Crimes
Classes of crime
Infraction  · Misdemeanor  · Felony
Summary  · Indictable  · Hybrid
Against the person
Assault  · Battery
Extortion  · Harassment
Kidnapping  · Identity theft
(Corporate) Manslaughter
Murder  · Rape
Robbery
Against property
Arson  · Blackmail
Burglary  · Deception
Embezzlement  · False pretenses
Fraud  · Handling
Larceny  · Theft
Vandalism
Against the public order
Drug possession
Against the state
Tax evasion
Espionage  · Treason
Against justice
Bribery  · Misprision of felony
Obstruction  · Perjury
Malfeasance in office
Inchoate offenses
Accessory  · Attempt
Conspiracy  · Incitement
Solicitation  · Common purpose
Note: Crimes vary by jurisdiction. In the sociological field, crime is the breach of a rule or Law for which some governing authority or force may ultimately prescribe a Punishment Infraction as a general term means a violation of a rule or Local ordinance or regulation promise or obligation A misdemeanor, or misdemeanour, in many common law legal systems is a "lesser" criminal act In Common law legal systems a felony is a serious Crime, often contrasted with a Misdemeanor. A summary offense, also known as a petty crime, is a criminal act in some Common law jurisdictions that can be proceeded with summarily without the right In many Common law Jurisdictions (eg the United Kingdom, Republic of Ireland, Canada, United States, India, A hybrid offence, dual offence, Crown option offence, dual procedure offence, or wobbler are the special class offences in the Common law Assault is a Crime of Violence against another person. In some Jurisdictions including Australia and New Zealand, Battery is a term used by the Common law jurisdictions which involves an Injury or other Contact upon the Person of another in a manner likely Extortion, outwresting, or exaction is a criminal offense, which occurs when a person Unlawfully obtains either money property or services Harassment refers to a wide spectrum of offensive behaviour The term commonly refers to behaviour intended to disturb or upset and when the term is used in a legal sense it refers Identity theft is a term used to refer to Fraud that involves stealing money or getting other benefits by pretending to be someone else Corporate manslaughter is a Crime in several Jurisdictions It enables a Corporation to be punished and censured for culpable conduct that leads to a person's Manslaughter is a legal term for the killing of a human being in a manner considered by law as less culpable than Murder. Murder is the unlawful killing of another human person with Malice aforethought, as defined in Common Law countries Rape, also referred to as Sexual assault, is an Assault by a person involving Sexual intercourse with or Sexual penetration of another person Robbery is the Crime of seizing Property through Violence or Intimidation. Property is any physical or virtual entity that is owned by an individual Blackmail is the crime of threatening to reveal substantially true information about a person to the public a family member or associates unless a demand made upon the Embezzlement is the act of dishonestly appropriating or secreting assets usually financial in nature by one or more individuals to whom such assets have been entrusted False pretenses or obtaining property by false pretenses is a Common law Crime in the United States, where its statutory forms handle situations not covered In the broadest sense a fraud is a Deception made for personal gain or to damage another individual In English Criminal law, handling takes place after the Theft is completed and is committed by a fence or other person who helps the thief to realise In the United States, larceny is a Common law Crime involving Theft. In Criminal law, theft (also known as stealing or filching) is the illegal taking of another person's Property without that person's freely-given Vandalism is the behaviour attributed to the Vandals in respect of Culture: ruthless Destruction or spoiling of anything beautiful or Venerable For relevant case law see Public order crime case law in the United States In Criminology public order crime is defined by Siegel (2004 Drug possession is the Crime of having one or more Illegal drugs in one's possession either for personal use distribution sale or otherwise A state is a political association with effective Sovereignty over a geographic Area and representing a Population. Tax avoidance is the legal utilization of the Tax regime to one's own advantage in order to reduce the amount of tax that is payable by means that are within the law In Law, treason is the Crime that covers some of the more serious acts of disloyalty to one's sovereign or Nation. JUSTICE is a Human rights and law reform organisation based in the United Kingdom. Bribery, a form of pecuniary corruption is an act usually implying money or gift given that alters the behaviour of the recipient in ways not consistent with the duties of that person Misprision of felony was an offence under the Common law of England and was classified as a Misdemeanour. The crime of obstruction of justice includes crimes committed by Judges Prosecutors attorneys general, and elected officials in general Perjury, also known as forswearing, is the act of lying or making verifiably false statements on a material matter under Oath or Affirmation in a Malfeasance in office, or official misconduct, is the commission of an Unlawful act done in an official capacity which affects the performance of official duties An accessory is a person who assists in the commission of a Crime, but who does not actually participate in the commission of the crime as a joint principal Attempt crimes are crimes where the defendant's actions have the form of the actual enaction of the crime itself the actions must go beyond mere preparation In the Criminal law, a conspiracy is an agreement between Natural persons to break the law at some time in the future and in some cases with at least one overt act In English Criminal law, incitement is an anticipatory Common law offence and is the act of persuading encouraging instigating pressuring or threatening In the United States, solicitation is a Crime; it is an Inchoate offense that consists of a person offering money or something else of value in order to In Criminal law, the doctrine of common purpose, common design or joint enterprise refers to the situation where two or more people embark on a project In Law, jurisdiction (from the Latin ius iuris meaning "law" and dicere meaning "to speak" is the practical Authority Not all are listed here.

