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20 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
- 3rd side (hint)
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What is a Crime?
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Something one does or fails to do in violation of a law.
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Behavior for which the state has set a penalty. Most crimes are against property
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What are Gangs?
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People who form groups (adult/juvenile)closed to others, for certain purposes that can include, violent, crininal activity. Not all engage in criminal activity; some are pro-social & operate to assist the community with its needs (ex. Neighborhood Watch Program)
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Often composed of adults and organize along ethnic lines, with symbolic names, rules, emblems, initiation rituals, & distinctive dress to maintain identity.
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What are Victims?
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Victims are those people directly/indirectly affected by crimes against people.
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Victims are more often males, teenagers, minorities such as Blacks, Hispanics, homosexuals, Jews, et.al.
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What are Elements?
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The conditions that make an act a crime. All elements must be present to rule an action a crime.
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Ex. Elements of robbery: 1. taking goods/money 2. use of force & intimidation 3. lack of consent of the person from whom the goods/money are taken.
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What are Act & Intent?
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Criminal intent means that the person intended or meant to commit a crime. If a person lacks a knowing and willful action there is no crime. Actions due to mistakes or innocent reasons are not crimes and punishable by law.
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Actions may include malice or intent to do harm
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What are Strict Liability offenses?
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Crimes which do not require Criminal Intent.
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Ex. It is unlawful to sell alcoholic beverages to minors regardles of the knowledge of the person committing the act.
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What is the difference in Intent and Motive?
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The Motive is the reason a person commits a crime. Intent involves a willful action.
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Ex. Robin Hood had a good motive (stealing from rich & giving to poor) but his actions were still unlawful.
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What is a Felony?
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A crime for which the penalty is imprisonment for more than one year.
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Usually more serious crimes like murder, arson, et. al.
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What is a Misdemeanor?
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Any crime for which the penalty is imprisonment for one year or less.
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Less serious such as traffic violations but punishable by law. Classified by Major & Minor.
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Who is the Principal?
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The person who commits the crime.
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Ex. the person firing the gun in a murder
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Who is the Accomplice?
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Someone who helps another person commit a crime.
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Ex. The person who drives the getaway car in a bank robbery.
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Who is the "accessory before the fact"?
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A person who orders the crime or who helps the principal commit the crime but who is not present.
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This person can usually be charged with the same crime, and can receive the same punishment, as the principal.
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Who is the "accessory after the fact"?
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A person who, knowing a crime has been committed, helps the principal or an accomplice avoid capture or escape.
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This person is not charged with the original crime but may be charged with harboring a fugitive, aiding an escape, or obstructing justice (aiding & abetting).
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What are "Crimes of Omission"?
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When a person fails to perform an act required by a criminal law, if he/she is physically able to perform the required act.
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Ex. Failing to file a tax return, leaving the scene of an accident, or failing to stop after an accident, et. al.
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What are "Good Samaritan Laws"?
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Laws relieve bystanders from most civil liability when they help people in danger but have not required it. Today, some state laws require witnesses to offer whatever help they can reasonably provide without endangering themselves.
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This can mean simply reporting a crime to the police in violent crimes.
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What is Solicitation?
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To ask, command, urge, or advise another person to commit a crime.
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Ex. a person who asks/pays another to do a crime for him/her.
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What is Attempt?
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A crime in itself in most states. The accused must have both intended to commit the crime and taken some substantial steps toward committing the crime.
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Ex. a person decides to shoot and kill someone, but, being a poor shot, misses the intended victim. Thus guilty of attempted murder.
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What is Conspiracy?
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An agreement between two or more persons to commit a crime.
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Criminal _______ is meant to prevent other crimes and to strike against criminal activity by groups. Ex. The government charged people during the Vietnam War for speaking publicly to young men on how to be a draft-dodger.
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What is Homicide?
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The killing of one human being by another-either noncriminal or criminal.
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divided into degrees of severity: 1st degree, 2nd degree, Felony Murder, Voluntary Manslaughter, Involuntary Manslaughter, and Negligent Homicide.
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What is Noncriminal Homicide?
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A killing that is justifiable or excusable and for which the killer is deemed faultless & therefore not a crime.
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Ex. killing the enemy in wartime, killing a condemned criminal by an executioner, a police shooting of a person committing a serious crime, and killing in self-defense or in defense of another.
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