CJ 202 Midterm Review

Federalism

A system of political organization with 2 or more levels of government, coexisting in the same area, with the lower levels having some independent powers

Dual Soverignty

When multiple governments have concurrent authority over people or policy

Commerce Clause

Empowers the federal government to regulate commerce between the states, with foreign governments, & Indian tribes

Necessary & Proper Clause

Enables the federal government to create criminal laws to support its other specifically listed powers

Supremacy Clause

Appellate Court

A higher court that can hear appeals from a lower court

Briefs

A written document filed with a court through which a party presents a legal claim, legal theory, supporting authorities, & requests some form of relief

Record on Appeal

A formal, written account of a case, containing the complete formal history of all actions taken, papers filed, rulings made, opinions written, & so forth

Remand

The return of a case from a higher court to a lower court with instructions for the lower court to act in some manner

Reverse

To determine that the lower court has rendered a wrong decision & to change that decision

Intermediate

The level courts in the federal system are the U.S. Courts of Appeal

11;1

There are judicial circuits in the United States, with court(s) of appeals in each circuit

13

How many U.S. courts of appeals are there?

Circuit courts; Supreme Court

Appeals from the are taken to the

Court of Record

Generally, another term for trial court

De Novo

For a case to be tried again as if there had not been a prior trial

Courts of General Jurisdiction

Have jurisdiction over felony offenses

Courts of General Jurisdiction

\-Different names depending on location: felony, superior, supreme, county, & circuit

\-Handle the more serious felony cases & civil cases, in which damages are over a specified amount

\-Typically organized in judicial districts or circuits, based on a political division such as a county or a group of counties

Criminal Law

\-Intended to deter undesirable behavior

\-Offer victims and the community at large a sense of retribution

\-Incapacitate offenders; to reduce their opportunity to reoffend. This is done through imprisonment, electronic monitoring, death, and other methods

\-Rehabilitation

\-Restoration

\-Imposes fines, restitution, imprisonment, counseling, rehabilitation, injunctions, capital punishment

\-The *standard of proof* must be beyond a reasonable doubt

\-The government bears burden of proof & process designed to protect rights of defendant (due process)

\-Involves the government & the individual defendant

Objectives

The biggest difference between crinimal & civil law is their ?

Civil Law

\-The primary purpose is the compensation of people who are injured by someone else’s conduct

\-Involves the individual plaintiff & defendant

\-Plaintiff bears burden of proof and parties treated equally in process

Tort

A civil (as opposed to a criminal) wrong, other than a breach of contract

Strict Liability

The legal responsibility for damage or injury, even if you are not at fault or negligent

Punitive Damages

Damages that are awarded over & above compensatory damages or actual damages because of the wanton, reckless, or malicious nature of the wrong done by the plaintiff

The government—whether national, state, or local

In criminal law, who always files criminal charges?

Social Contract

An implied agreement between all people that they will obey the laws and relinquish a measured amount of liberty in exchange for security

Substantive Law

Procedural Law

Establishes the methods used to enforce legal rights and obligations

Substance of Tort Law

Defines what a tort is & what damages an injured party is entitled to recover from a lawsuit

Substantive Contract Law

Defines what a contract is, tells whether it must be in writing to be enforceable, who must sign it, what the penalty for breach is, and other such information

Criminal Law

Defines what constitutes a crime &what punishment can be imposed for committing crimes

Criminal Procedure

The rules of procedure by which criminal prosecutions are governed

Retributivism & Utilitarianism

What are the 2 overarching philosophies to explain why conduct is criminalized & punished

Common Law

The legal system that originated in England and is composed of case law and statutes that grow and change, influenced by ever-changing custom and tradition

Stare Decisis

The doctrine that judicial decisions stand as precedents for cases arising in the future

Due Process (5th & 14th Amendments)

Require that no persons be deprived of life, liberty, or property without having notice and a real chance to present their side in a legal dispute

Procedural Due Process

Requires that individuals be put on notice of impending government action, be given an opportunity to be heard & to present evidence, & in some cases, benefit from other rights

Substantive Due Process

Recognizes individual rights to act or not to act

Ordinances

Laws enacted by city, county, & other local governments

Regulatory Agencies

Oversee & regulate the practice of medicine in the various states

Judicial Conference

In the federal system, the rules are drafted by the under the direction of the Supreme Court and then presented to Congress

Model Penal Code

A proposed criminal code prepared jointly by the Commission on Uniform State Laws and the American Law Institute

By inferences & presumptions

How is the mens rea proven?

Inference

A fact (or proposition) that is probably true because a true fact (or proposition) leads you to believe that the inferred fact (or proposition) is also true

Presumption

An automatic assumption required by law that whenever a certain set of facts shows up, a court must automatically draw certain legal conclusions

Irrebuttable Presumptions

Conclusions that must be made by the judge or jury & can’t be disproved

All the elements of the crime were committed

The prosecution must prove, beyond a reasonable doubt, that?

