California Criminal Lawyers
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A "crime" is any act or omission (of an act) in violation of a public law forbidding or commanding it. Crimes include both felonies (more serious offenses -- like murder or rape) and misdemeanors (like petty theft, or jaywalking). No act is a crime if it has not been previously established as such either by statute or common law.
Historically, most crimes have been established by state law, with laws varying significantly state to state. There is, however, a Model Penal Code (MPC) which serves as a good starting place to gain an understanding of the basic structure of criminal liability.
In recent years the list of Federal crimes has grown.
All statutes describing criminal behavior can be broken down into its various elements. Most crimes (with the exception of strict-liability crimes) consist of two elements: an act, or "actus reus" and a mental state, or "mens rea." Prosecutors have to prove each and every element of the crime to yield a conviction.
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Learn more about Criminal Law
Criminal Law, branch of law that defines crimes, establishes punishments, and regulates the investigation and prosecution of people accused of committing crimes. Criminal law includes both substantive law, which is addressed in this article, and criminal procedure, which regulates the implementation and enforcement of substantive criminal law.
Substantive criminal law defines crime and punishment-for example, what act constitutes murder or what punishment a murderer should receive. On the other hand, criminal procedure is concerned with the legal rules followed and the steps taken to investigate, apprehend, charge, prosecute, convict, and sentence to punishment individuals who violate substantive criminal law. For example, criminal procedure describes how a murder trial must be conducted.
This article discusses criminal law in the context of the common law system, which is found in countries such as England, Canada, and the United States. In the common law system, judges decide cases by referring to principles set forth in previous judicial decisions. Common law systems are typically contrasted with civil law systems, which are found in most Western European countries, much of Latin America and Africa, and parts of Asia. In civil law systems, judges decide cases by referring to statutes, which are enacted by legislatures and compiled in comprehensive books called codes.
In legal systems based on common law, criminal law is distinguished from what is known as civil law. In this context, the term civil law refers to the rules regulating private relationships, such as marriage, contracts, and personal injuries. In contrast, criminal law governs actions and relationships that are deemed to harm society as a whole.
PURPOSE OF CRIMINAL LAW
Criminal law seeks to protect the public from harm by inflicting punishment upon those who have already done harm and by threatening with punishment those who are tempted to do harm. The harm that criminal law aims to prevent varies. It may be physical harm, death, or bodily injury to human beings; the loss of or damage to property; sexual immorality; danger to the government; disturbance of the public peace and order; or injury to the public health. Conduct that threatens to cause, but has not yet caused, a harmful result may be enough to constitute a crime. Thus, criminal law often strives to avoid harm by forbidding conduct that may lead to harmful results.
One purpose of both civil law and criminal law in the common law system is to respond to harmful acts committed by individuals. However, each type of law provides different responses. A person who is injured by the action of another may bring a civil lawsuit against the person who caused the harm. If the victim prevails, the civil law generally provides that the person who caused the injury must pay money damages to compensate for the harm suffered. A person who acts in a way that is considered harmful to society in general may be prosecuted by the government in a criminal case. If the individual is convicted (found guilty) of the crime, he or she will be punished under criminal law by either a fine, imprisonment, or death. In some cases, a person's wrongful and harmful act can invoke both criminal and civil law responses.
THEORIES OF CRIMINAL PUNISHMENT
Various theories have been advanced to justify or explain the goals of criminal punishment, including retribution, deterrence, restraint (or incapacitation), rehabilitation, and restoration. Sometimes punishment advances more than one of these goals. At other times, a punishment may promote one goal and conflict with another.
Retribution: The theory of retribution holds that punishment is imposed on the blameworthy party in order for society to vent its anger toward and exact vengeance upon the criminal. Supporters of this theory look upon punishment not as a tool to deter future crime but as a device for ensuring that offenders pay for past misconduct.
Deterrence: Those who support the deterrence theory believe that if punishment is imposed upon a person who has committed a crime, the pain inflicted will dissuade the offender (and others) from repeating the crime. When the theory refers to the specific offender who committed the crime, it is known as special deterrence. General deterrence describes the effect that punishment has when it serves as a public example or threat that deters people other than the initial offender from committing similar crimes.
Restraint: Some believe that the goal of punishment is restraint. If a criminal is confined, executed, or otherwise incapacitated, such punishment will deny the criminal the ability or opportunity to commit further crimes that harm society.
