Free Essay

Crime Against Person

In: Other Topics

Submitted By jeremiah11
Words 875
Pages 4
CRIME AGAINST PERSON

The article that I pick was, “Hate crime data incomplete due partly to varying police reporting practices”.

This week, the FBI reported a 2% increase in hate crimes in 2008, as compared to the previous year. While hate crimes are an important problem in the United States (and abroad), this reported increase itself should be grounds for neither particular concern nor comfort. The reason for this is that the FBI data give us an incomplete picture at best.

While federal law requires the FBI to collect hate crime data from local law enforcement agencies, the agencies themselves are not generally required to keep track of hate crimes. Most do - and more did during 2008 than 2007, which may help account for the increase in reported incidents - but some still do not. Even among the agencies that do report hate crimes, however, the accuracy and completeness of the reporting differs a great deal. In a study I conducted several years ago, for example, I found that San Francisco reported nearly ten times as many hate crimes per year as its similarly-sized neighbor to the south, San Jose. A large part of this difference was likely due to the cities' differing approaches to recording and handling hate crimes. At the time, for instance, San Francisco had a bias crime unit and San Jose did not. Other researchers have found very much the same thing in other places; whether a particular incident gets reported as a hate crime may depend a great deal on the policies of a particular agency, as well as the training and perceptions of the officers involved. While many crimes may have variance in reporting, that situation is especially true for hate crimes, where the circumstances are often ambiguous and the offenders' motives must be determined.

Another reason to be cautious when interpreting the FBI data is the fact that only a small percentage of hate crimes ever get reported to the police in the first place. Research suggests that for a variety of reasons victims are particularly unlikely to report hate crimes. Among these reasons are some communities' poor relationships with law enforcement; victims' fears of being outed, facing retaliation, or, in the case of undocumented immigrants, facing legal sanctions themselves; and victims' lack of knowledge about hate crime laws. We can be quite sure that the 7,780 incidents reported by the FBI in 2008 represent only a small portion of the total.

Finally, hate crime rates can be temporarily affected by current events. Perhaps the most obvious example of this was the spike in crimes against Muslims, Arabs, and those of Middle-Eastern ancestry that occurred in the weeks following 9/11. More recently, some areas have reported increases in crimes against immigrants, perhaps as a by-product of the nation's larger debate against immigration as well as the failing economy. Legal battles in California and other states concerning gay marriage may also have sparked some violence.

The FBI hate crime data certainly have value, especially in the absence of more accurate methods of tracking hate crimes in the United States. However, small changes like those just reported should not be the primary focus of our inquiries into hate violence. The data are simply too fallible." (Gerstenfeld, 2009)

1. Provide a brief description of the crime?
-A civil rights violation may become a crime if it involves the use (or threat of use) of force. Hate crimes are intended to hurt and intimidate someone because of their race, ethnicity, national origin, religious, sexual orientation, or disability. Below you will find information on hate crimes and prosecution of civil rights violations, as well as links to resources from the federal government. 2. What does the crime data suggest about this crime?
- 31.9 percent of hate crime incidents occurred in or near residences or homes.
-17.4 percent took place on highways, roads, alleys, or streets.
-11.7 percent happened at schools or colleges.
-6.1 percent took place in parking lots or garages.
-4.2 percent occurred in churches, synagogues, or temples.
-2.2 percent took place in restaurants.
-1.8 percent transpired in bars or nightclubs.
-11.9 percent occurred in other or unknown locations.
-12.9 percent happened in the remaining specified location categories (e.g., air/bus/train terminal, convenience store, service/gas station) or in multiple locations.

3. Does the article discuss the motive for the crime? If not, what are possible explanations?
- This article does not discuss the motive for the crime, but statistics show that most of the hate crime are Racial bias 4. Was there connection between the type of crime and the location of the crime?
-no, there is no specific location that these crimes are happen at. 5. What prevention strategies \could have been employed to reduce this type of crime?
-Try to get out an education different groups of people on how we need to work together instead of killing a person just because the color of their skin, or because of some expenses shoes an person has on.

