Death penalty Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 2

Death penalty - Term Paper Example g at sea and crucifixion (Melusky & Pesto 8).Unlike in the present where many people do not witness such punishments, in the past death penalties were done in public. Apart from explaining on various forms of death penalties, the essay will also relay more information on its effects to the society. In the US, before the rise of legal institutions, cases of death penalties were quite rampant in all states. Since there were no modern legal institutions, many crimes ranked as capital whose punishment was death. For instance, in the US, crimes such as rape, kidnapping, arson and forgery were punishable by death (Walker 19). Most of these crimes were punishable by hanging and the process normally took place in public places where everybody would see. In the past, such events were quite common and usually attracted a large number of spectators some of whom came to do business during the occasion (Melusky & Pesto 2). Tens of thousands normally showed up in such events with the intension of viewing the hanging. This changed as from the 1960s when a modern legal institution was set up. To date, there have been numerous debates on the whether sentencing a person to death is justice as claimed. Most legal firms claim that a death penalty is justice only if one has committed a capital crime such as killing another person. Legal officers claim that one ought to receive punishment that is equal to the crime he or she has committed. According to Guernsey (9), even Biblically, an offender was to receive an eye for an eye; this implied that punishment was to fit the crime committed. Studies show that death penalties began in the US around the 1600 when the first English colonialists landed in the US (Guernsey 10). Captain George Kendall went down on record as the first person to die because of a death sentence. According to Melusky and Pesto (7), Captain Kendall was sentenced to death by the firing squad method. This was after an accusation of spying for the Spanish nation

Lobbying on Standard Setting in Accounting Assignment

Lobbying on Standard Setting in Accounting - Assignment Example The present paper has identified that the chairman of SEC is selected through political appointment by the federal government. Thus, it is less likely that chairman would not be influenced by the activities of lobbying in the field of setting accounting standards. The lobbying activities in the field of accounting standard setting is directed at influencing the FASB in providing more flexibility to the firm in their accounting practice with no attention towards the safeguarding the long term interests of the firm as well as the investors (Andre, Cazavan-Jeny, Dick, Richard and Walton, 2009, p.24). The intentions of the lobbies are guided by narrow interests of enhancing short term economic value of the firm by allowing relaxations in the accounting standards which are contradictory to the rules and regulations prescribed by FASB. The process of standard setting in accounting is guided by the rules and regulation of Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB). The process of standard setting in accounting is guided by the rules and regulation of Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB). The issues involved in the process of standard setting in accounting bring to light the influence of politics and activities of lobbying on setting the standards for accounting (Ball and Foster, 1982, p.165). The activities of lobbying in the setting of standards in accounting explains that politics and lobbying have a direct influence over the activity of standard setting as in the financial policy framework of the organizations. The lobbying activities include purposeful intervention with an aim to manipulate the setting of accounting standards with the help of economic activities so that the economic value added to the company could be enhanced (Beresford 1, 1997, p.90). This is, however, viewed to be inconsistent in accordance with the guidelines of the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB). The activities of lobbying is aimed at derailing the standard setters from t he achieving the objectives as set by the Financial Accounting Standards Board though reporting of consistent financial statements. FASB recommends improvement of transparency in accounting by setting the standards on accounting procedure and providing flexibility in the process of reporting financial statement and accounts. The issues related to lobbying on standard setting in accounting arise when the Congress is influenced by the politically influential constituents which are misdirected to achieve self motivated interests (Beresford 2, 2001, p.85). The lobbying by the accounting firms in the process of standard setting could also lead to improve of accounting standards being set by their clients. This is achieved by addressing the areas of ambiguity in the accounting rules prescribed by Financial Accounting Standards Board. The various issues in case of lobbying in the area of setting accounting standards highlight the interests of the companies to reduce costs and attain flexib ility in financial reporting (Bertomeu and Cheynel, 2013, p.814). For example, the accounting standards set by FASB requires the company account to be reviewed on a periodic basis by the auditors.