Summary
A crime is action or inaction in violation of a criminal law. Criminal laws vary from state to state and from state to federal.
The study of criminal law defines crimes and defenses to crimes. The study of criminal procedure focuses on the enforcement of rights by individuals while submitting to government investigation, arrest, interrogation, trial, and appeal.
A civil lawsuit or civil litigation matter resolves a dispute between individuals, called a plaintiff (the injured party) and defendant (the alleged wrongdoer). Every civil litigation matter includes a victim (the plaintiff), which has suffered harm. The goal of the civil litigation matter is to compensate the plaintiff for injury. The court can compensate the plaintiff by awarding money, which is called damages. Both parties in a civil litigation matter must represent themselves or hire private attorneys.
A criminal prosecution takes place when the government, represented by a prosecutor, takes legal action against the defendant (the alleged wrongdoer) for committing a crime. Some criminal prosecutions do not include a victim, or harm, because the goal of the criminal prosecution is punishment, not compensation. Every criminal prosecution involves the government, so the US and state constitutions provide the criminal defendant with extra protections not present in a civil lawsuit, such as free counsel when the defendant is indigent and facing incarceration.
Crimes can be classified according to the severity of punishment. The most serious crimes with the entire range of sentencing options available are felonies. Misdemeanors are less serious than felonies and have less severe sentencing options. Felony-misdemeanors can be prosecuted and punished as a felony or a misdemeanor, depending on the circumstances. Infractions, also called violations, are the least serious crimes and generally do not involve incarceration. The purposes of punishing a criminal defendant are both specific and general deterrence, incapacitation, rehabilitation, retribution, and restitution.
Law comes from three sources: the Constitution, a statute, or a case. The Constitution is the highest source of law but is only applicable when there is government action. Statutory law applies to individuals but is inferior to constitutional law. Case law is law made by judges when they rule on the facts of a case. Although case law is technically inferior to statutory law, judges must interpret statutes and the Constitution, so case law can be the most powerful source of law. When a case invalidates a statute as unconstitutional, this action is called judicial review. Case law stays consistent because judges follow previous court decisions, called precedent. This policy, called stare decisis, lends predictability to case law but is not absolute, and courts can deviate from it to update the law.
You Be the Lawyer
Read the prompt, review the case, and then decide whether you would accept or reject the case if you were the lawyer. Check your answers using the answer key at the end of the chapter.
- You are an expert in criminal law, not civil litigation. Would you accept or reject this case? Read Cetacean Community v. Bush, 386 F.3d 1169 (9th Cir. 2004). The case is available at this link: http://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=14748284771413043760&hl=en&as_sdt=2&as_vis=1&oi=scholarr.
- You are an expert in criminal law, not criminal procedure. Would you accept or reject this case? Read People v. Wrotten, 2010 N.Y. Slip Op 04501 (2010). The case is available at this link: http://law.justia.com/cases/new-york/appellate-division-first-department/2010/2010-04501.html
- You are an expert in constitutional law. Would you accept or reject this case? Read Wilson v. Layne, 526 U.S. 603 (1999). The case is available at this link: http://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/98-83.ZS.html.
- Reread question 3. Change your expertise to constitutional law as it applies to criminal prosecutions. Would you accept or reject the Wilson case?
Cases of Interest
- Padilla v. Gonzales, 397 F.3d 1016 (2005), discusses malum in se and malum prohibitum crimes: http://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=5187582705718052419&q= malum+in+se+ malum+in+prohibitum&hl=en&as_sdt=2,5&as_ylo=2004&as_vis=1.
- Rogers v. Tennessee, 532 U.S. 451 (2001), discusses a state’s ability to create a common-law crime: http://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/99-6218.ZS.html.
- Roe v. Wade, 410 U.S. 113 (1973), is the case in which the US Supreme Court invalidates a state statute criminalizing abortion: http://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/historics/USSC_CR_0410_0113_ZO.html.
Articles of Interest
- Model Penal Code: http://legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/Model+Penal+Code
- Stare decisis: http://civilliberty.about.com/od/historyprofiles/g/stare_decisis.htm
Websites of Interest
- Federal criminal statutes: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/18
- State criminal statutes: http://www.legallawhelp.com/state_law/
- Government agencies in alphabetical order: https://www.usa.gov/federal-agencies/a
- Complete federal Constitution: http://topics.law.cornell.edu/constitution
- State constitutions: http://www.thegreenpapers.com/slg/links.phtml
Statistics of Interest
- State prosecutors in the United States: http://bjs.ojp.usdoj.gov/index.cfm?ty=pbse&sid=9
- Felony convictions in the US state courts: http://bjs.ojp.usdoj.gov/index.cfm?ty=pbdetail&iid=2152
- Estimated crime statistics in the United States: http://www.ucrdatatool.gov/Search/Crime/State/RunCrimeStatebyState.cfm
References
Shaw v. Murphy, 532 U.S. 223, 229 (2001), accessed October 4, 2010, http://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=9536800826824133166&hl=en&as_sdt=2&as_vis=1&oi=scholarr.
