Lizzie Borden Trial Research

In 1892, both her father Andrew J. Borden and stepmother Abby Durfee Gray Borden were murdered in their house. Lizzie got arrested as the first prime suspect in the murder case of her parents. Luckily she was acquitted of the murder charges. Introduction Criminal cases have significant attention given the weight of the concerned parties. Theoretical analysis A crime, in the eyes of law, is something ought not to be done. Therefore the law has it that crime need not be committed no matter the desire of the person wanting that crime. There are legal consequences to its commitment (Caputo, Canónaco, & Corach, 2015). However, it is discouraged for anyone to just commit any criminal act. Laws that deal with crime present a unique aspect of how a victim is presented in a court.

The court provides a better ground for a person to challenge any allegations against them. Retributive justice Criminal law falls under the theory of justice that considers punishment proportional to the crime as a morally acceptable form of dealing with such crime. The theory underlies a term “Lex talionis” which means an eye for an eye as used in the Bible (Garner, 2014). In this perspective, a person who has committed a criminal offense has to face punishments that are proportionate to their deeds as a way to settle the wrong. Notably, if Lizzie had been found guilty, her punishment would have been to that proportion. The newspaper portrayed an opinion which resulted in conclusion by the members of the public that Lizzie was the murderer.

Painting every detail of Lizzie as a church-going girl involved in a murder of her parents elicited public attention. The media got much attention on the case because Lizzie was a family member suspected of killing her family members. The most auspicious factor is that the occurrence took place under the Greek family setup where women were not easily suspected of murder (Richards et al. In addition, the woman was a family member to the murdered. The case took an unexpected turn from what had been expected by the media reporters. The media had detailed all the events that took place from the house of the murdered family members, the court proceedings and eventually the final ruling by the court. Notably, media placed a critical role by informing the people on every detail of what happened on the case.

Perspective concerning media effect on case outcome The media has a significant role in informing the public on various occurrences. When it comes to court cases, media is restricted on divulging more on what would be determined by the courts (Surette, 2014). Finally, Lizzie was acquitted in the end having been favored by the case's judgment. The case took place at the time when the newspaper media was undergoing a transformation in the USA which made it highly debated. Therefore the influence of media on the case is the reason it has been difficult to do away with the case reports over many times. It has since remained a historical case that would be used as a reference in educational and other setups.