20 True Crimes That Changed Laws

Top 20 True Crimes That Changed Laws

Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’re looking at 20 True Crimes That Changed Laws.

For this list, we’ll be looking at the most prominent real-life crimes whose outcomes prompted significant changes in policy and legislation.

Did we miss any other impactful true crime cases? Let us know in the comments.

#20: Clare Wood

Around the world, many women have lost their lives at the hands of their partners or ex-partners. On International Women’s Day in 2014, a law was implemented in England and Wales that could significantly reduce the frequency of such tragic incidents. Clare’s Law, also known as the Domestic Violence Disclosure Scheme, grants a person the opportunity to find out if their partner has a history of violent behavior. The law takes its name from Clare Wood, an English woman who was murdered by her ex-boyfriend George Appleton. Appleton had served prison time for violence towards women - a record that was unknown to Wood at the time. Today, other parts of the UK, Australia and Canada have all adopted Clare’s Law.

#19: Daniel Morcombe

On December 7th 2003, Daniel Morcombe was last seen waiting for a bus somewhere in Queensland, Australia. According to reports, when the bus finally came, it failed to stop and pick him up because the driver was running late. Morcombe was apparently abducted shortly after by Brett Peter Cowan, a known predator, and he was declared missing until eight years later when his remains were found. In 2014, Cowan was arrested and sentenced to prison for life. As a result of the case, Australia implemented the ‘No Child Left Behind’ policy, which mandates bus drivers to always stop and pick up children, even if they can’t pay the fare.

#18: Lee Rigby

Lee Rigby was a British Army soldier who lost his life in an attack on May 22nd 2013. Rigby’s assailants - Michael Adebolajo and Michael Adebowale - claimed to have carried out the attack in retaliation for the victims of British military action in Islamic countries. The two men waited at the scene until police arrived, upon which they were subdued and arrested. It is believed that Adebolajo and Adebowale had been radicalized to commit such a crime in the preceding years. In a bid to prevent further instances of this, then British Prime Minister Theresa May introduced the Counter-Terrorism and Security Act in 2015. The bill requires internet providers to keep records of users who access certain IP addresses.

#17: Andrew Bagby & Zachary Turner

The 2008 documentary “Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father” detailed the tragic case of Andrew Bagby and Zachary Turner. Bagby was an American medical student schooling in Canada when he met Shirley Turner. Their relationship produced one child - Zachary - who Bagby never got to see as he was murdered by Turner months before the boy was born. While out on bail, Turner gave birth to Zachary and remained in custody of him. However, before she could stand trial for Bagby’s murder, she took her own life and that of her son. After the documentary was released, Canadian parliament passed Zachary's Bill, which would deny bail to people on the grounds that doing so will protect their children.

#16: The Chicago Tylenol Poisonings

You most likely won’t buy a bottle of over-the-counter drugs if its seal is broken. That level of assurance is only possible today because of the Chicago Tylenol incident. Back in 1982, several bottles of Tylenol were tampered and laced with potassium cyanide. As a result, seven people who consumed the lethal capsules in the Chicago metropolitan area lost their lives. This led to a nationwide recall of all Tylenol products by its manufacturer, Johnson & Johnson. The company also worked with the FDA to introduce sealed bottles, which has now become the industry standard. In 1983, it became a federal crime to tamper with consumer goods after U.S. Congress passed the Federal Anti-Tampering Bill.

#15: Amanda Todd

In September of 2012, a video was uploaded on YouTube, in which a girl shared the story of her mental health issues using a set of flashcards. About a month later, the clip began gaining traction after it was reported that the girl, Amanda Todd from Canada, had taken her own life. According to reports, this was largely as a result of being harassed and blackmailed by a man online. Todd’s senseless death sparked national discussions on cyberstalking and mental health. This led Canadian politicians to pass Bill C-13, which makes it a crime to distribute private images of another person without their consent. It also includes provisions that could help law enforcement investigate and prosecute such cases.

#14: George Floyd

The 2020 murder of George Floyd by police officers in Minneapolis, Minnesota sparked protests across the United States and around the world. In addition to demanding justice for Floyd, many demonstrators also called for broad police reform and an end to police brutality. A few weeks after the incident, the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act was introduced in Congress by then California representative Karen Bass. The bill sought to revamp policing in the U.S. by banning racial profiling, prohibiting the use of chokeholds and making it easier to hold offending officers accountable, among other things. It passed the House of Representatives twice, but at the time of writing, is yet to advance through the U.S. Senate.

