4 forum responses 2 300 words 2 250 words w/peer reviewed works cited criminal justice
The forum posts that need a response begin in bold. Please include the works cited at the bottom of each response.
Forum Response 1 300 words:
Currently what would you identify as our best defense against child exploitation on the internet?
In my research it appears that the best defense we have in regards to child exploitation on the internet is a combination of inter-agency working groups. The combined inter-woven efforts are what makes the best impact on this horrific industry.
According to the 2008, PROTECT Our Children Act, the Attorney General developed and implemented the National Strategy for Child Exploitation Prevention and Interdiction (National Strategy). (www.justice.gov )
Essentially the Acts are set in place to conduct yearly conversations amongst members of the inter-agency teams. The objective is to conduct conversation on law enforcement agencies, prosecutors, and other victim support entities such as grants per state, local and tribal governments, non-profits, educational resources, as well as the Non-government National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. (www.justice.gov)
The second piece of this pie would be the risk assessment factor. The objective is to be proactive and realistic of the potential scope of the issue, and maintain an updates to changes in correlation with the strategy at hand.
The third element of the strategy are the laid out plans and objective moving forward. The four arears that are addressed in the third step are as follows:
Investigations
Outreach and Education
Victim Services
Policy Initiatives
Again to clarify, the best defense is a good offense. With the inter-agency teams combining Intel and efforts, the more apt we are to make the biggest dent in the problem.
Imagine if these entities were not communicating? How in the world could we expect to cover the masses of this issue statewide? Now think bigger, worldwide? It would be virtually impossible.
What problems might investigators run into when interviewing a victim of child exploitation?
There are many factors that play a role in an interview and or investigation dealing with child exploitation. The individual and or individuals that are held accountable to do the job have to be trained specifically to work with child victims of sexual exploitation, abuse, manipulation, etc. This is in no way a traditional interview with an everyday victim or criminal.
There is a great deal of planning, manipulation, grooming, and strategy in most cases dealing with child exploitation. In fact a good percentage of child sexual abuse and or exploitation are unaware they are a victim until later in life. It is that kind of innocence and disadvantage that a sexual perpetrator and or pedophile thrives on. These offenders do not just physically abuse these child victims, they mentally abuse, manipulate and distort the situation. This leaves the child to believe he/she is a part of the engagement and in most cases are groomed to believe they are chosen because they are special. This is the exact manipulation and grooming these pedophiles spend adequate time making the victim believe. This is massive confusion for the child, and this at times is why the youngster does not report the crime.
Keep in mind, these victims can be as young as infant, which have no voice to report the crime, as well as toddler all the way to teenage years. The practice of grooming can go on for years, creating a level of normalcy in the child’s life. This is why the abuse can go on for decades unreported.
Another element of abuse is shame and self-blame. The child and or young person does not believe anyone would believe him/her on the accounts of abuse. Children are young and impressionable, afraid to be different and or outed for such an experience. It can be extremely shaming, embarrassing and scary for the child.
Also, often the pedophile and or offender has groomed the child for some time, warping the child’s perception of right and wrong. Often times, the offender makes it extremely clear of the repercussions he/she will face if ever he/she tells anyone. In fact, in many scenarios the abuser places the blame on the child. He/She will tell the victim that no one will believe them, and if he/she (victim) should ever tell anyone of the abuse, more harm will come to them and or their family, friends and other close relationships.
According to www.mamabeareffects.org , one of the most significant obstacles of a child sexual abuse investigation/ interview, is the absence of any type of psychological test and or responses in an interview series that can rule out the action of sexual abuse. Essentially stating there is no standardization that can be use in the investigation.
There are also all kinds of sexual offenders, which can complicate an investigation, as well as the interview process. The investigator cannot always ask straight forward questions to the victim, as to lead him/ her into certain answers. This leads to a tough road when attempting to not only identify what kind of offender is in question, but also how to locate and capture.
Resources:
The United State Department of Justice, National Strategy for Child Exploitation Prevention and Interdiction, www.justice.gov
The Mama Bear Effect, www.themamabeareffect.org
Forum Response 2 300 words:
1. Currently what would you identify as our best defense against child exploitation on the internet? Be sure to back up your thoughts with sources and citations.