Reference Page
Gerstenfeld, P. (2009, November 23). Jurist Law. Retrieved 11 23, 2009, from jurist.law.pitt.edu/hotline: /2009/11/hate-crime-data-incomplete-due-partly.php

Similar Documents

Free Essay

Nibm Second Semester Assignment

... Subject: International Law What are your perceptions on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights? Would you like to amend any of the articles or add a new article to the declaration? ‘CRIME AGAINST THE HUMANITY’, means that the acts of persecution or any large-scale atrocities against a body of people, as being the criminal offense above all others. Human rights are international norms that help to protect all people everywhere from severe political, legal and social abuses. The right to freedom of religion, the right to a fair trial when charged with crime, the right not to be tortured, and the right to engage in political activity are the fundamental human rights. The rights exist in morality and in law at the national and international levels. The main sources of the contemporary conception of human rights are the Universal declaration of Human rights, the treaties that followed in international organizations such as the United Nations, the Council of Europe, the Organization of American States, and the African Union. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights sets out number of human rights that countries should respect and protect, which are normally divided into six. They are Security rights that protect people against abuses of the legal system such as imprisonment without trial, secret trials and excessive punishments, liberty, rights that protect the liberty to participate in politics through actions such as communicating, assembling...

Words: 3803 - Pages: 16

Free Essay

United Nations Ljubljana Session Report

...Ljubljana Session Report 2013 September Regional Academy of United Nations Tuesday, September 3, 2013 Bled Strategic Forum Panel discussion International criminal justice: a precondition for a prosperous economic future? The international community is facing geopolitical and economic changes, but still violent conflicts dominate the global headlines. Is this the modern, civilized world? My own opinion.. shock our conscience why are these atrocities still happening? what can be done to prevent them? what price dp the States pay for the mass destruction? (how can it be measured? human values..without a price) how does it affect our and their economies? does lack of criminal justice deter potential investors? or: can justice stimulate economic growth? Can both help prevent conflict? Conflicts thrive on impunity. Impunity encourages more violence and only exacerbates further injustice. Impunity, instability – feeding further into extremists and nationalistic tendencies. (raising the tensions in a fragile or post-conflict society) The unstable environment discourage international and national investments (or look from the other side: why is is unstable? because they took their lands? (Egypt – Kairói Világnépesedési Konferencia) what are the main roots of failed states, or insecure regions? why is the environment unstable? international investments or national investments?)  internal conflicts seem to occur disproportionately in low income and low-growth...

Words: 2277 - Pages: 10

Free Essay

Dont See This

...anyone had anything to report about this, the few instances where the KONY posters were put up. There were a number of two or three stories of people ripping the posters down; there was so much controversy and hatred that was developing from this whole situation. This whole KONY 2012 campaign has really gone down to hell, except for one aspect the guy behind it. Jason Russell; who is now infamous for being drunk, public indecency, and vandalizing cars. He made some money off of this, but that aside what I really want to point out is what the real problem like this when movement like this come about. This KONY idealistically very good, no one wants to see children being taken away from their parents. Taken to war camps, trained to fight against their neighbors in their original home county, stuff like that should be stopped. But here's the real problem, no one cares. Now that maybe a broad assertion, but let's think about that. If the world as conglomerate community really got together and the majority thought was to stop like this from happening. Why the hell the world sit idle by, while years turn into decades turn into more decades? Of imprisonment of these children, of war of famine of decease of...

Words: 276 - Pages: 2

Free Essay

Two Sides to Every Story

...There is always two sides to every story ever told, People have been taught to only observe and understand one side of every story. But only observing one side of a story blocks our way of perceiving a event or action taken. There are many examples of how viewing stories from one side can change our perspective on it such as in children’s books, car accidents, and in the kony 2012 project. Every child has grown up reading both nonfiction and fiction childhood stories. Some with animals singing and others with people becoming a hero to save the day. One famous fiction children story is the story of the three little pigs and the big bad wolf. In most cases the story is told from the pig’s point of view of how the wolf ate two of his brothers and blew down their houses made of straw and wood. The wolf was seen as the antagonist between the two. When reading the book you only got one side of the full story and your perception was the same of the pigs, that the wolf was evil. But only recently have authors published books which tell the story from the wolfs point of view. Which helps you develop your own thoughts on how the event really took place. Based on the wolfs perception of the time of day, how it occurred, and the end result of the story of the three little pigs. In the U.S. there are approximately 6,500,000 car accidents per year, all of which involve two or more people. Based on how the accident happened and if there were any witnesses to the event. Affects rejection...

