Criminal Law and Punishment in U.S. Society

Social Reality of U.S. Criminal Law

The dual nature od U.S. criminal law divided into two categories: a small number of serious, core offenses and a large number of lesser crimes, or “everything else”

Criminal Law Investigation

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

The core offenses of murder, manslaughter, rape, kidnapping, and robbery

Felonies Against Property

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

Hard Punishment

A sentence of a year or more in a prison

Punishment Imagination

Crimes that fit within the criminal law imagination anf that the law should punish by locking people up

Police Power

All federal, state, and local governments’ executive, legislative, and judiciary’s power, including uniformed police officers, to carry out and enforce the criminal law

Torts

Private wrongs for which you can sue the party who wronged you 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 (inherently evil) crimes

Offenses that require some level of criminal intent

Mala Prohibita Offenses

Offenses that are crimes only because a specific statute or ordinance prohibits them

Felonies

Crimes punishable by death or confinement in the state’s prison for one year to life without parole

Misdemeanors

Offenses punishable by fine and/or confinement in the local jail for up to one 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

U.S. 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 Agenies

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

Model Penal Code (MPC)

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