What Is the Crime of Solicitation

Solicitation is the offering of compensation for goods or services that are prohibited by law. Solicitation can be requesting, encouraging, or demanding that someone else commit a crime, with the intent to contribute to the commission of that crime. For a solicitation to take place, the person requesting the criminal activity must have the intent that the crime be committed, or the intent to engage in the criminal activity with that person. Solicitation Examples The most common form of the crime of solicitation is prostitution, which is offering money to someone to have sex. But solicitation can be committed in the commission of any crime, such as murder or arson. The actual crime does not have to take place for someone to be charged with solicitation. As long as the request was made and compensation offered, the crime of solicitation has taken place — whether or not the person follows through on the criminal behavior. For example, if a person requests money in exchange for sex, the person receiving the request does not have to agree or follow through with the request for the person making the request to be guilty of solicitation — as long as the intent to follow through with the request exists. If the request is acted on, then it becomes a criminal conspiracy. Also, criminal solicitation can be a chargeable offense, regardless of whether the person approached by the solicitor understands that a crime is being requested. For example, if an adult approaches a child and offers money in exchange for a sexual act, it is not necessary for the child to understand what the act is for the person requesting it to be charged with solicitation if the intent is shown. Disproving Criminal Solicitation Many states have specific statutes regarding criminal solicitation, including what kind of defense can be used at trial. To get a not guilty verdict for solicitation, the defense will try to prove one or more of the following: Entrapment.There was no intent to commit the crime.  The request was never made.The solicited person lacks credibility. Penalties There is a misconception that the penalties for criminal solicitation are less harsh when compared to punishments issued when an actual crime has occurred. However, the punishment for criminal solicitation can be equal to the punishment for the actual crime, and when it is not, it is often only a minor downgrade.   Actual Case Brett Nash, 46, from Granite City, Illinois was sentenced in federal court to the maximum statutory sentence of 20 years in prison after pleading guilty to the crime of solicitation for a violent crime on December 4, 2012. At the sentencing hearing, Nash argued that he did not have the intent to murder. In response, the prosecution played several recorded conversations between Nash and his wife and between Nash and the confidential witness, leading the judge to conclude that the intention to murder the victim was clear. The recordings were of Nash telling his wife to lure the victim, a Granite City lawyer, from his home. At this point, Nash and the witness would kidnap the victim and take him back to his house, rig him with a fake explosive device and take him to his bank. Here, they would force him to withdraw all his money under the threat that Nash would detonate the explosive. The recordings also indicated that Nashs initial plan was to electrocute the victim by putting him in a hot tub and throwing a radio in the water. He would then throw in a cat and electrocute the cat to make it look like the cat had accidentally knocked the radio into the hot tub. However, one of the recordings indicated that on the day Nash was arrested, he told the witness that he wanted two guns for the robbery because the victim was going to commit suicide, implying that he and the witness would shoot the victim and make it look like a suicide. Dead men dont talk, said Nash in one of the recordings. Double Jeopardy A person cannot be convicted of criminal solicitation and of the crime that they solicited. When the offense of criminal solicitation is the lesser offense, it is included with the more serious offense. If, for example, a person is on trial for kidnapping, that person cannot be put on trial later for soliciting a person to commit the same kidnapping. To do so would be considered trying the person twice for the same crime (double jeopardy), which goes against the Fifth Amendment. Source Levin, Sam. Illinois Man Sentenced for Plot to Abduct Man, Use Fake Bomb, Electrocute Him, Frame a Cat. Riverfront Times, May 3, 2013.

