Chapter 1
What is misdemeanors?
offenses punishable by fine and/or confinement in the local jail for up to one year
What is three-strikes laws?
intended to make sure that offenders who are convicted of a third felony get locked up for a very long time (sometimes for life)
criminal liability
“conduct that unjustifiably and inexcusably inflicts or threatens substantial harm to individual or public interests”
motive
something that causes a person to act
stand-your-ground rule
if you didn’t start a fight, you can stand your ground and kill to defend yourself without retreating from any place you have a right to be
What is felonies?
crimes punishable by death or confinement in the state’s prison for one year to life without parole
Second Amendment
“the right of law-abiding, responsible citizens to use arms in defense of hearth and home”
actus reus
the requirement that all crimes have to include a voluntary criminal act, which is the physical element of a crime and the first principle of criminal liability
subjective fault
fault that requires a “bad mind” in the actor
retreat rule
you have to retreat from an attack if you reasonably believe (1) that you’re in danger of death or serious bodily harm; and (2) that backing off won’t unreasonably put you in danger of death or serious bodily harm
What is the U.S. Criminal Code?
criminal law created by the U.S. Congress
proof beyond a reasonable doubt
the highest burden of proof in the U.S. Criminal justice system reserved for criminal cases; the prosecution must prove every element of the crime charged to this standard
mens rea
criminal intent, the mental element of a crime
objective fault
requires no purposeful or conscious bad mind in the actor
castle exception
when attacked in your home, you have no duty to retreat and can use deadly force to fend off an unprovoked attack, but only if you reasonably believe the attack threatens death or serious bodily injury
What is culpability?
only someone who intends to harm her victim deserves punishment; accidents don’t qualify
fair notice
in vague laws, isn’t whether the defendant knows there’s a law against the act but whether an ordinary, reasonable person would know that the act is a crime
corpus delicti
Latin for “body of the crime”; it refers to the body of victims in homicides and to the elements of the crime in other crimes
causation
holding an actor criminally accountable for the results of her conduct
cohabitant exception
in the jurisdictions that follow the retreat rule, people who live in the same home don’t have to retreat
What is hedonism?
the natural law that human beings seek pleasure and avoid pain
ex post facto laws
a retroactive law that does one of three things: (1) criminalizes an act that wasn’t a crime when it was committed, (2) increases the punishment for a crime after the crime was committed, or (3) takes away a defense that was available to a defendant when the crime was committed
criminal omission
the failure to act when there’s a legal duty to act
mistake of fact
a defense to criminal liability whenever the mistake prevents the formation of any fault-based mental attitude—namely, purposely, knowingly, recklessly, or negligently
battered woman’s syndrome (BWS)
mental disorder that develops in victims of domestic violence as a result of serious, long-term abuse