Obsession Legal Definition
Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article on obsession There are many reasons for harassment. These include the desire for contact and control, obsession, jealousy and anger, and stem from the real or imagined relationship between the victim and the stalker. The stalker may feel intense attraction or extreme hatred. Many stalkers cease their activity when confronted with a police operation, but some do not. The most annoying stalker may have a personality disorder, such as compulsive behavior that causes them to spend excessive time writing notes and letters to the intended target, tracking the victim`s movements, or traveling to meet a date. Criminal activity that involves repeatedly stalking and harassing another person. Criminal harassment is a distinctive form of criminal activity that consists of a series of actions that can be taken individually and can constitute lawful behaviour. For example, sending flowers, writing love letters, and waiting for someone outside their workplace are acts that are not criminal in themselves. However, if these actions are associated with the intention of creating fear or injury, they may represent a pattern of illegal behavior. Although anti-harassment laws are gender-neutral, most stalkers are men and most victims are women. Protection orders can be used as a first formal means of intervening in a situation of harassment. The order warns the harasser that their behaviour is undesirable and that if their behaviour continues, the police can take stricter action.
However, enforcing a protection order proved difficult, leaving the victim with little more than a legal document to try to subdue a violent harasser. The potentially dangerous consequences and appalling helplessness experienced by victims have led to calls for legislation criminalizing harassment. California enacted the first anti-harassment law in 1990. Eventually, all 50 states and the District of Columbia passed laws dealing with harassment. Initially, these laws varied widely, containing provisions that rendered the laws virtually unenforceable due to ambiguity and the dual requirement to prove a particular criminal intent and a credible threat. Many states have amended these harassment laws to broaden definitions, refine language, toughen penalties and highlight the suspect`s pattern of activity. n. an obsession with children as sex objects. Open acts, including sexually explicit photos, child abuse, and exposing genitals to children, are all crimes. The problem with these crimes is that pedophilia is also treated as a mental illness, and the pedophile is often released only to repeat the crimes or escalate the activity to the murder level. Obsession (countable and uncountable, plural obsessions) Look for legal acronyms and/or abbreviations that contain obsession in the dictionary of legal abbreviations and acronyms.
The harassment first sparked public concern when a young actress named Rebecca Shaeffer, who lived in California, was shot dead by an obsessed fan who had been following her for two years. The case received extensive media coverage and showed how widespread stalking was among prominent and non-famous victims. Until anti-harassment laws were passed, the police had little power to arrest someone who behaved in a threatening but lawful manner. Even if the suspect had followed his victim, sent him hate mail or behaved threateningly, the police had no legal recourse. The police could not intervene until the suspect responded to his threats and attacked or injured the victim. Schell, Bernadette H. 2000. Harassment, harassment and murder in the workplace: guidelines for protection and prevention. Westport, Connecticut: Quorum Books. The defendants questioned the constitutionality of anti-harassment laws in many states.
They claimed that the laws were so vague that they violated due process guarantees, or that they were so broad that they violated constitutionally protected speech or activities. In general, the courts have rejected these arguments and upheld anti-harassment laws. «Obsessive.» Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/obsessive. Retrieved 24 November 2022. In general, victims of harassment are women from all walks of life. Some try to end a relationship with a man, often a man who has been violent. The persons concerned may be married or divorced or may have been sexual partners. In other cases, the harasser and the victim may know each other by chance or be linked informally or formally.