2. What problems might investigators run into when interviewing a victim of child exploitation?
As mentioned in another forum post, I believe that continuing to educate others on the importance of this topic as well as adequate training for not just law enforcement but for teachers and really any mandated reporter is extremely important for these cases. Not too mention the internet is an unregulated arena where it makes it extremely difficult for law enforcement to monitor. Nor do I believe that the internet will ever be able to be fully monitored, especially when the “dark web” is out there. With that said, it may be much more difficult to regulate if the exploitation is happening in other countries. Which is why we need the support of agencies and other entities to help combat the exploitation of children. In addition, continuing programs such as Operation Predator which was created under Homeland Security Investigations in order to lead child exploitation investigations (National Strategy, 2016). Operation Predator focuses on the possession, receipt, distribution, transportation, advertisement, and production of child pornography as well as travel in foreign or interstate commerce to engage in illicit sexual conduct with minors under Operation Predator (National Strategy, 2016). There are a number of agencies which provide investigations to combat the sexual exploitation of children such as Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), United States Postal Inspection Service (USPIS), United States Marshals Service (USMS) and the Department of Justice (DOJ) (National Strategy, 2016). All of these programs need continued support and funding in order to help with this growing global issue.
There are a number of problems that can arise when an investigator is interviewing a victim of child exploitation. For children who are victims of child exploitation, they are typically interviewed by forensic interviewers within the Child Advocacy Center (CAC) (Rivard & Schreiber Compo, 2017). The article mentions that there are best-practice techniques and protocols which have been developed however there is currently no universally adopted protocol in the field (Rivard & Schreiber Compo, 2017). This in itself can cause problems when interviewing these children. Another article mentions that the interviewers must gather and then assess the accuracy of children’s eyewitness accounts (Johnson & Shelley, 2014). A child’s eyewitness account can make or break a case so to speak so this piece can be extremely important. In addition, a child’s testimony is typically the only evidence presented in cases such as these and are heavily scrutinized (Johnson & Shelley, 2014). In my opinion, aside from these issues, I would say that an individual’s bias and beliefs can be problems when handling cases such as these. I have worked with some similar cases in my job and it can be extremely difficult to put your personal beliefs and feelings aside however realizing that those children need you to put your personal beliefs and feeling aside in order to have the best outcome possible, makes all the difference.
Johnson, J. L., & Shelley, A. E. (2014). Effects of Child Interview Tactics on Prospective Jurors’ Decisions. Behavioral Sciences & The Law, 32(6), 846-866
National Strategy for Child Exploitation Prevention and Interdiction. (2016, April). Retrieved from https://www.justice.gov/psc/national-strategy-child-exploitation-prevention-and-interdiction.
Rivard, J. R., & Schreiber Compo, N. (2017). Self-Reported Current Practices in Child Forensic Interviewing: Training, Tools, and Pre-Interview Preparation. Behavioral Sciences & The Law, 35(3), 253-268.
Forum Response 3 250 words:
Three grounds which a party may have for objecting to interrogatories include:
1) Privileged matters are not discoverable. Rule 26(b)(1) provides that privileged matter such as those governed by Fed. R. Evid. 501 including attorney-client, doctor-patient and spousal privileges are outside of the scope of discovery.[1]
2) Irrelevant information is also outside of the scope of discovery. As provided by Fed. R. Evid. 401, “relevant evidence means any evidence having any tendency to make the existence of any fact that is of consequence to the determination of the action more probable or less probable than it would be without the evidence.”[2]
3) Additional interrogatories that may be objected to include requests for information that are “unreasonably cumulative or duplicative” or information that “can be obtained from some other source that is more convenient, less burdensome or less expensive” as provided by Rule 26(b)(2)(C).[3] Further research specifies that not more than 25 interrogatories may be served on a party without leave being granted per Rule 33(a)(1).[4]
Of these grounds for objecting to interrogatories I think that an objection to privileged matters is the most frequently used. Relevancy can have a broad scope and if the information can’t help the questioning party then I would assume it is less likely to be asked. While cumulative and duplicative information may be requested, the clarification of Rule 33 gives a definitive number of interrogatories that may be served. Privileged matters could contain information quite valuable to the opposing party and can be worthwhile for a party to inquire about in the off chance that an objection is not brought up.
