Criminal Justice Paper

Orquidea Quinones

Nova Southeastern University

October 30, 2017

Crimes against Person

This chapter describes the various crimes against persons and how one should identify that a particular action is a crime against them (Lippman,325). It also expounds on the possible charges for those convicted of those crimes. It is an eye opener meant to make citizens understand when another person violates their rights and appropriate actions to take to stop the crimes or seek justice against the perpetrators of the crimes.

Kidnapping is a crime against a person which entails confining a person to a controlled space or even taking a person from one place to another without their consent. Kidnapping can also be conducted for the purpose of extortion of money or favors from a victim’s family or relatives with a condition of inflicting injury if their conditions are not met. Another crime is assault. This occurs when a person initiates unwanted harmful contact with another person. A crime becomes aggravated assault due to factors such as weapon used, the degree of injury on the victim, and the perpetrators intent (Lippman,347).

Stalking is the unlawful pursuit of another person such as appearing at their home or workplace, following them, leaving written messages, vandalizing a person’s property among many others. The main intent of stalking is usually to subject the other person to fear for their safety (Brody & James, 307). Stalking is not categorized as a crime if it occurs only once, but only when it becomes a pattern to cause harm or distress. Once it is established that an individual’s actions are in connection with other actions towards a former partner, colleague, stranger or anyone else, it is then that it is categorized as stalking. Most stalking incidents happen to people who have had romantic interests such as domestic partners or estranged spouses. Sometimes stalkers even end up killing their victims.

Works Cited

Lippman, Matthew R. Contemporary Criminal Law: Concepts, Cases, and Controversies. Thousand Oaks, Calif: Sage Publications, 2010. Print.

Brody, David C, and James R. Acker. Criminal Law. Sudbury: Jones & Bartlett Learning, LLC, 2014. Print.