Crimes
Felony is a crime
punishable by death or confinement no
less than one 1 year
Lanzetta v. New Jersey (1939)
Void for Vagueness Doctrine
criminal conduct that is without justification or excuse
Criminal liability
mental element of criminal liability
Mens rea
misdemeanor
punishable by a fine or
confinement by less than one 1 year
Does not require the government to treat
everyone alike
Equal Protection
helps prove criminal intent, which can only be inferred from actions
actus reus
some mental fault has to trigger the criminal act in conduct crimes and the cause in result crimes.
concurrence
Malum in se
inherently evil crimes
the majority can’t make a crime out of what the Constitution protects as a fundamental right
constitutional democracy,
failures to act
criminal omission
accountable for the results of criminal conduct
causation
Malum prohibitum
wrong only because a statute
says that it is a crime
the majority can have whatever it wants
pure democracy
“body of the crime”
corpus delicti
something that causes a person to act
motive
An eye for an eye
Retribution
The Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments’ due process right to liberty
fundamental right to privacy
bystander risks nothing by helping
American bystander rule
presumption that defendants knew the law they were breaking
ignorance maxim