Crimes Against the Public - Essay Example

On most occasions when dialogue does not bear fruit, agitators opt to go rioting thus distracting public peace. In that regard, the following case briefs will shed some light on how various previous cases involving the same were handled. This will guide on how to look at the two happenings that involved offences against the public. Crimes Against the Public Introduction Crimes against the public are those intentional acts and behaviors that tend to disrupt the order in which the members of the public run their daily operations (public order).

The Law checks to ensure that minimum standards of decency and civility must be upheld by all individuals as long as they are in public. For that reason, there are set rules and guidelines which must be observed by all members of the public which attract respective penalties upon breach. The following are some case briefs. Case briefs Edward v. South Carolina, 372 U.S. 229 (1963) Facts of the case: A peaceful demonstration was organized by 187 African-Americans to South Carolina State House grounds.

The protestors divided themselves into small groups as they pushed to convey their grievances against policies of segregation in their state. This process did not disrupt the normal activities of the public and everything ran normally and no property was destroyed. This demonstration was however disrupted by thirty police officers who ordered the protesters to stop or be arrested. The students defied the order and instead chanted songs of freedom and patriotism. This led to their arrest and conviction for disruption of peace.

Issues present in the case: Was the arrest of the protestors in violation of their rights and freedoms to express themselves, to gather to push for their grievances as provided for in the First and Fourteenth Amendments? Decision: The court’s ruling was that the arrest violated the marcher’s right of speech, press and assembly. Reasoning: It was held that the arrest and conviction of the marchers was against their rights. The Court could not clearly identify the crime alleged against the protestors.

The evidence provided was insufficient and did not portray acts of violence. Therefore the judge for the case ruled that there was a violation of constitutional rights by arresting the peaceful protestors. Justice Stewart said that the protestors were only exercising the First Amendment rights and that the state was not allowed to criminalize protests against controversial rules. Dissenting opinions: there were no dissenting opinions regarding this case and the court went by the judge’s ruling.

Looking at the above cited case, (Edwards v. South Carolina 372 U.S. 229 (1963), 1963) we find that these marchers pushed for their grievances peacefully and did not destroy public property nor blocked traffic. It was because of that that the court regarded their acts as an exercise of constitutional rights. However, it was a different case altogether where two angry students sent e-mails to Texas government agencies with threats to blow up a building in protest over U.S. involvement in several controversial international issues.

The students were arrested and charged with threats to use weapons of mass destruction. In this case, the government did not succeed in convicting the students because the threat to blow up a building was just an expression of their thoughts (U.S. v Wise, 221 F.3d 140 (5th Cir.200), 2000). They would not be convicted because there wasn’