Scope of application in the United States

In criminal law, kidnapping is the taking away or asportation of a person against the person's will, usually to hold the person in false imprisonment, a confinement without legal authority. The term criminal law, sometimes called penal law, refers to any of various bodies of rules in different Jurisdictions whose common characteristic is the potential In the United States, larceny is a Common law Crime involving Theft. False imprisonment is a Tort, and possibly a Crime, wherein a person is intentionally confined without legal authority This is often done for ransom or in furtherance of another crime. Ransom is the practice of holding a prisoner to extort money or property to secure their release or it can refer to the sum of money involved A majority of jurisdictions in the United States retain the "asportation" element for kidnapping, where the victim must be confined in a bounded area against their will and moved. Any amount of movement will suffice for the requirement, even if it is moving the abductee to a house next door. In the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, however, the asportation element has been abolished. Note that under early English common law, the asportation element required that the victim be moved outside the realm of England or overseas in order for an abduction to be considered "kidnapping. Common law refers to law and the corresponding legal system developed through decisions of courts and similar tribunals rather than through legislative statutes or executive "

Kidnapping for money is almost non-existent in the United States of America today, due in great part to the Federal Bureau of Investigation's aggressive stance toward kidnapping. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the The Bureau made kidnap for ransom a special priority, and continues to do so today. It pursues kidnap cases ferociously; agents who have rescued kidnap victims have been known to describe these rescues as personal high points of their careers.

There are several deterrents to kidnapping in the United States of America. Among these are:

1. The extreme logistical challenges involved in successfully exchanging the money for the victim without being apprehended or surveiled.
2. Harsh punishment. Convicted kidnappers can expect to face lengthy prison terms. If a victim is brought across state lines, federal charges can be brought as well.
3. Good cooperation and information sharing between law enforcement agencies, and tools for spreading information (such as the AMBER Alert system. An AMBER Alert is a Child abduction alert system, issued to the general public by various media outlets in Canada and in the United States, when police )

The harsh sentences imposed and the poor risk-to-benefit ratio compared with other crimes have caused kidnap for profit virtually to die out in the United States. One notorious failed example of kidnap for ransom was the Chowchilla bus kidnapping, in which 26 children were abducted with the intention of bringing in a $5 million ransom. Chowchilla is a city in Madera County, California, United States. ^[1] Kidnappings for profit that do occur in the United States today are often connected to other criminal activity.

In the past, and presently in some parts of the world (such as southern Sudan), kidnapping is a common means used to obtain slaves and money through ransom. Sudan (officially the Republic of Sudan) ( السودان al-Sūdān is a country in northeastern Africa. As a social-economic system slavery is a legal institution under which a Person (called "a slave" is compelled to work for another In more recent times, kidnapping in the form of shanghaiing (or "pressganging") men was used to supply merchant ships in the 19th century with sailors, whom the law considered unfree labour. "Shanghaied" redirects here See also Shanghaied (SpongeBob SquarePants episode. Impressment (colloquially " the Press " or " press-ganging " is the act of conscripting people to serve in the military or navy usually Unfree labour is a generic or collective term for those work relations especially in modern or early modern history in which people are employed against their will

Kidnapping can also take place in the context of deprogramming, a now rare practice used to convince someone to give up his or her commitment to a new religious movement, called a cult or sect by critics, that the subject's family members consider harmful, prompting their hiring of a deprogrammer. Deprogramming refers to actions that attempt to force a person to abandon Allegiance to a religious political economic or social group A new religious movement or NRM is a term used to refer to a religious faith or an ethical spiritual or philosophical movement of recent origin that is not part This article does not discuss "cult" in the original sense of "veneration" or "religious practice" for that usage see Cult (religious practice Deprogramming refers to actions that attempt to force a person to abandon Allegiance to a religious political economic or social group

Stockholm syndrome is a term used to describe the relationship a hostage can build with their kidnapper. Stockholm syndrome is a psychological response sometimes seen in an abducted hostage in which the hostage shows signs of loyalty to the hostage-taker regardless of the danger A hostage is a person or entity which is held by a captor The original definition meant that this was handed over by one of two belligerent parties to the other or seized as security

According to a 2003 Domestic Violence Report in Colorado, out of a survey of 189 incidents, most people (usually white females) are taken from their homes or residence by a present or former spouse or significant other. They are usually taken by force, not by weapon, and usually the victims are not injured when they are freed.

