 2015, I had the opportunity to visit the district court of Maryland in Rockville, around 10:30 am until 12:30 pm to observe a judicial criminal proceedings. I was so much excited because it was my first time entering a courtroom. A court is an institution that set up to settle disputes through a legal process. In the criminal court that I attended cases such as traffic violation, DUI and criminal offenses that carried a jail sentence, probation and the state brought fines against the people that had committed a crime. The defendants are given a chance to represent themselves or choose to have a legal representation including public defenders, which is mostly preferred by many of the accused. The courtroom included†¦show more content†¦In front of the judge far left which was two inches away was a seat for the defendant and his defense attorney to present their case. On the far right of the of the defense attorney was the stand for the prosecutor and the plaintiff. A bailiff who maintains peace at the courtroom was standing at one corner closer to the bench. Even though, he had the chance to move around. There was a divider between the open seats and those involved in the legal proceedings. Moreover, at the entrance of the courtroom was a police officer who acted as a guard. During the trial, I met Judge Rowan, he was about sixty years of age and thoughtful person. As soon as Judge Rowan enters the courtroom, the clerk asked the court to rise, and everybody stood up. After the judge had sat down, the clerk calls the case saying state versus the defendant name Smith, the defendant and his attorney who was a private attorney walked up to the front box where they came and stood to make their presentation. The defendant was asked by the clerk to sworn in giving the assurance whatever he says at the courtroom is the truth. However, the prosecutor made an opening statement briefly reviewing the violation and saying how they intend t o prove each element of the case. The prosecutor explained that on June 2015, Mr. Smith a twenty 28 years old was operating a vehicle seventy mile per hour on the Georgia Ave while he was intoxicated. Due to his

Janis Groupthink Free Essays

Have you ever thought about speaking up in a meeting and then decided against it because you did not want to appear unsupportive of the group’s efforts? If so, you have probably been a victim of â€Å"Groupthink†. Irving Lester Janis (26 May 1918 – 15 November 1990) was a research psychologist at Yale University and most famous for his theory of â€Å"groupthink† which described the systematic errors made by groups when taking collective decisions(Wikipedia). Janis described â€Å"groupthink† as â€Å"a mode of thinking that people engage in when they are deeply involved in a cohesive in-group. We will write a custom essay sample on Janis Groupthink or any similar topic only for you Order Now When the members’ striving for unanimity override their motivation to realistically appraise alternative courses of action†(Janis,1972,p. 8). Janis identified eight symptoms(features) of groupthink. They were- 1)Illusion of Invulnerability-This leads the group to excessive optimism, over confidence leading them to take extraordinary risks. It may also lead them to ignore clear signs of risks. 2)Collective Rationalization-Victims of groupthink construct rationalizations and discount and discredit negative feedback and advice from the oppositions. )Illusion of morality-Group members often tend to ignore the ethical and moral consequences of their decisions. 4)Stereotyped views of others-Victims of Groupthink have a stereotyped view towards opponents who give different opinions. They consider them to be too stupid or weak to handle the problem. 5)Pressure on Dissent-Group members apply direct pressure on anyone who opposes the idea or validity supporting a decision or opini on favored by the majority. Example-Body language,Voice tone. 6)Self-censorship-They tend to censor themselves when they have opinions opposing the majority of the group. This minimizes the members doubts and opinions to themselves and not to the group. They withhold dissenting views and counter arguments. Example-Keeping quiet and not giving an opinion due to opposing views. 7)Illusion of unanimity-Victims of groupthink have an illusion that the whole group is in unanimity. This symptom is caused by the preceding symptom. This is due to the false assumption that anybody who doesn’t give an opinion is in unanimity with the group’s decision. Silence is taken as consent. )Mindguarding-A few group members take up the role of mind-guards so as to protect the other members of the group from excessive information and facts that might destroy the majority decision. They stand up to prove the information wrong and label them stupid(stereotyped). This type of dysfunctional operation of an organization has many opportunities for failure. The basic fundamentals of this process are the beginnings of failure as groups seeks conformity and unity as th ey sacrifice everything in order to maintain peace within the group. These eight symptoms of groupthink identified by Janis leads to defective decision making. Victims of grouthink never consider all the alternatives,they do not re-examine the alternatives,they reject negative information and have no contingency plans. The above are due to the stereotyped view of the victims and they act in this way to not disrupt the idea of the majority. This is what the organizations should be careful of. A real life example of â€Å"groupthink† leading to a defective decision making is Challenger Space Shuttle disaster. This occurred on January 28,1986 launched from John F. Kennedy space centre. It was considered to be the most tragic event after John F. Kennedy’s assassination. The presidential commission that investigated the accident showed that defective decision making was the main cause. MTI engineers presented that the mission would fail as the shuttle would not succeed in such cold temperatures. But,the flight officials put forward technical rationalizations faulting MTI’s analysis. One of these rationalizations was that the data was incohensive showing their stereotyped view. The officials also forced Thiokol officials to change their recommendation from avoiding delay to the launch. This shows pressure on dissent. Hence,as expected the mission failed after 73 seconds of the launch killing 7 astronauts aboard. This example shows us how the officials had symptoms of groupthink and how it lead them to a defective decision making process. The challenge for any team or group leader is to create a working environment in which Groupthink is unlikely to happen. Hence we could avoid groupthink by exploring objectives,exploring alternatives,encouraging ideas to be challenged without reprisal,examining the risks if the preferred choice is chosen,testing assumptions,gathering relevant information from outside sources,processing this information objectively,have at least one contingency plan. References: 1)Moorhead,Gregory,Ference,Richard and Neck,Chris P. 1991 ‘Group decision fiascos continue:Shuttle challenger and a revised groupthink framework’. Human Relations 44/6: 539-550. 2)Wikipedia. How to cite Janis Groupthink, Papers

