CRIM 100 - Criminal Law: Substance and Procedure (Chapter 4)

LO1

List the similarities and differences between substantive criminal law and procedural law and between civil law and public law.

• Substantive law defines crimes and their punishment.

• Procedural law sets out the basic rules of practice in the criminal justice system.

• Civil law governs relations between private parties.

• Public law regulates the activities of governmental agencies.

LO2

Discuss the concept of substantive criminal law and be familiar with its history.

• The substantive criminal law defines crimes and their punishments.

• The underlying goal of the substantive criminal law is to enforce social control, distribute retribution, express public opinion and morality, deter criminal behavior, punish wrongdoing, maintain social order, and provide restoration.

LO3

Discuss the sources of the criminal law.

• The roots of the criminal codes used in the United States can be traced back to early legal charters.

• In England, judges used local custom and rules of conduct as their guide in a system known as stare decisis (Latin for “to stand by decided cases”).

• Eventually, this system evolved into a common law of the country that incorporated local custom and practice into a national code.

• Based on the English common law, the contemporary American legal system has been codified by state and federal legislatures.

LO4

Describe how crimes are classified.

• Felonies are considered serious crimes. Felonies include crimes against the person, such as criminal homicide, robbery, and rape, as well as such crimes against property as burglary and larceny.

• Misdemeanors are seen as less serious crimes. They include petit (or petty) larceny, assault, and battery, and the unlawful possession of marijuana.

• Violations include public nuisance offenses such as traffic violations and public drunkenness.

LO5

Identify the elements of a crime.

• For an act to constitute a crime, it must be a voluntary and deliberate illegal act, or actus reus, such as taking someone’s money, burning a building, or shooting someone.

• For an act to constitute a crime, it must be done with deliberate purpose or criminal intent, or mens rea.

• For an action to constitute a crime, the law requires that a connection be made between the mens rea and actus reus, thereby showing that the offender’s conduct was the proximate cause of the resulting injury.

• Certain statutory offenses exist in which mens rea is not essential. These offenses fall in a category known as public safety or strict liability crimes.

• Traffic crimes, public safety, and business crimes are typically strict liability crimes.

LO6

Discuss excuse and justification defenses for crime.

• Defendants may claim that even though they did engage in the criminal act they are accused of, they should be excused because they lacked mens rea: “I did not know what I was doing.”

• Another type of defense is justification, such as self-defense, which involves maintaining that the act was justified under the circumstances: “Given the circumstances, anyone would have done what I did.”

LO7

Discuss the concept of criminal procedure.

• The law of criminal procedure consists of the rules and procedures that govern the pretrial processing of criminal suspects and the conduct of criminal trials.

• The main source of the procedural law is the body of the Constitution and the first 10 amendments added to the U.S. Constitution, collectively known as the Bill of Rights.

LO8

Identify which amendments to the Constitution are the most important to the justice system.

• Of primary concern are the Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, and Eighth Amendments, which limit and control the manner in which the federal government operates the justice system.

• The Fourteenth Amendment applies these rights to the state and local governments.

LO9

List the elements of due process of law.

• Due process has been used to evaluate the constitutionality of legal statutes and to set standards and guidelines for fair procedures in the criminal justice system.

• Substantive due process refers to the citizen’s right to be protected from criminal laws that may be biased, discriminatory, or otherwise unfair.

criminal law

The body of rules that define crimes, set out their punishments, and mandate the procedures for carrying out the criminal justice process.

substantive criminal law

A body of specific rules that declare what conduct is criminal and prescribe the punishment to be imposed for such conduct.

procedural law

The methods that must be followed in obtaining warrants, investigating offenses, effecting lawful arrests, conducting trials, introducing evidence, sentencing convicted offenders, and reviewing cases by appellate courts.

civil law

All law that is not criminal, including tort, contract, personal property, maritime, and commercial law.

torts

The law of personal injuries.

public law

The branch of law that deals with the state or government agencies and controls their administrative relationships with individuals, corporations, or other branches of government.

stare decisis

To stand by decided cases: the legal principle by which the decision or holding in an earlier case becomes the standard by which subsequent similar cases are judged

mala in se

In common law, offenses that are by their own nature evil, immoral, and wrong; such offenses include murder, theft, and arson.

ex post facto law

A law that makes an act criminal after it was committed or retroactively increases the penalty for a crime; such laws are forbidden by the U.S. Constitution.

actus reus

An illegal act, or failure to act when legally required.

mens rea

A guilty mind: the intent to commit a criminal act.

criminal negligence

Liability that can occur when a person’s careless and inattentive actions cause harm.

public safety or strict liability crime

A criminal violation—usually one that endangers the public welfare—that is defined by the act itself, irrespective of intent.

excuse defense

A defense in which a person states that his or her mental state was so impaired that he or she lacked the capacity to form sufficient intent to be held criminally responsible.

justification

A defense for a criminal act claiming that the criminal act was reasonable or necessary under the circumstances.

felony disenfranchisement

Denying one’s right to vote because of a felony conviction.

expungement

Denying one’s right to vote because of a felony conviction

exclusionary rule

The principle that illegally obtained evidence cannot be used in a court of law.