THE 100 MOST REPEATEDLY HISTORICALLY BROKEN LAWS IN AMERICA

                   *Extenuating Circumstances Have Effects On Crimes                     Mitigating (or extenuating) circumstances are factors that tend to lessen the severity of a crime or its punishment by making the defendant's conduct understandable or less blameworthy. Mitigating circumstances might include a defendant's young age, mental illness or addiction, or minor role in the crime.  

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                   What does extenuating circumstances mean in law?                           Extenuating circumstances–also called mitigating factors–are facts or details that are important for fully understanding a situation. With this understanding, the actions a person took in that event might be viewed as less severe, or that person's culpability in those actions diminished. 

 What are Extenuating Circumstances?

• Medical issues (including mental health/wellbeing)
• Death of a close friend or relative.
• Personal problems.
• Family problems, such as divorce.
• Sexual assault/sexual violence.
• Period of self-isolation/quarantine.
• Caring responsibilities and domestic difficulties.
• Religious Observance.

Two types of criminal mitigation: 

Positive Mitigation and Negative Mitigation.

When using positive mitigation, attorneys try to paint a positive, more holistic picture of the defendant. To do so, they may speak of their devotion to family, hard work, or loyalty. This strategy uses the defendant’s positive traits to show that their illegal actions were completely out of character.

Negative mitigation on the other hand attempts to highlight any hardships or difficult circumstances that may have pushed the defendant to commit the crime. For instance, details about growing up in an abusive household or a history of mental illness are examples of mitigating circumstances that may be used to argue a lesser sentence. 

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Other Common Mitigating Circumstances

• Defendant having no prior or significant criminal record
• Defendant playing a minor role in the crime
• Defendant recognizing the error of their ways
• Defendant making restitution to the victim of their crime
• Defendant acting out of necessity
• Defendant having a difficult personal history
• Defendant struggling with a drug or alcohol addiction

10 Psychological Effect of Prison:

What Happens To Your When You're Behind Bars 

by Karen Gedney MD

Imprisonment can take a huge toll on the mental health of inmates. Those who have been incarcerated are tasked to cope with the length of their sentences, separation from their loved ones, as well as the stressors of a prison environment. This can lead to delusions, paranoia, depression, as well as PTSD.

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According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, there were approximately 1.51 million adults imprisoned in both state and federal institutions in the United States in 2016. These same statistics found that 54% of state prisoners were sentenced due to committing a violent offense.  

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10 Psychological Effects Of Prison

What happens To Your Brain When You're Behind Bars

Imprisonment it the gateway to emotional withdrawal, depression, suicidal tendencies, as well as increased levels of hostility. The fear of psychological deterioration while imprisoned can also have a negative impact on the psyche. 

• A loss of liberty
• The deprivation of goods and surfaces
• The deprivation of automation and routine activities
• The deprivation of personal security 
• Sexual deprivation and frustration

However, modern research shows that perhaps the most psychologically damaging aspect of prison isn't imprisonment itself. Rather, it is the disconnect from friends, family, and the outside world that is the most detrimental. 

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10 Common Adverse Psychological Effects of Prison

• Delusions
• Paranoia
• Claustrophobia
• Depression
• Panic and stress
• Denial
• Nightmares, night terrors, insomnia
• Substance abuse
• Increased levels of hostility
• Self destructive behavior

Other effects include:

• Dissociation and emotional withdrawal
• Social withdrawal 
• Diminished self esteem 

Not uncommon for those who have gone to prison to develop PTSD from the trauma they faced behind bars or the stress of being arrested. 

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Why Prison Is Psychologically Damaging? 

While in prison, an individual is often tormented by fellow inmates. Threats often escalate to physical and even sexual altercations. According to an article released by Rutgers University, 19% of all male inmates in the United States claim they have been physically assaulted by other inmates. In their sample, physical injury occurred in 40% of physical assaults, 70% in cases of sexual assault between inmates, and 50% in assaults from prison staff.  

