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Posts Tagged ‘lawyer’

Are you afraid of crime? Do you think about becoming the victim of crime often? According to the Sourcebook of Criminal Justice Statistics, many Americans fear becoming the victim of crime often. As I will show in this article, the fear crosses all lines—sex, race, education, age and profession. Subjects were asked if they were afraid to walk alone around their neighborhood or any area within one mile from it at night. The results may surprise you. They will clearly show that fear of walking alone at night is one of the most common fears among Americans.

According to the most recent data available, only 19% of all men surveyed said they felt safe walking at night alone around their neighborhood. In stark contrast, 47% of all women surveyed said they felt perfectly fine walking alone. Looking back at the earliest numbers available, which would be from 1973, illustrates that this response is normal. In 1973, only 20% of men surveyed felt safe walking alone at night verses an astounding 59% for women.

Among white individuals, an average of 30% feel safe walking at night in their neighborhoods. Contrast that to the 41% of black individuals that felt safe. Even though there is a slight disparity among races, the numbers still show that the majority of people don’t feel safe at night. Historically, the numbers for white individuals who feel safe at night has always been 10-22% lower. The numbers only go back to 1973. One would think that the numbers might be different if the study was conducted in the 1950s and 1960s.
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The Mann Act was passed in 1910 its purpose was to prosecute individuals who were in the business of trafficking young ladies for the means of prostitution across state lines. This law was set into motion to combat immigrants who kidnapped women and forced them to work into brothels. The official title of the law is White Slave Traffic Act, because the women that were abducted were driven to prostitution out of fear. The law is a product of its time, but since 1910 it has undergone a couple of Amendments to keep it significant to modern times.

The current interest in the Mann Act has been sparked by New York’s Governor Eliot Spitzer. Prosecutors are considering charging Governor Spitzer of violating the law. Although, Governor Spitzer is the most current celebrity to be linked to the Mann Act he is not the only one. African American boxer Jack Johnson, film star Charlie Chaplin, and musician Chuck Berry have all been prosecuted under the Mann Act. Jack Johnson received the maximum sentence of one year and one day. Mr. Johnson’s conviction has been speculated to be a racist act, because the woman he was transporting was his white girlfriend. Charlie Chaplin was charged, but not found guilty. Chuck Berry served five years for a variety of different charges as well as the Mann Act. In Mr. Berry’s case it was a young Apache girl that he contracted to work at his club as a hat check girl who was later convicted with prostitution.

The Mann Act’s first amendment occurred in 1978 when it included in the transportation of minors for both male and female sexes. In 1986 the protection of minors was furthered as well as replacing out dated terminology. The 1986 amendment replaced “debauchery” and “any other immoral purpose” for “any sexual activity for which any person can be charged with a criminal offense.”
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In recent years, there are increasing numbers of people who turn up work under the influence of alcohol and drugs. According to a survey conducted by the Health and Safety Executive in 1994, 90% of personnel directors from top UK organisations stated that alcohol consumption was a problem for their organisation. 18% of large company directors reported illegal drug use by their employees in 2004, a survey through the Chartered Institute of Personnel Development and the Reward Group 2004.

The impact of an employee under the influence of alcohol or drugs in the work place could be:
? Poor discipline and violent behaviour
? Safety endangered for everyone at the workplace
? Effect on employee relations and team morale
? Poor performance and loss of efficiency
? Lateness and absenteeism
? Unpleasant effects on company image and customer relations.

Under the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974, it’s the responsibilty of company directors to take into account, as far as is reasonably practicable, the health, safety and welfare of its employees. A director could be prosecuted if he deliberately allowed an employee under the influence of drugs and/or excessive alcohol to continue working whilst placing the employee or others at risk. Likewise, employees are also responsible to take sensible care of themselves and others who could be affected by what they perform. Eg: If you’re working in a transport industry, The Transport and Works Act 1992 makes it a criminal offence for certain employees to be unfit through drink and/or drugs while working on railways, buses, tramways and other guided transport systems. The operators of the transport system would also be guilty of an offence unless they had shown all due diligence in trying to prevent such an offence being committed.

How to Deal with the Situation?
First of all, an employer should investigate whether the incident happen was a one-off, occurs on a regular basis or he/she has underlying medical conditions (eg: depression, stress). Research has shown that many employees tend to use drugs/alcohol to cope with their work-related stress.
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