The Happy World of Extortion

 Please note that I am not trying to worry anyone in any way, shape, or form in this post except to provide information to anyone experiencing this or does not know they are doing this.  It is meant to help and not hurt.

I have some definitions here which I hope will be useful to anyone out there.

I think people out there need to know that all of these are against the law and anyone subject to it, or engaging in it for various reasons, are subject to prosecution.


The incidents are taken quite seriously as criminal offenses.  Please take note that in many of these cases, these are adjudicated as felonies and can earn someone up to ten years in prison. 


 The extortionist may not stop if you comply with any of their demands.  They could next demand money, housing, property, etc. and feel like they can do anything they want to you. It is something you MUST take seriously, unless you want to be enslaved to this person, potentially lifelong, and have your health, property, mental state, etc. be ripped off or broken by this behavior.   It is ALWAYS the other person's fault and you do NOT have to take it.

Blackmail

The crime involving a threat for purposes of compelling a person to do an act against his or her will, or for purposes of taking the person's money or property.  It also includes threatening to take minor children away. 

The term blackmail originally denoted a payment made by English persons residing along the border of Scotland to influential Scottish chieftains in exchange for protection from thieves and marauders.
In blackmail the threat might consist of physical injury to the threatened person or to someone loved by that person, or injury to a person's reputation. In some cases the victim is told that an illegal act he or she had previously committed will be exposed if the victim fails to comply with the demand.
Although blackmail is generally synonymous with extortion, some states distinguish the offenses by requiring that the former be in writing (this includes texts and emails).


According to the United States Criminal Code, it is punishable by a large fine and/or imprisonment for two to four years.


Extortion

Extortion (also called shakedown, outwrestling, and exaction) is a criminal offense of obtaining money, property, or services from a person, entity, individual or institution, through coercion. It is sometimes euphemistically referred to as a "protection racket" since the racketeers often phrase their demands as payment for "protection" from (real or hypothetical) threats from unspecified other parties. Extortion is commonly practiced by organized crime groups. The actual obtainment of money or property is not required to commit the offense. Making a threat of violence which refers to a requirement of a payment of money or property to halt future violence is sufficient to commit the offense. Exaction refers not only to extortion or the demanding and obtaining of something through force, but additionally, in its formal definition, means the infliction of something such as pain and suffering or making somebody endure something unpleasant, including threatening court proceedings if the victim does not comply with the extortionist's demands. 

Extortion is distinguished from robbery. In robbery, whether armed or not, the offender takes property from the victim by the immediate use of force or fear that force will be immediately used (as in the classic line, "Your money or your life.") Extortion, which is not limited to the taking of property, involves the verbal or written instillation of fear that something will happen to the victim if they do not comply with the extortionist's will. Another key distinction is that extortion always involves a verbal or written threat, whereas robbery does not. In United States federal law, extortion can be committed with or without the use of force and with or without the use of a weapon.


Duress

Unlawful pressure exerted upon a person to coerce that person to perform an act that he or she ordinarily would not perform.

Duress also encompasses the same harm, threats, or restraint exercised upon the affected individual's spouse, child, or parent.

Duress is distinguishable from Undue Influence, a concept employed in the law of wills, in that the latter term involves a wrongdoer who is a fiduciary, one who occupies a position of trust and confidence in regard to the testator, the creator of the will.
Duress also exists where a person is coerced by the wrongful conduct or threat of another to enter into a contract under circumstances that deprive the individual of his or her volition.

Duress is punishable by similar fines as extortion and blackmail, with fines and prison time. 


Coercion (wow, there are a lot of these!)

Coercion is the practice of forcing another party to act in an involuntary manner by use of intimidation or threats or some other form of pressure or force. It involves a set of various types of forceful actions that violate the free will of an individual to induce a desired response, for example: a bully demanding lunch money to a student or the student gets beaten. These actions can include, but are not limited to, extortion, blackmail, torture, enhanced interrogation and threats to force the recipient to bend to the will of the interrogator. In law, coercion is codified as a duress crime. Such actions are used as leverage, to force the victim to act in a way contrary to their own interests. Coercion may involve the actual infliction of physical pain/injury or psychological harm in order to enhance the credibility of a threat. The threat of further harm may lead to the cooperation or obedience of the person being coerced.

 These crimes need not involve physical violence, but emotional and psychological duress inflicted by the extortionist.  Please have any mental or physical effects (injuries, etc.) documented by a professional such as a doctor, psychiatrist, or therapist.

I hope these definitions will help victims of this crime realize that they do NOT need to comply with someone's threats of harm, court action, ruining a reputation, etc. IT IS ILLEGAL AND A PUNISHABLE CRIME.  Please contact a criminal attorney and also have the police make reports, multiple ones if necessary, especially if you feel you and anyone in your household are threatened.

I hope this was helpful to my readers.