Chapter 6 Vocabulary & Outline

Chapter Six "Criminal Law" Vocabulary

civil law: formal rules that regulate disputes between private parties

criminal law: formal rules designed to maintain social control

substantive criminal law: laws defining the specific behaviors prohibited under the criminal law

procedural law: the rules for adjudication of individuals suspected of violating the law

constitutions: the fundamental principles of a society that guide the enactment of specific laws and the applications of those laws by courts

statutes: specific laws passed by legislatures that prohibit or mandate certain acts

ordinances: laws that apply to a specific country, city or town

criminal (penal) code: a compilation of all the criminal laws of a jurisdiction

case law: judicial application and interpretation of law as it applies in a given case

precedents: previous court decisions that are followed in current cases to ensure consistency in the application of the law

administrative regulations: rules applied to organizations that are designed to protect public health, safety and welfare in the marketplace

consensus view: the view that law reflects societys consensus regarding behavior that is harmful enough to warrant government intervention

conflict view: the view that an act becomes a crime only when it serves the interests of those in positions of power

jurisdiction: the authority of a state, county, or city to apply its own laws within its own territory

common law: the body of unrecorded decisions made by English judges in the Middle Ages, reflecting the values, customs, and beliefs of the period.

criminal justice system: more than 50,000 government agencies in the United States that deal with aspects of crime, including criminal law enforcement, the courts, and corrections.

due process (constitutional): a legal protection included in the U.S. Constitution that guarentess all citizens the right to be adjudicated under established law & legal procedures.

mens rea: the 'guilty mind' or conscious decision to commit a criminal act

actus rea: the behaviors that must be committed to meet the definition of a crime.

criminal liability: establishing the presence of the elements of a crime in a given case, thereby subjecting the accused person to criminal penalties

constructive possession: a condition in which a person has the opportunity to exercise control over an object

actual possession: a condition in which a person has exclusive control over an object

reasonableness standard: a standard under which persons are cupable for their actions if they understand the consequences of those actions. Young children and the mentally ill are generally not held culpable owing to their inability to reason effectively.

intention: conscious purposiveness in conduct; a factor in the determination of criminal responsibility

insanity defense: a claim that the defendant was not sane under law at the time of the act

battered woman syndrome: an ongoing pattern of sever physical abuse that constitutes a continual threat of harm

duress: a defense in which a person claims to have engaged in criminal conduct because of a threat of immediate and serious bodily harm by another person.

necessity: a defense in which a person claims to have engaged in otherwise criminal behavior because of the forces of nature

mistake of fact: a defense in which a person claims that honest ignorance rules out the presesnce of a 'guilty mind'

ignorance of law: a defense in lwhich a defendant claims that law is not widely known and that the person couls not have been expected to be aware of it.

entrapment: a defense designed to prevent the government from manufacturing crime by setting traps for unwary citizens.

Outline
I. What is Criminal Law?
- The law can be divided into two basic categories:
Civil & Criminal Law
Civil laws are concerned primarily with issues of personal injury and compensation.
Most law is civil law.
Violations of criminal law are considered crimes against society.
The difference betweern the two would be in their objectives:
punishment in one case and compensation in another.

Criminal Law can be divided into two categories:
Substantive Criminal Law defines behaviors that
are prohibited
Procedural Law provides the rules for adjudication of cases
involving those behaviors

A. Four Sources of American Law
1. Constitutions, which are the fundamental principles that guide the enactment of
specific lawas and the interpretations of courts.
2. Statutues, which are the specific laws passed by state legislatures or the U.S Congress that
prohibit or mandate certain acts.
3. Case Las involves the judges' interpreting laws passed by legislature to determine their applicability
in a given case or to clarify meaning.
4. Administrative Regulations are the fourth source of criminal law. Theses regulations have
the force of criminal law to the extent that they can provide criminal penalties.

II. How did the American System of Law and Justice develop?
-derived from British common law.
reflect the social values, customs, and beliefs of the period.
Criminal Justice system - a string of 55,000 independent government agencies
that have been set up to deal with different aspects of crime and the treatment of offenders, including law enforcement, the courts, and corrections.

A. A system of justice evolves in a society in order to enforce rules, resolve disputes and administer punishment. In the U.S. this oocured in the colonial period as small, religiously and culturally similar communities evolved into larger towns and cities with mor diverse population.

B. The criminal justice process has two fundamental goals: Fairness and Accuracy

C. Colonial, revolutionary and frontier justice was less formal than it is today because of the more sparse and homogenous population in early America.

III. How Does The Law Define The Elements of a Crime?

A. No crime can exist without 3 elements:
mens rea (guilty mind), actus reus (a specific behavior) and attendant circumstances ( a specific relationship between the act and the harm that results).

1. Five characteristics of acts can invoke criminal sanctions:
sufficiency, posssession, status, voluntariness, and omission.

B. Punishments for violations of criminal behavior are based on assessment of the offenders state of mind, including degree of recklessness (conscious disregard for a substantial and unjustifiable risk) and intention (whether the act was carried out knowingly or purposely).

-For an act to be considered a crime, the harm suffered must have occured because of the act, and the act must be the proximate or direct cause of the harm.

IV. What Defenses Against Criminal Charges Does The Law Recognize?

- A defense is based on the claim that the defendant was not sane at the time of the act is referred to as the insanity defense. Although the Model Penal Code proposes a specific test for legal insanity, in practice the determination of insanity is highly subjective. Some states have adopted a finding pf "guilty but mentally ill".

-Defenses involving force are of three types:
Self Defense, Defense of Others, and Defense of Property

- Defenses involving justification or excuse include duress, necessity, mistake of fact, ignorance of law, and entrapment.

-The subjective formulation of the entrapment defense focuses on the defendant's state of mind; the objective formulation focuses on the conduct of police and its potential to cause innocent people to engage in criminal conduct