Not only do inmates face abuse from each other, but they also have to account for abusive prison guards. 21% of all male prisoners claim they have been assaulted a staff member of the prison. 

Prisoners are also at risk of dying while behind bars. According to the United States Department of Justice, there were nearly 4,000 deaths in prison in 2014. 

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Modern research suggests the separation from loved ones as well as the outside world have the most adverse psychological effects on prisoners. Longing to be with their friends and family can result in crippling loneliness. Loneliness, which is already an epidemic according to WebMD, can increase the risk of heart disease, stroke, and immune system disorders. It is also closely linked to depression. 

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Often after being released from prison, former inmates have a very hard time reintegrating into society. They may feel disconnected from their friends, family, as well as their colleagues. Individuals can experience difficulties in the workplace. It's also not uncommon for former prisoners to feel loss without the confines and added structure of a prison environment. 

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Although imprisonment can lead to delusions, paranoia, depression, suicidal tendencies, substance abuse, PTSD, as well as increased levels of hostility, our prison facilities often lack means to provide adequate psychological support. Even after being released, it can be very difficult to cope with trauma experienced while behind bars as well as readjusting to society. 

 As judges like to say, ignorance of the law is no defense to criminal charges. There are exceptions, but the overwhelming majority of crimes don't require that the defendant know that their conduct is illegal. 

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 Ignorance of the Law as a Defense

A common occurrence in the criminal justice system is people trying to argue that they did not know what they did was illegal and that they should not face consequences as a result. Typically, this argument is fruitless.

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What Can Happen If You Don't Know The Law? 

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1. You Can Be Wrongfully Prosecuted 

 A conviction of a person for a crime that he or she did not commit.  Broadly, a conviction that has been overturned or vacated by an appellate court. 

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2. You Can Be Railroaded

 to convict with undue haste and by means of false charges or insufficient evidence. : to push through hastily or without due consideration. 

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 3.  False Allegations Against You

are when someone is accused of a crime that he/she did not commit. These charges should be dismissed if: the accused or his defense attorney can show the court that he has been wrongly accused. 

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4. Miscarriage of Justice 

 A miscarriage of justice occurs when a grossly unfair outcome occurs in a criminal or civil proceeding, such as the conviction and punishment of a person for a crime they did not commit. Miscarriages are also known as wrongful convictions. 

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 5. Forensic Mistakes

Contamination...Faulty Analysis...Overconfident Experts

6. False Confession

 People would admit to a crime they did not commit seems unlikely - and yet this occurs so often, the Innocence Project found false confessions contribute to approximately 25% of wrongful convictions in murder and rape cases. Certain suspects are more vulnerable to making a false confession under police pressure. 

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7.  Prosecutorial Misconduct

 This occurs in numerous ways including the concealment or destruction of exculpatory evidence; the failure to disclose exculpatory evidence to the defense; the failure to reveal that certain witnesses have been paid to testify; and the planting of incriminating evidence. 

 8. Perjury And False Accusations 

Witnesses in police investigations may lie for a variety of reasons including: personal ill-will towards the defendant, the desire to be paid, the desire to get a deal from prosecutors or police, or an effort to deflect attention from a person’s own involvement in a crime. 

9. Noble Cause Corruption  

Police may become convinced a particular suspect is guilty but not have sufficient evidence to prove it. Sometimes they may plant evidence in order to secure a conviction because they believe it is in the public interest, or that there is a greater good, in convicting a particular person. In other words, they believe that the ends (or the outcome) justifies the means.

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10.  Unreliability of Eyewitness Testimony 

Eyewitness identifications are notoriously unreliable, contributing to 70% of wrongful convictions. Starting in the 1970s, psychologists studying memory formation and retention found that the way police lineups are conducted can alter an eyewitness's memory of the suspect and this often leads to misidentification.