#13: Son of Sam

There have been various "Son of Sam" type laws introduced over the years, but the central goal is always the same: to prevent criminals from profiting from their crimes after conviction. This goes back to the fear that David Berkowitz, the notorious Son of Sam, would seek a book or movie deal while in prison to tell his story. Different states have drafted their own version of this law, only for some of them to be struck down as unconstitutional. In New York state, victims and their families will receive notification if the criminal earns more than ten thousand dollars from telling their story. It's a delicate balance between Freedom of Speech and profiting from tragedy.

#12: Sylvia Likens

If you see a child being maltreated, you generally have only a moral obligation to inform the authorities. However, in the state of Indiana, turning a blind eye could result in you being charged with a crime. Referred to as the Mandated Reporter Law, this was enacted largely due to the murder of Sylvia Likens. Likens and her sister had been left in the care of Gertrude Baniszewski, while their parents traveled with a carnival. Instead of caring for her, Baniszewski, alongside some of her children and neighbors, made Likens’ life a living hell and caused her eventual death on October 26th 1965. Although some neighbors reported hearing Likens scream for help, not enough was done to save the girl’s life.

#11: Matthew Shepard & James Byrd, Jr.

The two individuals in our next entry may not have known each other, but their place in history was vital towards the expanding of hate crime definition in the United States. The Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act was introduced and passed in the fall of 2009 after both men lost their lives as a result of prejudice and bigotry. The law not only made it easier for Federal authorities to investigate cases of this nature, but the Act also expanded wording to include crimes perpetrated due to one's gender or sexual identity. Although it cannot make up for the senseless loss of these two lives, it's arguably helped many people seek justice in the wake of such crimes.

#10: The Port Arthur Massacre

The town of Port Arthur in Tasmania, Australia was the site of one of the most horrendous crimes in the country’s history. On April 28th 1996, Martin Bryant claimed the lives of 35 people and injured 23 others, using a semiautomatic rifle. The massacre shocked the entire nation and led to a nationwide debate on gun control laws in Australia. In the wake of the tragedy, the Australian government moved swiftly to introduce the National Firearms Agreement (NFA). This agreement significantly restricted access to automatic and semi-automatic weapons, and also included a buyback program for the newly banned firearms. Since then, Australia has seen a considerable decrease in gun-related deaths.

#9: Emmett Till

In 1955, Emmett Till, an African-American teenager, was visiting relatives in Mississippi when he was lynched for allegedly flirting with a white woman. Despite overwhelming evidence of their guilt, Till’s killers were acquitted by an all-white jury. The trial and subsequent outrage over the verdict helped galvanize the Civil Rights movement and led to the passage of multiple landmark laws. In 2008, the Emmett Till Unsolved Civil Rights Crime Act was enacted, allowing for the investigation and prosecution of racially motivated crimes that occurred before 1970. This was followed by the Emmett Till Antilynching Act in 2022, which recognizes lynching as a federal hate crime. These laws serve as a commitment to seek justice for victims of racial violence.

#8: Polly Klaas

Polly Klaas was taken from her home during a slumber party on October 1st, 1993, and the tragedy had far-reaching effects on California legislature. For starters, support for "three-strikes laws" earned a lot of traction. Her kidnapper, Richard Allen Davis, had a lengthy criminal record, though there were no open warrants when police initially stopped him after being notified of a suspicious car. The idea that felony criminals should serve automatic life sentences when they commit multiple serious crimes was made easy by Davis' repugnant and unrepentant behavior during the trial. Furthermore, California Highway Patrol expanded access to their all points bulletins to local authorities in the aftermath of Polly's death.

#7: Rebecca Schaeffer

Living life in the public eye isn't easy, especially when stalkers and obsessed fans come into play. This was unfortunately what caused the loss of a young and promising star, in the form of "My Sister Sam" actress Rebecca Schaeffer. Robert John Bardo stalked the actress for years, attempting to crash the set of "My Sister Sam," and even hiring a private investigator to find out where Schaeffer lived via the California Department of Motor Vehicles. Bardo eventually shot Schaeffer at her home, and her death prompted lawmakers to draft stricter anti-stalking legislation in its wake. The Driver's Privacy Protection Act was also made into law after this incident, making it more difficult for others to find personal information via the DMV.

