Just add Space to any word, and suddenly any mundane word is way sexier than it was before. For example, Space Laws, Space Marriages, Space Babies, and even Space Archaeology! Now adding up to this list is Space Crime. Tons of news stories have speculated upon what could have been the world’s first space crime. Recently in a letter to NASA and a complaint to the Federal Trade Commission, Summer Worden indicted her estranged partner, Anne McClain, who is an astronaut, of identity theft. The two agree that astronaut accessed Summer’s bank account while on-board the International Space Station. But according to McClain’s lawyer, this is something astronaut had always been doing during the couple’s relationship, and McClain persistently denies that she did anything wrong. Authorities are still inspecting the case.
Although this situation is pretty tame, identity theft is a severe concern and shouldn’t be taken lightly. Nonetheless, no one in this condition was in immediate danger. McClain doesn’t even use or moved funds around. Also thanks to signed Intergovernmental agreement that according to which the U.S. has jurisdiction in this situation. According to the agreement that if a crime is committed on the space station, and if it does not affect any other party then the crime remains under the jurisdiction of the nation who committed the crime. But according to the knowledge about human behavior that too on Earth, there is no reason that human won’t act poorly in space also. Space crime that appears poised is anticipated to get messy. There are going to be lawbreaking and cases of negligence, and human still doesn’t have any system to deal with that yet.
It would be smart to establish rules before a significant space crime is committed. According to Gangale likens space crime resembles the earthquakes, i.e., we know it’s coming, but we don’t know what we can do about it, at least not yet. There can be opportunities that we can completely reform our criminal justice system. However, the scenario is we are more likely going to adapt terrestrial laws to handle space crime. Although declaring that human rights can be applied in the space could be our first step, but laying out other explicit rights. for instance, right to oxygen, hence lack of it would be certain death. Also, rights to external communication, as a spaceship commander who can cut off travelers’ abilities to call for help.