Essay on Organizational Behavior - 775 Words

Organizational Behavior Project â€Å"Blow Up† 1: What happened to the A-Team? The A-Team was forced to disband because from the very first tasking, there was conflict between the group members. The group never actually came together to complete their first tasking of defining roles. The arguments between the group members got so bad that one of their team members walked out for the group and threatened to quit the program. Why did the group process break down? The group process broke down because there was never a group. This group began with a group of five individuals who had strong opinionated views as of the relevancy of their professions and experience. Instead of getting together as a group and mutually deciding how†¦show more content†¦Katie didn’t even recognize Pranarisha as a Thai and just assumes her being Vietnamese. Power Differentials: Aran felt that he should be the leader of the group because he has the most experience in the group. He also feels that the rest of the group is young and inexperienced therefore have no business being the leader. Katie feels that she has more experience in finance than Aran therefore the rest of the group feels that experience doesn’t necessarily relate to leadership. Communication Problems: It seems that all members of the group had willingness to openly disagree with each other. The women felt they needed to maintain â€Å"face† to the men in the group. There was no amount of time devoted to establishing personal relationships. This can be seen by Katie not knowing that Pranarisha was of Thai descent and barely even knew her name. All members spoke assertively, especially with Rebecca who immediately assumed Aran was stereotyping and discriminating against women. Pranarisha didn’t speak English but her walking away from the group probably spoke the largest volume of all the group members. 3. 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The American Dream Reasearch Paper Free Essays

Zac Duncan Mrs. Hill English 6th February 3, 2013 Many people believe the American Dream today has faded. It is no longer achieved as often as in the past. We will write a custom essay sample on The American Dream Reasearch Paper or any similar topic only for you Order Now Although obtaining the Dream has become difficult, people still haven’t stopped pursuing it. Despite the obstacles, the American Dream is still full of hope and enlightenment both financially and emotionally. The American Dream is known for its positive connotation, but there are many obstacles surrounding it. According to, â€Å"Obstacles to the American Dream†, by Eddy Isango, the Dream is toughest for immigrants. Many immigrants have problems learning the English language. When they arrive it is as if they have to start all over. Immigrants also don’t receive state benefits such as health care and food stamps. They have to find jobs that provide these for them, which is tough with the lack of job opportunity and rising cost of living in America. Financial obstacles of the American Dream can be overcome. Rieva Lesonsky encourages people to get over these hills by saying, â€Å"Acknowledge the hard times† (Lesonsky 1). People believe the Dream is changing. â€Å"Today, they say, the ‘dream’ is more likely about making money†, (Lesonsky 1). People have moved towards opening small businesses to achieve their financial dreams. These businesses, over time, increase the revenue of the people. The American Dream is still filling the emotional needs of people. Jeremy Pratt has dealt with a learning disability his whole life, but doesn’t let this stop him from achieving his dream as he says: ‘I’ve always had to work a bit harder than my friends without disabilities,’ says the 28-year-old. ‘But I finally feel like I’m on the way to having what everyone dreams of. ’ Pratt’s diligence in saving money is paying off; he plans to start house hunting as early as 2013. Blatt 1) Jeremy is achieving his life-long goal of buying a house filled with his art. He fought through his disability and obtained what he wanted. The American Dream still has appeal to Americans today. People still strive for a better life for themselves and their families. The freedoms of America allow for people to obtain their financial and emotional dreams that they have longed for. Works Cited Blatt, Burton, Jeremy Pratt. Achieving the American Dream. February 5, 2013 Isango, Eddy. Obstacles to the American Dream. February 3, 2013 Lesonsky, Rieva. The American Dream is Alive and Well-and Transformed. February 3,2013 How to cite The American Dream Reasearch Paper, Papers

Marketing Does More Harm to Society Than Good free essay sample

The purpose of this paper is to critically evaluate the statement; â€Å"Marketing does more harm to society than good† This is done by outlining why the statement is made and then to present arguments for the relevance of marketing in society. 2. Introduction to Marketing Marketing has been a foundational study for many business schools since the 1950s and the practice has flourished internationally due to marketing’s universal concept of achieving value for the business firms and its customers. During the 1950s a management expert named Peter Drucker lead the development of the â€Å"marketing concept†, which asserted that firms must create value for customers and see the business from the customer’s point of view. This concept of â€Å"customer orientation† depends on all functional groups of the firm to adopt this type of management thinking (Drucker, 1954). Then in 2008 the American Marketing Association defined marketing as â€Å"an organization function and a set of processes for creating, communication, and delivering value to customers and for managing customer relationships in ways that benefit the organization and its stakeholders. Harm of Marketing to Society In the 1950s the role of marketers in society was directly criticized by two commentators, Vance Packard and Kenneth Galbraith, who viewed the practice as immoral and self-seeking. These attacks were primary directed at the commercial aspects of marketing and more specifically at the advertising industry. In the next section of the paper we will look at Parkard’s and Galbraith views of marketing and also consider the view of Naomi Klein, who is a modern critic of how marketing harms society. 