Child Murder Laws

Child Murder Laws

 

 

• The murder of a child is treated like the murder of an adult in the eyes of the law. The specifics of how the laws are carried out varies from state to state and depending on each judge's ruling (i.e. the death penalty is allowed in some states, but not others). However, There are generally rules that all states must follow. Murder is murder in the eyes of the law in many cases.

Residential Status

• In some states, if a person is convicted of child murder, and is let out of prison, this person must report himself as a child murderer. For example, in Illinois if a person has been convicted she must register as a Violent Offender Against Youth, and these records must be available to the public, like sex offender records. However, if the murder was sexually motivated, then the person will just register as a sex offender. This law will vary depending on the state, and in some states violent offenders may not need to identify themselves to the public.

Types of Murder

• If the murder was premeditated or was the result of another injury, like a stab wound, then it is a first degree-murder. This is sometimes called a "depraved heart murder" as well if the person does not show any signs of remorse. The degree of murder is determined by something called the Pennsylvania Method. This is where first-degree murder started.

When A Child Murders

• When a child commits a murder, in most states he will still be tried as an adult. Sometimes, depending on the circumstances, the child's case can be moved to juvenile court, but if it is a typical first-degree murder case, then the child will be charged as an adult. In 2009, in Pennsylvania, a boy was charged with the murder of his dad's girlfriend. He was only eleven, but charged as an adult because he pleaded guilty and all the evidence proved it was a premeditated murder. The girlfriend was eight months pregnant and it was a double homicide.

How to Treat the Coworkers of a Murder Victim

How to Treat the Coworkers of a Murder Victim

When a coworker is murdered, survivors are stunned, grief-stricken and may deal with the loss in different ways. Managers and human resources specialists can provide initial support for coworkers and determine individual employee needs for ongoing help. Coworkers who did not know the victim, but who are acquainted with his colleagues can provide support depending on their relationships to surviving coworkers. Listen to a coworker's thoughts and memories. Offer solace and affirm your support for your coworkers.

Instructions

Things You'll Need

• Private meeting room
• Human resources policy and procedures for bereavement and stress management
• Professional assistance resources for employees

Suggest Edits

1. • 1
     Provide coworkers of the deceased access to grief counseling. Andrea Morini/Digital Vision/Getty Images

     Inform employees of the loss of a coworker in a private location away from their work stations. Provide known facts about what happened, when, and the deceased's family's wishes and plans for services. Close the meeting by remembering the fallen employee's contributions to the organization and offer employees a few moments for absorbing the news of their loss.
   • 2
     Saying goodbye can be done in public and private ways. Jupiterimages/Photos.com/Getty Images

     Respond to the tragedy by supporting subordinates and coworkers. Work with your company's human resources department for determining resources available for grieving coworkers. Encourage coworkers to talk with management or human resources; maintain an "open-door" policy for employees wishing to discuss the crime and their loss. Advise coworkers of policies for taking bereavement leave and arrange for coverage as needed for allowing coworkers to attend services.
   • 3
     Encourage co-workers to share memories of the deceased. Observe coworkers for signs of distress; depression, uncontrollable weeping, missing work and shunning family and associates can be signs of conditions requiring professional counseling or medical help. Coworkers who witnessed the victim's murder may experience post-traumatic stress disorder.
   • 4
     Supervisors should meet with employees individually for determining their needs. Refer employees needing additional assistance to human resources. Inform your supervisor or human resources if you are aware of a coworker who is struggling with the loss of the murdered coworker. Coworkers' responses to the event may occur at different times; continue providing support as needed.
   • 5
     Resume a normal work schedule and job duties after services for the murder victim are held. Continue supporting and talking with bereaved coworkers, but accentuate positive memories of a murdered coworker rather than revisiting the crime and its aftermath. Honor the deceased by making a group donation to a meaningful charity.

How to Deal With a Coworker Who Steals Your Ideas

How to Deal With a Coworker Who Steals Your Ideas

How to Deal With a Coworker Who Steals Your Ideas

It is almost inevitable that anyone who works--will at some point--find themselves robbed. Coworkers can pull off an idea as their own unintentionally--but in many cases--people will outright steal an idea. When you think this has happened to you--here are some ways to deal.

Instructions

1. • 1
     

     Assess the situation. Before you get upset and lash out at anyone, take a step back and let yourself cool off. Your superior could be missing information or you may have not clarified correctly that the idea was yours. You shouldn't rub in when every concept is yours, but there is a way to passively mention your involvement. And when someone else steps in, it's important to see if they, in fact, did it. You may have heard them talk about it (perhaps to you) or you may have heard it through the grapevine. So if it is a rumor, be sure to get the facts before you do anything. The worst thing you can do is confront someone who is innocent. You don't want to harm your career or create tension at work.
   • 2
     

     Set yourself up. To prevent your boss from passing off your ideas as his or her own, be sure to note your contributions in any reporting and non aggressively ensure that other superiors see your innovative ideas. Doing this also helps your boss see that you are the idea originator in the event that an associate tries to steal an idea.
   • 3
     

     Confront the issue. Once you have the facts, you will probably want to confront your coworker. Going over his or her head to the boss could backfire and set you up as a tattletale--so when you approach a coworker, try not to accuse him or her and do not pull in anything personal. Be professional and willing to accept him or her saying that it was a misunderstanding. Try to resolve it as positively as possible -- then let it go.
   • 4
     

     Reward associates. One way to foster good karma and help prevent ideas from being swiped is to congratulate others when they come up with a good idea and recognize their contributions in front of others or in any reporting. This helps encourage them to do the same when you have the next brilliant idea.

