Articles /
General / Criminal Law
Here are the most recently submitted articles for Criminal Law Articles and its subcategories. You can also submit an article for inclusion in our listings.
|
|
|
|
|
Criminal Law - Domestic Violence - Drugs - DUI / DWI - Fraud - Probation & Parole |
Strict Liability
Author: Evan Bailyn
One of the underlying precepts of criminal law is a Latin maxim that holds 'there can be no guilt without a guilty mind'. The offender must have knowledge of his act and intent. The Latin term for "guilty mind" is mens rea.
Statute of Limitations
Author: Evan Bailyn
There was no statute of limitations in common law. It is a statutory creation and is not drawn from an individual's inherent rights but from "legislative grace." In a criminal matter, the statute can be asserted at any time before or after judgment.
Parties to a Crime
Author: Evan Bailyn
Common law gave broad definition to parties to a felony as follows:
• Principal in the first degree - he engaged in the felonious conduct;
• Principal in the second degree - he was present, aided and abetted its commission;
• Accessory before the fact - he was not present but aided and abetted prior to the commission of the felony;
• Accessory after the fact - he was not present but aided thereafter in order to protect the principal(s)
Omission or Inaction
Author: Evan Bailyn
Liability for most crimes is based on the performance of an act. But it may also be based upon an omission, which is defined as a failure to act when there is a "legal" duty to act. Involuntary manslaughter has been found to be such a crime.
Morality and Criminal Law
Author: Evan Bailyn
Criminal law does not attempt to impose the standards of any particular religion, philosophy or school of ethics. It is fair to expect a country founded on the principal of religious freedom to maintain a legal system untainted by the doctrines of any particular philosophical, ethical or spiritual viewpoint.
Mayhem Defined
Author: Evan Bailyn
Under early common law mayhem was limited to injuries affecting limbs or members of the body that were used for fighting. The usage could be either assault or defensive; the theory behind the crime was that it was an offense which deprived the King of the aid and assistance of his subjects, in times of critical need.
Kidnapping & False Imprisonment
Author: Evan Bailyn
Common law held that kidnapping meant forcible abduction of a person and sending him to another country. It may be interpreted as an aggravated form of false imprisonment, since in incorporates that crime with taking the victim out of his own county, thus removing the victim from the protection of his own laws.
Intoxication and Criminal Acts
Author: Evan Bailyn
Intoxication is defined as an impairment of mental or physical capacity as a result of the consumption of alcohol, drugs or some other substance. In most criminal cases, the abused substance is alcohol. It typically blunts perception, judgment and control and may lead to aggressive and anti-social behavior.
Insanity and Diminished Capacity
Author: Evan Bailyn
There is an inherent conflict among medical and legal professionals over the definition and use of the term "insanity." In the courtroom, what is required is a yardstick by which the accused may be deemed responsible for his act or should not be held criminally responsible due to insanity.
Insanity Tests Part Two
Author: Evan Bailyn
The Durham Rule
In 1954 The Court of Appeals for The District of Columbia heard the case of Durham v United States. The court authored a new insanity test (the Durham Rule): "It is simply that the accused is not criminally responsible if his unlawful act was the product of mental disease or mental defect."
Insanity Tests Part One
Author: Evan Bailyn
History
The development of a penal code rests on the traditional criminal law test "a mens rea." This term is lifted from a Latin phrase and translates into "guilty mind;" implying mental capacity and some sort of intent must be present for an individual to be guilty of an act.
Infancy, Youth, and Juvenile Court
Author: Evan Bailyn
Under common law, a child under the age of seven is incapable of entertaining the mental state required to commit a crime. A child between seven and fourteen is also presumed to be incapable, but this presumption is rebuttable. A child over fourteen is presumed to be capable of criminal behavior.
Immunity
Author: Evan Bailyn
Immunity statutes are in place in every state and in the federal jurisdiction; their constitutionality has been upheld many times. A witness who has been provided sufficient immunity cannot refuse to testify on the ground of self-incrimination or because he will be exposed to ridicule and disgrace.
Homicide
Author: Evan Bailyn
Homicide is usually defined as the killing of one human being by another. This is a killing that is not justifiable or excusable, and it is considered unlawful. It may also be termed as "murder, voluntary manslaughter or involuntary manslaughter.
What are the Differences?
Double Jeopardy and Former Jeopardy
Author: Evan Bailyn
It was recognized in common law that a man should not be put in jeopardy -that is, prosecuted in some fashion - more than once for the same offense. The Fifth Amendment set the notion into the form of constitutional protection by providing that no person shall "be subject for the same offence to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb."
Felony Murder or Constructive Malice
Author: Evan Bailyn
Common law holds that if an unintended homicide occurs during the course of a felony act, the perpetrator is guilty of murder. This is the doctrine of felony-murder, also known as the doctrine of "constructive malice." The precept developed in English law, tying an accidental homicide to an unrelated criminal act.
Entrapment
Author: Evan Bailyn
Traps and Entrapment
Some crimes are for practical purposes "victimless". This means that the criminal acts are not exposed through complaints from a victim. These are generally offenses such as gambling, prostitution and drug transactions. The police must take planned actions in order to expose and arrest individuals who are involved in these activities.
Duress and Coercion
Author: Evan Bailyn
If a person physically manipulates the hand of another person in such a way as to cause commission of a crime, the latter party is guilty of no crime because he has performed no act. If, however, a person is threatened with harm unless he acts and a crime is therefore committed, the party coerced has committed a crime, although not of his free will.
Deterrence
Author: Evan Bailyn
Deterrence has become a part of the theoretical landscape in the criminal justice field. The notion is that the punishment meted out for a crime will act as a deterrent; will motivate potential violators to balance the anticipated gains of committing a crime against the unpleasantries associated with being caught and found guilty.
Corporations and Crime
Author: Evan Bailyn
Early common law held that corporations were incapable of crimes; they had no innate mental capacity and could not be punished. Today, a corporation is in fact capable of committing a crime and being punished for it. Generally, corporate liability is defined by statute.
|
| More Criminal Law Articles --> |