Penal Code Section 646 Essay

Social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram are huge contributors to cyberbullying. These social network sites grant their members the privilege to engage in the actions of the attacker which is a menace. A majority of the cyberbullied population have committed suicide due to the abusive comments. Cyberbullying has gone into a hyper drive with new devices and faster types of social media.

In Congress right now “the Megan Meier Cyberbullying Prevention Act” is being debated upon. If the bill was passed it would “...make bullying through an electronic means a federal crime.”(Warnke 26). If the bill is passed different charges upon the bully may be applied depending on how severe the bullying

Thus, the court determined that La. Rev. Stat. Ann. §§ 40:961, 40:962 could have no application in the prosecution of a person for the mere status or condition that might possibly arise unintentionally or involuntary. The court dismissed defendant's appeal of the judgment that revoked the suspension of two concurrent 10-year sentences for violating the conditions of his probation.

After legal challenges began on behalf of defendants disputing the constitutionality of the Sentencing Reform Act and the Guidelines, the Commission was given the task of monitoring the effects of federal sentencing practices and revising amendments to the Guidelines if problems arose for congressional approval. In 1990, Congress directed the Commission to respond to a series of questions raised in regards to the Guidelines, the effects of mandatory minimums and options and options for Congress to exercise its legislative power in statutory directive and organization (1991 U.S.S.C. Report). The 1991 report was a “preliminary assessment of short-tem effects” of the Guidelines on federal sentencing practice (1991 U.S.S.C. Report). The report conducted empirical research study requested by Congress to “assess the effect of mandatory minimum sentencing provisions on the eliminating unwarranted sentencing disparity as well as description of the interaction between mandatory minimum sentencing provisions and plea agreements” (1991 U.S.S.C. Report).

Part E of title VII of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 294n et seq.) as amended by section 5203, is further amended.

Just to begin with my opinion, the Facebook postings, which threatened the defendant's spouse and others, were actual threats, not safeguarded by the First Amendment of the United States Constitution. Therefore, conviction does not need proof that the defendant subjectively wanted the statement to be threats. Also, a brief summary of the case, Anthony Elonis' wife left him and Elonis afterwards lost his job for posting improper messages concerning his colleague on Facebook (Ferrilli et al., 2014). Afterwards, he also started posting overly violent messages about his wife, local elementary schools and also the police force, which led him to eventually being arrested and charged with conveying in interstate commerce communications with a threat to hurt the person of another (Hananel, 2014).

Cyberharassment. Cyberharassment differs from cyberstalking in that it may generally be defined as not involving a credible threat. Cyberharassment usually pertains to threatening or harassing email messages, instant messages, or to blog entries or websites dedicated solely to tormenting an individual. Some states approach cyberharrassment by including language addressing electronic communications in general harassment statutes, while others have created stand-alone cyberharassment statutes.

Judicial discretion was prevalent over the first half of the last three decades, but has been regulated by legislature since 1984. Discretion by definition is the authorization of deciding as one thinks fit, absolutely or within limits (Ntanda, 1999). Indeterminate sentencing, traditionally, has afforded judges considerable discretion over the resolve of criminal sentencing. “While such discretion theoretically allows judges to tailor sentences to the circumstances of individual crimes and criminals, thereby achieving a sort of ex post fairness, it also permits variation in sentences that may not be warranted by the observable facts of the case, reflecting instead the judge’s own preferences” (Miceli, 2008, p.207). The punishment

Currently, all 50 states now have laws against stalking making it a crime. The antistalking legislation identifies stalking as threatening and as a form of harassment, so its purpose is to stop those stalkers before their behavior becomes violent and life-threatening.

Another form of harassment is cyberstalking. So what is cyberstalking? As Naomi Goodno (2007) wrote,” While there is not a universally accepted definition, cyberstalking involves the use of the Internet, e-mail, or other means of electronic communication to stalk or harass another individual.” (pg.129) Jealousy is reason for people in relationships to cyberstalk one another. “The ensuing jealousy manifests as a need for reducing uncertainty by gathering information about the external threat.” (pg. 708) (2010, Tokunaga) Facebook is a good example of an easy way to stalk. “Facebook intrusion was related to relationship dissatisfaction, and cognitive jealousy and surveillance behaviors were linked to relationship dissatisfaction.” (pg.633) (2011,

Criminal procedures are safeguards against the indiscriminate application of criminal laws and the wanton treatment of suspected criminals. Specifically, they are designed to enforce the constitutional rights of criminal suspects and defendants, beginning with initial police contact and continuing through arrest, investigation, trial, sentencing, and appeals. The main constitutional provisions regarding criminal procedure can be found in Amendments IV, V, VI, and XIV to the U.S. Constitution. The Supreme Court for the first time began to extend the protections guaranteed in the Bill of Rights to exercises of power by state and local governments.

I created my covenant with Facebook by reporting the issue, through clicking the ‘report’ tab which was located alongside the comment and reporting the abuse and remarks on Facebook through its Security Help Centre, and a few hours later, a Facebook administrator investigated the content, removed the person's comment and also banned him for 10 days. I also ended up finding out that Cyber-racism is considered unlawful under the Federal Racial Discrimination Act of 1975 which prohibits racial hatred (sometimes known as racial vilification) that deals with offensive behaviour because of race, colour, and national or ethnic

Cyber stalking is an actionable crime as defined in 18 USC Section 875, a federal law on interstate communications, and it reads:

The due process and crime control models, both created by Stanford University law professor Herbert Packer, represents two opposing method of principles functioning within criminal justice system. Although the models describe the important facets of the politics and practice of criminal justice, both have been criticized since presented by Packer in 1964. Presently both models are acknowledged as imperfect standards to explain the politics and law of criminal justice. The crime control ideal represents traditional principles, whereas the due process belief reflects moderate values; therefore generating conflict evident throughout the years. This paper discusses models, crime control and due process, and how each affects the criminal

This crime can be perpetrated through email, social media, chat rooms, instant messaging clients and any other online medium. Cyberstalking can also occur in conjunction with the more traditional form of stalking, where the offender harasses the victim offline