Term Paper on "Unborn Victims of Violence"

Term Paper 6 pages (1867 words) Sources: 1+

[EXCERPT] . . . .

victim of violence, Heaven Lashy, an unborn baby girl of Shiwona Prince, Arkansas 1999. Based on the evolution of the law: Unborn victims of violence Act, it explains how a course of debilitating efforts and ironic incidences led to its evolution. The Act acknowledges the fetus developing inside the uterus of a mother as a living being, and ensures its protection against assault and murder. In the past, due to the absence of such a law many women have suffered heavy assaults and were not complied with appropriate justice as their culprits would get away the intended murder of the unborn child. In the course of this document a number of such sorry incidences are examined, with the victim and convict are both duly identified, and the latter is then prosecuted under the Unborn Victims of Violence Act August 1999 as in the Shiwona Heaven case. However, with the passing of a Bill in Senate, ensuring the protection of an unborn child, certain legal issues have been raised by the pro-abortion groups and elements in the Senate. These issues are scrutinized and discussed towards the close, along with a brief description of how Criminal Justice System has been evolved in prosecuting those convicted of these violent acts in light of case laws particularly valid in the State of California. Lastly a vision of what future may hold is briefly discussed.

CASE STUDY

The night of August 26, 1999 Shiwona Prince was brutally attacked by three men; at that time she was a 23-year-old college student in Little Rock, Arkansas, having a five-year-old son and an unborn child, Heaven Lashy, only a day away from her expected birthday. The assaulters were unfamiliar men who broke into her house and chocked, punched and hit in her face while shouting "your baby is dying tonight" (Actus Reus). Thereby committing Actus Reus with clear intention of murdering the unborn child, Heaven Lashy. Findings later revealed that the assailants were paid $400 by Shiwona's former boyfriend to kill their baby. Thus accounting to Mens Rea preceded by Actus Reus; since the concurrence of both, in the aforementioned order i.e. criminal intention preceded by criminal action either direct or indirect, produces a criminal liability under United State law jurisdiction, a crime was committed.

Fortunately, a month before this incidence the state of Arkansas had adopted a new State Law by the name of Unborn Victims of Violence Act August 1999. This law recognized unborn children as crime victims and thereby gave a status of living human being to fetuses. Thanks to that law, Shiwona's boyfriend, Erik Bullock and the men he hired were duly prosecuted and convicted for their murder of Heaven along with assault on Shiwona. The law was meant to protect all such Heavens who are unable to protect themselves.

But many women have not been as fortunate as Shiwona. As the March 21, 2001 edition of the Journal of the American Medical Association reveals that after doing away with age and race, homicide is the leading cause of death among pregnant women in Maryland while the same is fifth leading cause of death among non-pregnant women. This indicates that the fatal and non-fatal assaults on pregnant women -- including those who are attacked knowingly and intentionally "with child," are far more common than most people presume.

Evolution of Unborn Victims Violence Act.

It owes to the undaunted efforts of victimized women in the past and the phenomenal support of National Right to Life, that consideration and sensitivity towards the issue has been fostered among the legislative bodies and the Federal Government. Notable names in this regard are Tracy Marciniak and Laci Peterson. The former has been instrumental in the 1998 enactment of Wisconsin's Fetal Homicide Law. She was a Wisconsin woman whose unborn son was killed by a brutal beating inflicted on her by her then husband in 1992. From that day on she dedicated her life in providing justice to victims who are unable to stand out and speak for themselves like her unborn son Zachariah.

"I say, no surviving mother, father, or grandparent should ever again be told that their murdered loved one never even existed in the eyes of the law.," is what she said while delivering her testimony before the subcommittee on the constitution in U.S. House of Representative, on the Unborn Victims of violence act of 2003.(H.R. 1997).

