To start, it's important to comprehend what inchoate offenses are. An incomplete offense, or rather the tendency to commit a crime, is referred to as an inchoate offense. Incipient offenses include solicitation, conspiracy, and attempt. (Brody et al. 21).
It is important to remember that in the past, a number of inchoate crimes were considered minor transgressions. That has altered today, though, as the majority of inchoate offenses are now regarded as serious crimes that range in severity from misdemeanors to felonies. Attempting to commit a crime, conspiring to commit a crime, and soliciting someone else to perpetrate a crime are all examples of inchoate offenses. In fact being an accessory or an accomplice to a crime is also an inchoate crime
The dilemmas that inchoate offenses present to the society are that despite no harm being done yet to the society still it is an offence given the mens rea and that the alleged offender is focused on committing the crime. These two are so because as earlier stated despite being regarded as incomplete offences, they do poses the two elements of crime i.e Mens rea and Actus reus. Inchoate crimes do have a specific intent of bringing of committing the offence and some steps of ensuring that the crime is accomplished though not enough steps (Brody et al. 45).
Attempt to commit a crime, is an inchoate crime which is regarded as the closest to actually committing the crime. This involves trying to commit the crime but not being able to achieve the intended actions.
Conspiracy to commit a crime involves accepting to commit a crime. A conspiracy itself can be treated as an additional charge to the main charge of the crime for instance a person can be charged with Fraud and at the same time be charged with a conspiracy to commit fraud.
Solicitation to commit a crime refers to the requesting another person to commit a crime. Regardless of that other person not agreeing to commit the offence, the person who solicits still is liable to being charged with solicitation.
In order to resolve the dilemmas alluded to above, there is need for specific intent to cause harm or commit the offence. Also it would be advisable to treat and punish inchoate crimes differently from the manner in which Completed crimes are punished.
A case in point to demonstrate the inchoate crime of Attempt and how it was held is Commonwealth vs Peaslee The brief facts were that Peaslee, the defendant, arranged combustibles in a building he owned in a way that if lighted, would have set fire to the building. His accomplice refused to light the fire. The question for determination was whether Peaslee had attempted to commit arson. The court held that "A mere collection and preparation of materials in a room, for the purpose of setting fire to them, unaccompanied by any present intent to set the fire, would be too remote and not all but the "last act" necessary to complete the crime." ( Joel Samaha)
Question Two
Ways in which traditional parental responsibility differs from vicarious liability.Vicarious liability refers to a case where a person is held responsible for the negligent acts of another person whereas traditional parental responsibility parents are not held responsible for the acts of their children, but rather instead for inadequately controlling them.
Vicarious responsibility is created by statute whereas traditional parental responsibility is not. Vicarious responsibility can apply to corporations and individuals whereas traditional parental responsibility only applies parents of individuals who are below 18 years of age. Vicarious responsibility has multi-faceted relationship for instance employer-employee, Directors-corporation, Principal-Agent whereas traditional parental responsibility focuses on the actions committed by a child and wherein the parent is entirely responsibility.
Most Vicarious responsibility involves business transactions whereas traditional parental responsibility is not strictly about business. Vicarious liability statutes grew out of public fear, frustration, and anger over juvenile violence and parents' failure to control their children whereas traditional parental responsibility emanated out of moral obligations (Chu & Yingyi 23).
Why do we have vicarious liability statutes?
Vicarious liability statutes are essential especially in Tort law for it provides an avenue to the injured to be compensated since corporations and even employers have sufficient financial muscle to meet such losses unlike their employees who may not be able to compensate their victims due to their negligent acts.
In addition, a negligent act complained of occurs as a result of an employer-employee relationship, Principal-Agent relationship and as such were it not for such form of relationship, it would be impossible for the act to be committed hence the need for the principal to meet the cost of such negligent act or rather results of such wrong deeds.
Lastly it is widely viewed as a mode of risk-reduction for proper precautions necessary for good business. It is through such engagements that the law has coined the view that some relationships by their very nature require the person who engages services of others to accept responsibility for the wrongdoing of those he hires and be ready to shoulder their cross to the extent that such negligence occurred in their official engagements.
Parental responsibility statutes functions better for they can be efficient and effective means to reduce Juvenile provided that they are employed alongside Social support programs so as to achieve the intention of the statutes. These statutes are also useful for apart from parents, they also go an extra mile to punish any other person who may have played any other role to the minor's delinquent acts.
Question Three: Broken Windows Theory
Broken Windows Theory is a theory within the criminal justice department used to prevent and reduce crime rate within neighborhoods deemed highly prone to crime. The theory argues that disorders are responsible for high crime rates whereby social disorders such drug abuse, prostitution, rowdiness, idlessness, school drop outs, distribution of drugs among other things breeds major crimes such robbery, rape and murder (Free 21).
The theory borrows heavily from social learning theory which argues that people learn from one another and from the environment they are living in such that if the behavior of people and the environment is criminal in nature, the young people for instance will learn and practice things that are criminal in nature. And therefore, proponents of broken windows theory believe that by seeking to combat disorders is when crimes can be prevented.
