Criminal Law Outline

Crim Outline

Punishment:

Theories of why we punish people (MPC 1.02):

Utilitarianism—

Deterrence: The utilitarian theory is essentially one of deterrence – punishment is justifiable if, but only if, it is expected to result in a reduction of crime.
Punishment must be proportional to the crime, i.e., that punishment be inflicted in the amount required (but no more than is required) to satisfy utilitarian crime prevention goals.

i. General deterrence—punishment is imposed in order to dissuade the community at large to forego criminal conduct in the future.
ii. Specific deterrence—punishment is meant to deter future misconduct by an individual defendant by both pre venting him from committing crimes against society during the period of his incarceration (incapacitation), and reinforcing to him the consequences of future crimes (intimidation).
c. Rehabilitation: Another form of utilitarianism is rehabilitation (or reform).

Retributivism—

Under a retributive theory of penal law, a convicted defendant is punished simply because he deserves it.
The goal is to make the defendant suffer in order to pay for his crime.
Retributive theory assigns punishment on a proportional basis so that crimes that cause greater harm or are committed with a higher degree of culpability (e.g., intentional versus negligent) receive more severe punishment than lesser criminal activity.

Denunciation (Expressive Theory)—

Holds that punishment is justified as a means of expressing society’s condemnation of a crime
Both utilitarian and retributive components.

Generally speaking, statutory law classifies a crime as a felony or a misdemeanor.

Legality:

Common Law—A person may not be punished unless his conduct was defined as criminal at the time of commission of the offense. This prohibition on retroactive criminal lawmaking constitutes the essence of the principle of legality.

Criminal statutes should be understandable to reasonable law-abiding persons. A person is denied due process of law if he is convicted and punished for violation of a statute that lacks such clarity.
Criminal statutes should not delegate basic policy matters to police officers, judges, and juries for resolution on an ad hoc and subjective basis.
Judicial interpretation of ambiguous statutes should “be biased in favor of the accused” (the lenity doctrine).

Model Code—The Model Penal Code does not recognize the lenity principle.

Sentencing—

Federal judges are now required to impose sentences in conformity with the Federal Sentencing Guidelines.

Eighth Amendment Limits on Punishment—

Prohibition against “cruel and unusual punishment” is that punishment not be grossly disproportional to the crime committed

People v. Du (1992)

Shop owner shot girl she thought was a robber, judge put her on probation

Ewing v. California (2003)

Man stole gold clubs and was sentenced under California 3 Strikes Statute to grossly disproportionate sentence

Owens v. State (1992)

Drunk driver sitting in driveway. Raise the question whether it is better for a guilty person to go free that for an innocent p