The substantive branch of criminal law is responsible for defining crime. Every crime contains physical and mental elements that must be present for a crime to have legally occurred. If any component, physical or mental, is not able to be proven, the criminal suspect will be exonerated. The mental and physical elements that legally constitute a crime must be present at the same time. It must also be proven that the suspect was the cause of the crime and, of course, that an actual crime was committed. These elements are extremely important factors in determining whether a suspect is guilty or innocent.
The physical elements of a crime involve the criminal act, or actus reus. The failure to act can also be considered criminal behavior in certain circumstances, such as child neglect. The criminal act must also be willingly committed by the suspect. If a criminal act has been willingly
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For example, if an individual is speeding and hits a person crossing the street that is not on a designated cross-walk, the driver is considered criminally negligible for their actions. Although they did not intentionally hit the pedestrian, they were not abiding by the speed limit and therefore their careless actions caused the accident. Criminal negligence does not excuse an individual’s actions and they are still considered legally liable, but it is less serious than recklessness because the individual did not intentionally risk the lives of others, they simply did not foresee the possible dangers that could occur because of their actions. The failure to foresee the consequences is the hardest element to prove in criminal negligence because the it implies that the individual had a brief loss of common sense. The driver, for instance, should know that, by speeding, one’s time to react to certain situations may not be adequate enough to prevent an
In this assignment I am going to explain the main elements of law, including detailed examples that are true and relevant to the case to illustrate the meaning of this.
First and foremost, the meaning of crime is any act or omission of duty resulting in harm to society that is punishable by the state. On the face of it there is no clear definition of what those acts or omisions actually are. When a crime has been committed the prosecution has the 'standard of proof' to prove 'beyond resonable doubt' to a jury that the accused had committed the 'actus rea' and/or 'mens rea'. The Actus Rea refers to the guilty act and the Mens Rea refers to the guilty mind or the planning of the crime. During strict liability offences, mens rea doesn't have to be proven only the actus rea. This is because the act is enough to charge someone as the judge sees fit.
Negligence occurs when a citizen has suffered loss due to the carelessness of another. The first element of a negligence case is to find if the duty of care, the obligation of an individual to hold responsibility while performing any acts affecting others, is breached (Negligence and the Duty of Care, 2013). The Supreme Court of Queensland’s decision in May 2011, during the trial of French v QBE Insurance (Australia) Limited [2011] QSC 105 demonstrates how a taxi driver breached his duty of care and therefore, would be liable for the death of his passenger (Hamilton, 2011).
Operant conditioning applies to the enactment of criminal statutes in many ways. Society has been studied to determine what acceptable and unacceptable behaviors are. As a result of these studies and the enactment of statutes, they have identified those actions by citizens that are not desirable or dangerous
This essay will outline how crime theories are able to assist in recognizing the causes of criminal activity, as well as demonstrating two criminological theories to two particular crimes. Overviews of trends, dimensions and victim/offenders characteristics of both crime groups will be specified. The two particular crimes that will be demonstrated throughout this essay are; Violent Crime (focusing on Assault) being linked with social learning theory and White Collar crime (focusing on terrorism) being linked to General Strain theory. In criminology, determining the motive of why people commit crimes is crucial. Over the years, many theories have been developed and they continue to be studied as criminologists pursue the best answers in eventually diminishing certain types of crime including assaults and terrorism, which will be focused on.
In the case of Robinson v. California, 370 U.S. 660 (1962), the Supreme Court ruled that a law may not punish a status; i.e., one may not be punished to being an alcoholic or for being addicted to drugs. However, of course, one may be punished for actions such as abusing drugs. The question becomes; What if the status “forces” the action? What if a person, because of his/her addiction to drugs, is “forced” by the addiction to purchase and abuse the illegal drugs? Would punishing that person be unfairly punishing a status?
a. Imagine asking 100 strangers to describe a criminal. Predict whether those descriptions would be likely to focus on street criminals, or the variety of topics covered in this video.
This paper will describe my understanding of the text and of the lectures provided in the class. Unlike most classes, where I understood only my view of the text, this class was geared so each student would understand each other’s view. 3 An organization is a collective that has some boundary and internal structure that engages in activities related to some complex set of goals. Members of organizations attempt to meet their psychological, ego and emotional needs within the organization. Criminal justice organizations are particularly unique compared to other public or private sector organizations because of the governmental granted authority. Management within these organizations can be defined as the process by
In this paper it is going to discuss violent crime and property crime. It will be discussing the different types of violent crimes and property crimes that exist. The differences between the two crimes and there impact on the United States. The statistics of violent crime compared to property crime in the year 2012. There are many things that may surprise you when it comes to the crime rate in 2012 compared to 2011 and before then.
If I were conducting an in-service to my fellow officers over the five elements needed to constitute a crime, I would do by going over, explicitly what each element is and provide an example. Furthermore, I would then tie all elements in together for a larger example. According to Brody and Acker (2010), Professor Jerome Hall developed the framework of the five general elements to a crime, which are:
The main idea of the law of negligence is to ensure that people exercise reasonable care when they act by measuring the potential harm that may foreseeably cause harm to other people. Negligence is the principal trigger for liability to ascend in matters that deal with the loss of property of personal injury. Therefore, a person cannot be liable for something unless they have been found negligent or have contributed to the loss of property or injury to the plaintiff (Stuhmcke, 2005). There is more to
The due process and crime control models, both created by Stanford University law professor Herbert Packer, represents two opposing method of principles functioning within criminal justice system. Although the models describe the important facets of the politics and practice of criminal justice, both have been criticized since presented by Packer in 1964. Presently both models are acknowledged as imperfect standards to explain the politics and law of criminal justice. The crime control ideal represents traditional principles, whereas the due process belief reflects moderate values; therefore generating conflict evident throughout the years. This paper discusses models, crime control and due process, and how each affects the criminal
Violent crimes happen every day in America, yet the full scope of why and how they happen are not understood by many outside of law enforcement. But within the ranks of law enforcement and the criminal justice system itself, violent crimes are examined and analyzed at length to determine both how and why the incident occurred, as well as what can be done in the future to prevent a similar event from reoccurring. Investigators use multiple methods and seek various explanations as to why a violent crime occurs. This literature will look at some of those things that investigators try to sort out in the aftermath of a violent crime, such as the killer’s modus operandi and signatures, his psychology, relation to his victims, and how the effect of gender, race, or culture might impact his violent behavior.
From the beginning of time there have always been crimes against persons. People went by the saying “An eye for an eye”. You stole from your neighbor, they stole from you. You hurt someone, they hurt you. It wasn’t until the 1940’s people started taking a closer look into these crimes against person, which they later called victimology. This paper will look into victimology and their theories as we go back into the past and how victimology is now.
In general the definition of a crime is an act punishable by law, usually considered an evil act. Crime refers to many types of misconduct forbidden by law. Crimes include such things as murder, stealing a car, resisting arrest, possession or dealing of illegal drugs, being nude in public , drunk driving, and bank robbery. Crime is an act that has been timeless and has been committed practically since the start of time. For example, ever since Cain killed his brother Abel (B.C.), people being charged with witchcraft in the 1600’s, prostitution, to the current crimes of modern day(A.D.). Even though crime has existed throughout time it has progressed and branched out taking many types forms.