Words: 607 - Pages: 3

Free Essay

Global Crime Analysis Paper

...Global Crime Analysis Paper Jessica Cross CJA/394 October 20, 2013 Global crimes transcend national borders and threaten American citizens and communities, businesses, and institutions, as well as global security and stability. The classification of global crimes can be categorized according to if the behavior is international and constitutes a crime against the world, or if the act is transnational that affects the interests of more than one state (Global Solutions, n.d.). The contents of this essay will identify the various major global crimes and criminal issues that have a global impact on national and international justice systems and processes. In addition, the text will discuss the various international justice systems and how these global crimes and criminal issues are addressed. Fueled by open borders, global markets, and the advancement of telecommunications, international crime has become a rising universal problem. In 1995, President Clinton classified international crime as a danger to the national interest of the United States. Therefore, before and since then the federal government has been busy in a converging effort to address various major global crimes, such as human rights and war crimes, organized crime and narcotics, cybercrime, environmental crime, and terrorism (Global Solutions, n.d.). Human Rights and War Crimes are inhuman acts committed by an extensive or systematic attack aimed against individuals, such as genocide, crimes against...

Words: 1391 - Pages: 6

Free Essay

Child Soldiers

...Linzy Gallon March 15, 2013 Comp II Analysis paper All throughout history and in many cultures, children have been heavily involved in military campaigns. The fate of many children’s lives are tragically decided when they are lured and in most cases forced to participate in child militant. There are an estimated 250,000 child soldiers across the world today (Williams, 2013) . On March 5, 2012 a viral video project KONY launched pulling in over a million viewers in a matter of a few of weeks (Neylon, 2012) . Helping to raise awareness of child soldering, the KONY project targeted one individual Joseph Kony, a war criminal wanted for many crimes against humanity. In this analysis paper the struggle of child soldiers and how this world wide problem is being handled will be discussed. One question that is often asked is how could this be happening? How is it possible to create a child army? The essence of a child’s innocence can be disfigured into mindless brainwash. “Children affected by armed conflict can be injured or killed, uprooted from their homes and communities, internally displaced or refugees, orphaned or separated from their parents and families, subjected to sexual abuse and exploitation, victims of trauma as a result of being exposed to violence, deprived of education and recreation, at risk of becoming child soldiers.” (Mahcael, 2013) With children being so receptacle to influence due to development not yet reached, it is so much easier to control a child...

Words: 486 - Pages: 2

Free Essay

Paperinternational

...Some countries like a South Africa has adopted the international crime prosecution Treaty (“the Rome Statute”). This means that under ordinary domestic law (the ICC Act)** the South African investigative authorities have the power to prosecute anyone who has committed torture, or a crime against humanity anywhere in the world, if the perpetrator is in the country (at any time when investigation is contemplated). Jurisdiction is also established irrespective of the perpetrator’s place if the victim is a South African citizen. A top South African court has declared that the country's police and prosecutors are obliged to investigate allegations of torture and crimes against humanity committed by Zimbabwean government officials, against Zimbabweans, in Zimbabwe. The court said the police were empowered to investigate the alleged crimes "irrespective of whether or not the alleged perpetrators are present in South Africa". Sworn statements gave what the South African court called "a graphic picture" of torture allegedly carried out on members of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change after a raid on its offices in Harvest House, Harare*: "They describe severe physical assaults being perpetrated, which included the use of truncheons, baseball bats, fan-belts and booted feet" the court said. "There are accounts of victims being suspended by a metal rod between two tables; of being subjected to water boarding; and of electrical shocks being applied to the genitals of some of...

Words: 1090 - Pages: 5

Premium Essay

Transitional Crimes

...Transitional and International Crimes Comparative Criminal Justice 330 Professor Marcella Wilhoite Strayer University Jacqueline R. Suarez October 14, 2013 United States has accused three countries of continuing to abet human trafficking. Russia, China, and Uzbekistan have been trafficking humans and forcing labor. President Obama stated that he would impose sanctions, all while trying to maintain relations with each country on strategic issues. All three countries have a combined estimate of 27 million victims. These countries are also responsible for forced labor, child labor and prostitution and even chattel slavery. Chattel slavery is where people are treated as property and can be bought and sold and forced to work. President Obama is threatening to sanction these countries by ceasing any type of foreign aid and withholding of American support from the World Bank. “The State Department’s rankings are required by law and a recent amendment by Congress forced the administration’s hand in cases where countries were on a “watch list” for more than consecutive years.” (Myers, 2013) Human trafficking is considered a Transitional crime as these crimes “are offenses whose in caption, acts, and impact involve more than one country.” (Dammer & Albanese, 2010) Transitional crimes happen between countries. Human trafficking is considered a transitional crime because humans are “trafficked” from country to country. These are crimes that occur between international...