Kidnapping versus abduction

In the terminology of the common law in many jurisdictions (according to Black's Law Dictionary), the crime of kidnapping is labelled abduction when the victim is a woman. Black's Law Dictionary is the most widely-used Law dictionary for the Law of the United States. In modern usage, kidnapping or abduction of a child is often called child stealing, particularly when done not to collect a ransom but rather with the intention of keeping the child permanently (often in a case where the child's parents are divorced or legally separated, whereupon the parent who does not have legal custody will commit the act, also known as "childnapping"). Child abduction is the abduction or kidnapping of a Child (or Baby) by an older person Today, the term is no longer restricted to the case of a child victim.

Child abduction can refer to children being taken away without their parents' consent but with the consent of the child. Child abduction is the abduction or kidnapping of a Child (or Baby) by an older person Consent as a term of jurisprudence is a possible defence (an Excuse or justification against civil or criminal liability In England and Wales, it is child abduction to take away a child under the age of 16 without parental consent. England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland

Kidnapping in English law

This is a common law offense requiring:

that one person takes and carries another away;

by force or fraud;

without the consent of the person taken; and

without lawful excuse. In Physics, a force is whatever can cause an object with Mass to Accelerate. In the broadest sense a fraud is a Deception made for personal gain or to damage another individual In Jurisprudence, an excuse or justification is a form of immunity that must be distinguished from an exculpation.

It would be difficult to kidnap without also committing false imprisonment, which is the common-law offense of intentionally or recklessly detaining the victim. In the Criminal law, intention is one of the three general classes of Mens rea necessary to constitute a conventional as opposed to In the Criminal law, recklessness (also called unchariness) is one of the four possible classes of mental state constituting Mens rea (the The use of force to take and detain will also be regarded as an assault, and other, related offences may also be committed before, during, or after the detention. Assault is a Crime of Violence against another person. In some Jurisdictions including Australia and New Zealand,

Alongside murder, kidnapping is the last really significant offence under the common law which has yet to be codified into statute. Murder is the unlawful killing of another human person with Malice aforethought, as defined in Common Law countries Common law refers to law and the corresponding legal system developed through decisions of courts and similar tribunals rather than through legislative statutes or executive A statute is a formal written enactment of a Legislative authority that governs a Country, State, City, or County.

Named forms

• Bride kidnapping is a term often applied loosely, to include any bride physically 'abducted' against the will of her parents, even if she is willing to marry the 'abductor'. Bride kidnapping, also known as marriage by abduction or marriage by capture, is a form of Marriage practiced in some traditional cultures in countries It still is traditional amongst certain nomadic peoples of Central Asia. Nomadic people, (from the νομάδες nomádes, "those who let pasture herds" also known as nomads, are communities of people that Central Asia is a region of Asia from the Caspian Sea in the west to central China in the east and from southern Russia in the north to northern Pakistan in the south It has seen a resurgence in Kyrgystan since the fall of the Soviet Union and the subsequent erosion of women's rights. Kyrgyzstan (ˈkɻ̩gɪztɑn (AmE or /'kɝgəztan/ (BrE Kyrgyz: Кыргызстан; Russian: Киргизия or Киргизстан or Кыргызстан The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR was a constitutionally Socialist state that existed in Eurasia from 1922 to 1991 ^[2]
• Tiger kidnapping is taking an innocent hostage to make a loved one or associate of the victim do something, e. A tiger kidnapping is the slang term for an Abduction done in order to aid in a robbery A hostage is a person or entity which is held by a captor The original definition meant that this was handed over by one of two belligerent parties to the other or seized as security g. a child is taken hostage to force the shopkeeper to open the safe; the term originates from the usually long preceding observation, like a tiger does on the prowl.

Kidnapping today

Kidnapping for ransom is a common occurrence in various parts of the world today, and certain cities and countries are often described as the "Kidnapping Capital of the World. " As of 2007, that title belongs to Baghdad. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. ^[3] In 2004, it was Mexico ^[4], and in 2001 it was Colombia (which continues to have very high levels of abduction due to the ongoing conflict). "MMIV" redirects here For the Modest Mouse album see " Baron von Bullshit Rides Again " The United Mexican States ( or commonly Mexico (ˈmɛksɪkoʊ () is a federal constitutional Republic in North America. Year 2001 ( MMI) was a Common year starting on Monday according to the Gregorian calendar. Colombia (kəˈlʌmbɪə officially the Republic of Colombia () is a country in northwestern South America. The Colombian armed conflict or Colombian Civil War are terms that are employed to refer to the current asymmetric low-intensity armed conflict in ^[5] Haiti also has frequent kidnappings (starting several years ago), as do certain parts of Africa. Haiti ( English: ˈheɪ·tiː or haɪ·ˈjiː·tiː French Haïti a·i·ti Haitian Creole:

See also

• Extraordinary rendition by the United States
• AMBER Alert
• List of famous kidnappings
• NISMART

Footnotes

References

• Damien Lewis; Mende Nazer (2003). Slave. New York: Public Affairs, 368. ISBN 1-58648-212-2.  

External links

• Insight News documentary: China's Kidnapped Wives
• Court TV's - Criminal Psychology of child abduction
• Kidnap news