| Misprision Of Felony |
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Misprision of felony, under the Common Law of England , was the Crime of failing to report knowledge of a Felony to the appropriate authorities. Exceptions were made for close family members of the felon. With the development of the modern law, this crime has been discarded in most jurisdictions (it was abolished in England & Wales in 1967), and is generally only applied against persons placed in a special position of authority or responsibility. For example, Prison Guard s who stand idly by while Drug Trafficking occurs within the Prison may be prosecuted for this crime. One form of this crime, Misprision Of Treason , was frequently used in England during the 16th and 17th centuries to punish enemies of the crown. The term ''misprision'' can also be applied in some legal systems to a wilful act or omission by a person who is involved in or has knowledge of the facts of a crime, which causes in the end result an innocent person to be punished for the crime; e.g., a Frameup . Under the old common law Hierarchy of crimes (as treasons, felonies and misdemeanours), misprision of Treason was a Felony and misprision of felony was a Misdemeanour . (There was no such offence as misprision of a misdemeanour.) One important jurisdiction where "Misprision of Felony" is still a serious offense is United States Federal law. Under the United States Code, Title 18, Part I, Chapter I, Section 4 {Link without Title}
MISPRISION OF TERRORISM Misprision has in effect been recriminalised in England & Wales, in the case of terrorism: ''failing to disclose information that could have prevented an act of terrorism'' and ''failing to disclose information that may help police investigating an act of terrorism'' are both offences. REFERENCES Curenton, ''The Past, Present, and Future of 18 U.S.C. Sec. 4: An Exploration of the Federal Misprision of Felony Statute'', (2003) Vol. 55 Alabama Law Review, 183.
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