Words: 694 - Pages: 3

Premium Essay

Global Issues

...The Global News Stations Blue Ranney ReactionPaper-RanneyB-FA13 Middle East In the Middle East (Southwest, Asia) there has been a war going on for over hundreds of years and many people have lost their lives and some live on to tell their stories. It’s not every day that we hear about everything going on over in the Southwestern region, but there are all sorts of unfathomable crimes taking place as we speak today. I’ve seen on CNBC nightly news the war crimes taking place in Syria. There have been over 180 Syrians killed and over 200 women and children kept as hostages. This is a war crime led by rebels teamed with the government. If it wasn’t for CNBC news I wouldn’t have known about this story. There are numerous different ways to hear about what’s going on in the world today. You can read magazines, watch TV, and get information from the internet. I personally like to stay up with the world news using the internet. Three foundations that I would like to focus on are “Human Rights Watch, NPR, and Alternet”. My first thoughts of these sites, I drew a blank, and didn’t really know what to expect from them. The one similarity that I recognized is how they are funded foundations through charities and donations. The” Human Rights Watch” and “NPR” are both funded...

Words: 872 - Pages: 4

Free Essay

Does the Uk Have a Constitution?

...In order to evaluate what offences have been committed in the crimes in this scenario, the clear presence of actus reus and mens rea are vital. for the prosecution to prove the existence of both elements of an offence beyond any reasonable doubt. Actus reus being the guilty act, whereas mens rea is the guilty mind, both of which are required in order to find criminal liability. In order to answer this problem question it must first be considered whether Pablo (P) is liable for any non-fatal offences against the person (OAP). The various offences and their definitions are contained in the Offences Against the Person Act 1861. Pablo and Rose – Pulling hair. The first offence to consider in respect of P is common law battery under section 39 of the Criminal Justice Act 1988. Battery is a summary only offence and carries a maximum penalty of six months or a £5000 fine, or both. P’s motive of jealousy appears to be the significant factor motivating his actions however this is irrelevant to his actions in law. P intentionally: Venna imposed unlawful force: Collins v Wilcock on Rose (R) by pulling her hair. R did not give P permission to assault her, therefore the contact was both physical: Ireland and unlawful. Previous case law has clarified unlawful force to be even the slightest touch R v Brown . The mens rea for this offence is satisfied by either intention or subjective recklessness. With reference to the problem question, the actus reus was the direct physical contact...

Words: 1741 - Pages: 7

Premium Essay

Law as : Criminal Liability of Jonty and Patrick Offences Against the Persons Act

...Discuss the potential criminal liability of Jonty and Patrick for the non-fatal offences against the person, including any relevant defences (50 marks) Jonty is likely to liable for an s20 or s18 offence under the Offences against the Persons Act 1861. S20 is the malicious wounding or inflicting GBH with intention or subjective recklessness as to causing some harm, which carries a maximum sentence of five years. This is the same maximum sentence as an s47 offence which can be seen as a problematic area in the law which is in need of reform. Jonty’s act of hitting Patrick hard across the back of his head satisfies the actus reus for wounding. As defined in JCC v Eisenhower (1983), wounding is ‘a cut or break in the continuity of the whole skin’, and held that a cut must be of the whole skin and a scratch is not considered as a wound. However, Saunders (1985) overruled the definition of GBH from DPP v Smith (1961), where the definition went from ‘really serious harm’ to ‘serious harm’. Jonty clearly had wounded Patrick, and although not life threatening Patricks injuries can still amount to GBH, and it is only needed to show that his actions led to the consequences of V’s GBH. This was ruled in Burstow (1997) where ‘inflict’ didn’t require a technical assault or battery. Jonty may be liable for s 39 of Criminal Justice Act 1988 for battery. Battery is the application of unlawful force or violence with intention or subjective recklessness to applying the unlawful force. This...