3. Criticism of Marketing in the 1950s. In Vance Packard’s 1957 book, The Hidden Persuaders, he describes the psychological dominance of advertising and how marketers look for the why of our behavior so that they can more effectively manipulate our habits and choices in their favor (Packard, 1957). His argument was that marketing made people buy things they did not want or purchase products that were bad for them. Packard raised two points of concern. First, if we suspect all organized communication is manipulated, then how can we know what to elieve? Second, Packard deemed the manipulation of our psyches disrespectful of the individual personalities (Packard, 1957). Schools of marketing may have been the scapegoat for deceptive advertising practices because of influences by Freudian psychoanalytic concepts and techniques in business during that time. In Ernest Dichter’s Harvard Business Review article in 1947, he discusses how both businessman and psychologist are interested in what makes people tick, what motivates them, and how consumers can be molded and influenced (Dichter, 1947). Dichter’s article further mentions motivation research, marketing strategy, and a technique for influencing consumer behavior. Dichter’s psychoanalytic approaches to marketing at the time caused damage to the budding field of marketing and were heavily criticized by Packard. In Kenneth Galbraith’s 1958 book, Affluent Society, he argued that sales promotion and advertising activities motivate people to consume more without making them better off because their desires were artificially created by marketers (Galbriath, 1958). Thus, in affluent societies, ever-increasing levels of production and consumption do not equate to an increased level of social welfare (Dutt, 2008). This relationship between consumption and welfare (happiness) was termed the â€Å"Dependence Effect† by Galbraith. Galbraith foresaw grave consequences flowing from this preoccupation with consumption and growth. He felt it imperiled economic security from the runaway growth in consumer debt that is part of the salesmanship activities (Stanfield, 1983). In Friedrich Hayek’s 1961 response to the â€Å"Dependence Effect,† he outlines why Galbraith’s conclusion does not logically flow from previous examples and statements in the Affluent Society. Heyek’s counter-argument is based consumers’ acquisition of taste through cultural interactions and socialization versus through channels directed by want-creating activities of producers (Hayek, 1961). 3. 2 Modern Criticism of Marketing Branding In Naomi Klein’s 2002 book, No Logo, she â€Å"skewered the role of brands in contemporary culture and the insidious power of corporations to infiltrate institutions throughout society, including schools and hospitals† (Rutland, 2009). This anti-corporate sediment was triggered by branding practices creating artificiality by stretching the notion of value and not taking into consideration aspects of corporate social responsibility. Brand equity mania in the 1980s was defined by the moment when Philip Morris purchased Kraft for $12. 6 billion, an amount six times its book value. The price difference between balance sheet valuations and the price paid was attributed to the value of the word and images related to â€Å"Kraft†. This meant that for the first time a big monetary â€Å"value had been assigned to something that had previously been abstract and unquantifiable: a brand name† (Klein, 2002). Klein goes on to describe how corporations’ choice of marketing over value defined a shift in thinking where the product was mere filler to branding. Nike, for example, leverages the deep emotional connection that people have with sports and fitness. With Starbucks, we see how coffee has woven itself into the fabric of peoples lives, and that is our opportunity for emotional leverage (Klein, 2002). In the case of both Nike and Starbucks we see how the concept of capturing emotional appeal through branding allows for a premium price, above and beyond intrinsic value, to be charged. As Nike CEO Phil Knight explains: For years we thought of ourselves as a production-oriented company, meaning we put all our emphasis on designing and manufacturing the product. But now we understand that the most important thing we do is market the product. Weve come around to saying that Nike is a marketing-oriented company, and the product is our most important marketing tool. † (Geraldine, 1992) In contrast to Klein’s work, Peter Doyle, through work on value-based branding strategies looks at how marketing professionals diluted the problem of building successful and lasting brands by not considering stakeholder impact. This is due to how brands can have a strong consumer connection and emotional appeal yet still not generate value for investors. â€Å"Marketing has overwhelmingly focused on the importance of developing an attractive consumer proposition† (Doyle, 2001). Doyle does however identify that financial orientation and profits depend crucially on the ability of the firm to satisfy its customers thereby shifting the focus to value-based activities of marketing. 4. Benefit of Marketing to Society After the assaults on the practice of marketing in corporations during the 1950s Philip Kotler in 1967 published â€Å"Broadening the Concept of Marketing† to refute accusation by critics like Packard and Galbraith. Kotler encourages readers that â€Å"marketing is a pervasive societal activity that goes considerably beyond selling of toothpaste, soap and steel†. This is because the true nature of marketing is a function the drives product improvement, pricing, distribution, and communication in order to serve and satisfy human needs (Kotler and Levy, 1967). The next section of this paper looks at the role of marketing in satisfying a higher social purpose. 4. 