Malum in Se

Acts that are inherently evil

Constructive Intent

\-Inferred, implied, or presumed from the circumstances

\-Applies when a defendant does not intend to cause the result, but it is likely to occur

Legal Cause

The proximate cause of an injury; probable cause; cause that the law deems sufficient

Proximate Cause

The “legal cause” of an accident or other injury (which may have several actual causes)

Forseeable

The degree to which the consequences of an action should have been anticipated, recognized, & considered beforehand

The “Year-and-a-Day-Rule”

At common law, a person couldn’t be charged with murder if the victim didn’t die within 1 year & one day after the act

Concurrance

The joining of mens rea & the act

Offense Analysis

The assignment of a single mens rea to an offense

Element Analysis

The assignment of separate mens rea to each element of an offense

Predicate Offense

An act or offense that is an element of another crime

Malice

A form of specific intent; the defendant’s purpose had to be cause of the victim’s death

2nd Degree Murder

Murder without premeditation

Corpus Delicti

The material substance upon which a crime has been committed

Assault

An intentional threat, show of force, or movement that could reasonably make a person feel in danger of physical attack or harmful physical contact

Battery

An intentional, unconsented to, physical contact by one person (or an object controlled by that person) with another person

Burglary

Unlawfully entering the house of another person with the intention of committing a felony (usually theft)

Malicious Mischief

The criminal offense of intentionally destroying another person’s property

Larceny

Stealing of any kind

Asportation

The act of moving the property

Conversion

Any act that deprives an owner of property without that owner’s permission and without just cause

Robbery

The illegal taking of property from the person of another by using force or threat of force

Extortion

To acquire property or money using threats of harm to person, property, or reputation

Brandenburg Test

An exception to free speech. Speech that is directed at causing imminent lawless action and is likely to cause such action may be regulated

Contempt

A willful disobeying of a judge’s command or official court order

Espionage

The practice of spying or of using spies, typically by governments to obtain political & military information

Principal in the 2nd Degree

A person who is physically present and assists a principal in the first degree but does not commit the actus reus of the crime

Natural & Probable Consequences Doctrine

A rule that holds that accomplices are criminally liable for the unplanned but foreseeable crimes of the principal in the first degree that are committed during the planned crime

Res Ipsa Loquitur

Looks at crimes individually & finds an act, a certain point in time, which indicates that the defendant has “no other purpose than the commission of that specific crime

Probable Desistance

Focuses on the likelihood that the defendant would have followed through with the crime had the opportunity existed

Legal Impossibility

A person who is unable to commit a crime because of legal impossibility cannot be convicted of a crime he or she intends or attempts

Wharton Rule

Two people cannot be charged with conspiracy when the underlying offense itself requires two people

Hearsay

A statement about what someone else said (or wrote or otherwise communicated)

Affirmative Defense

A defense that is more than a simple denial of the charges. It raises a new matter that may result in an acquittal or a reduction of liability

Burden of Proof

The requirement that to win a point or have an issue decided in your favor in a lawsuit, you must show that the weight of evidence is on your side rather than “in the balance” on that question

Burden of Production

The requirement that one side in a lawsuit produce evidence on a particular issue or risk losing on that issue

Burden of Persuasion

Refers to convincing the court that the issue raised is true

Prima Facie

On first impression; sufficient evidence introduced early in a case to continue with a claim

Diminished Capacity

Having a certain recognized form of diminished mental capacity while committing a crime should lead to the imposition of a lesser punishment or to lowering the degree of the crime

M’Naghten Test

Employed in some jurisdictions for determining whether criminal defendants had the capacity to form criminal intent at the time they committed the crime of which they are accused

Irresistable Impulse

The loss of control due to insanity that is so great that a person cannot stop from committing a crime

Durham Rule

Defendants are not guilty of a crime because of insanity if they were “suffering from a disease or defective mental condition at the time of the act and there was a causal connection between the condition and the act."

insane at the time of trial

The Supreme Court has held that a defendant who is may not be tried

Cooper v. Oklahoma (1996)

The Supreme Court held that the burden of proof can be placed on the defendant but that the standard of proof cannot exceed preponderance of evidence

Duress

Unlawful pressure on what a person would not otherwise have done. It includes force, threats of violence, physical restraint, etc.

Retreat to the Wall Doctrine

The doctrine that before a person is entitled to use deadly force in self-defense, he or she must attempt to withdraw from the encounter by giving as much ground as possible

Castle Doctrine

An exception to the retreat doctrine, one has no obligation to retreat from his or her home before using deadly force to repel an intruder

Graham v. Connor (1989)

·       In 1989, the Court handed down , in which the standard was set for all pre-conviction seizures, deadly & nondeadly

Mistake of Fact

A defense whenever it negates the mens rea aspect of a crime

Statutes of Limitation

A period of time during which various types of civil actions and criminal prosecutions can be brought after the occurrence of the injury or the offense

State Action Doctrine

The rule that constitutional rights only limit governments, not private parties

Double Jeopardy Clause

A second prosecution by the same government against the same person for the same crime (or for a lesser included offense) once the first prosecution is totally finished and decided

Dual-Soveriegnty Clause

A second prosecution by a different government against the same person for the same crime (or for a lesser included offense)

Dual-Soveriegnty Clause

What clause was affirmed in Gamble v. U.S (2019)