False Imprisonment
Background
At common law, false imprisonment was a misdemeanor and a tort. False imprisonment occurs when the perpetrator restraints a person in a bounded area without justification or consent.[1] Generally, false imprisonment differs from kidnapping in that kidnapping requires the transportation of a victim (i.e. asportation). In some jurisdictions, if the false imprisonment is secret, the jurisdictions treat it the same as kidnapping.[2]
Model Penal Code
Model Penal Code section 212.3 addresses false imprisonment. It states that "a person commits a misdemeanor if he knowingly restrains another unlawfully so as to interfere substantially with his liberty."[3]
Variation by Jurisdiction
Maryland
In Maryland, there is no separate article for false imprisonment in its criminal code. Instead, false imprisonment is lesser offenses included under kidnapping. It is also a common law crime that has been dealt with in case law.[4]
California
The California Penal Code defines false imprisonment as the unlawful violation of the personal liberty of another. The punishment for this crime is a fine for up to $1,000 USD and/or imprisonment in county or state prison for up to one year.[5] The charge of human trafficking is related to and constitutes a type of false imprisonment. The punishment for human trafficking is imprisonment from three to eight years, depending on the age of the trafficking victim.[6]
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