COERCION
Patty Hearst, shown here in a poster issued by the Symbionese Liberation Army, later claimed she was coerced into committing crimes on behalf of the organization.
The intimidation of a victim to compel the individual to do some act against his or her will by the use of psychological pressure, physical force, or threats. The crime of intentionally and unlawfully restraining another’s freedom by threatening to commit a crime, accusing the victim of a crime, disclosing any secret that would seriously impair the victim’s reputation in the community, or by performing or refusing to perform an official action lawfully requested by the victim, or by causing an official to do so.
A defense asserted in a criminal prosecution
that a person who committed a crime did not do
so of his or her own free will, but only because the
individual was compelled by another through the
use of physical force or threat of immediate serious bodily injury or death.
In the laws governing wills, coercion is pres-
ent when a testator is forced by another to make
provisions in his or her will that he or she other-
wise would not make if permitted to act accord-
ing to free choice. It is an element of both duress
and UNDUE INFLUENCE, two ways in which a tes-
tator is deprived of his or her free choice in mak-
ing the will. If coercion is established in a
proceeding to admit a will to probate, the docu-
ment will be denied probate, thereby becoming
void; and the property of the decedent will be distributed pursuant to the laws of DESCENT
AND DISTRIBUTION.
Coercion, as an element of duress, is
grounds for seeking the RESCISSION or cancellation
of a contract or deed.When one party to an
instrument is forced against his or her will to
agree to its terms the document can be declared
void by a court. A marriage may be annulled or
a separation or DIVORCE granted on the grounds
of coercion.
The coercion of small businesses by a cartel
to fix prices of particular items supplied to them
is a violation of ANTITRUST LAWS, which are
intended to prevent the restraint of competition
in commerce. Laws regulating labor-management
relations are violated by coercion when the
employer coerces employees not to join a LABOR
UNION or when a union representative pressures,
uses physical force, or threatens an
employee into joining the union.
Coercion is recognized as a defense in prosecutions
for crimes other than murder. If an
accused can establish that he or she committed a
crime as a result of the coercion imposed by
another the defendant will be acquitted on the
charge as a MATTER OF LAW. He or she will not
be excused for the crime if there was only fear of
minor physical injury, damage to reputation, or
property loss. The person who coerces another
to commit a crime is guilty of the crime committed.
The coercer can also be prosecuted for
the separate crime of coercion.
Coercion by law is the rendition of a judgment
or a decree by a court, tax assessment
board, or other QUASI-JUDICIAL body for an
amount of money presently due that mandates
the sale of property owned by the defendant to
pay the judgment.
