Assignment question #7 | Criminal homework help
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Assignment Question
Understand and explain the elements of bigamy, polygamy and incest.
1- student response
The Elements of Bigamy, Polygamy and Incest
The crime of bigamy is marrying somebody while legally married to somebody else. Polygamy means the practice of having several wives or husbands at the same time. Incest, on the other hand, is defined as sexual interactions between persons who are too closely related to marry. The components of the offense of bigamy are that the guilty party was legitimately hitched; that the primary marriage has not been legally broken up or, on account of a missing life partner, that the missing mate can’t yet be assumed dead under the Civil Code; that he gets a second or ensuing marriage; and that the second or resulting marriage meets each of the fundamental prerequisites for legitimacy (California et al., 2020). In every jurisdiction, the presence of a legitimate marriage entered into by the defendant previous to the second valid marriage is a necessary element of the charge of polygamy. There are four elements of incest which include the accused must have participated in an act of sexual penetration with another person; the sexual penetration must have been deliberate; the parties must have been in a specified familial connection; and the accused must have known about the relationship (Coleman, 1984).
References
California, S., Review, L., & Nov, N. (2020). Criminal Intent and Bigamy Author ( s ): Delger Trowbridge Stable URL : https://www.jstor.org/stable/3474367 Criminal Intent and Bigamy. 7(1), 1–19.
Coleman, P. (1984). Incest: A Proper Definition Reveals the Need for a Different Legal Response. Missouri Law Review, 49(2), 2.
2- student response
Bigamy was not considered a crime at common law, but was considered an offense of ecclesiastical law with punishment in the hands of ecclesiastical tribunals rather than the common law courts. The elements of bigamy are (1) a prior marriage and (2) a second marriage before the first marriage is dissolved.
Polygamy was considered an offense of having a plurality of husbands or wives. The elements of polygamy, the state must prove a valid marriage entered into by the accused before the alleged bigamous marriage.
Incest is the marriage or sexual relationship between two (2) related people (related by consanguinity, blood). The elements of incest, are marriage or sexual intercourse between the persons within the degree of relationship proscribed by statute, with knowledge of the existence of the relationship (under some statutes).