Words: 613 - Pages: 3

Free Essay

Non Fatal Offences

...Under English law, a non fatal offence against the person is taken to mean an offence which is an attack directed at another person that does not result in the death of any person. Offences against the Person Act is based on whether the victim was injured and if injuries were sustained they are ranked according to its seriousness and the intention of the defendant. An assault and battery are common law offences. There is no statutory definition for either assault or battery. For an assault, there is no touching involved only the fear of immediate unlawful force. In the case of Constanza the Court of Appeal held that letters could be an assault. For battery, there must be actual force. It is defined as infliction of unlawful personal harm accompanied by intention or subjective recklessness. There are often situations which both occur. The actus reus for a section 20 offence is to cause GBH ‘serious’ or wound. In the case of Ahmed “deliberately” swinging his stick to hit Bob in the face, cutting his lip could mean Ahmed satisfies section 20 as the cut in Bobs lip is a break in the skin. The mens rea of a section 20 offence is to intend or recklessness as to some harm. As the act was deliberate, it could be argued that Ahmed intended to cause harm which possibly could change his offence to a section 18. Section 18 this is considered a much more serious offence than Section 20, as can be seen from the differences in the maximum punishments. Section 20 has a maximum of 5 years...

Words: 527 - Pages: 3

Premium Essay

Felony Crimes

...Felony Crimes A felony is considered a serious crime. Most states and the federal government classify a crime that's punishable by more than one year in prison as a felony. Some states consider a felony as any crime that's punishable by any length of time in prison. A felony that's punishable by death is considered a capital crime. There are many different crimes that are considered felonies in most states. Some common felonies include: * Murder * Rape * Burglary * Kidnapping * Arson * Robbery Misdemeanor Crimes A misdemeanor is considered a less serious crime. Most states and the federal government classify a crime that's punishable by less than one year in prison as a misdemeanor. Some states consider a misdemeanor as any crime that's punishable only by fine or a small length of time in jail. If a misdemeanor is considered a very minor offense, such as jaywalking, the crime may be classified as a petty offense. There's a wide variety of crimes that are considered misdemeanors in most states. Some common misdemeanors include: * Public intoxication * Trespassing * Speeding * Prostitution * Vandalism * Use of a false ID Whether a crime is considered a felony or a misdemeanor will many times depend on any aggravating factors. These are factors that make a crime more serious. For example, the theft of a very inexpensive item from a store may be considered a misdemeanor. However, the theft of multiple items that are worth thousands...

Words: 555 - Pages: 3

Premium Essay

E-Commerce

...Question 1 chapter 9 Deviance: the recognized violation of cultural norm an example of deviance is stealing and copy someone's work (plagiarism) k Chapter 9 Q 4 what are the three types of crime: Crimes against the person: These are crimes in which an act of violence is either threatened or perpetrated against a person. A mugging is an example of a crime against the person. Crimes against property: These are crimes that involve the theft of money or property belonging to other. Arson is an example of a property crime. Victimless crimes: These are crimes in which laws are violated, but there is no Identifiable victim. Prostitution is often classified as a victimless crime. Question 3 chapter 9 Hate crime: is a criminal act against a person or a person's property by an offender motivated by racial or other bias. A hate crime may express hostility toward someone's race, religion, ancestry, sexual orientation, or physical ability an example of hate crimes in 1998 , people across the country we stunned by brutal killing of Mathew shepard , a gay student at the university of wyoming by two men filled with hatred toward homosexual . Chapter 10 q 5 social stratification is a system by which a society ranks categories of people in hierarchy. Societies began to elevate specific categories of people above others, giving some part of the population more wealth, power and prestige than others. 1-Social stratification is a trait of society, not simply a reflection of...

Words: 327 - Pages: 2

Free Essay

Legal Terms

...Critical Thinking –Chapter #19 Assignment #2 7/25/2010 1. Describe a crime. Who are the parties to a criminal action? A crime is any act done by a person in violation of those duties that he or she owes to society and for the breach of which the law provides a penalty. The parties in a criminal action are the plaintiff which is the government represented by the prosecuting attorney and the defendant who is the person or business accused of the crime. 3. Describe the difference between the following classifications of crimes: felonies, misdemeanors and violations. Felonies are the most serious of crimes, usually punishable by imprisonment, whereas misdemeanors are less serious crimes that are punishable by fines or less than 1 year in prison. Violations are not felonies or misdemeanors and the penalty is usually a fine. 4. Define Actus Reus? Define Mens Rea. What is a non-intent crime? Give an example. Actus Reus- guilty act Mens Rea- state of mind, evil intent A non-intent crime is a crime that imposes criminal liability without finding intent or mens rea. A death of a pedestrian due to a person’s reckless driving would be considered a non-intent crime. They could be found guilty of involuntary manslaughter and sentenced to prison. 5. What is the difference between criminal and civil law? What is the jury vote required for each? What is the standard of proof for each? Civil Law- Action is brought by a Plaintiff, trial by jury, except in actions...

Words: 1089 - Pages: 5