The occurrences of crimes often open our eyes to the things we have not yet experienced or make changes to our current laws and systems. While all violent crimes are an awful part of our society, some have garnered so much attention and controversy that new laws and bills have passed with the belief that had these laws been enacted these crimes probably would have not happened. The following awful crimes have prompted the creation of new laws:
The Amber Alert, a legislation signed in April of 2003, is a child abduction alert that exists in several countries that is issued when a child abduction is suspected to have taken place. The alerts are distributed throughout radio stations, satellite radio, TV stations and electronic traffic billboards and gives as much information as possible relating to the abduction. The system was created after 9 year old Amber Hagerman was abducted as she rode her bicycle and murdered in Texas in 1996.
This act is a statue signed into law by George Bush in July of 2006 and mandates a national database of convicted child molesters. This law breaks sex offenders into different tiers and requires the most serious offenders to update their whereabouts every three months with less serious offenders every 6 months and longer. The law was passed after 6 year old Adam Walsh was abducted from a mall in Florida in 1981 and later found murdered.
This law, federally known as Sexual Offender Act of 1994, requires law enforcement agencies to make information regarding registered sex offenders public record, which commonly includes their name, address, their crime and a picture of them. The law also requires them to notify local law enforcement of any changes in address or employment. The law came after the rape and murder of 7 year old Megan Kanka, by Jesse Timmemdequas. He had moved into Megan’s neighborhood after he was given a suspended sentence in the attempted aggravated sexual assault of a 5 year old.
This law, singed into Congress in October 2000, pushed for the creation of a National Center for Missing Adults. The law came in response to the disappearance of 18 year old Kristen Modafferi, who was last seen leaving her shift at the coffee shop where she worked. When her parents called police to report her missing, it was 23 days passed her 18th birthday, which made her an adult and there were no funds to assist in the search and she was not featured in notices in child-search organizations.
The Matthew Shepard act is an American Act of Congress signed into law by President Barack Obama in October 2009. The act, which expands a previous hate-crime law, includes crimes driven by a victim’s perceived gender or sexual orientation. The law came after the 1998 death of Matthew Shepard, a 21 year old student who was severely beaten, murdered and left chained to a fence because he was gay.
The Hate Crimes Prevention Act is also known as the Matthew Shepard Act. It was also fueled by the dragging death of a 49 year old black man in Texas. James Byrd, Jr. was beaten, tied to the back of a truck by his ankles and dragged to his death by 2 well known white supremacists and another man. Since the defendants had tattoos of and openly spoke of white supremacy the murder was considered a hate crime, and in turn sparked another part of the act.
Matt’s Law is a California law that allows for felony charges when severe injuries or death is a result of a hazing ritual. Prior to the enactment of the law, hazing in California (even resulting in death) was a misdemeanor. The law states unstructured or unaffiliated fraternities be held liable regardless of them not being student affiliations. The law was enacted after 21 year old Matt Carrington died during a brutal hazing ritual in the basement of a fraternity house in California.
This 2008 California law extends and protects the legal rights of crime victims and has had immense impact on the length of parole denials. The primary leader and sponsor of the law, Henry Nicholas is an advocate for victims’ rights. Nicholas’ sister, Marsy was a senior at UC Santa Barbara in 1983 when she was stalked and brutally murdered by her ex-boyferiend.
The 1994 Brady Bill requires federal background checks on firearm purchases in the US. The bill was named after James Brady, a former assistant of President Ronald Reagan, who was shot during an attempted assassination of the president. The shooter, John Hinckley, purchased the gun in a Texas pawn shop and had been arrested 4 days earlier attempting to board a plane with three handguns and ammunition. Hinckley has also been under psychiatric care before purchasing the gun.
This act was signed into law in October 2001 and greatly reduced restrictions placed on law enforcement agencies’ abilities to intercept emails, records, telephone conversations and anything else they needed to monitor in response to suspected terrorism. The act came after the September 11th attacks in 2001 in which about 3,000 people were killed and over 6,000 injured. Four US planes were hijacked by al-Queda terrorists and intentionally crashed into the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in New York, The Pentagon, and a rural area outside of Pennsylvania.
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