1 Product Improvement The notion of product improvement as a social factor in marketing was initially described in Wendell Smith’s 1956 article â€Å"Product Differentiation and Market Segmentation as Alternative Marketing Strategies† and more specifically the concept of product differentiation was based on Edward Chamberlin’s â€Å"Theory of Monopolistic Competition. † Smith’s view came from a marketer’s perspective, whereas Chamberlin’s view was purely economic in nature. Through the use of information on consumer needs and wants gathered through research and evaluation of the society, marketers develops products amp; services that satisfy societal needs. For example to satisfy the emerging need and demand for an eco-friendly automobile, Toyota developed the Toyota Prius. Using an electric motor and conventional engine together with smart recharging system equals reduction of fuel consumption and CO2 emissions. Product differentiation is not only equitable to the firm but provides a social benefit through continuous product improvement and innovation. In Castro and Desender’s study in 2010, they consider technological change and innovation through product differentiation to be at the very heart of the competitive process and the major driver of economic growth (Castro and Desender, 2010). They also refer to Porter’s remark about the central importance of â€Å"innovation as the origin of competitive advantages is particularly relevant in the case of dealing with a product innovation that generates a high improvement on the consumer surplus or the price people are willing to pay resulting in profitability. Milton Friedman once argued â€Å"there is one and only one social responsibility of business – to use its resources and engage in activities designed to increase its profits† (Friedman, 1970). Sustainable profit margins play an important role in business but today we know more about how business contributes to society. â€Å"Good firms bring innovation to the marketplace, which facilitates their growth. Innovative, growing firms generate economic growth and employment, which, in turn, greatly improves people’s lives† (Ahlstrom, 2010). 4. 2 Pricing, Distribution and Communication In 1984 Theodore Levitt brought into the spotlight a relatively neglected debate. Levitt’s article â€Å"The Globalization of Market† advocated a standardized global marketing program versus a very narrow local adaptation. He contends that the â€Å"traditional strategy of tailoring its products to the needs of multiple markets may put it at a severe disadvantage vis-a-vis competitors who apply marketing imagination to the task of developing advanced, functional, reliable, standardized products, at the right price, on a global scale† (Levitt, 1984). Walmart in the USA, through supply chain optimization, is able to deliver products at best prices for the consumer, thereby meeting consumer expectations and providing product variety, and freedom of choice. Walmart considers customer preferences in making stocking decisions, maximizing efficiency and passing the savings back to the customers. Products that are manufactured all around the world and developed based on the prefaces of a wide range of cultures can be offered to distant customers as reasonable prices. Global convergence in consumers’ preference can be explain how â€Å"almost everyone everywhere wants all the things they have heard about, seen, or experienced via the new technologies of communication and distribution. There is a ubiquity of desire for the most advanced things that the world makes and sells-goods of the best quality and reliability at the lowest prices† (Levitt, 1984). 5. Conclusion Between 1980 and 2000 there was a paradigm shift that begins to unify the various divisions of marketing in major areas such as â€Å"customer and market orientation, services marketing, relationship marketing, quality management, value and supply chain management, resource management, and network analysis† (Vargo and Lusch, 2004). â€Å"A dominant logic began to emerge that largely views marketing as a continuous social and economic process in which operant resources are paramount† (Vargo and Lusch, 2004). This paramount shift in marketing was due to â€Å"service dominate logic† (S-D) which focuses on the building relationships that involves the customer developing customized, competitively compelling value propositions to meet specific needs through exchange of tangible (goods) and intangible (services) resources. Although S-D logic provides a framework for understanding how business and the process of value creation fosters sustainability and stakeholder thinking, it is focused only on economic value related to resources with little focus on societal and ethical consequences. Through research done by Bo Enquist and Samuel Sebhatu we see attempts of further unification of marketing concepts. The shift is now towards the inclusion of sustainable business practices with service dominate logic. Sustainability has five dimensions; ethical, social, â€Å"nature-philosophic†, economic, and legal (Enquist, 2005). â€Å"Sustainable Service Dominant Logic† was labeled to argue that value-based co-creation of the S-D logic framework can be used to create values-based services for sustainable business by examining the link between CSR and S-D logic based on values and service quality for sustainable business (Sebhatu, 2010). CSR is commonly defined as concepts and strategies involving the voluntary integration of social and environment dimensions into a firm’s business operations and stakeholder interactions. Enquist and Sebhatu used Ikea as a case study of how a firm can combine low prices, economics of scale, innovative thinking, service quality and CSR in order to develop a sustainable business model. IKEA is driven by social values, economic values, and communications (sharing). These functional qualities ensure that the design is attractive to customers and the environmental impact of packaging is minimal. The American Marketing Association has created a statement of ethics for promoting the highest standard of professional ethical norms that are expected and maintained by society and/or professional organizations (AMA, 2004). At the top of this listing of standards is that as â€Å"marketers, we must do no harm, this means consciously avoiding harmful actions or omissions by embodying ethical standards and adhering to all applicable laws and regulations in the choices we make. This shows that marketers are fully aware of the possible negative aspects of marketing but understand it is in their best interest to maintain ethical values and do no harm to society. Therefore through this critical analysis and review of the body of marketing knowledge it can be concluded that it is not the intent of marketing to do harm to society but to sustain relationships with stakeholders and possibly improve people’s lives. 6. Bibliography