A World without Criminal Law

Think for a minute that you have entered a new world, a new society.  Crime is rampant.  There is no law enforcement to help you.  You must fend for yourself.  Your town was just hit by the worst natural disaster ever.  Police are helping rebuild, and can't help you fight off crime. Contractors have a tool in one hand and a gun in the other.  They always have to look over their shoulders.  People have to be careful of dangerous people.  Looters would be roaming the street looking for anything they can find.  You will have your window one day but when you wake up the next it is gone.  Riots will break out and continue on until they get tired.

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You have to protect yourself because the police can't do anything for you, because there are no laws to keep you safe, and people doing the correct thing, said Ms. David on NPR.  Police no longer have any power because they can't stop or arrest criminals, because there are no laws that give them the power to do anything.  Society is corrupt.  People by nature are evil. It is society and the laws that help keep people in line, to make them good and keep the evil at bay.  Ethics and morals are only a side effect of law.  Law not only creates ethics and morals but dictates them too.  Because of the nature of man, if someone else has something that you want and there is nothing that can stop you and you know there will be no consequences you will take it.  That's just the nature of man.  The thing that does stop you though is the law, that is the consequence.  If it weren't for criminal law there would be no good in the world because humans are simply evil by nature.  That being said why should you or I have to be good if there are no consequences?  Who would tell me I can't kill you if I want your money?  Who would get me in trouble if I break into your house?   Nobody, because there are no laws stopping me.   But we do have laws so you don't have to worry about that.

People are scared of getting in trouble.  They always have that fear and that is what keeps people good.  By human nature people don't want to get in trouble. So if man can't get in trouble for their actions then they don't have the fear to be good.  If they don't have the fear to be good there is no reason to and they will do bad things like; looting, robbery, killing, stealing, and rape. 

NOW that doesn't seem like a very good society at all.  Aren't you glad that there are laws that will protect you, and tell you how to live.  Laws tell society how to act, and stop those that break the norm for society and threatens others in that society.  Criminal law is important to society because not only does it help you live your life it also stops bad people from doing bad things.  Now imagine another world.  A world with laws.  It is very peaceful crime is at a minimum.  You don't have to constantly be looking over you shoulder.  That's mostly the world you live in.  That is a world with criminal law!!

Frank Abagnale's 50 Year Relationship with Fraud

Introduction to Frank Abagnale, Fraud, and Check Fraud
Fraud is when trickery is used to gain a dishonest advantage, which is often financial, over another person. It comes in many different forms ranging from financial fraud to pharmacy fraud. Forgery is the creation of a false written document with the intent to defraud.


In the late 1960’s Frank Abagnale was wanted by the FBI for stealing millions of dollars by forging checks and for masquerading as numerous professionals including; a Pan Am pilot, a pediatrician, an assistant Attorney General, and a BYU professor. By the time he was finally caught he was all of 21 years old. Despite everything Abagnale stole and did he was very careful to attack large corporations instead of private people. This isn’t to say fraud doesn’t have a huge impact on corporations but fraud can be devastating for individuals.


Frank Abagnale Now
After 5 years in prison The FBI arranged to shorten Abagnale’s prison sentence if he’d agree to work in their check fraud department. His legitimate life has certainly been different than his teen years. He's been working with the FBI for the past 35 years and he's also started his own business that helps other businesses and corporations prevent fraud. To his credit he paid back every penny he stole in his life as a con artist and made sure each dollar went to the appropriate place. Abagnale is still considered one of the most knowledgeable people on check fraud and he is responsible for the development of the Stanford Uni-ball 207 "forgery proof pen" which can't be touched by any of the chemicals or solvents used to alter writing on checks, check washing. He has written books on his 5 year adventure as well as on how to protect yourself against fraud. The movie "Catch Me If You Can" starring Leonardo DiCaprio was based off of Abagnale's book, and Abagnale frequently speaks about fraud at different events around the U.S. 







Impact of Fraud on Society
In the past few years fraud in society has really changed. The average person doesn't have to worry about the Frank Abagnale's of the world too much, but we should still be concerned about fraud; particularly identity theft and check forgery.

With the advancement of computers and credit cards fraud has become more prevalent than ever. Identity theft has become a large problem, more than ten million people have their identity stolen in the U.S. a year. For perspective ten million people is roughly the population of Belgium. Its very easy for thieves to obtain your information and for them to use it against you; you can be denied a loan or a mortgage, because of identity theft. The Federal Trade Commission defines 6 different ways thieves steal identities; dumpster diving, skimming, phishing, changing your address, pretexting and standard stealing. Simply keeping an eye on your bank and credit card statements can help you reverse the theft quickly in the event your identity is stolen.

Another kind of fraud to watch for is check forgery. Check forgery nearly disappeared for a couple decades, because bleach was the only chemical used in altering checks. Criminals eventually found two dozen compounds capable of removing ink. The Stanford pens have been very effective against this kind of crime, but check forgery is still widespread. Now anyone can cheaply download check writing software and drop the image of someones signature into the signature box. Check forgery is very serious and its a growing issue. It's estimated that Americans loose more than 20 billion dollars a year because of check fraud. This is four times the amount Americans were loosing 18 years ago.

The saddest part about fraud is that it is very rarely prosecuted. As technology advances, the way we protect ourselves must also advance. We must be flexible, and remember that very few thieves repay what they stole as Frank Abagnale did. People have to monitor their finances and protect themselves as best they can, because once their money or identity is stolen chances are it will be very difficult to retrieve.