Criminal Law: Chapters 1-3. Study Pack. Questions and answers.

Criminal Law: Chapters 1-3. Study Pack. Questions and answers. Document Content and Description Below law - "that which is laid down, ordained, or established...a body of rules of action or conduct prescribed by controlling authority, and having binding legal force" The study of Criminal Law i s a study of... - crime, moral principles, and common law Norm - an unwritten rule that underlies and is inherent in the fabric of society more - an unwritten, but generally known rule that governs serious violations of the social code Criminal law - the body of rules and regulations that defines and specifies punishments for offenses of a public nature or for wrongs committed against the state or society Our definition of a crime - an act prohibited or an omission required by law natural law - the rules of conduct inherent in human nature and in the natural order, which are thought to be knowable though intuition, inspiration, and the exercise of reason without the need to refer to man-made laws positive law - law that is legitimately created and enforced by governments common law - law originating from use and custom rather than from written statutes; term refers to non-statutory customs, traditions, and precedents that help guide judicial decision making tort - the unlawful violation of a private legal right other than a mere breach of contract, express or implied; may also be the violation of a public duty if, as a result of the violation, some special damage accrues to the individualtortfeasor - an individual, business, or other legally recognized entity that commits a tort substantive criminal law - defines crimes and specific punishments procedural criminal law - defines the processes that may be used by law enforcement, prosecutors, victims, and courts to investigate and adjudicate criminal cases felony - a serious crime, generally one punishable by death or by incarceration in a state or federal prison facility as opposed to jail; punishable by one year or more misdemeanor - a minor crime; an offense punishable by incarceration, usually in a local confinement facility, for a period of which the upper limit is prescribed by statute in a given jurisdiction, typically one year or less; punishable by one year or less infraction - a violation of a state statute or local ordinance punishable by a fine or other penalty, but not by incarceration; also known as summary offense mala in se - acts that are regarded, by tradition and convention, as wrong in themselves mala prohibita - acts that are considered "wrongs" only because there is a law against them crime classifications, modern style - property crimes, personal crimes, public order offenses, and moral offenses The Bill of Rights - the first ten amendments to the US Constitution, which were made part of the Constitution in 1791 Case Law - the body of previous decisions, or precedents, that has accumulated over time and to which attorneys refer when arguing cases and that judges use in deciding the merits of new casesstare decisis - "stand by what has been decided" or "let the decision stand"; embodies the idea that cases with like facts should have the same law applied statutory law - law in the form of statutes or formal written codes made by legislatures or governing bodies with the power to make law jurisdiction - the geographic district or subject matter over which the authority of a government body, especially a court, extends the authority of a court to hear and decide and action or lawsuit 3 Branches of Government - Legislative Branch: makes the law Executive Branch: enforces the law Judicial Branch: Interprets the law 3 Essential Element/ Aspects of all crimes - The criminal act (actus reus), A culpable mental state (mens rea), A concurrence of the two Actus reus - guilty act mens rea - guilt mind criminal liability - the degree of blameworthiness assigned to a defendant by a criminal court and the concomitant extent to which the defendant is subject to penalties prescribed by the criminal law concomitant - existing or occurring with something else, accompanying; concurrent: an event and its concomitant circumstances conduct - behavior and its accompanying mental st