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Maintaining order Criminal law provides predictability letting people know what to expect from others Without criminal law there would be chaos and uncertainty Resolving disputes The law makes it possible to resolve conflicts and disputes between quarreling citizens It provides a peaceful orderly way to handle grievances Protecting individuals and property Criminal law protects citizens from criminals who would inflict physical harm on others or take their worldly goods Because of the importance of property in capitalist America many criminal laws are intended to punish those who steal Providing for smooth functioning of society Criminal law enables the government to collect taxes control pollution and accomplish other socially beneficial tasks Safeguarding civil liberties Criminal law protects individual rights Legal Elements of a Crime All crimes feature certain elements Unless the government is able to prove the existence of these elements it cant obtain a conviction in a court of law There can be no crime without law If an act is to be prohibited a legally authoritative body such as Congress or a state legislature must spell out in advance what behavior is banned The US Constitution forbid post facto laws which declare certain acts to be illegalafterthe behavior occurs The Constitution also requires that criminal laws be written in precise terms so that a citizen can determine what conduct is illegal No crime without a criminal act In American criminal justice the government punishes people for what they do rather than for what they think or say The First Amendment protects an individuals dom of thought and speech The failure to act however can be a crime in situations in which an individual has a legal responsibility to do something Tax laws and neglect laws are two examples Threatening to act and attempting a criminal act can both be criminal offenses Similarly conspiring to commit a crime is illegal Conspiracy statutes criminalize taking steps to carry out a plan to commit a crime No crime without intent Intent pertains to the state of mind or mental attitude with which a person does an act A synonym for intentmens rea literally means guilty mind The mental design or purpose to commit a crime is the essence of intent No crime without concurrence For an act to be a crime both the act and the intent must occur at the same time For an act to be a crime it must be not only intentional and in violation of a criminal law but also without defense or justificationDefenserefers to situations that can mitigate guilt in a criminal case Two common defenses are insanity and entrapmentJustificationis any just cause for committing an act that otherwise would be a crime Selfdefense is a prime example Insanity is a legal term not a medical term It refers to any unsoundness of mind mental defect or lack of reason that prevents people from distinguishing right from wrong and from understanding the consequences of their actions Guilty defendants can be found not guilty by reason of insanity because of the belief that people should be punished for their crimes only if they could control their behavior and knew what they were doing was wrong Otherwise it is improper to hold people morally accountable for criminal behavior Courts use several tests of insanity Under theMNaghten rule defendants are considered not guilty by reason of insanity if at the time of the crime they were unable to distinguish right from wrong All federal courts and about half of the state courts have theModel Penal Codes substantial capacity test A person is not responsible for criminal conduct if at the time of such conduct as a result of a mental disease or defect he or she lacks substantial capacity either to appreciate the criminality of his or her conduct or to conform his or her conduct to the requirements of law This test provides a broader more encompassing definition of insanity than the MNaghten rule Defendants pleading insanity under the substantial capacity test have to show only that they are mostly unable to function mentally TheComprehensive Crime Control Act changed the federal rules on the insanity defense limiting it to those who are unable to understand the wrongfulness of their acts as a result of severe mental disease This act shifted the burden of proof to the defense Now the defense must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant was insane at the time of the crime Under this law a person who is found not guilty only by reason of insanity must be committed to a mental hospital until he or she no longer poses a threat to society Many state courts have adopted these rules Do your thing |__1577 E Wood Glen Road Sandy, UT 84092__| End it all |__1306 goffstown rd manchester nh 03102-2355__|