Analysis of Crimes Against People
To start with, this paper discuss crime agains people within the topic of essays on crimes. Crimes against people can refer to different criminal offenses some of which may include bodily harm, threatening to cause bodily harm to someone, or any other physical activity committed against a person will. Crimes such as assault, battery, and or domestic violence are prime examples of crimes against people.
Kidnapping and/or abduction can involve the unauthorized restraining of both children and adults even if you don’t remove the individual from the same location of where the offense originally has taken place. If the victims is being restrained enough to the extent that there is loss of liberty then the person committing the crime can be convicted under current state kidnapping laws. A restraint occurring even in the victim's own home has been held to be a kidnapping where the rescue of the victim is unlikely.
In historical common law the term kidnapping was defined as a forcible abduction or stealing of man, women, or child from their own country and sending them to another. The old English common law also contained very similar laws against 'abduction,' such as 'the forcible abduction and marriage' of a woman. The stealing of children from a father was also criminal, as this was seen as not just the stealing of the father's children, but also his 'heir'. In the late 19th to the early 20th century kidnapping laws has changed with the elimination of interstate transport and focused more on the un-willful detainment of the victim.
Soon after the 1932 Lindbergh kidnapping, Congress passed the Federal Kidnapping Act. This act gave the FBI authorization to look into kidnappings although the bureau was phasing in size and authorit. The Lindberg Act pryohibits interstate kidnappings this includes by sea, air, and the kidnapping of anyone who holds a government position. Each state also carry their own kidnapping laws (General nature and historical developement of kidnapping.
In the state of Wyoming the current elements of kidnapping is:
- Article 6-2-202 Felonious restraint,
- Article 6-2-203 False imprisonment,
- 6-2-204. Interference with custody, presumption of knowledge of child's age, affirmative defenses, penalties.
The Kidnapping charge itself of which involves removing a person from their place of residence, business or from the vicinity where he or she was at during the time of the initiation of the crime, confining a person with the intent to holding them for ransom by force, threatening or deception, or without the proper parental or guardian consent for individuals under the age of 14 who cannot fend for themselves. Kidnapping is a felony punishable by imprisonment for not less than twenty (20) years or for life except as provided in W.S. 6-2-101.
For the most part both common English law and current law for the offense of kidnapping still carry the same elements to lead to a conviction in the state of Wyoming. The differences between the two now is that transporting during the commission of the crime is not held as a main factor of the crime but yet still plays a role when it comes to prosecution and conviction. What the prosecutors are mainly focused on is the element of forcible abduction during the commissioning of the crime.
The possible reasons for the change of transporting a victim is because confining an individual alone can produce and convict someone of kidnapping. It doesn’t come down to the actual location to where the chain of events has begun but whether the victim was confined against their own will. If the element of restraining someone is present during the crime then it counts as substantial interference with ones liberty.
On July 5th, 2019 in Casper, WY three felony charges was filed against a man, of whom has abducted a young girl from a lawn and sexually abused her. He then dropped her off within the area of where he abducted her then he jumped in his truck and left. The judge proposed the potential sentences of imprisonment associated with the three charges: 20 years to life, 20 years maximum and 15 years maximum.
The crime of kidnapping has always came with a lengthy sentence ranging from five years to life imprisonment. The statute should remain the same as I don’t see any reason for change. There are laws set in place for a reason and if a person commit a crime of kidnapping or any crime that’s against the law should be punished according to current state statutes.
References
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- Law.jrank.org. (2019). Kidnapping - Elements of Kidnapping and Related Offenses. [Online] Available at: https://law.jrank.org/pages/1554/Kidnapping-Elements-kidnapping-related-offenses.html [Accessed 23 Nov. 2019].
- Wyoleg.gov. (2019). Rocket NXT. [Online] Available at: https://wyoleg.gov/NXT/gateway.dll?f=templates&fn=default.htm [Accessed 23 Nov. 2019].
- US Legal, I. (2019). General Nature and Historical Development of Kidnapping – Kidnapping. [Online] Kidnapping.uslegal.com. Available at: https://kidnapping.uslegal.com/kidnapping/general-nature-and-historical-development-of-kidnapping/ [Accessed 23 Nov. 2019].
- En.wikipedia.org. (2019). Kidnapping. [Online] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kidnapping [Accessed 23 Nov. 2019].
- Blackstone, W. and Stern, S. (n.d.). Commentaries on the laws of England.
- Stimmel-law.com. (2019). Abduction, Kidnapping and False Imprisonment: Definitions and Remedies (Including Domestic Dispute Child Kidnapping) | Stimmel Law. [Online] Available at: https://www.stimmel-law.com/en/articles/abduction-kidnapping-and-false-imprisonment-definitions-and-remedies-including-domestic#:~:targetText=The%20two%20key%20elements%20of,or%20coercion%20amounts%20to%20kidnapping. [Accessed 19 Nov. 2019].
- Anon, (2019). [Online] Available at: https://trib.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/man-suspected-of-abducting-child-an-absolute-danger-to-community/article_a153eaa6-bfec-574c-9a59-dc3e21078453.html [Accessed 23 Nov. 2019].