First Fact Pattern:
James Attorney may use the deposition testimony of a witness who is unavailable for trial. The witness’s “deposition may be read into the trial record as former testimony” if the deponent becomes unavailable for trial.[5] A deposition of a witness who testifies at trial may be used “to impeach a witness on the stand” among other reasons.[6] James Attorney may subpoena a witness to require her attendance during deposition or even a hearing.[7] James Attorney may videotape the witness interviews. Fed. R. Civ. P. Rule 30(b)(3)(A) provides that the method of recording may be audio, audiovisual, or stenographic.[8] Fed. R. Civ. P. Rule 32(c) includes the use of video evidence, but depending on the circumstances may require a transcript as well.[9] Unless an objection is raised due to privileged information, the witness’ attorney can only state the objection and the client must be allowed to answer.[10] The answer may later be stricken from the deposition, but must be answered.
Second Fact Pattern:
More information is needed to rule of these objections. What are the documents? What privilege is being claimed by the Plaintiff? How does the information relate to the claims, but also not used to lead to the discovery of admissible evidence? If the information is more easily obtainable from another source, how is it also privileged? The type of information being requested can create very different scenarios that will change the ruling.
Third Fact Pattern:
The reason that Manco does not want to disclose the report’s contents is important. Likely, Manco will object to the request for production of the report because it may contain additional information, such as that which is overly broad and not relevant to the case or privileged information as it may pertain to work-product or attorney-client privilege if the report was conducted “in anticipation for litigation.” Paul may still obtain a copy of the report with privileged information redacted if he narrows down his request.[11]
Forum Response 4 250 words:
Identify three grounds a party may have for objecting to interrogatories:
1. Privileged matters are not discoverable. Parties that include spouses information, medical information and doctor visits, attorney client information that provides documents that must be disclosed.
2. Information does not follow under the rules of discovery. This includes any evidence that can be used to be less probable or more probable than it would be without the information known. Some information like medical documents from a doctor must be kept disclosed.
3. Interrogatories that can objected to include unreasonable information or that can be obtained from a different source that is considered “more convenient” than another source.
Which of these grounds do you think are the most frequently used? Why?
Out of all the grounds for objecting to interrogatories, I think that an objection to privileged matters is used the most out of all the other grounds for objecting to interrogatories. It may be very beneficial if an objection is not mentioned. There is a lot of information that can be used and be very beneficial for the trial.
First Fact Pattern:
James Attorney can use the deposition testimony if:
1. The witness that is unable to make it for the trial. This can only be used if the witness is dead, the witness is more than 100 miles away from where the trial is located at or is outside of the United States.
2. The witness can’t not attend the trial due to age, illness. infirmity or imprisonment.
3. The party offering the deposition can not procure the witness’s attendance by subpoena.
4. On motion and notice, the exceptional circumstances make it desirable in the interest of justice and with due regards to the importance of live testimony in open court to permit the deposition used.
James Attorney can compel a witness attendance at a deposition. Federal Rules of Civil Procedures, Rule 45 Subpoena states “For a trial, hearing or deposition. A subpoena may command a person attend a trial, hearing or deposition as long as it follows within 100 miles where the person lives or is employed and within the state where the person lives.
Second Fact Pattern:
From the information and facts provided in the second fact pattern, a judge would be unable to rule this objection. There will need to be documents present, privileges that is being claimed by a plaintiff and there needs to be information related to the claim.
Third Fact Pattern:
It is very important to Manco that the reports must remain disclosed. Manco will probably object the request for production of the report because it may include information that must remain disclosed. The information may not be relevant to the case or the information may include attorney client privilege. Paul would file a case to the court with claims provided with information denial by the Manco claim investigator who is Mr. Brown. After the filing has occurred then the court will have the power to deny the report with the information.
