Midterm Flashcards
What is a tort?
noncriminal wrong that injures another individual or a whole community, private parties bring tort actions against other private parties, Defendants who lose tort cases have to pay money to the plaintiff who sued, plaintiff has to prove responsibility by having evidence the other party is guilty
What is a crime?
an act that brings harm to another individual or a whole community, criminal prosecutions are brought by the state against individuals, convicted offenders pay money to the state or serve time in the custody of the state, criminal conviction is the condemnation by the whole community, the expression of its hatred, fear, or contempt for the convict, the state has to prove all elements of the crime by proof beyond a reasonable doubt
Who has the burden of proof?
state/prosecutor
What is mala in se?
inherently evil crimes, requires some level of criminal intent
What is malaprohibita?
crimes because a specific statute or ordinance prohibits them, includes minor offenses, parking illegally, drinking in public, doesn’t require criminal intent only voluntary act
Which theory of punishment focuses on eye for an eye mentality and emphasizes getting even?
Incapacitation
What is discretionary decision making?
when one acts to maximize pleasure and minimize pain
What are the different theories of criminal punishment?
retribution = striking out to hurt what hurt us
rehabilitation = changing offenders so they won’t commit another crime and will learn to play by the rules
general deterrence = threat of punishment in the future
specific deterrence = actual punishment to convince present offenders not to commit crimes in the future
incapacitation = life sentences, altering them surgically, executing offenders to keep them from committing crimes again
assumptions that underline rehabilitation theory?
determinism = forces beyond offenders control cause them to commit crimes
therapy by experts can change offenders so that they won’t want to commit any more crimes
What is a felony?
crimes punishable by death or confinement in the state’s prison for one year to life without parole
What makes a crime a felony?
crimes that have a mens rea and an actus rea
What do we mean by codifying criminal law?
putting criminal law into writing
Where is most criminal law found?
state criminal codes
What is model penal code?
used to reform criminal codes and is drafted by the American Law Institute
What distinguishes a felony from a misdemeanor and petty misdemeanor?
Felony defendants have to be in court for their trials, misdemeanor defendants don’t, felony defendant’s prior convictions make offenders eligible for longer sentences, felony convictions last after punishment
What type of court hears appeals?
appellate court
What is the concept of proportionality?
criminal offenses should be sentenced in proportion to their seriousness
What is the principle of legality?
no crime without law; no punishment without law, no one can be convicted or punished for a crime unless the law defined the crime and prescribed the punishment before a person engaged in the behavior that was defined a as a crime
What is an ex post facto law? Why is it unconstitutional?
retroactive law that criminalizes an act that wasn’t a crime when it was committed, increases the punishment for a crime after the crime was committed, takes away a defense that was available to a defendant when the crime was committed
because it changes the punishment and inflicts a greater punishment than the law annexed to the crime when the crime was committed
What is the void for vagueness doctrine?
principle that statutes violate due process fi they don’t define a crime and its punishment clearly enough for ordinary people to know what is unlawful
Where is the equal protection clause of the Constitution found?
14th Amendment
What Amendment ensures that citizens are not subject to cruel and unusual punishment?
8th Amendment
What is the right to privacy?
right that bands all governmental invasions of sanctity of a man’s home and the privacies of life
What is the highest level of proof in a legal case?
Beyond a reasonable doubt
Stanley vs. Georgia
struck down a state law making it a crime for adults to possess pornography in the privacy of their homes
Coker vs. Georgia
decided death was disproportionate punishment for raping an adult woman, showed the the majority believed death was a disproportionate punishment except in some aggravated murders
Roper vs Simmons
Court decided whether standards of decency had evolved enough since 1989 to be offended by executing Christopher Simmons for a carjacking murder he committed when he was 17, 8th amendment and 14 amendment, forbid execution of offenders who were underage of 18 when they committed their crimes
What is the 3 strikes to law? What has the Supreme Court said about it?
intended to make sure that offenders who are convicted of a third felony get locked up for a very long time, the Supreme Court was split over whether or not the law was constitutional or not
What is the Apprendi Rule?
other than the fact of prior conviction, any fact that increases the penalty for a crime beyond the prescribed statutory maximum must be submitted to a jury and proved beyond a reasonable doubt
Apprendi fired several bullets in a Black family’s home; Apprendi made a statement and admitted he was the shooter, later he retracted his statement, even though he didn’t know the occupants of the house personally, because they are black in the doesn’t want them in his white neighborhood
What is criminal conduct?