#6: Johnny Gosch

This cold case was the subject of a 2014 documentary titled "Who Took Johnny?" but it also changed how police respond to reports of missing children. Johnny Gosch was taken during his paper route on the early morning hours of September 5th, 1982, and he hasn't been seen since. At the time of his disappearance, policy in Des Moines, Iowa stated that someone couldn't be labeled as a missing person until 72 hours had gone by. The Gosch case resulted in legislation that changed all of this, making it easier for police to begin an investigation. "The Johnny Gosch Bill" requires authorities to immediately treat all missing person reports of a child as credible, and to respond accordingly.

#5: Megan Kanka

How well do you really know your neighbor? This was the inspiration behind "Megan's Law," a subsection of laws that require the public to be able to access information of convicted sex offenders in their area. The specific case was that of seven year old Megan Kanka, whose neighbor Jesse Timmendequas lured and assaulted her before taking her life. Timmendequas' criminal history with little to no rehabilitation wasn't available to Kanka's family. And, as a local Assemblyman by the name of Paul Kramer was quoted saying, "Megan Kanka would be alive today" had a public registry been easily accessible by her family.

#4: Ernesto Miranda

You've heard it a million times on television and movies, but do you know the actual origins behind your Miranda Rights? Although Ernesto Miranda was a criminal and his second trial did have the same results of a conviction, it's the circumstances of his arrest that changed the law. This was because Miranda wasn't informed of his right to remain silent, so as not to incriminate himself, and was also “refused an opportunity to consult with his counsel.” His confession was deemed inadmissible as evidence, and the state of Arizona had to retry him with said confession omitted from the record. The Supreme Court case, Miranda v. Arizona, now requires that all arresting officers inform you of your right to silence and an attorney.

#3: Amber Hagerman

Most people are familiar with AMBER Alerts; they inform us whenever the case of a child going missing is reported in our area. However, it's vitally important that we remember the alert's namesake, Amber Hagerman. While riding her bicycle back in 1996, Hagerman was taken and murdered. Her killer has never been found. The case increased demand for immediate response to any sort of similar report involving minors, and today AMBER Alerts go out on radio, television, telephone, internet and highway communication devices in order to maximize public awareness and response. There are also related alerts for missing seniors, called Silver Alerts, and police, known as Blue Alerts.

#2: Adam Walsh

The abduction and death of Adam Walsh is arguably the most well known case on this list, thanks largely to the public presence of Walsh's father, John, as the host of "America's Most Wanted." Still, it's impossible to overstate how much the Walsh Family has worked to help the families of victims over the years, as Adam's case was responsible, in part, for the establishment of the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children. Adam's taking from a Florida mall was also the impetus for the "Code Adam" program that's used in retail environments. An employee will now page information over the intercom to help find a child that’s been reported as having disappeared.

Before we unveil our top pick, here are a few honorable mentions.

Kayden Mancuso
Mancuso’s Murder Led to the Introduction of ‘Kayden’s Law’ Which Reformed Child Custody Hearings

Sarah Payne
Sarah’s Law, the UK’s Version of Megan’s Law, Was Enacted Following the Murder of Sarah Payne

The Manson Family Murders
California’s Victims’ Bill of Rights Was Largely Passed Following a Campaign by Sharon Tate’s Mother

Helen McCourt
“Helen’s Law” Requires Convicted Murderers to Reveal the Location of Their Victim’s Remains Before Being Considered for Parole

#1: Kitty Genovese

Dialing 911 seems like such an instinctive act, it's easy to forget that this wasn't always how emergencies were called in to police. Kitty Genovese was followed, assaulted and stabbed by Winston Moseley while she was returning home after a late night shift working at a bar. The crime had multiple witnesses in the form of Genovese's neighbors, but some were reportedly too scared to call police, while others had difficulty getting through on a line. At the time, any emergencies would be called into the operator, who would then transfer the call to the appropriate authorities only when they had the opportunity to do so. This delayed response would, in part, influence the establishment of the 911 emergency system we use today.