The Santa Barbara Courthouse Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

The Santa Barbara Courthouse - Assignment Example The structure, layout, and height of the building also make it very impressive to look at. The courthouse was built out of stone, metal, wood, terra cotta, stucco, glass, and ceramic tile. It is made up of four buildings including an 85-foot clock tower. The structure is quite tall and also covers an entire city block. The main entrance features very wide stairs and a very large half-circle door opening, creating a very majestic and stylish visual spectacle. The entry arches are made of sandstone. This entry also features a wrought iron Spanish pendant lamp. There is also a sandstone plinth at the bottom of square pilasters that collect rainwater around a 4-inch wide wall that resembles a castle moat. The building also features a rear entry arch as well. The inside of the building is equally as impressive as the outside; perhaps even more impressive. Hand-painted ceilings are found throughout the building which includes a mural room as well. The entire floor of the building is composed of hand-made terra cotta tile. The interior also captures the Mission Colonial Revival style and has a classic castle fortress style appearance. The Santa Barbara Courthouse is described by The Architectural Resources Group as an Andalusian castle-style building that has a â€Å"romantic fortress aesthetic, complemented by Andalusian massing and asymmetry† (‘Santa Barbara Courthouse’). This is also the sense I first got when looking at both the exterior and interior of the building. The landscaping around the building is also visually appealing and compliments the building as well. It features several different types of trees, plants, and flowers. A lawn also covers much of the building grounds. The building is visually appealing in a number of different ways and that is why I feel it is a place I would like to be in or around. As mentioned earlier, the architecture of the building also has historical and cultural significance.

Domestic Violence During Pregnancy Research Paper

Domestic Violence During Pregnancy - Research Paper Example                                  Domestic Violence During Pregnancy Introduction: This paper aims to discuss various effects of domestic violence during pregnancy. Domestic violence is becoming an epidemic in almost every part of the world. This is a public health issue, seriously affecting the health of women. According to a recent report by a US daily, out of 33 developed countries, the United States is in the 27th position for life expectancy after birth. â€Å"Pregnancy is a time when friends, family, and health professionals expect a woman’s partner to be particularly concerned about and attentive to her health and well-being. It is difficult to imagine that anyone, let alone the father of the baby, would intentionally injure a pregnant woman, thereby jeopardizing her health and the health of the fetus† (Humphreys & Campbell, 2011, p. 155). In a recent government health plan call â€Å"Healthy People 2020† released by the U.S. Departmen t of Health and Human Services mentioned that domestic violence during pregnancy is found out to be the cause of complications like pre-term birth or low birth weight-outcomes. This type of violence also can cause various risks of maternal, prenatal and child health, miscarriage, infection, fetal injury and fetal death. While domestic violence occurs, injuries to the abdomen, breasts and genitals are some of the common factors. Apart from these physical risks, abusing during pregnancy can cause end number of psychological consequences like depression, stress and dependence to tobacco, drugs and alcohol. â€Å"Common sense demands that pregnant and nursing women minimize their exposure to xylene, just as they should minimize their exposure to alcohol, tobacco and other drugs† (Pregnancy, 2007, p. 68). Apparently, these psychological consequences affected the baby most as the majority of the time the mother losses attention in her or her baby’s physical condition, both t hrough the pregnancy and following the child is born. â€Å"One study found that 15 percent of women were assaulted in the first four months of pregnancy and 17 percent were physically abused during the last five months of pregnancy† (Sterne et al. 2010, p. 48). Nursing Care Consideration to Domestic Violence: What Nurses can do? Research found that around 324,000 pregnant women in the United States are battered by their intimate partners every year. Hence, there is a need of creating awareness against domestic violence during pregnancy keeping in mind the fact that domestic violence is becoming the largest cause of injury for women in the United States. As per nurses are concern, all nurses and health care professionals of all specialties are likely to assist help to the women sufferer of domestic violence. Nurses must assure the sufferer a proactive assistance to this dilemma. They should involve themselves to treat the sufferers of domestic violence. They should take a hel pful and empowering approach towards the patients. While assessing the patient who faced domestic violence, it is very necessary for the nurses to create a believing and accepting environment, so that the patient does not lose her self esteem. Various researchers found that believing, accepting and supporting patient by the nurses can improve the psychological healing of such patients. What are the impacts of battering to the individual client, newborn and the family? Although there are lots of literature reviews, the impacts of domestic viole

