Case OverviewIn 2014, the FBI investigated the case “Cyber Crime Purchase Order Scam Leaves a Trail of Victims”. The perpetrators were Nigerian criminal masterminds who fueled a purchase order fraud scheme. In the scheme they used either fake or stolen e-mail addresses to communicate with office supply. Retailers suffered financial loss, as a result of this fraudulent scheme. They were never able to recuperate any money once the supplies were shipped to Nigeria. They were also perpetrators of online romance scam, and a work-from-home scam. (“Cyber Crime Purchase Order Scam Leaves a Trail of Victims, 2014”).
Procedural Law
Gerdy (2000) explains that procedural laws are rules that must be followed by all parties, as well as the court administration involved in legal proceedings. These rules help to enforce rights, and allows for redress of wrongdoings. It describes the appeal process, prosecutorial practice, judicial discretion, and execution of judgment.
1. Identify the implications of the procedural laws when mitigating both domestic and international crime. How dot the legal requirements involved in processing a case impact the ability to combat criminal activity?
An inherent to procedural law (or rules) is the enforcement of rights to address both domestic and international wrongdoings, determine culpability, and execute judgment. The Fifth and Fourteenth Amendment indicate that both citizens and noncitizens are allowed to enjoy the provisions found in this Clause. It is the standard used to mitigate, and combat criminal activity regardless of whether the crime is domestic or international. Citizens and foreign nationals ought to enjoy the same due process protections (Cole, 2003).
2. What rights and responsibilities do American citizens have according to procedural laws?
Robinson & Williams (2009) asserted that each American citizen has a right to equal treatment, protection, counsel, fair, and speedy trial under the law. The concept of justice for an American assumes that there is no partiality in criminal proceedings. Each person is treated the same, no citizen will receive different or preferential treatment by the law.
3. How does the enforcement of procedural laws differ when applied to people who are not legal U.S. citizens?
A legal citizen is one who is a member of a state, who owes allegiance to the state, and is entitled to equal protection by that state. An illegal citizen is someone who resides in the state, is not an official member of the state, and so does not owe any allegiance to that state. Similar to legal citizens, illegal citizens are afforded the same protections, and entitlements under the Bill of Rights (“Know your Right: A Guide to the United States Constitution,” n.d.).Such as the right to due process, speedy and fair public trial, as well as other rights provided to them under the Fifth and Sixth Amendments (“ Do Non-citizens have Constitutional Rights?, 2001).
4. According to the American justice system, what are the rights and responsibilities of people who are not U.S. citizens?
Contrary to popular assumption the Constitution does not discriminate against illegal immigrants living in the United States. It extends the same rights, and entitlement to them as provided to American citizens. Lack of citizenship does not prevent illegal citizens from the right to due process, political freedoms, and equal protection under the law. Illegal citizens are human beings first, and so their status does not prevent them from being treated with dignity. So beyond the difference in citizenship status, non-citizens are presumptively to the same rights, and roles as American citizens (Cole, 2003).
Conclusion
Procedural laws are applicable regardless of the nationality of the criminals, victims or where the crime has taken place (domestic or international). The Bill of Rights affords each person in the United States the right to due process, and equal protection under the law where procedural justice is blind-folded.
- Bibas, S. & Burke-White, W. W. (2010). International Idealism meets Domestic-Criminal Procedure Realism, Duke Law Journal, Vol#59 (Issue #4), 1-68. Retrieved from http://scholarship.law.duke.edu/
- Cole, D. (2003). Are Foreign Nationals Entitled to the Same Constitutional Rights As Citizens? Jefferson L. Rev. 367-388.
- Cyber Crime: Purchase Order Scam Leaves a Trail of Victims. Retrieved from https://www.fbi.gov/
- Do Noncitizens Have Constitutional Rights? Retrieved from http://www.slate.com/
- Gerdy, B. K. (2000). What is the Difference between Substantive Law and Procedural Law? And how do I research procedure? Vol# 9, 1-4. Retrieved from https://info.legalsolutions.thomsonreuters.com/
- Know Your Rights: A guide to the United States Constitution. Retrieved from http://www.justice.gov/
- Robinson, M. & Williams, M. (2009). The Myth of a Fair Criminal Justice System, Vol# 6 (Issue# 1), 1-55. Retrieved from www.cjcj.org/