The Turkey free essay sample

It felt like the chill forests breath was breathing on my unprotected hands. We had been out for about an hour waiting for the turkeys to come down from the roost. It was May 16th spring, turkey season. My dad had been doing a lot of scouting so I could fill my tags. Then we heard it, asound like no other thing almost alien a gobble, my dad had been calling for some time to get them in. There was a hen that had come through the field but she had only stayed for awhile then left soon after she was there. This was probably going to be our only chance at a turkey. After the jakes, young male turkey’s, got out of the roost they would probably follow that hen we saw and hopefully would come to us. The group of turkeys we were hearing sounded real eager and ready to come in. We will write a custom essay sample on The Turkey or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Then my dad looked at me smiled and took a picture of me. He said â€Å"They should come in soon so get ready†. My reply was not the longest but it got the point across of how I was feeling about the turkeys coming. I said, with a nervous edge to my voice, â€Å"I’m excited† After that when I saw the first turkey pop it’s head above the rise in the ground out of the woods I had chills. It was the hen we had that came in the first time. When the other two jakes stepped out it looked like a postcard from a nature center (just looking perfect). They still had a little way to come so I could get a good shot on one of them. All the trees looked like a kind of northern rain forest in Michigan. I don’t know how they didn’t here me, for as I was bringing my dads remington 870 shotgun up I made some noise, but they kept coming. I had previously shot the 870 not that long ago at a target from twenty five yards gatting 33 bbs in the neck and head with my dad saying, â€Å"you did amazing!† As we watched the birds coming up eager to follow the hen. Then they started to get a little more careful not coming in as fast but looking around the open field from fear of danger. The two jakes that had come in a couple feet apart just following the hen as she was walking in. I could feel the tension rising knowing I would have to shoot soon. I felt like a lion on the prowl waiting for the prey to come a little closer.The bigger jake was on the side close to us, so I put the bead right on it’s neck and squeezed the trigger. . . I felt the impact of the 870 hitting my shoulder standing up with my ears still ringing as I ran up to the bird seeing the bird hitting the ground dead. The hen had disappeared into the gully underneath us before I had pulled the trigger, so she was just sitting there. As I stood up she fled. The greyish-blue earlymorning sky looked like the noise from the 870 hadn’t even touched it. When I got to the turkey it was flapping from the nerves still working, so my dad ran up by the legs moved to the edge of the clearing and took some pictures. It had happened so fast I had no time to react to the events. When my dad was sending the pictures I put my hand on the bird and prayed for it coming into the field. In the end I found It’s not the same as going into a store and buying one, but more exhilarating and loud.