Week 3 Flashcards
What is a crime? What is a deviance?
- Crime: an act committed in violation of a law prohibiting it OR omitted in violation of a law ordering it (child neglect, for example)
- Deviance: an act, belief, or characteristic that violates a social nor. It may or may not be a crime.
What is the corpus delicti? Actus reus? Mens rea?
- Corpus delicti (“the body of the offense”): proof that a crime has been committed
- No “body” is actually necessary
- Actus reus: guilty act
- Mens rea: guilty mind/ intent
- Not always required: “strict liability” crimes
- Parking violations
- Not always required: “strict liability” crimes
What is Criminal Law and Criminal Procedure?
- Criminal law defines the rights and obligations of individuals in society.
- Examples: elements of specific crimes, punishments for these crimes, & the elements of various criminal defenses (legal excuses for committing crimes)
- Criminal procedure generally concerns the protection of individuals’ rights during the criminal process.
- Examples: individuals’ rights during law enforcement investigation, arrest, filing of charges, trial, and appeal
What are the rules of Criminal Law Legality?
- The law must be passed and publicly available before it can be used against anyone (rule of legality)
- You cannot be punished using laws passed after you committed a crime (ex post facto)
- The government must have a compelling reason to make the law & the government must ensure due process rights for defendants
- Laws cannot be too vague
- Laws cannot violate a reasonable right to privacy
- Laws cannot violate established Constitutional protections
- No cruel & unusual punishment (8th Amendment Right)
What are the clasifications of crimes?
- These terms are defined by the punishments outlined in law
- Infractions: punishable only by fines (traffic offenses, etc.)
- Misdemeanor: up to 1 year in jail, plus fines
- Felony: can include prison time, plus fines
- Inchoate Offenses: incomplete criminal acts (attempt, conspiracy, solicitation…)
- Violent crimes: crimes that harm people
- Property Crimes: crimes that affect property
- Crimes against the state: terrorism, espionage, treason
- “Victimless” crimes: prostitution, gambling, drug use
Which of these Latin terms refers to the “guilty act” element of a crime
A) Corpus Delicti
B) Actus Reus
C) Men Rea
B) Actus Reus
A state can pass a law making the practice of Islam a criminal offense within state borders.
A) TRUE
B) FALSE
B) FALSE
What are the degrees of murder?
- 1st degree: intentional, planned
- 2nd degree: intentional, not necessarily planned
- Voluntary manslaughter: heat of passion, offender provoked
- Involuntary manslaughter: carelessness, negligence
What is Burglary, Robbery,and Larceny?
- Robbery: taking someone’s property by force or threat of force
Ex: muggings - Burglary: illegally entering a property with intent to commit a felony
- Larceny: theft from a location without use/ threat of force against persons and without illegal entry
What does aggravated assault result in?
Aggravated may involve the use of a deadly weapon, substantial harm, intent to kill/ rape, or attacks on police officers (varies by jurisdiction)
What are sources of the law?
- U.S. Constitution
Each state also has a state constitution - Statutes: laws enacted by the state and Federal (United States Code) governments
- Ordinances: laws enacted by local governments
- Case law: decisions courts (especially Supreme Courts) have made in the past
- Sometimes referred to as precedent
- International Agreements
Jim smashes a window on a home. He enters the house, steals expensive jewelry and electronics, and leaves. Jim’s has committed which crime?
A) Burglary
B) Larceny
C) Robbery
A) Burglary
What does the legislative branch do?
Creates Laws
What does the executive branch do?
Enforce Laws
What does the judicial branch do?
Interprets Laws
Which branch of our government is responsible for interpreting laws?
A) Legislative
B) Judicial
C) Executive
B) Judicial
What is Civil Law and what is Criminal Law?
- Civil Law largely deals with disputes between individuals and companies
- Torts: where one person sues another for civil damages (monetary losses)
- Civil cases may revolve around violation of criminal law!
- Example: someone might sue for the cost of repairs needed because of a break-in, or for lost wages from assault
- Criminal Law deals with actions violating state or Federal criminal law
What happens in Civil Court?
- The accusing individual/ organization is termed the plaintiff
- The accused is still called a defendant
- The defendant must pay for his/ her own attorney– there is no right to free representation if he/ she cannot afford an attorney
- Goal of civil litigation is to compensate the plaintiff for any injuries and to put the plaintiff back in the position that person held before the injury occurred
- We find defendants liable, rather than guilty
- The plaintiff must be able to demonstrate harm in order to have a case
- The plaintiff may be awarded damages: money or property to compensate for loss
- Punitive damages are above and beyond the amount of harm and are intended as punishment
- Compensatory damages compensate the plaintiff for harm
What is Burden of Proof and what does it have to do with Civil and Criminal Court?
- Definition: what a party at trial must establish in order to prove an argument/ case
- Civil Court: “preponderance of the evidence”
- enough evidence to make it more likely than not that the fact the claimant seeks to prove is true
- Plaintiff has burden to prove his/ her complaint
- Criminal Court: “beyond a reasonable doubt”
- evidence establishes a particular point to a moral certainty and that it is beyond dispute that any reasonable alternative is possible
- Prosecution must establish these facts
In Civil Court, the accuser is called the ____________.
A) Defendant
B) Plaintiff
C) Prosecutor
D) Adjudicator
B) Plaintiff
What is the Criminal Defense?
- In some cases, a defendant will make an affirmative defense. In other words, rather than simply arguing he/ she is not guilty, the defendant argues that he/ she is guilty but should not be punished because of a legally recognized reason
- The legal excuse for criminal behavior is called a criminal or affirmative defense
- In these cases, the burden or proof is on the defendant to establish the facts of his defense
- A defense may excuse a defendant from all guilt, or may reduce punishment
What are 8 examples of Criminal Defenses?
- Mistake of fact: woman marries again believing her husband to be dead
- Intoxication (varies by state)
- Duress/ Coercion: forced to commit a crime
- Immunity: diplomats, legislative officials
- Infancy: too young to be treated as an adult
- Necessity: avoiding lesser of two evils
- Self-defense– many changes to this one recently
- Entrapment: when law enforcement officials trick someone into committing a crime they otherwise had no intention of committing
What is the M’Naghten Rule?
Rule: a person must not know what they are doing, or not know that what they are doing is wrong
What is the Durham rule?
Criminal act the result of mental disease/ defect