More recently the famous Laci Conner case has bolstered up the attention of media throughout the country. So profound has been the influence of this incidence that the Unborn Victims of Violence Act has been named Laci Conner Law after the latter. Friday, November 12, 2004, the former fertilizer salesman, Scot Peterson, convicted of murdering his pregnant wife, Laci, 27, and dumping her body in the San Francisco Bay, was found guilty of 1st-degree murder in the death of Laci, and second-degree murder of his unborn son after seven hours of deliberation. Also due to the peculiar circumstances of killing a person while committing a felony made him eligible for additional Capital punishment. As per the prosecution he received lethal injection in California's San Quentin. The Laci Conner case is one of the most influential prosecutions to have taken place under the new law for unborn victims. Although the California State Act for such a crime has its repercussions or flaws in the Legislative dialogue. Here, the Californian Supreme Court recognizes unlawful killing of an unborn child as homicide only subject to certain embryonic stages. These are beyond seven to eight weeks of prenatal development. However 32 states recognize the unlawful killing of an unborn child as homicide in at least some conditions including California. The federal Unborn Victims of Violence Act, enacted April 1, 2004, also covers unborn victims of federal and military crimes. But it is important to note here that the prevailing laws in California are gravely inadequate because they fail to recognize unborn children as victims during certain periods of their pre-natal development. This fails to serve the purpose of protecting an unborn child and makes them vulnerable to bodily injury or intended death no matter what stage of pre-natal development the fetus is in. The act of crime concurring with "bad intentions" and carried out in form of "bad action" is excused for the lack of legal security if a fetus is within seven to eight weeks of developmental age. The aforementioned issues took on the conscience of many sensitive people of the American society who joined hands to work dauntlessly for the enactment of legal tool to do away with such a traumatic and brutal vice gaining frequency. It is the fruit of the combined efforts of victimized women, Law enforcing authorities and sensitive members of the House who upheld the cause of the families of the bereaved to make the enactment of this law a reality.

Legal Issues Arising From The Violence Act Against Unborn Victims

After having the Violence Act has been passed by the Congress, April 2004, the Laci Conner Law was forwarded to Federal law and attained the status of a rule on February 8, 2005, the anniversary of Zachariah. According to which State homicide laws recognized fetal homicide as a crime liable of death sentence and a capital punishment under special circumstances. Upon the passing of the Bill on this in the Senate, some pro-abortion senators appeared to be horrified at the prospect of unborn children receiving legal protections under any circumstances, even in cases in which their mothers were willing to abort the child. Opposing the bill with this view alone lacked wisdom and was downright self projecting and originating new obstacles in way of Federal Legislature; such a thing could only lead to disagreement and debate in the House. Hence in course of opposing the bill these senators with the assistance of Arlen Specter were almost able to amend the bill out of existence. However when the Bill was finally placed for vote, most senators were not willing to tell the victimized families that they had not lost a child. Among these, 61 senators voted for the bill while John Kerry voted against. However The House had already passed it with President Bush's signature marking the first instance the federal law had ever recognized a right to life for the unborn in all stages of pre-natal development.

This pro-abortion argument however, must be kept distinctly from the issue of victimization, and the two must be seen discretely in a different context. With an attempt to make it unanimously acceptable to the pro-abortion groups of America, the bill passed by a bipartisan majority of the House of Representatives also protects abortion by barring the following prosecution "of any person for conduct relating to an abortion for which the consent of the pregnant woman, or a person authorized by law to act on her behalf, has been obtained or for which such consent is implied by law." Nonetheless, one must always place the basic object of these… READ MORE

How to Reference "Unborn Victims of Violence" Term Paper in a Bibliography

Related Term Papers:

Domestic Violence and Low Birth Weight Term Paper

Domestic Violence in Pregnancy and Low Birth-Weight Infants

Implications for the Nurse in Care Delivery

Domestic Violence and Low Birth Weight Babies

The specific responsibility and one of the most… read more

Term Paper 20 pages (6040 words) Sources: 1+ Topic: Nursing / Doctor / Physician

---

Plato Violence in Socratic Examples Others Term Paper

Plato

Violence in Socratic Examples

Others may do violence to living things -- we will do no violence to living things." from the "Sutta on Purifying")

One of the values… read more

Term Paper 1 pages (491 words) Sources: 0 Topic: Crime / Police / Criminal Justice

---

Intimate Partner Violence in Pregnancy Term Paper

Intimate Partner Violence in Pregnancy

Intimate Partner Violence during Pregnancy

It is a socially unconscionable and truly terrible reality that many women in America are subjected to physical violence and… read more

Term Paper 10 pages (3320 words) Sources: 1+ Topic: Child Development / Youth / Teens

---

Barack Obama in Political Time Term Paper

Barack Obama in Political Time

Renowned expert named Stephen Skowronek's visions have basically changed our accepting of the American position. His "political time" thesis has been chiefly powerful, enlightening how… read more

Term Paper 12 pages (3373 words) Sources: 8 Topic: American History / United States

---

Hate Crimes the Definition Term Paper

Hate Crimes

The definition of a hate crime, according to the United States Department of Justice (Office of Justice Programs), is a crime in which the offender is "…motivated by… read more

Term Paper 20 pages (6466 words) Sources: 10 Topic: Crime / Police / Criminal Justice

---

View 100+ more related papers  >>