Eight Ways to Make a Budget Work

Eight Ways to Make a Budget Work

 

The budgeting process requires careful analysis and high standards. Keeping goals can prove difficult because of unexpected costs. There are eight simple ways to make a budget work for you. Prioritize, remain flexible and keep track of economic changes.

Expectations

• Keep realistic expectations about the budget that you propose. Do not overshoot your capability and hope for too much in a single year or quarter. Look at comparable companies or personal budgets as a guideline for a realistic goal. If your industry average is 15 percent net profit, do not expect to hit 30 percent net income.

Historical Values

• Use historical values as a baseline for budget projections. Do not stray too far from those baseline values unless something unexpected has occurred in the recent past. For a personal budget, this may be a raise at work while a change for a business budget would be a large new contract.

Adjust

• Adjust budget values flexibly. Rather than a blanket increase of all values by a fixed percentage, take a more nuanced approach. Examine the line items individually and slowly alter them to configure to the new market realities. For example, if gas prices are up but revenue is not expected to increase as much, adjust each item to reflect the changes and reduce the income.

Keep it Simple

• The old motto of "Keep it simple stupid" (KISS) applies to the budgeting process as well as business in general. Take the entire budgeting process one step at a time and do not expect a complete overhaul or change in the budget to occur in one quarter or even in one year.

Allow for Mid-Course changes

• Do not get locked into a budget; markets change throughout the period. Plan to revisit your budget periodically to review and update your budget projections. Do not panic if you have to revise down your projections; this is fairly common. Flexibility helps makes more productive budgets.

Set Priorities

• Prioritize certain investments or long-term goals. Make sure that the budget is configured to attain those results. If it is a personal budget, set retirement savings or near-term goals like a car purchase or education. For a business, a priority may be to increase dividend payments or to increase free cash flow for internal investments and employee training.

Build a Safety Net

• All budgets should have room for error in case of miscalculation. Build in a safety net for your budget of several percent of overall revenue. Expect that you will not reach all of your goals. Be especially mindful of debt payments or other financial obligations.

Don't Give Up

• Stick to your budget in the fact of hardship, even when things look bleak. Every entrepreneur goes through ups and downs, and most of the time the pessimistic scenario seams more likely. Depending on the industry, a large portion of the new businesses fail. However, do not give up easily; perseverance help to make a small business through the rough periods.

Simple Flexible Budget Techniques

Simple Flexible Budget Techniques

Budgets help people stay on track with spending, saving and accounting. For people unaccustomed to budgets, the notion of developing and maintaining a budget may seem overwhelmingly complex. Others may be concerned that rigid budgets won't meet changing needs or financial demands throughout the month, quarter or year. But budgets don't have to be complicated or set in stone. Budgets can be both simple and flexible, depending on the techniques chosen to develop and maintain them.

Tracking

• Budgets should reflect current earning, saving and spending habits, but if you're not sure what those habits involve, there's a simple way to find out. Track your expenses for a month or two, noting all income earned, bills paid, debt incurred through credit card purchases and money tucked into savings accounts. This technique helps you understand your current financial situation, making it easier to develop an effective budget.

Bills

• Another technique to simplify sticking to your budget involves linking your monthly payments to bank accounts so that they're paid automatically, with funds immediately deducted from the balance. This way, you're able to easily track deposits and withdrawals, comparing current bank balances with the monthly budget to make sure you're still on target.

Credit

• Credit card spending can ruin the most well-intentioned budgets because of their ease of use, high interest rates and fees. A simple technique for avoiding credit card use and staying on budget is to leave your cards at home. Reserving credit card spending for emergency situations will eventually reduce the presence of credit card debt payments on your monthly budget, freeing up funds to direct toward savings or preferred activities.

Trimming

• Trimming unnecessary extras from your budget also frees up money that can be better spent paying down debt, socking into savings accounts or diverting it toward long-term financial goals, like a family vacation or energy-efficient car. Opt for home-filtered tap water rather than bottled water, rent books from the library rather than pay newsstand prices, consider purchasing generic rather than brand-name prescription drugs or treat yourself to an at-home pedicure rather than splurging at the spa. Dollars saved here and there can be reinvested back into your budget, creating larger savings in the long run.

Monthly Reserves

• A simple technique to build flexibility into your budget is to include a miscellaneous "slush" fund in addition to other budget categories including housing, food, health insurance and transportation. Allocating a specified amount of money as a cushion allows you to make ongoing decisions throughout the month concerning how the money will be spent. A new radiator, contact lens prescriptions or winter heating bill won't throw your budget completely off track when you've built in funds to address them. Even if the flexible slush fund doesn't completely cover sudden costs, it'll help defray the total bill