Rehabilitation: Another possible goal of criminal punishment is rehabilitation of the offender. Supporters of rehabilitation seek to prevent crime by providing offenders with the education and treatment necessary to eliminate criminal tendencies, as well as the skills to become productive members of society.
Restoration: The theory of restoration takes a victim-oriented approach to crime that emphasizes restitution (compensation) for victims. Rather than focus on the punishment of criminals, supporters of this theory advocate restoring the victim and creating constructive roles for victims in the criminal justice process. For example, relatives of a murder victim may be encouraged to testify about the impact of the death when the murderer is sentenced by the court. Promoters of this theory believe that such victim involvement in the process helps repair the harm caused by crime and facilitates community reconciliation.
Conflicts Among Goals: The various justifications for criminal punishment are not mutually exclusive. A particular punishment may advance several goals at the same time. A term of imprisonment, for example, may serve to incapacitate the offender, deter others in society from committing similar acts, and, at the same time, provide an opportunity for rehabilitative treatment for the offender. On the other hand, the goals of punishment may at times conflict. The retributive and deterrence theories call for the infliction of unpleasant experiences upon the criminal, including harsh prison treatment; but the prison environment may not be conducive to, or may even defeat, rehabilitation.
No one theory of punishment addresses all the goals of criminal law. A combination of theories and goals plays a part in the thinking of the legislators who establish the ranges of punishment for various crimes, the judges and jurors who sentence offenders within these ranges, and the parole authorities who have the power to release certain prisoners.
CLASSIFICATION OF CRIMES
Crimes are classified in many different ways: common law crimes versus statutory crimes, and crimes that are mala in se (evil in themselves) versus those that are mala prohibita (criminal only because the law says so). An important classification is the division of crimes into felonies or misdemeanors. This distinction is based on the severity of the crime and is rooted in common law.
In many jurisdictions in the United States, felonies are crimes punishable by death or imprisonment in a state prison or penitentiary and misdemeanors are those punishable by fine or imprisonment in a local jail. (The term jurisdiction refers to the authority of a political entity, such as a state or a county, or the territory over which that authority is exercised.) In other jurisdictions, crimes punishable by imprisonment for one year or more are felonies, and those punishable by fine or imprisonment for less than one year are misdemeanors. Since each jurisdiction determines the penalties for offenses it defines, a misdemeanor in one jurisdiction may constitute a felony in another. Some jurisdictions have an additional classification for petty offenses, also called infractions, which are usually punishable by a small fine.
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The following are reportable crimes and their (UCR) definitions are listed below:
Murder/ Non-Negligent Manslaughter: the willful (non-negligent) killing of one human being by another. NOTE: Deaths caused by negligence, attempts to kill, assaults to kill, suicide, accidental deaths, and justifiable homicides are excluded.
Negligent Manslaughter: the killing of another person through gross negligence.
Sex Offenses-Forcible: Any sexual act directed against another person, forcibly and/or against that person's will: or not forcibly or against the person's will where the victim is incapable of giving consent.
a. Forcible Rape is the carnal knowledge of a person, forcibly and/or against the person's will; or not forcibly or against the person's where the victim is incapable of giving consent because of his/her temporary or permanent mental or physical incapacity (or because of his/her youth).
b. Forcible Sodomy is oral or anal sexual intercourse with another person, forcibly and/or against that person's will; or not forcibly and/or against the person's will where the victim is incapable of giving consent because of his/her youth or because of his/her temporary or permanent mental or physical incapacity.
c. Sexual Assault With An Object is the use of an object or instrument to unlawfully penetrate, however slightly, the genital or anal opening of the body of another person, forcibly and/or against that person's will; or against the person's will where the victim is incapable of giving consent because of his/her temporary or permanent mental or physical incapacity.
d. Forcible Fondling is the touching of the private parts of another person for the purpose of sexual gratification, forcibly and/or against that person's will; or, not forcibly and/or against the person's will where the victim is incapable of giving consent because of his/her youth or because of his/her temporary or permanent mental or physical incapacity.
Sex Offenses-Non-Forcible: Unlawful, non-forcible sexual intercourse (limited to Incest and Statutory Rape)
a. Incest is the non-forcible sexual intercourse between persons who are related to each other within the degrees wherein marriage is prohibited by law.
b. Statutory Rape is the non-forcible sexual intercourse with a person who is under the statutory age of consent.
