ASU CRJ 260 Substantive Criminal Law Unit 1 Exam

social reality of U.S. criminal law

the dual nature of U.S. criminal law divided into 2 categories: a small number of serious, core offenses and a large number of lesser crimes, or "everything else"

criminal law imagination

the contributions of law, history, philosophy, the social sciences, and sometimes biology to explain the moral desires we wish to impose on the world

felonies against persons

murder, manslaughter, rape, kidnapping, robbery

felonies against property

the core offenses of felonious theft, robbery, arson, and burglary

hard punishment

a sentence of a year or more in prison

punishment imagination

crimes that fit within the criminal law imagination and that the law should punish by locking people up

police power

federal, state, and local governments' executive, legislative, and judiciary power used to carry out and enforce law

Torts

Private wrongs eligible to sue party in the wrong and recover money

Compensatory Damages

damages recovered by tort plaintiffs for their actual injuries

Punitive Damages

damages recovered by tort plaintiffs to punish the defendant for their "evil behavior"

mala in se

offenses that require some level of criminal intent

mala prohibita

A descriptive term for acts that are made illegal by criminal statute and are not necessarily wrong in and of themselves.

Felonies

Punishable by death or confinement in state prison for 1 year to life without parole

Misdemeanors

Punishable by fine and/or confinement in local jail for up to 1 year

State criminal codes

criminal law created by elected representatives in state legislatures

Municipal codes

criminal law created by city and town councils elected by city residents

US criminal code

criminal law created by the U.S. Congress

Administrative agencies

appointed participants in creating criminal law that assist the U.S. Congress

Criminal court opinions

create criminal law by interpreting state and municipal criminal codes

Criminal law enforcement agencies

create criminal law through informal discretionary law making to decide how the criminal law process works on a day-to-day basis

Codified

written definitions of crimes and punishment enacted by legislatures and published

Modal Penal Code (MPC)

proposed criminal code drafted by the American Law Institute and used to reform criminal codes

Criminal liability

conduct that unjustifiably and inexcusably inflicts or threatens substantial harm to individual or public interests

Administrative crimes

Violate federal and state agency rules; make up a controversial but rapidly growing source of criminal law

Federal system

Includes 52 criminal codes - 1 per state + DC + federal

Punishment

intentionally inflicting pain or other unpleasant consequences on another person

Criminal punishment

penalties that meet four criteria: (1) inflict pain or other unpleasant consequences; (2) prescribe a punishment in the same law that defines the crime; (3) administered intentionally; (4) administered by the state

Theories of criminal punishment

ways of thinking about the purposes of criminal punishment

Retributionists

inflict on offenders physical and psychological pain ("hard treatment") so that they can pay for their crimes

preventionists (consequentialists)

punishment is only a means to a greater good, usually the prevention or at least the reduction of future crime

culpability

only someone who intends to harm their victim deserves punishment; accidents don't qualify

Justice

Only those who deserve punishment should receive justice

Deterrence

the use of punishment to prevent or reduce future crimes

Specific deterrence

inflicts punishment on specific criminals to discourage them from committing future crimes

General deterrence

Threatens punishment to prevent society from offending

Incapacitation

Prevents recidivism by jailing offenders or, rarely, altering/executing

Rehabilitation

Changes offenders to want to obey laws and not reoffend

Hedonism

the natural law that human beings seek pleasure and avoid pain

Rationalism

The natural law that people act to maximize pleasure and minimize pain; instead of relying on the discretion of individual decision makers, people apply natural laws

Classical Deterrence Theory

rational human beings won't commit crimes if they know that the pain of punishment outweighs the pleasure gained from committing crimes

Principle of utility

permits only the minimum amount of pain necessary to prevent the crime

"Medical model" of criminal law

Crime is a disease and criminals are sick and need treatment

Not guilty verdict

doesn't mean "innocent"; it means that the government didn't prove its case beyond a reasonable doubt

guilty verdict

The case was proven beyond a reasonable doubt

Trial Courts

Jury or judge decides the true story and if the evidence shows proof of guilt

Appellate courts

2 levels - immediate appeals and Supreme Court

Judgement (court's decision)

How the court disposes of a case

Opinion

How the court backs up their judgement by applying law to facts of the case

court's holding

the legal rule the court has decided to apply to the facts of the cases

Court's reasoning

The reasons the court gives to support their holding

Majority opinion

The opinion of the majority of justices on the case that's lays the law of the case

