10.4: Kidnapping and False Imprisonment

Study Points

• Define the corpus delicti of the crime of kidnapping.
• Analyze the corpus delicti of the crime of false imprisonment
• Compare and contrast false imprisonment with kidnapping.
• Identify potential defenses to kidnapping and false imprisonment.

Kidnapping and false imprisonment are crimes that involve physical restraint and intrude on the liberty interests of victims. In ancient times, kidnapping was used to remove members of royalty from the kingdom for ransom or to implement the overthrow of the existing monarchy. In the United States, high-profile kidnapping cases, such as the Lindbergh baby kidnapping in the 1930s, and the frequency with which organized crime participated in kidnapping led many states to impose the harshest penalties for this offense: the death penalty or life in prison without the possibility of parole.

In modern times, kidnapping is still a serious felony, although the US Supreme Court has held that capital punishment for any crime against an individual other than criminal homicide is unconstitutional. False imprisonment is generally a lesser included offense of kidnapping.