Criminal Law Outline

The Sources of American Criminal Law
–          Common Law (CL)
o       English Customary Felonies
o       All other offenses were misdemeanors
o       Many things that are crimes are also torts, the law is deeply intertwined
–          Statutory Law
o       Most Important – Unconstitutional to punish someone unless conduct is proscribed by the legislature
o       Statutes – are interpreted by judges
o       Model Penal Code (MPC)
§         Adopted in whole or part by 35 states
§         May not be THE LAW, but often looked to for guidance
–          Constitutional Law
o       Some courts have held statutes that do not require proving mens rea as unconstitutional
o       Courts give less deference to legislature in criminal law
 
Limitations on Criminal Law
–          Common Law
o       American courts stopped creating common law crimes in the 19th Century
o       Most states have expressly abolished common law crimes
o       Strengths
§         Ensure criminal law is always available to punish
§         Discourage exploitation of loopholes
§         Provides flexibility
o       Weakness
§         Unless clear precedent, D doesn’t know if illegal
§         Ct decides after the fact about the crime
§         Creates uncertainty
 
Presumption of innocence
–          means that the party that wants to establish that this person is guilty of the offense has to overcome the presumption
o       the state representing the community has to overcome that presumption by establishing that the D committed the offense beyond a reasonable doubt
–          must prove every facet of the crime beyond a reasonable doubt
 
When it goes to the jury?
–          Where is the line drawn about what goes to the jury and what does not?
–          It’s a mixture depending on what the judge thinks
o       What goes in and what doesn’t is not definitive
 
Jury nullification
–          jurors must take an oath
–          jurors know of the law but still find the person to be not guilty
o       State (NJ) v. Ragland – jury incorrectly told that they must convict instead of may convict
–          the judge can overturn a guilty conviction handed down by the jury
–          juries do not have to be told of the consequences of their verdict
–          Courts have to be very careful about a juror that doesn’t agree with a specific law b/c they think that it is wrong, the juror may simply think that the state’s evidence is not strong or there maybe personality clashes
o       They may be removed if they clearly plan to not follow the judge’s instructions
§         US v. Thomas
 
Principles of Punishment
 
Punishment
–          Is suffering purposely inflicted by the state because one of its laws was violated
–          It’s a blaming, stigmatizing of the perp as a choosing agent
–          The state punishes (purposefully inflicts discomfort upon him – b/c he has broken the law)
–          No actual victim is necessary
 
Theories of Punishment
1.      General
a.       The three main questions
                                                                          i.      Why the social institution of punishment is warranted
                                                                        ii.      The necessary conditions for criminal liability and punishment
                                                                      iii.      The form and severity of punishment that is appropriate for particular offenses and offenders
b.      Threatened punishments are not always inflicted on person who have unquestionably committed crimes, the jury may acquit
c.       If actual punishments never happended then the threat would lose significance
d.      His def of Punishment – Agent of gov’t pursuant to the authority granted to the authority dependent on the D’s sentence, intentional imposes (imflicts) pain or suffering of some unpleasant consequence of the sentence
e.       Characteristics of punishment
                                                                          i.      It is performed and directed at agents who are responsible