CCJS100 Chapter 3 Criminal Justice and the Rule of Law Foundations of Criminal Law In a democracy laws are tools that prevent government officials from seizing too much power or using power improperly Legal responsibility the accountability of an individual for a crime because of the perpetrators characteristics and the circumstances of the illegal act Civil law law regulating the relationships between or among individuals usually involving property contracts or business disputes Criminal law punishing people for damage they have done to society Substantive criminal law law that defines acts that are subject to punishment and specifies the punishments for such offenses Penal code answers the question what is illegal Written by elected officials in congress state legislatures and city councils Procedural criminal law law defining the procedures that criminal justice officials must follow in enforcement adjudication and corrections Protects constitutional rights to defendants Defined by legislatures US Supreme Court and state supreme courts How will bail be set and what kind of preliminary hearing will take place before a trial Substantive Criminal Law Definitions and Classifications of Criminal Laws Felonies serious crimes usually carrying a penalty of death or of incarceration for more than one year in prison Misdemeanors offenses less serious than felonies and usually punishable by incarceration of no more than one year in jail probation or intermediate sanctions Civil infractions minor offenses that are typically punishable by small fines and that produce no criminal record for the offender Felonies and misdemeanors are subdivided o Third degree felonies lead to shorter sentences than first degree o Can also have petty offenses which lead to just a fine Legislatures do not necessarily define categories of crimes according to idealistic assessments of the seriousness of the crime Due to budget cuts they tend to redefine specific nonviolent felonies as misdemeanors to lessen the amount that go to jail Model Penal Code o American Law Institute created model definitions of crimes which help states organize and standardize their individual criminal statutes Classification of criminal acts becomes complicated when statutes divide related acts such as taking a persons life into different offenses o Ex Criminal Homicide is divided into degrees of murder and voluntary or involuntary manslaughter o Some states also create new categories within law Elements of a Crime The act state of mind and attendant circumstances Inchoate Incomplete Offenses conduct that is criminal even though the harm that the law seeks to prevent has not been done but merely planned or attempted o Ex hiring a hitman planning a murder etc Seven Principles of Criminal Law Legality there must be a law that defines the specific action as a crime o Ex post facto laws laws written and applied after the crime has been committed Illegal but allowed to prosecute future crimes under that law Actus Reus for a crime to occur there must be an act of either commission or omission by the accused Causation there must be a causal relationship between an act and the harm suffered Harm an act must cause harm to some legally protected value person property object Concurrence the intent and the act must be present at the same time o Ex Joe is planning to murder Bill He takes a whole day planning this but while driving home from work he accidentally hits a jogger who happened to be Bill Although Joe planned to kill Bill he is not guilty of murder because the accidental killing was not connected to Joe s intent to carry out a killing Mens Rea guilty mind or blameworthy state of mind necessary for legal responsibility for a criminal offense criminal intent as distinguished from innocent intent o Becomes problematic when dealing with an insanity case or a child o Certain level of intent must be present o Exception strict liability offenses which pressure the business owners to make sure that their employees obey regulations designed to protect the health and safety of the public Punishment there must be a provision in the law calling for punishment of those found guilty of violating the law enforced by government and may carry social stigma a criminal record loss of freedom and loss of rights Defenses Against Criminal Charges Justification Defenses o Focuses on the act and whether it was socially acceptable under the circumstances Excuse Defenses o Actions that are based on self defense or necessity in which the individual reasonably felt obligated to cause harm but the actions were those that are recognized and accepted by society as essential to the individual s self preservation o Self Defense a person who feels that he or she is in immediate danger of being harmed by another person may ward off the attack in self defense o The level of force used in self defense cannot exceed the person s reasonable perception of the threat ex shoot a robber who is holding a gun to your head not someone trespassing and trying to escape o Necessity Used when people break the law in order to save themselves or prevent some greater harm ex running a red light to take someone in pain to the hospital o Focus on the actor and whether the actor fulfilled the elements required for being held responsible under a criminal statute o Defenses that under specific circumstances either eliminate insanity or diminish intoxication criminal responsibility because the individual did not posses the knowledge state of mind or intent required for a criminal conviction o Duress Coercion arises when someone commits a crime because he or she is coerced by another person Courts are not willing to accept this defense if people do not try to escape from the situation o Entrapment used to show lack of intent government agents have induced the person to commit the offense can be used when the police have acted so as to induce the criminal act o Infancy based on the recognition that young children do not yet have the capacity to think about and understand appropriate behavior and the consequences of their actions Children ages 7 14 are not liable for their criminal acts but some prosecutors can show their mental capacity and form mens rea o Mistake of Fact if an accused person has made a mistake on some crucial fact ex teenagers ask for your permission to grow sunflowers in a lot behind your home You help them weed the garden and water the plants Turns out they are growing
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