The broken windows theory was used from the 1990s up to date, and in many places that this theory has been used, the results have been significantly positive. In 1990s for instance, police commissioner of New York, William Bratton used the ideology by going after disorders in neighborhoods and the results were impressive, crime rate went down in New York by 40% (Free 48).
Critical examination and analysis of the theory shows that indeed small disorderly behaviors are premises with which serious crimes emanates and breeds. People start by abusing drugs, getting disorderly, getting noisy and in the end, they engage in serious crime. But by combating the small disorderly behaviors, individuals start to shy away from such behaviors and the chances of them getting into serious crimes are reduced.
Through the work of plain clothes police officers going round neighborhoods deemed disorderly, they are able to curb many disorders such prostitution and drug abuse which at the end of the day will have prevented people and especially the young people from doing anything that would amount in serious crimes.
According to this theory, disorders generally create fears among people and the end result is people feeling unsafe in certain areas. As a result many people will fear residing in those places, and through abandonment of residences and other things, social control diminishes and the results are criminal behaviors.
Research on this theory reveals that it is not only true that broken windows theory is sensible but also that it is effective in combating crimes. In many places that this theory has been used, crime rates have substantially reduced proving that broken windows theory is valid. However, in some instance, critics have argued that the theory lacks empirical evidence to support is point of view but the truth is that broken windows theory is very valid (Free 120).
In a nut shell, it is worth concluding that broken windows theory is a theory that argues for crime prevention through combating behaviors that breeds crime. It is a preventive ideology that has proven through centuries to be effective because in New York where this theory has been used, crimes have been reduced in significant amounts. Therefore, broken windows theory is a theory that can revolutionalize prevention of crime if implemented well.
Question Four: Old Crimes
Computers and the internet indeed have changed the way and speed of the way many things are done nowadays. In terms of old crimes, the world of the internet has revolutionized the magnitude and speed of these crimes. Computers and the internet for instance have made it possible for criminals to commit crimes such as the ease and anonymity to commit fraud. Through the internet, the criminals can easily masquerade as genuine business entities and fraud customers of their money.
Kidnapping is an old form crime which in the past before the advent of computers and the internet were committed manually has taken a new dimension. Criminals intending to kidnap a child for instance use the computer and the internet to do. The can befriend their target over social media, Facebook or twitter and pretend to know them so that they can lure that person to meet them at a particular place where they can easily kidnap the person.
Through computers and the internet, criminals are able to perpetrate old crimes such as blackmail by using the internet to search information about a particular person after which they use the information to threaten and blackmail that person with am of extorting money of getting certain information from that person
Currently, the issue of embezzlement of funds from public coffers is on the rise courtesy of computers and the internet with which criminals use to hide their identity of IP address and other things which could be used for identification and embezzle funds. White collar crimes especially those considered old forms of crimes such misuse of funds can easily be done through the internet hacking (Helfgott 89).
Due to these advancements in crime dimensions, the law has also changed drastically to accommodate and prosecute these new forms of criminal activities. Law enforcement agencies nowadays have laws addressing these crimes. Particularly, the law enforcements agencies have applications which can be used to trace the source and the location of the criminal's perpetrating cyber crimes. There are also applications such facial recognition software's with which criminals can be identified and arrested.
The law has also enhanced the process of investigating such crimes by recruiting personnel who are well experienced and trained in computers and the internet that can identify fraudulent activities and report the matter to those responsible for making arrest. In addition, the law has come up with stringent laws governing cyber crime in order to prevent criminals from committing these crimes.
Through the internet and computers, the law has made it possible to track down people who have been kidnap through the use special tracking devices installed in vehicles and whenever a vehicle is hijacked, victims can alert the law enforcement officers by triggering an alarm which will lead the officers finding the victim and making arrests of the criminals involved (Helfgott 32).
In conclusion, it is worth mentioning that the advancement in computers and the internet has brought in a new dimension of criminal activity which is highly sophisticated and hard to deal with. Old crimes which used to be perpetrated in old and tradition ways have taken a new and complex dimension which makes it hard for law enforcement agencies to pursue. But the same advancement has made it possible for law enforcement agencies to pursue and arrest criminals of these crimes. The technology cuts both sides; it enhances crimes on one hand and enhances law enforcement on the other hand. This balance is necessary for the continuity of societal order otherwise society will go to anarchy if criminals alone were left to advance.
Works Cited
Brody, David C, James R. Acker, and Wayne A. Logan. Criminal Law. Gaithersburg, MD: Aspen Publishers, 2000. Print.
Chu, C Y. C, and Yingyi Qian. The Inefficiency of Vicarious Liability Under a Negligence Rule. Nanking, Taipei, Taiwan: Institute of Economics, Academia Sinica, 1992. Print.
Free, Kenisha R. An Analysis of the Broken Windows Theory. , 2001. Print.
Helfgott, Jacqueline B. Criminal Behavior: Theories, Typologies, and Criminal Justice. Los Angeles: SAGE, 2008. Print.