Robbery: The taking or attempting to take anything of value of the care, custody or control of a person or persons by force or threat of force or violence and/or by putting the victim in fear.
Aggravated Assault: An unlawful attack by one person upon another for the purpose of inflicting severe or aggravated bodily injury. This type of assault is usually accompanied by the use of a weapon or by mean likely to produce death or great bodily harm. It is not necessary that injury resulted from an aggravated assault when a gun, knife or other weapon is used which could or probably would result in a serious potential injury if the crime were successfully completed.
Burglary: The unlawful entry of a structure to commit a felony or a theft. For reporting purposes this definition includes: unlawful entry with intent to commit a larceny or a felony; breaking and entering with the intent to commit a larceny; housebreaking; safecracking; and all attempts to commit any of the aforementioned.
Motor Vehicle Theft: The theft or attempted theft of a motor vehicle. (Classify as motor vehicle theft all cases where automobiles are taken by persons not having lawful access, even though the vehicles are later abandoned- including joy riding).
Arson: The willful or malicious burning or attempt to burn with or without intent to defraud a dwelling house, public building, motor vehicle or aircraft, or personal property of another kind.
Along with the above listed crimes it is a requirement to report arrests and campus disciplinary referrals for the following offenses:
Liquor Law Violations: The violation of laws or ordinance prohibiting the manufacture, sale, transportation, furnishing, possessing of intoxicating liquor; maintaining unlawful drinking places; bootlegging; operating a still; furnishing liquor to a minor or intemperate person; using a vehicle for illegal transportation of liquor; drinking on a train or public conveyance; all attempts to commit any of the aforementioned. (Drunkenness and driving under the influence are not included in this definition.)
Drug Abuse Violations: Violations of state and local laws relating to the unlawful possession, sale, use, manufacturing, and making of narcotic drugs. The relevant substances include opium or cocaine and their derivatives; morphine, heroin, codeine; marijuana; synthetic narcotics (Demerol, Methadone); and dangerous non-narcotic drugs (Barbiturates, Benzedrine).
Weapon Law Violations: The violation of laws or ordinances dealing with weapon offenses, regulatory in nature, such as; manufacture, sale, or possession of deadly weapons; carrying deadly weapons, concealed or openly; furnishing deadly weapons to minor; alien possessing weapons and all attempts of the aforementioned.
Murder
The willful (non-negligent) killing of one human being by another.
Manslaughter
The killing of another person through gross negligence.
Sex Offense - Forcible
Any sexual act directed against another person, forcibly and/or against that person's will; or not forcibly or against the person's will where the victim is incapable of giving consent. Comprises forcible rape, forcible sodomy (oral or anal), sexual assault with an object, forcible fondling.
Sex Offense - Non-forcible
Unlawful, non-forcible sexual intercourse. Comprises incest and statutory rape only.
Robbery
The taking or attempting to take anything of value from the care, custody, or control of a person or persons by force or threat of force or violence and/or by putting the victim in fear.
Aggravated Assault
An unlawful attack by one person upon another for the purpose of inflicting severe or aggravated bodily injury. This type of assault usually is accompanied by the use of a weapon or by means likely to produce death or great bodily harm. (It is not necessary that injury result from an aggravated assault when a gun, knife, or other weapon is used which could and probably would result in serious personal injury if the crime were successfully completed.)
Burglary
The unlawful entry of a structure to commit a felony or a theft. For reporting purposes this definition includes: unlawful entry with intent to commit a larceny or felony; breaking and entering with intent to commit a larceny; housebreaking; safecracking; and all attempts to commit any of the aforementioned.
Motor Vehicle Theft
The theft or attempted theft of a motor vehicle. (Includes all cases where automobiles are taken by persons not having lawful access even though the vehicles are later abandoned, including joyriding.
Arson
Any willful or malicious burning or attempt to burn, with or without intent to defraud, a dwelling house, public building, motor vehicle or aircraft, personal property of another, etc.
Hate Crime
Any crime listed above, and any other crime involving bodily injury, that manifests evidence that the victim was intentionally selected because of the victim's actual or perceived race, gender, religion, sexual orientation, ethnicity, or disability.
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