Criminal Law And Procedure

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A jurisdiction in which the principles and precedents of common law continue to hold sway.

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common law state

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The form of the law that governs relationships between parties.

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civil law

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A private or civil wrong or injury; “ the unlawful violation of a private legal right other than a mere breach of contract, express or implied.”

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tort

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An individual, business, or other legally recognized entity that commits a tort.

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tortfeasor

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The part of the law that defines crimes and specifies punishments.

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substantive criminal law

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A serious crime, generally one punishable by death or by incarceration in a state or federal prison facility as opposed to a jail.

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felony

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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.

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misdemeanor

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A violation of a state statute or local ordinance punishable by a fine or other penalty, but not by incarceration. Also called summary offense.

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infraction

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Acts that are regarded, by tradition and convention, as wrong in themselves.

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mala in se

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Acts that are considered “ wrongs” only because there is a law against them.

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mala prohibita

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A crime committed against property, including ( according to the FBI’s UCR Program) burglary, larceny, motor vehicle theft, and arson. personal crime A crime committed against a person, including ( according to the FBI’s UCR Program) murder, rape, aggravated assault, and robbery. Also called violent crime.

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property crime

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An act that is willfully committed and that disturbs public peace or tranquillity. Included are offenses like fighting, breach of peace, disorderly conduct, vagrancy, loitering, unlawful assembly, public intoxication, obstructing public passage, and ( illegally) carrying weapons.

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public- order offense

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An offense that was originally defined to protect the family and related social institutions. Included in this category are crimes like lewdness, indecency, sodomy, and other sex- related offenses, such as seduction, fornication, adultery, bigamy, pornography, obscenity, cohabitation, and prostitution.

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morals offense

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To make criminal; to declare an act or omission to be criminal or in violation of a law making it so.

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criminalize

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The authority of a state to enact and enforce a criminal statute.

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police power

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The first ten amendments to the U. S. Constitution, which were made part of the Constitution in 1791.

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Bill of Rights

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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 cases.

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case law

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Law in the form of statutes or formal written codes made by a legislature or governing body with the power to make law.

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statutory law

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The legal principle that requires that courts be bound by their own earlier decisions and by those of higher courts having jurisdiction over them regarding subsequent cases on similar issues of law and fact. The term literally means “ standing by decided matters.”

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stare decisis

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To argue or to find that a rule established by an earlier appellate court decision does not apply to a case currently under consideration even though an apparent similarity exists between the cases.

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distinguish

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A model code of criminal laws intended to standardize general provisions of criminal liability, sentencing, defenses, and the definitions of specific crimes between and among the states. The Model Penal Code was developed by the American Law Institute.

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Model Penal Code ( MPC)

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( 1) The geographic district or subject matter over which the authority of a government body, especially a court, extends. ( 2) The authority of a court to hear and decide an action or lawsuit.

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jurisdiction

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The authority of a court to review the actions of the executive and legislative branches and to declare those not consonant with the Constitution void.

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judicial review

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In legal proceedings, an actual and substantial doubt arising from the evidence, from the facts or circumstances shown by the evidence, or from the lack of evidence. Also, that state of the case, which after the entire comparison and consideration of all the evidence, leaves the minds of the jurors in such a condition that they cannot say they feel an abiding conviction of the truth of the charge.

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reasonable doubt

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The standard of proof necessary for conviction in criminal trials.

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reasonable doubt standard

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The mandate, operative in American criminal courts, that an accused person is presumed innocent until proven guilty and that the prosecution must prove the defendant’s guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

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burden of proof

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The court system that pits the prosecution against the defense in the belief that truth can best be realized through effective debate over the merits of the opposing sides.

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adversarial system

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A standard for determining legal liability, which requires a probability of just over 50 percent that the defendant did what is claimed.

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preponderance of the evidence

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The level of factual proof used in civil cases involving issues of personal liberty. The standard requires greater certainty than “ more probable than not” but is not as demanding as “ no reasonable doubt.”

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clear and convincing evidence

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The maxim that an orderly society must be governed by established principles and known codes that are applied uniformly and fairly to all of its members. Also called supremacy of law.

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rule of law

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The procedures that effectively guarantee individual rights in the face of criminal prosecution; the due course of legal proceedings according to the rules and forms that have been established for the protection of private rights; formal adherence to fundamental rules for fair and orderly legal proceedings. Due process of law is a constitutional guarantee.

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due process of law