CONTRIBUTIONS

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II.

• CONTRIBUTIONS
• OF THE
• CLASSICAL SCHOOL

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A. Introduction

• 1, What is crime?
• a. (def) a positive OR negative
  act or omission
• prohibited by law,
  and in violation of the
• penal code, committed
  by anyone who is
• held responsible /
  accountable by that law.
• b. crime is that which arouses
  our indignation
• (Pound, 1930)
• c. defining crime leads to public
  policy decisions on
• how, who, and why social
  control will be imposed
• 2. a short history of crime creation,
  who/what?

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• a. rise of the city-state
• gt Rome / Athens crime by
  proclamation
• b. church-based definitions
• 1) demonic possession
• 2) dramatization of evil
• c. rise of republicanism
• gt in the last (20th) century
• a) Holocaust
• b) genocide across the
  globe

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• 3. an example
• gt MURDER
• 1) (def) the UNLAWFUL killing
  of a human being
• by another with
  malice aforethought
• either expressed
  or implied
• 2) Qs Is the killing of
  another moral or immoral?
• Does morality have
  anything to do with
• crime
  commission or creation?
• 4. the notion of harm
• gt mala in se v mala prohibitum
• 5. how should crime be examined?
• a. in science, an entity must be
  measured

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• gt what is the Dark Figure
• 6. what is criminology?
• 7. what is criminal justice?
• B. Is Crime a Problem?
• 1. how significant?
• 2. is there a solution?
• 3. traditional social responses
• gt detection, prediction, awareness,
  coercion

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• 4. A Crime Solution Model
• Criminological Criminal
  Justice
• Questions Questions

CRIME
Why Who Where What
Who Why Where When How Now what
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C. Preliminary Crime Thought

• 1. Classical School and Modern Legal
  Definitions
• a. 1600s through 1700s
• 1) emergence of state rule
  over the church
• 2) recognition that
  prevailing justice systems were
• cruel, capricious, and
  arbitrary
• 3) fair / just systems of
  prosecution / punishment
• were needed
• 4) underlying premise
  offenders have the ability
• to reason and make
  rational decisions knowing
• the consequences of
  their actions

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• 5) crime control requires
  clear definitions /
• explanations of
  offenses, minimal judicial
• discretion, and quick /
  certain punishments
• 6) crime cannot exist
  without law, and law must
• be based on injury /
  harm to the individual
• and society
• 2. contributors
• a. Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679)
• 1) a society of fear
• 2) the social contract

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• b. Jeremy Bentham (1748-1832)
• 1) utilitarianism
• 2) pleasure-pain principle
• 3) the panopticon

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• c. Cesare Beccaria (1738-1794)
• On Crimes and Punishment
  (1809)
• 1) crime as law must reflect
  the will of the State
• 2) crime must be based on
  categories of harm
• a) most serious
  crimes against the state
• b) most prevalent
  crimes that injure / affect
• the
  security of and / or the property of
• 
  individuals
• c) most recognized
  crimes that affect the
• public
  peace

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• 3) punishment must be
  fixed and proportionate
• gt solely intended
  to prevent future criminal
• behavior
• 4) punishment itself must
  not be a violent act
• a) it must be public
• b) it must be the
  least intrusive possibility
• 5) execution should never
  be an option

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• 3. contributions of the Classical
  School to contemporary
• criminal justice
• a) stare decisis let the
  decision stand
• 1) an act cannot be held
  criminal unless it has
• previously be adjudicated
  illegal
• 2) case law precedence
• b) res judicata a thing has
  been decided
• gt double jeopardy provision
• c) immorality of cruel and unusual
  punishment
• d) importance of due process
• e) need for just deserts

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• f) philosophy of the
  presumption of innocence
• g) advocacy of incarceration as
  punishment
• h) harshness of life
  imprisonment
• i) fatuousness of capital
  punishment
• 4. enduring legacy
• a) deterrence theory
• b) rational choice
• c) free-will

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D. Conclusion

• 1. all crime definitions are variable
  and derive from the
• social, cultural, political, and
  historical orientations of
• their creation
• 2. all crime definitions are value
  laden and biased
• a. they always reflect the bias
  found in society
• b. this bias must be recognized
  and acknowledged
• c. crime, like law varies through
  time and space
• d. for crime studies, legal
  definitions are an adequate
• starting point, but are
  deficient for critical analysis
• 3. recognition that people sought law
  and order