unlawful behavior that violates a statute and is punishable by law
What is criminal liability?
conduct that unjustifiably and inexcusably inflicts or threatens substantial harm to individual or public interests
What is a conduct crime?
requiring a criminal act triggered by criminal intent
What does manifest criminality mean?
requirement that mental attitudes have to turn into actions for a crime to be committed
What is a bad result crime?
crimes that include all five elements: voluntary act, mental element, circumstantial elements, causation, criminal harm
What is the American bystander rule?
there’s no legal duty to rescue or summon help for someone who’s in danger, even if the bystander risks nothing by helping
nearly all states follow
What is the Good Samaritan doctrine?
imposes a legal duty to help or call for help for imperiled strangers
What is actual possession?
physical control of banned items on my person
What is constructive possession?
banned items not on my person but in places I control
What is joint possession?
knowing someone has an item in something you possess and allowing it to stay there
What is mere possession?
items you possess but you don’t know what they are
What is Actus Rea?
action that is an element of a crime
Robinson vs California
Robinson was convicted and sentenced to 90 days in jail for violating a California statute making it a misdemeanor to be addicted to narcotics
The Court believed the state was punishing Robinson for who he was rather than for what he did
What creates legal duties to act?
contracts, special relationships
Powell vs Texas
Powell arrested and charged under a Texas statute, which said that whoever gets drunk or found in state of intoxication in a public place, or any private house except his own, shall be fined not exceeding one hundred dollars, Powell was found guilty and fined $50, the disease of chronic alcoholism destroyed his will power to resist drinking an appearing drunk in public
The Court believed that since Powell could not prevent himself form appearing in public places because after his first drink he was uncontrollably compelled to drink
How did the Court distinguish Powell vs. Texas and Robinson vs. California
The Court believed that California was punishing Robinson for being an addict rather than punishing him for the crime he committed and Powell is assumed to be an alcoholic because they believe that after one drink he was compelled to continue drinking
Why do we require a criminal act?
to punish people for what they do, not who they are, or what they intend
it is impossible to prove mental attitude, thinking bad things is not a crime, but killing, raping, harming someone is
What is the one voluntary act is enough rule?
a voluntary act is an absolute requirement for criminal liability, it’s not necessary that every act up to the moment the crime is completed be voluntary
Which rule does the model penal code adopt with respect to voluntary acts?
one voluntary act is enough rule
What is a criminal omission?
the failure to act when there’s a legal duty to act
When is criminal omission a failure to act?
failing to report some information that you’re required by law to provide like reporting an accident, child abuse, filing income tax return, registering firearm, notifying sexual partners of HIV status
failure to intervene meaning that you didn’t act to prevent or interrupt injuries or death to a person or damage and destruction of property
What is Mens Rea?
mental element, criminal intent, you’re acting either purposely, knowingly, recklessly, or negligently
4 types of Mens Rea in the model penal code
purposely = most blameworthy state requiring actor’s conscious object to be to commit crimes or cause criminal results
knowingly = mental state of awareness in conduct crimes and in result crimes, awareness that its practically certain that the conduct will cause the bad result
recklessly = conscious creation of a substantial and unjustifiable risk of criminal harm
negligently = mental attitude person acts not knowing of the substantial and unjustifiable risk of criminal harm
What is a mistake of fact defense?
defense to criminal liability whenever the mistake prevents the formation of any fault-based mental attitude = namely, purposely, knowingly, recklessly, or negligently
What does the state need to be prove in a strict liability case?
do not need to prove mens rea, only have to prove that the defendant committed a voluntary criminal act that caused harm
What is the element of causation?
holding an actor criminally accountable for the results of her conduct
What are the different types of cause?
but for = but for this action this result happened
intervening cause = an event that comes between the initial act in a sequence and the end result
proximate/legal cause = is it fair to blame defendant for the harm triggered by a chain of events her actions set in motion
What is the most blameworthy state of mind?
purposely
What is the most culpable state of mind?
purposely
What is recklessness?
conscious creation of substantial and unjustifiable risk of criminal harm
What is negligence?
not knowing of the substantial and unjustifiable risk of criminal harm
What type of crimes does the element of causation apply to?
only to criminal result crimes
How many different types of mental state are in the model penal code?
4
What’s the difference between motive and mens rea?
Motive is something that causes a person to act and mens rea is the intention to commit a criminal act