Concurring opinion

An opinion that agrees with the majority or dissenting opinion but for different reasons

Plurality opinion

an opinion that represents the reasoning of the greatest number (but less than a majority) of justices

Constitutional democracy

the majority can't make a crime out of conduct protected by the fundamental rights in the U.S. Constitution

Rule of law

the idea that government power should be defined and limited by laws

Principle of legality

no one can be convicted of, or punished for, a crime unless the law defined the crime and prescribed the punishment before the person engaged in the behavior that was defined as a crime

Ex post facto laws

Retroactive laws that (1) criminalize acts that weren't a crime when committed, (2) increase punishment after the crime has been committed, and (3) takes away a defense that was available when the crime was committed

Void for vagueness

statutes violate due process if they don't define a crime and its punishment clearly enough for ordinary people to know what is lawful

Fair notice

whether an ordinary reasonable person would know that the act is a crime

Rule of lenity

the requirement of courts to resolve every ambiguity in a criminal statute in favor of the defendant

Narrow lenity rule

the requirement of courts to interpret ambiguous statutes in favor of defendants only in the core felony cases and other crimes requiring fault

Presumption of innocence

the prosecution has the burden of proof when it comes to proving the criminal act and intent

Burden of proof

The obligation to prove beyond a reasonable doubt, "every fact necessary to constitute the charged crime"

Proof beyond a reasonable doubt

the highest burden of proof in the U.S. Criminal justice system reserved for criminal cases; the prosecution must prove every element of the crime charged to this standard

Affirmative defenses

Defendants start with evidence in support of their defense or justification and excuse

Burden of production

to make defendants responsible for presenting evidence in their own justification or excuse defense

Burden of persuasion

defendants have to prove their justification or excuse defenses by a preponderance of the evidence

preponderance of the evidence

more than 50% of the evidence proves justification or excuse

Expressive conduct

nonverbal actions that communicate ideas and feelings

Clear and present danger doctrine

The government can punish words that produce clear and present danger of a serious evil rising far above public inconvenience, annoyance, and unrest

void-for-overbreadth doctrine

protects speech guaranteed by the First Amendment by invalidating laws written so broadly that the fear of prosecution creates a "chilling effect" that discourages people from exercising that freedom

Constitutional right to privacy

bans government invasions of home and privacies of life

Fundamental right to privacy

requires the government to prove that a compelling interest justifies invading it

Cruel and unusual punishments

"barbaric" punishments and punishments that are disproportionate to the crime committed

Barbaric punishments

punishments considered no longer acceptable to civilized society

Principle of proportionality

the punishment has to fit the crime

"evolving standards" test

standards of decency that mark the progress of a maturing society

Three Strikes Law

intended to make sure that offenders who are convicted of a third felony get locked up for a very long time (sometimes for life)

Apprendi rule

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.

Actus reus

Voluntary criminal act, physical element of a crime, "evil act"

Mens rea

Criminal intent, mental element, "guilty mind"

Conduct crimes

requires a criminal act triggered by criminal intent

Concurrence

Requires that criminal intent has to trigger the criminal act

Attendance circumstances element

A circumstance that is connect to the act, intent, or result

bad result crimes (result crimes)

crimes that include all five elements: (1) a voluntary act, (2) the mental element, (3) circumstantial elements, (4) causation, and (5) a criminal harm

Criminal homicide

conduct that causes another person's death

corpus delicti

"Body of the crime" includes body of homicide victim and elements of the crime

Manifest criminality

the requirement that mental attitudes have to turn into actions for a "crime" to be committed

one-voluntary-act-is-enough rule

conduct that includes one voluntary act satisfies the voluntary act requirement

Automatism

unconscious bodily movements

fault-based defenses

defenses based on creating a reasonable doubt about the prosecution's proof of a voluntary act

Status

character or condition of a person or thing

Failure to report

Withholding information when legally required to (ex: taxes, HIV status, registering guns)

Failure to intervene

not actively preventing or interrupting injuries and death to persons or damage and destruction of property

Legal duty

an obligation created by a statute, contract, or special relationship, and enforceable by law

Moral duties

an obligation or norm created and enforced by society, conscience, and religion that's not enforceable by law

Good Samaritan doctrine

imposes a legal duty to help or call for help for imperiled strangers

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

Legal fiction

pretending something is a fact when it's not, if there's a "good" reason for the pretense

Actual possession

physical control of banned items on one's person