Texas has adopted a system of determinate sentencing
It is essential to understand that Texas has adopted a system of determinate sentencing. Actions that cause death may lead to criminally homicide, and this carries serious penalties. When people in Texas lose their lives due to the actions of others, then it is homicide. However, not all forms of murder are unlawful, but a number are, and they result in serious legal charges (Bailey, 2017). There were 16,214 homicides in 2018. It means that there were five homicides for every 100,000 persons. Similarly, homicide was the third leading cause of death in Texas, particularly among people between the ages 15-34 years, and the fourth major cause of death among children between 10 years and 14 years.
Several factors drive people to commit homicide, and these are negligence and recklessness as a result of using illicit drugs. Concerning negligence, an individual may cause the death of another through criminal negligence (Baay et al., 2012). It leads to criminally homicide. Generally, this is an action that deviates from the standards of common people. For instance, an individual can be influenced by drugs, and therefore, he can fail to obey the general treatment standards, and this may lead to the death of a patient (Bond et al., 2007; Henry, Knight, & Thornberry, 2012). In Texas, criminally homicide is a condition of jail felony. Therefore, those that are convicted on this offense may serve a sentence of 180 days and two years in the state jail (McCord, 2015). Moreover, they can be fined a sum of up to $ 10,000.
Individuals can engage in reckless behaviors and other dangerous activities (Kasen et al., 1990). When such conducts lead to fatality, it can constitute homicide or manslaughter (Riley, 2008). In Texas State, the criminal charges that result from murder always carry potential life-changing outcomes.
However, those individuals that are facing allegations of criminally negligent can benefit from legal representations. The rate of homicide in Texas increased in 2018 after recording low levels in 2014 (Garcia, 2019). The research has devoted the dissemination of information about the study of murder. It includes works on issues that correlate to homicide and victimization (Tardiff et al., 2015).
The research data for the study has been obtained from structured interviews with policymakers and community representatives. Moreover, data has been obtained from the current data programs, particularly from the Drug Use Forecasting (Li, Feigelman, & Stanton, 2000). According to the latest crime data that was released by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Texas has topped the US in murder increase and other crimes.
In order to address these factors, researchers have discussed the relationship between the changing drug use and the pattern of drug markets to the trend of homicide. As a result, low awareness of specific trends of drug use, strong perceptions of connections between drugs and violence. Therefore, there is a correlation between the trend in drug use and homicide. Studies have partially explained these findings using large evident risks.