2. List the four written sources of American criminal
law.
3. U.S. Constitution and constitutions of the states.
Statutes or laws, passed by Congress and by
state legislatures, and local ordinances.
Regulations created by regulatory agencies.
Case law.
4.
5. Explain the two basic functions of criminal law.
6. Protect and Punish: The Legal Function of the Law
Maintain social order by protecting citizens from
criminal harm
Includes harms to both individuals and society in
general
Maintain and Teach: The Social Function of the Law
Expressing public morality
Teaching social boundaries
7. Discuss the primary goals of civil law and criminal
law, and explain how these goals are realized.
8. Civil Law and Criminal Law
◦ Guilt and Responsibility
◦ The Burden of Proof
9. Felonies and Misdemeanors
◦ Degrees of Crime
◦ Types of Manslaughter
◦ Degrees of Misdemeanor
◦ Infractions
10. Explain the differences between crimes mala in se
and mala prohibita.
11. Mala in se – a descriptive term for acts that are
inherently wrong, regardless of whether they are
prohibited by law.
Mala prohibita – a descriptive term for acts that
are made illegal by criminal statute and are not
necessarily wrong in and of themselves.
12. Criminal law normally requires that the corpus
delicti (the body of the crime) be proved before a
person can be convicted of wrongdoing.
Criminal Act - Actus reus
◦ Crimes may be acts of commission, or acts of
omission, or even attempted acts.
13. Delineate the elements required to establish mens
rea (a guilty mental state).
14. A wrongful mental state is as necessary as a
wrongful act in establishing guilt.
Includes elements of purpose, knowledge,
negligence, and recklessness.
15.
16. Questions:
◦ What are the requirements of proving a guilty mental
state?
◦ Should the law provide for lesser punishments in cases
where intent cannot be proven?
17. ◦ Strict Liability – offenses hold the defendant
guilty even if intent to commit the offense is
lacking
◦ Accomplice Liability – suspects can be charged
for crimes they did not actually commit if it can
be proven they acted as an accomplice
◦ Concurrence – there must be concurrence
between the guilty act and the guilty intent
18. ◦ Causation - The criminal act must have caused
the harm suffered.
◦ Attendant Circumstances – facts surrounding an
event that must be proved for the event to be
considered a criminal act.
◦ Harm – damages resultant from the criminal act.
Inchoate offenses are conduct deemed criminal
without actual harm being done.
19. Hate crime laws provide for greater sanctions
against those who commit crimes motivated by
bias based on race, ethnicity, religion, gender,
sexual orientation, disability, or age.
20. List and briefly define the most important excuse
defenses for crimes.
21. Excuse Defenses: Justification Defenses:
These defenses apply These defenses apply
when the actor lacks when the defendant
the requisite mental admits to the criminal
condition to form act, but argues that the
act was justified.
intent.
22. ◦ Infancy - Youthful offenders cannot
understand the consequences of their actions.
◦ Insanity - A person cannot have the state of
mind to commit the crime if s/he didn’t know
the act was wrong, or didn’t understand the
quality of the act.
23. Insanity is determined by:
M’Naughten Rule
◦ A person is insane if they can’t distinguish right from
wrong
ALI/MPC Test
◦ Also known as the substantial capacity test, the
defendant must lack the capacity to appreciate the
wrongfulness of his/her conduct.
Irresistible Impulse Test
◦ A person is insane if some “irresistible impulse” resulting
from a mental deficiency drove him or her to commit the
crime
24.
25. ◦ Intoxication - When the defendant claims that
the taking of intoxicants, either voluntarily or
involuntarily, rendered him/her unable to form
the requisite intent to commit a criminal act.
◦ Mistake
Mistake of Fact
Mistake of Law
26. Describe the four most important justification
criminal defenses.
27. ◦ Duress - The defendant is threatened with
seriously bodily harm, which induces him/her to
commit the crime.
◦ Self-Defense - The legally recognized privilege
to protect one’s self or property from injury by
another
A Reasonable Belief
Duty to retreat
28. ◦ Necessity - Circumstances required the
defendant to commit the act.
◦ Entrapment - The defendant claims (s)he was
induced by police to commit the act.
29.
30.
31. Substantive Criminal Law: Law that defines the
acts that the government will punish.
Procedural Criminal Law: Procedures, drawn from
the Bill of Rights, designed to protect the
constitutional rights of individuals.
32. The Bill of Rights:
◦ The first ten amendments to the U.S. Constitution are
known as the Bill of Rights.
◦ The Bill of Rights was adopted by the states in 1791 -
since then, 17 more amendments have been added.
◦ The Bill of Rights has served as the basis for
procedural safeguards of the accused in the U.S.
33. Procedural safeguards in the U.S.
Constitution include:
◦ Fourth Amendment - provides protection from unreasonable
searches and seizures
◦ Fifth Amendment - requires that no one can be deprived of
life, liberty, or property without “due process of the law,”
including protections against double jeopardy and individuals
being required to be a witness against himself or herself
34. ◦ Sixth Amendment - guarantees a speedy trial, a trial by
jury, a public trial, the right to confront witnesses, and
the right to a lawyer at various stages of criminal
proceedings
◦ Eighth Amendment - prohibits excessive bails, fines,
and cruel and unusual punishments
◦ Fourteenth Amendment - provides due process and
equal protection of the laws
35. Explain the importance of the due process clause
in the criminal justice system.
36. Procedural Due Process – the constitutional
requirement that the law must be carried out in a
fair and orderly manner.
Substantive Due Process – the constitutional
requirement that laws used in accusing and
convicting persons of crimes must be fair.
