Are you looking this product? Now you can get product in eBook Format,just following step by step until finish you will be guided downloading this book for free, Enjoy it.
If you are interested in the study of crime or criminal law, this article will outline the basics. This process is both complicated, and interesting.
The term criminal law generally refers to substantive criminal laws. Substantive laws define crimes and may establish punishments.
In contrast, procedures describes the process through which the criminal laws are enforced. For example, the law prohibiting murder is a substantive criminal law.
The manner in which government enforces this-through the gathering of evidence and prosecution-is generally considered a procedural matter. Crimes are usually categorized as felonies or misdemeanors based on their nature and the maximum punishment that can be imposed.
A felony involves serious misconduct that is punishable by death or by imprisonment for more than one year. Most state rules subdivide felonies into different classes with varying degrees of punishment.
Crimes that do not amount to felonies are misdemeanors or violations. A misdemeanor is misconduct for which the law prescribes punishment of no more than one year in prison.
Lesser offenses, such as traffic and parking infractions, are often called violations and are part of this. The power to make certain conduct illegal is granted to Congress by virtue of the necessary and proper clause of the Constitution (art. I, sec. 8, cl. 18).
Congress has the power to define and punish infractions whenever it is necessary and proper to do so, in order to accomplish and safeguard the goals of government and of society in general. Congress has wide discretion in classifying illegal mistakes as felonies or misdemeanors, and it may revise this classification.
State legislatures have the exclusive and inherent power to pass a law prohibiting and punishing any act, provided that the law does not contravene the provisions of the U.S. or state constitution. When classifying conduct as criminal, state legislatures must ensure that the classification bears some reasonable relation to the welfare and safety of society.
Municipalities may make designated behavior illegal insofar as the power to do so has been delegated to them by the state legislature. Laws passed by Congress or a state must define crimes with certainty.
A citizen and the courts must have a clear understanding of requirements and prohibitions. The elements must be stated explicitly, and the statute must embody some reasonably discoverable standards of guilt.
If the language of a statute does not plainly show what the legislature intended to prohibit and punish, the statute may be declared void for vagueness. In deciding whether a statute is sufficiently certain and plain, the court must evaluate it from the standpoint of a person of ordinary intelligence who might be subject to its terms.
Generally, two elements are required in order to find a person guilty of a crime: an overt criminal act and criminal intent. The requirement of an overt act is fulfilled when the defendant purposely, knowingly, or recklessly does something prohibited by decree.
An act is purposeful when a person holds a conscious objective to engage in certain conduct or to cause a particular result. To act knowingly means to do so voluntarily and deliberately, and not owing to mistake or some other innocent reason.
An act is reckless when a person knows of an unjustifiable risk and consciously disregards it. An omission, or failure to act, may constitute misconduct if there is a duty to act.
For example, a parent has a duty to protect his or her child from harm. A parent's failure to take reasonable steps to protect a child could result in criminal charges if the omission were considered to be at least reckless.
Ordinarily, a person cannot be convicted of a crime unless he or she is aware of all the facts that make his or her conduct legally wrong. However, if a person fails to be aware of a substantial and unjustifiable risk, an act or omission involving that risk may constitute negligent conduct that leads to charges.
Negligence gives rise to charges only if the defendant took a very unreasonable risk by acting or failing to act. There is much more information on the subject which can be studied-if you are interested further, try checking out books at a local library, or reading further on the internet.