Regulatory bodies are best placed to secure environmental protection Essay

Regulatory bodies are best placed to secure environmental protection Discuss - Essay Example The compliance assurance features of better regulation include initiating time limits for regulatory decision making, minimising the onus of paperwork by substituting to self-reporting and enhanced overseeing of compliance monitoring activities so that business assigns minimum resources and time to inspection by government authorities. The UK government so as to overhaul its industrial pollution control system has introduced a new Integrated Pollution Control system (IPC) as early as 1990 through the Environmental Protection Act. The Environmental Act 1995 established the Environmental Agency. (Bohne: 435). Further, the UK government had combined the additional policy objective with its regulatory reform with an aim to regain more influence on European Environmental Regulations. In UK, the Hampton Principles was adopted which outline a regulatory system perused in tune with the requirements of the 21st century where risk assessment will be the foundation for all environmental program mes. Further, the UK government has made public a regulatory code of practice to compel both the local and national regulators to adhere the Hampton Principles. In April 2008, the Regulators’ Compliance Code came into force. Further, UK has also adopted a common framework for evaluating administrative burdens namely the Standard Cost Model. Moreover, the Impact Assessment Guidance issued by the UK Better Regulations Executive needs an evaluation of the â€Å"aggregate annual cost of enforcement of the regulatory proposal. Further, UK government is contemplating to introduce a system of regulatory budgets to minimise the aggregate costs of its new regulations’ adherence cost on the economy. (OECD2009:45). 2. What are the main characteristics of the British system of regulation? What processes are involved? What are its strengths and weaknesses? The UK government so as to overhaul its industrial pollution control system has introduced a new Integrated Pollution Control system (IPC) as early as 1990 through the Environmental Protection Act. UK can be said to be the leader of an integrated pollution control system not only in the Europe but in the whole world. Section 7 (4) & (7) was successfully exported to Europe from UK. As per Emmot and Haigh (1996:305), the IPC concept of â€Å"Best Available Techniques Not Entailing Excessive Cost† (BATNEEC) which was employed to evaluate the emission limit values which reappeared in the BAT specification of the IPPC directive. As per farthing et al (2003:75), the holistic IPC doctrine of â€Å"Best Practicable Environment Option† (BPEO), though not overtly emphasised in the IPPC directive, is mirrored in the regulations of the IPPC directive to accomplish a greater level of safeguard for environment as a whole, and not to shift the pollution from one medium to another i.e. air, water and land through the Art. 9(1) and (3) of the IPPC directive. (Bohne2006:435). UK assumed the leadership role in EU industrial pollution control legislation by exporting the IPC system to Europe. As per Bell and McGillivray (2006:770), UK kept the administrative and legislative upheaval for the transposition of the IPPC directive to a bare minimum. (Bohne 2006:435). EIA – Environment Impact Assessment It is a technique to make us to understand the probable environmental impacts of major projects both the existing and in the development stages also. The regulations and

U.S. Supreme Court review of Gideon v. Wainwright Essay

U.S. Supreme Court review of Gideon v. Wainwright - Essay Example No history of the right to counsel could be complete without a discussion of Gideon v. Wainwright - one of the best-known and most significant right to counsel decisions rendered by the Supreme Court. The Warren Court's landmark 1963 opinion in Gideon revisited the issue confronted twenty years earlier in Betts v. Brady - the scope of an indigent defendant's constitutional entitlement to government-provided assistance in state court. The Gideon Court's straightforward, unanimous holding constituted the last major step in the historical expansion of the constitutional right to counsel in America. Its forceful reasoning elevated the status of the right to counsel to new heights, giving it an honored place as the most fundamental of all rights guaranteed to the accused.Mr. Gideon was charged with the crime of breaking and penetrating a poolroom with the aim to commit a misdemeanor. He appeared in court without an attorney. Because he could not afford to have a lawyer, he claimed that th e judge appoint counsel. The judge did not accept the request, informing him that Florida law permitted appointed counsel only in capital cases. In the trial that followed, Gideon made an opening statement, cross-examined government witnesses, called his own witnesses, declined to testify, and made a short closing argument. The jury found him guilty, and he was sentenced to five years in prison. The Florida Supreme Court denied a petition for a writ of habeas corpus. To reconsider the issue resolved in Betts v. Brady, the Supreme Court granted review. The Court first observed that the facts of Betts and Gideon were so similar that the holding of Betts, if still good law, would require rejection of Gideon's contention that he had a due process entitlement to appointed counsel. The Court then declared, however, that after reconsidering the Betts holding, it had decided that it should be overruled. According to the Gideon Court, the fundamental nature of the right to counsel had been established in Powell v. Alabama - ten years before Betts was decided. Although the Powell Court had limited its holding to the particular circumstances of the case, "its conclusions about the fundamental nature of the right to counsel [were] unmistakable" (cited in Van Gerven 97). Moreover, in subsequent cases, including Johnson v. Zerbst, the Court had made it clear that the assistance of counsel was " 'necessary to insure basic human rights of life and liberty.' " By failing to acknowledge that the assistance of counsel is always essential for a fair trial and concluding that the " 'appointment of counsel is not a fundamental right,' " the Court's opinion in Betts v. Brady "made an abrupt break with its well-considered precedents" (ibid.). In so doing, it had erred. Precedent was not the only reason to declare Betts misguided. "[R]eason and reflection" also led to the "obvious truth" that "in our adversary system of criminal justice, any person haled into court, who is too poor to hire a lawyer, cannot be assured a fair trial unless counsel is provided for him" (cited in Garcia 70). After all, the government deems it essential to have lawyers prosecute criminal cases, and few criminal defendants who can afford them "fail to hire the best lawyers they can get." These are "strong[] indicationsat lawyers in criminal courts are necessities, not luxuries." From the start, American law has put "great emphasis on procedural and substantive safeguards designed to assure fair trials before impartial tribunals in which every defendant stands equal before the law. This noble ideal cannot be realized if the poor man charged with crime has to face his accusers without a lawyer to assist him" (cited in Alfieri 1459). As the Powell Court had observed, the righ t to be heard would mean little if it did not include the right to be heard through counsel. Even intelligent laypersons lack the legal skill and knowledge required to adequately defend against accusations. Although they may in fact be innocent, they