CRIMINAL JUSTICE AND THE RULE OF LAW

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CRIMINAL JUSTICE AND THE RULE OF LAW

• Substantive Law
• Procedural Law

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Criminal Law and Tort (Civil) Law - Differences

• Tort Law
• Tort law is a civil or private wrong.
• Sanction is monetary damages.
• The individual brings the action.

• Criminal Law
• Crime is a public offense.
• Sanction is incarceration or death.
• Right of enforcement belongs to the state.

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Criminal Law and Tort (Civil) Law - Similarities

• Both seek to control behavior.
• Both impose sanctions.
• Similar areas of legal action exist

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Sources of Criminal Law
Common Law
Constitutional Law
Statutory Law
Administrative Law
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Common Law Origins
Formal law in the colonies was adopted from
existing English law, which today is known as
common law.
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Principles of Common Law
Actus Reus
Legality
Causation
Mens Rea
Harm
Concurrence
Punishment
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Elements of a Crime

• Actus Rea
• Mens Rea
• Attendant circumstances
• Burglary example

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Elements of a Crime - Burglary
A person is guilty of burglary if he enters a
building or occupied structure, or separate
secured or occupied portion thereof actus rea,
with intent to commit a crime therein mens rea,
unless the premises are at the time open to the
public or the actor is licensed or privileged to
enter attendant circumstances.
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Statutory Definitions of Crimes

• Statutory definition of crimes vary from state to
  state
• Statutory interpretation NYPC example

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Statutory Interpretation
A person is guilty of murder when Under
circumstances evincing a depraved indifference to
human life, he or she recklessly engages in
conduct that creates a grave risk of death to
another person, and thereby causes the death of
that person. New York Penal Code
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Fact Scenario for Statutory Interpretation

• The defendant, Smith, was drinking on a winter
  evening with the victim, Jones. The bartender
  says that Jones was in an intoxicated condition
  and was flashing 100 bills when he left the bar
  with Smith at about 9 pm.
• Smith admits that he drove Jones out of town
  robbed him took his clothes and glasses and
  left him on a rural dirt road. The temperature
  was near zero, and visibility was obscured by
  blowing snow.
• At about 10 pm Davis was traveling in his pickup
  truck at approximately 50 mph. As he drove over a
  rise in the road, he spotted a naked man standing
  in the middle of the road, but didnt have time
  to react before his truck struck Jones. The
  coroner ruled that Jones died of a massive head
  injury and that his blood alcohol level was proof
  of a high degree of intoxication.

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Responsibility for Criminal Acts Affirmative
Defenses

• Entrapment
• Self-Defense
• Necessity
• Duress (Coercion)

• Immaturity
• Mistake
• Intoxication
• Insanity

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Insanity Defense

• Controversial
• Rarely used
• Varying rules

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Insanity Defense Rules

• MNaghten (1843) Didnt know what he was doing
  or didnt know it was wrong
• Irresistible Impulse (1897) Could not control
  his conduct
• Durham (1954) The criminal act was caused by
  his mental illness
• Model Penal Code (1972) Lacks substantial
  capacity to appreciate the wrongfulness of his
  conduct or to control it
• Present Federal law Lacks capacity to
  appreciate the wrongfulness of his conduct

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State Standards for Insanity Defense
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Quick Quiz Criminal Law

• 1) ___ may be used with reasonable force to
  protect against criminal attacks.
• Self Defense
• 2) ___ is the body of rules that regulate conduct
  between individuals in their relationships.
• Civil law
• 3) ___ is the intent element of a crime
• Mens Rea
• 4) ___ is a defense when someone physically
  forces someone else to commit a crime.
• Duress (coercion)
• 5) ___ permits the assignment of criminal
  responsibility without a showing of criminal
  intent
• Strict liability
• 6) ___ is the necessary relationship in criminal
  law between an action and a harm
• Causation

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Criminal Procedural Law

• Origins
• Bill of Rights
• 14th Amendment Due Process
• Incorporation
• 4th , 5th, 6th, and 8th amendment rights

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Magna Carta 13th Century England
Im being oppressed!! Youre oppressing me!!
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• Constitution (1787) didnt originally contain a
  statement of rights
• Bill of Rights(1st ten amendments) added later
  (1791)
• Criminal Justice primarily impacted by 4th,
  5th, 6th, and 8th Amendments

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(No Transcript)
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William Rehnquist 1986-present
Earl Warren 1953-1969
Warren Burger 1969-1986
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Fourth Amendment Unreasonable Search Seizure

• What is unreasonable?
• Exclusionary rule
• Weeks (1914)
• Mapp (1961)
• Leon (1984)

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Fifth Amendment Self-Incrimination and Double
Jeopardy

• Self-Incrimination
• Miranda (1966)
• Double Jeopardy
• Separate sovereignty doctrine
• Also, right to grand jury and general due process

I should have paid attention in Yates class
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Sixth Amendment Right to Counsel and Fair Trial

• Right to Counsel
• Right to Trial by Jury
• Right to Confront Witnesses Against You
• Jury issues

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Eighth Amendment

• No excessive bail or fines
• Preventive detention is OK
• Forfeiture must be reasonable
• No cruel or unusual punishment Death Penalty
• 1972 Furman says its unconstitutional as applied
  
• 1976 Gregg says OK
• 1987 McCleskey says specific proof of racial bias
  required
• 2002 Atkins says execution of mentally retarded
  unconstitutional

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Quick Quiz Criminal Procedure

• 1) ___ is the portion of the Constitution used by
  the Supreme Court to apply rights against
  infringement by states
• Fourteenth Amendment
• 2) ___ is the process by which the Supreme Court
  applied provisions of the Bill of Rights to the
  states
• Incorporation (doctrine)
• 3) ___ prevents the use of torture and mutilation
  as punishment
• Eighth Amendment (prohibiting cruel unusual
  punishment)
• 4) ___ provides a right against double jeopardy
• Fifth Amendment
• 5) ___ is the constitutional provision that seeks
  to make people feel secure against unwarranted
  intrusions into their homes and property
• Fourth Amendment
• 6) ___ affects the evidence when police violate
  defendants Constitutional rights
• Exclusionary rule