Intro to Punishment & Statutory Interpretation Terms

Question 1

Criminal act

Answer 1

1. Law that creates by prohibiting acts that inflict serious harm.
2. Crimes that involve moral blame that civil wrongs do not.

Question 2

Crime

Answer 2

Any act that has been designated as a crime by the appropriate legal actors (today, the legislature)

• Crimes are defined by statute
• State using criminal law means it can be backed by force: police can arrest someone for violating criminal laws and people can be locked away in prison as punishment

Question 3

Theories of punishment

Answer 3

1. Retribution= what D deserves (autonomy)
2. Deterrence = future prevention
   General = knowing that punishment follows crime deters people
   Specific = that offender fears punishment if he repeats his act
3. Incapacitation = puts criminals out of circulation
4. Rehabilitation = “fixing” D to no longer commit crimes (correctional institution origin)
5. Restitution= D pays victim compensation for harm (tort-esq)
6. Expressivism = expressed values of society “this is bad and we want to announce that”
7. Social control = allows police to manage lawlessness —> order & safety but could also lead to apathy

Retribution & expressivism are the only ones that are NOT consequentialist

Question 4

Why theories of punishment matter

Answer 4

1. Criminalization decisions = legislature makes new laws and need to know what to criminalize
2. Legislative grading (misdemeanor vs. felony)
3. Plea bargaining = theory about deporting someone for criminal charge will affect decision
4. Statutory interpretation(ex: rule of lenity)
5. Constitutional roles (ex: vagueness)
6. Sentencing

Question 5

Criminal law

Answer 5

The laws and legal principles that define criminal behavior

Question 6

8th amendment

Answer 6

Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted

Question 7

8th amendment limits on punishment

Answer 7

1. Inherently cruel methods of punishment
2. Inhumane conditions of confinement
3. Punishments that are grossly disproportionate to:
   - the offender (ex: juveniles cannot get life without parole)
   - the offense (severity of crime; Ewing)

Question 8

Model penal code

Answer 8

Set of criminal statutes, drafted by a group of scholars and jurists (ALI) who sought greater consistency and rationality and criminal law— saw some common law principles as outdated

• ALI not a government entity and has no official authority to make binding law
• sought to inspire legislatures to revise their criminal codes —> some adopted; slight variations among states

Question 9

Sources of criminal law

Answer 9

Constitutional law (highest source)

Statutory law
* Model penal code

Administrative agencies

Case law = interpreting what the law means

Question 10

Statutory interpretation & steps

Answer 10

Goal: judges give effect to the intent of the legislature, “legislative supremacy”
- judges are faithful agents of Congress

Steps:
1. Language plain & unambiguous —> give effect to language without statutory construction

2. Language ambiguous —> court looks to rules of construction for guidance and consider interpretations (statutory text, context, legislative history, statutory implementation, precedent)
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3. If ambiguity remains, rule of lenity = resolve ambiguity in D’s favor

Question 11

Ejusdem genesis
Expresio unius
Surplusage canon

Answer 11

Ejusdem genesis = general term that accompanies a list of more specific terms should be interpreted to cover, only matters similar to those specified (ex: car, motorcycle, or any other self-propelled vehicle…”

Expresio unius = the expression of one thing implies the exclusion of others (ex: unlawful to posses firearms, ammunition, or explosives = nothing else apart from this list)

Surplusage canon = if possible, every word is to be given effect. None should be ignored or duplicate another proviso or have no consequence

Question 12

Theories of statutory interpretation

Answer 12

Purposivism = legislation is a purposive act, and judges should construct statues to execute that legislative purpose
- court should (1) ask what problem the legislature was trying to solve, then (2) look for suggested interpretations to fit that purpose

Textualism = focus on the words of a statue, emphasizing text over any unstated purpose
- courts should read the words of that statutory text as any member of the legislature would