Marsden Threatened Rob Jr. with Being Thrown to Hell Research Paper

Marsden Threatened Rob Jr. with Being Thrown to Hell - Research Paper Example The tort of intentional infliction of emotional distress has three elements: outrageous conduct by the tortfeasor; conduct that causes severe mental anguish in the victim and; the mental anguish suffered by the victim because of such behavior. On the other hand, reckless infliction of emotional distress shares all the other elements as the intentional type except that there was no intent to cause the distress (Buckley 130). The element of â€Å"outrageous conduct† refers to behavior that is so outlandish or highly offensive as to result in the emotional distress of the victim. An example would be the case of Clifford v Hollander 6 Media L. Rep. (BNA) 2201 (NY Civ CT 1980) where the defendant published a picture in a pornographic magazine and deliberately incorrectly identified it as the plaintiff, who was a freelance journalist. As a result, the plaintiff received obscene telephone calls from obviously disturbed individuals. In another case, Martin v Municipal Publications, 510 F. Supp. 255, 259 (ED Pa 1981), the defendant published a picture which he labeled as â€Å"closet transvestites who got stinking drunk.† In both cases, the court ruled that the actions of the defendants can be classified as â€Å"outrageous.† It is also important that in intentional infliction of emotional distress, the plaintiff should be able to prove that the conduct of the defendant was intentional and that he so behaved deliberately so as to cause mental anguish on the victim. In some cases, this element came into conflict with the First Amendment â€Å"freedom of speech† as what happened in the celebrated case of Hustler Magazine v Falwell 485 US 46 (1988), where a Protestant Minister brought an action against Hustler Magazine, which, as a parody, featured him as having an incestuous rendezvous with his mother in an outhouse. The Court turned down the plaintiff’s  argument on the ground that he was a public figure and therefore as such may not sue for intentional infliction of emotional distress unless he can prove its falsity or that it was done in reckless disregard for the truth.

Death penalty Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Death penalty - Essay Example Even though I was too young to understand the meaning completely, the issue had a great impact on me. . After long term consideration I believe that the death penalty should be legal because it helps prevent violent crime and saves lives of innocent people. Different countries view the death penalty differently. Here what I would like to talk about is the death penalty in China, Japan and the U.S. These countries are the three largest economies in the world, and they are where I have grown up and live. . Japan and China are based on Eastern culture, and the U.S is based on Western Culture. They have similarities and differences; however, they all have the death penalty. In the U.S. there are two reasons why people support death penalty, and they are retribution and deterrence. The idea of retribution is that a murderer must sacrifice his life because he took someone’s life, and the basic idea is â€Å"an eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth.† The idea of deterrence i s that death penalty can prevent people from committing murder. Both Japan and China subscribe to these two reasons for the death penalty, but seem to be more supportive of the death penalty than people in the U.S. ... students were the lowest and Japanese students were in the middle (Shanhe et al.). I grew up in Japan and China, and this might contribute to the reason why I strongly agree with death penalty. The death penalty may be a factor in saving lives. People make their decisions based on their costs or benefits; therefore, a person may stop himself from killing someone if he knows he may be executed as a result (Muhlhausen). It is similar to not stealing because there will be a punishment. If the punishment is execution there will be less likelihood of stealing. The stricter the law, the less and less people commit a crime because everybody fears death, even animals. Most criminals would think twice if they knew their own lives were at stake. Second, many studies have shown that executions can lead to a decrease in murder rates; and on the other hand that abolishing the death penalty increases the incidence of murder. Professor Shepherd analyzed data from 1977 to 1999 and found that the com bination of death row sentences and executions deterred many types of murders. She estimated that each death row sentence deters approximately 4.5 murders, and each execution approximately 3 murders. A second issue Shepherd examined was the impact of delaying the execution on deterrence. The numerous appeals and stays of execution that criminals request imply that they prefer lengthy death row waits. Shepherd therefore theorized that shortening the death row wait may increase the deterrence, and estimates that for every 2.75 year reduction in the death row wait for execution one extra murder could be deterred. It means that shorter term of waiting execution can save human’s life (Muhlhausen). According to the U.S. Murder Rate and Executions, the murder rate decreases when the