Battery - The Crime of Inflicting InjuryWhat is battery? Harming other people intentionally in various ways is a serious offense. Find out about battery as a crime and the legalities concerning it.As
a crime,
battery is defined as injury or other contact to another person that
will causes physical harm. As
a
civil violation, battery is considered a tort where the violator
intentionally
and willfully causes undesired harmful and/or offensive contact to come
to
another person and/or thing that is closely associated to the person.
Common
law considers battery as a trespass on the person of another. In
order for battery to be classified as a crime, it should be proven that
the intent
to inflict injury or harm to another person is present. Unlike other
countries,
US laws against criminal battery require evidence of the state of mind
or mens rea of the culprit when the
crime
was committed. Otherwise, the incident is deemed a tort instead of a
crime. Battery,
as a tort, does not necessarily require body-to-body contact. Willfully
throwing an object at a person or touching a person’s hat or
purse can also be
considered tortious battery. The
severity
of punishment for the crime of battery depends on the degree of the
crime. Sexual Battery refers to non-consensual touching of the intimate and private body parts of another person. Family Violence Battery pertains to any form of battery that normally happens within the home and where the offender and the victim are related to a certain degree. This type of battery is usually associated with domestic violence. Aggravated Battery is a more serious grade of battery that is already classified as felony. This may include dismemberment of a limb or disfigurement of the victim. Directing bodily secretions to another person without permission is also classified as aggravated battery or assault. Battery -
A Public School Epidemic
For
decades, safety for students and teachers within the confines of the
school has
become a sensational issue. The crime and violence that is rampant in
today’s
public schools increased national attention and prompted the National
Center
for Education Statistics (NCES) to conduct a survey on crime and safety
in
public schools. The
studies show that aside from rape and robberies, different forms of
battery are
prevalent in almost every public school. Sexual battery and tortious
battery
are among the most common attacks experienced mostly by students in
public
schools. In many cases, physical attacks that happen on school grounds
include battery
with the use of a weapon. Demographics
also reveal that secondary schools are more prone to violence than
elementary,
middle, and combined schools. Battery
Under the English Law
The
term battery takes on a different form under the English criminal law.
Instead
of battery, the term Grievous Bodily Harm (GBH) is used to describe
offensive
acts that are similar to tortious battery. In
the
meantime, English criminal law uses the term Actual Bodily Harm (ABH)
for more
serious battery offences against another person that are considered as
criminal
battery. ABH is punishable by up to 5 years in prison. === |
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