Chapter 3 Flashcards
(25 cards)
substantive criminal law:
A body of specific rules that declare what conduct is criminal and that prescribe the punishment to be imposed for such conduct.
criminal procedure:
The rules and laws that define the operation of criminal proceedings.
Procedural law describes the methods that must be followed in obtaining warrants, investigating
offenses, effecting lawful arrests, conducting trials, introducing evidence, sentencing convicted
offenders, and reviewing cases by appellate courts.
civil law:
All law that is not criminal, including torts (personal wrongs) and contract, property,
maritime, and commercial law.
tort:
A personal injury or wrong for which an action for damages may be brought
public law:
The branch of law that deals with the state or government and its relationships with
individuals or other governments
lex talionis:
Latin for “law as retaliation.” From Hammurabi’s ancient legal code, the belief that the purpose of the law is to provide retaliation for an offended party and that the punishment
should fit the crime.
stare decisis:
Latin for “to stand by decided cases.” The legal principle by which the decision or
holding in an earlier case becomes the standard by which subsequent similar cases are judged.
common law:
Early English law, developed by judges, that incorporated Anglo-Saxon tribal custom, feudal rules and practices, and the everyday rules of behavior of local villages. Common law became the standardized law of the land in England and eventually formed the basis of the
criminal law in the United States
mala in se:
Refers to acts that society considers inherently evil, such as murder and rape, and that violate the basic principles of Judeo-Christian morality.
mala prohibitum:
Crimes created by legislative bodies that reflect prevailing moral beliefs and
practices
ex post facto laws:
Acts that retroactively change the legal status or actions that were committed
before the enactment of a law and/or change the consequences once it was enacted
felony:
A more serious offense that carries a penalty of incarceration in a state prison, usually for one year or more. Persons convicted of felony offenses lose such rights as the right to vote, hold
elective office, or maintain certain licenses.
misdemeanor:
A minor crime usually punished by less than one year’s imprisonment in a local
institution, such as a county jail.
actus reus:
An illegal act. The actus reus can be an affirmative act, such as taking money or
shooting someone, or a failure to act, such as failing to take proper precautions while driving a
car.
mens rea:.
Guilty mind. The mental element of a crime or the intent to commit a criminal act.
strict liability crime:
Illegal act whose elements do not contain the need for intent, or mens rea;
usually, an act that endangers the public welfare, such as illegal dumping of toxic wastes.
excuse defense:
A defense in which a person states that his or her mental state was so impaired
that he or she lacked the capacity to form sufficient intent to be held criminally responsible
justification defense:
A defense for a criminal act claiming that the criminal act was reasonable
or necessary under the circumstances.
insanity:
A legal defense that maintains a defendant was incapable of forming criminal intent
because he or she suffers from a defect of reason or mental illness.
entrapment:
A criminal defense that maintains the police originated the criminal idea or
initiated the criminal action.
self-defense:
A legal defense in which defendants claim that their behavior was legally justified
by the necessity to protect their own life and property, or that of another victim, from potential
harm.
obitiatry:
Helping people take their own lives.
stalking:
The willful, malicious, and repeated following and harassing of another person.
Bill of Rights:
The first 10 amendments to the US Constitution that spell out specific freedoms granted to citizens and limit the power of the Federal government to conduct criminal prosecutions
