Nature of the Criminal Law

1
Nature of the Criminal Law

• A. Foundations of the Criminal Law
• B. Sources of the Criminal Law
• C. Legal definitions of crime
• D. The Nature of Crime
• E. Characteristics of Criminal Acts
• F. Defenses against Criminal Responsibility

2
Foundations of the Criminal Law

• 1. Substantive criminal law
• 2. Procedural criminal law
• 3. Consensus View
• 4. Conflict View

3
Sources of the Criminal Law

• 1. Common Law
• 2. Federal and State Constitutions
• 3. Case Law
• 4. Administrative Regulations

4
Legal Definition

• Tappan an intentional act or omission in
  violation of criminal law (statutory and case
  law), committed without justification, and
  sanctioned by the state as a felony or
  misdemeanor. Paul W. Tappan (1960) Crime,
  Justice, and Correction. New York McGraw-Hill,
  p. 10.
• This leads to the nature of crime and
  characteristics of the criminal act

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The Nature of Crime

• 1. Mens Rea the guilty or conscious decision
  to commit a criminal act criminal intent
• 2. Actus Reus the behavior that must be
  committed to meet the definition of a crime
  action
• 3. Attendant Circumstances a link or
  relationship between the act and the harm that
  results
• a. Some homicides are justifiable
• b. Some assaults are justifiable

6
Characteristics of Criminal Acts

• 1. Sufficiency is that which is observed
  sufficient to confirm the existence of a guilty
  mind
• 2. Possession this alone is sufficient to
  fulfill the act requirement
• a. Constructive a condition in which a person
  has the opportunity to exercise control over an
  object
• b. Actual possession a condition in which a
  person has exclusive control over an object
• 3. Status one cannot be criminally punished
  for ones particular status, i.e., drug addiction
• 4. Omissions Sometimes an omission satisfies
  the act requirement failure in some legal duty
• 5. Voluntariness act must be of ones free
  will must be knowingly done

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State of Mind Requirement

• 1. Recklessness conscious disregard of a
  substantial and unjustifiable risk
• 2. Intention conduct that is carried out
  knowingly or purposefully deliberation

8
Causation Requirement

• 1. An act must be shown to be the proximate
  cause of the particular harm suffered
• 2. A connection between the act and the harm
• X gt Y

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Defenses Against Criminal Responsibility

• 1. Entrapment predisposition of the accused
• 2. Self-Defense level of necessary force
• 3. Necessity prison escapes
• 4. Duress
• 5. Mistake of fact of law
• 6. Intoxication seldom successful
• 7. Insanity

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Procedural Criminal Law

• 1. Accused persons in criminal cases must be
  accorded certain rights and protections in
  keeping with the adversarial nature of the
  proceeding and they must be tried according to
  legally established procedures. George F. Cole
  (1995) The American System of Criminal Justice,
  7thg Edition. Belmont, California Wadsworth
  Publishing., p. 115.
• 2. Due Process and the Bill of Rights
• 3. The Supreme Court and Selective Incorporation
• 4. Due Process Today