Читать книгу Criminology For Dummies - Steven Briggs - Страница 47

As society’s values change over time, the passage of new criminal laws and the repeal of old criminal laws reflect these changes. For example, until the early 1900s, you could legally possess and use both cocaine and marijuana in the United States. In 1914, Utah became the first state to criminalize marijuana. That same year, the federal government passed the Harrison Act, which treated cocaine like other illegal drugs, such as morphine and heroin. More recently, some states have legalized marijuana possession (although in 2020 it’s still illegal under federal law.)

In 1994, the federal government began requiring that convicted sex offenders register their addresses with their state government after their release from prison. As a result, the failure to register constituted a new crime. Thereafter, states began to enact laws requiring that the addresses of these sex offenders be made available to the public. These various state laws are known collectively as Megan’s Law, named after a 7-year-old girl who was raped and killed by a sex offender who lived across the street from her. Megan’s parents never even knew the sex offender was there.

Sometimes laws change not because of a legislature, but because of a court system. For example, in 1972, many states had laws that made performing an abortion a crime. But, in 1973, in the famous case of Roe v. Wade, the U.S. Supreme Court held that a woman has a constitutional right to an abortion. This ruling effectively repealed many laws criminalizing the performance of an abortion.

Here’s another example of how the courts affect criminal law: In 1986, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Bowers v. Hardwick that Georgia state law could criminalize sexual acts between members of the same sex. However, in 2003 the U.S. Supreme Court in Lawrence v. Texas reversed itself, ruling that laws in Texas criminalizing sexual acts between persons of the same sex were unconstitutional, effectively repealing those laws. So you can see how laws can change with the times.