CHAPTER TWO FOUNDATIONS AND FUNCTIONS OF LAW Legislative

CHAPTER TWO FOUNDATIONS AND FUNCTIONS OF LAW

Legislative Role § Provides funding for criminal justice agencies § Creates criminal laws § Determines sentencing guidelines

The Development of Law § Pre-Historical Era (Earliest History-2000 B. C. ) § Societies based upon clans, tribes, or kinship § Customary Laws based upon social norms § Informal but effective law enforcement § Chiefs or elders served as judges § Use of Irrational justice § Reliance on religious, ethical, and mystical considerations

The Development of Law § Early Historical Era (2000 B. C. -1000 A. D. ) § Development of Written Codes § Egyptians, Babylonians, Hebrews § Greeks and Romans § Significance of Early Historical Legal Systems § § Establishment of written codes Emergence of different roles in the legal system Great Influence on the legal systems of Europe and the U. S. Influence of Canon Law (church law) on legal systems

The Development of Law § Modern Era (1000 A. D. -Present) § Renaissance (1300 s to 1600 s) § Age of Enlightenment (1700 s) § Reemergence of natural law § § Belief that there is a divine source of law higher than any other Absolute and unchangeable law that is applicable to all people

Typologies of Law § Penal Law § Criminal actions that a society prohibits § Compensatory Law § Civil law dispute among private individuals § Therapeutic Law § Focus on helping and treating an offender’s criminal behavior § Conciliatory Law § Focus on resolving conflict and providing a winning outcome for both parties

Civil Law Legal Systems § § § Code law systems Developed from Roman and Napoleonic Codes Features § § § No judge-made law Emphasis on the rights of the victimized community All laws are written in a complete code Inquisitorial legal system Decisions by judicial panels

Common Law Legal Systems § Broad ruling documents are interpreted by judicial review § Judicial rulings are considered a source of law § Emphasis on the rights of the accused § Adversarial legal system § Decisions by juries

Civil and Criminal Law § Civil Law § § § Disputes between private parties (plaintiff and defendant) Standard of persuasion is Preponderance of the Evidence Both parties may be at fault (contributory negligence) Attorneys may represent a client on a contingency fee Sanctions include monetary damages and injunctions Criminal Law § Offenses against society (prosecutor brings the case on behalf of the government § Standard of persuasion is Beyond a Reasonable Doubt § Defendant has the right to counsel § Sanctions include fines, probation, or jail/prison time

Substantive and Procedural Law § Substantive Law § Defines the acts that are crimes § Defines the penalties for criminal acts § Procedural Law § Defines how a case must be processed § § § Attorney appointment Jury selection Evidence admissibility Criminal investigation Sentencing

Sources of Law § Common Law § Based upon a community’s norms and values § Applied through stare decisis, or application of prior judicial rulings to similar cases § Constitutional Law § All other laws must comport with the U. S. Constitution § State laws must also comport with that state’s Constitution § Constitutionality determined by appellate judges

Sources of Law § Statutory Law § Written laws enacted by legislative bodies § Encompasses almost all U. S. criminal laws § Case Law § Judges create law by deciding constitutional law issues § Judicial policymaking § Administrative Law § Federal and state agency regulations have the force of law § Published in the Federal Register

Crime Classifications § Degree of Evilness § Mala in se: action that is evil in and of itself § Mala prohibita: action that is wrong because of a law prohibiting it § Offense Seriousness § Felonies § most serious offenses § include possibility of imprisonment for over one year § Misdemeanors § lesser offenses § include possibility of imprisonment for less that one year § Petty Misdemeanors § potential sentence of fines only

Elements of a Crime Corpus delicti: “body of a crime” § Mens rea § Criminal intent or motivation § Actus reus § Criminal act § Does not always have to be completed § Concurrence § Mens rea and actus reus must be present at the same time § Defendant must have criminal intent and must act upon that intent

Inchoate Offenses § Conspiracy § Two or more people form an agreement to commit a crime, and § commit an overt act toward the completion of the crime § Solicitation § One person tries to persuade another to commit a crime on their behalf § Attempt § A crime is started, but is not completed

Defenses to Crime § Justification Defenses § The defendant’s actions were not legally wrong § Excuse Defenses § The defendant’s actions were legally wrong, but an extenuating circumstance excuses the action

Justification Defenses § Self-defense § A person may use necessary force in an attack § The person cannot be the initial aggressor § Necessity § A person may commit a criminal act to save himself from forces of nature § Example: hikers break into a cabin to save themselves from death in a snowstorm

§ Duress Excuse Defenses § A person commits a crime due to threat of bodily harm § Entrapment § A person commits a crime that was initiated by another person § The person who committed the crime would not have done so otherwise § Infancy § A person who committed a crime was too young to form criminal intent § Minimum age is set by statute § Insanity § A person was unable to form criminal intent due to mental illness § Intoxication § A person was unable to form criminal intent due to involuntary intoxication § Alibi § A person could not have committed a crime because they were somewhere else

Types of Crime § Classified by the FBI’s Uniform Crime Reports § Crimes against Persons § Crimes against Property § Crimes against Public Order § Other Offenses

Crimes Against Persons § Aggravated Assault § Murder and Nonnegligent Manslaughter § Forcible Rape § Robbery

Crimes Against Property § Larceny/Theft § Burglary § Motor Vehicle Theft § Arson

Crimes Against Public Order § § § § Breach of the Peace Fighting/Affray Disorderly Conduct Public Drunkenness Unlawful Assembly Carrying Weapons Obstructing Traffic Animal Abuse

Other Offenses § Crimes against Public Welfare § Crimes against Public Morality § White Collar/Corporate Crimes § Modern Crimes § Crimes Against the Government