LEARNING OBJECTIVES
- Define the criminal act element required for kidnapping.
- Define the criminal intent element required for kidnapping.
- Define the harm element required for kidnapping.
- Define the attendant circumstance element required for kidnapping.
- Analyze kidnapping grading.
- Compare false imprisonment with kidnapping.
- Identify two potential defenses to kidnapping and false imprisonment.
- Identify two special features of interference with custody statutes.
Kidnapping and false imprisonment are crimes that involve physical restraint and intrude on the liberty interests of victims. In ancient times, kidnapping was used to remove members of royalty from the kingdom for ransom or to implement the overthrow of the existing monarchy. In the United States, high-profile kidnapping cases, such as the Lindbergh baby kidnapping in the 1930s, and the frequency with which organized crime participated in kidnapping led many states to impose the harshest penalties for this offense: the death penalty or life in prison without the possibility of parole.
In modern times, kidnapping is still a serious felony, although the US Supreme Court has held that capital punishment for any crime against an individual other than criminal homicide is unconstitutional. False imprisonment is generally a lesser included offense of kidnapping and is graded lower, as is discussed in .
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