Term
| Utilitarian Benefits of punishment |
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Definition
1. general deterrence
2. specific deterrence
3. Incapacitation and risk management
4.Reform (generally outdated) |
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Term
| Purpose of the Law-Utilitarian |
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Definition
| To maximize society's total happiness |
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Term
| Retributivist Rationale for Punishment |
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Definition
| Moral guilt alone necessary condition for punishment |
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Term
| Utilitarian Justification for Punishment |
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Definition
| By its likely consequences |
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Term
| Reasons for appeals ct.'s ltd role |
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Definition
1. Efficiency
2.Doesn't see testimony |
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Term
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Definition
SC ruled that death penalty for rape offends 8th Amendment. Ct. looked @:
1. Society's attitudes towards death penalty
2. Judicial attitudes. Rape doesn't equal murder. |
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Term
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Definition
| "Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishment inflicted." |
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Term
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Definition
-Holding: Death for child rape is cruel and unusual.
-Retributivist: Rape is not murder
-Utilitarian: Family members will be less likely to report abuse of family members. |
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Term
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Definition
(1) No crime w/o law
(2) No punishment w/o law
*Rooted in 14th Amendment |
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Term
| Statute Void for Vagueness if: |
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Definition
1) Fair notice: Men of common intelligence must necessarily guess at its meaning and differ as to its application
2) Sufficient guidelines for law enforcement-Otherwise, statute permits arbitrary and discriminatory enforcement |
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Term
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Definition
| Any ambiguities in a statute should be interpreted in a light most favorable to the accused |
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Term
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Definition
| Man hits wife causing an abortion. Cannot be found guilty b/c didn't have fair notice according to the statute |
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Term
| When considering if statute is vague, in addition to statute itself it considers: |
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Definition
1) Statute's purpose
2) Other provisions in statute
3) Legislative history
4) Earlier versions of statute
5) Judicial interpretations of statute & earlier versions
6) Common Law |
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Term
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Definition
| Man accused of breaking peeping Tom Statute. |
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Term
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Definition
| (1)voluntary act or omission (that breeches legal duty)(2) that causes (3) social harm |
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Term
| Involuntary Acts May Include: |
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Definition
1) reflex or convulsion
2) bodily movement during unconsciousness or sleep
3) conduct during hypnosis or resulting from hypnotic suggestion
4) bodily movement that otherwise not a product of the effort or determination of the actor, either conscious or habitual |
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Term
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Definition
| Driver has epileptic seizure and crashes killing passengers. |
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Term
| In Common Law, legal duty may be imposed by: |
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Definition
1) Statute
2) Status relationship
3) Contract
4) Assumption of care and seclusion
5) Creation of Risk |
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Term
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Definition
| Cannot satisfy Actus Reus unless breech of legal duty imposed |
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Term
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Definition
| Actual cause but not always proximate cause |
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Term
| Test for Determining Actual Cause |
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Definition
1) "But for" the D's voluntary act, the social harm would not have occurred when it did
2) Substantial Factor: Was D's voluntary act a substantial factor in the social harm
2) |
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Term
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Definition
| Man beat son with peritonitis accelerating his death. |
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Term
| When to use "Substantial Factor" test: |
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Definition
1) When two or more actors act independently and each actor's own action would produce the consequence
2) Prevents unjust results |
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Term
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Definition
| ) Determination based on policy or morality that liability attaches to an act (or omission) that is the actual cause |
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Term
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Definition
| independent force that produces social harm but only comes into play after the D’s voluntary act has occurred (Omissions can never be intervening cause) |
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Term
| Intended Consequences Doctrine |
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Definition
| A voluntary act intended to bring about what in fact happens, and in the manner in which it happens. (Poison Example) |
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Term
| Factors in determining intervening cause: |
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Definition
1) De minimis contribution to social harm
2)Intended consequences doctrine
3) Foreseeability factor
4) Apparent-safety doctrine
5)Voluntary human intervention |
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Term
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Definition
| Culpability meaning-acting with a morally blameworthy state of mind |
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Term
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Definition
| elemental meaning-acting with the particular mental state required by definition of an offense. |
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Term
| INTENTIONALLY in Common Law |
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Definition
(1) Conscious object to cause social harm or
(2) Knowledge to virtual certainty that type of social harm will occur |
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Term
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Definition
| Gross deviation from standard of reasonable care for known risk |
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Term
| NEGLIGENTLY in Common Law |
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Definition
| Gross deviation from standard of reasonable care for unknown risk |
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Term
| MALICIOUSLY in Common Law |
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Definition
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Term
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Definition
-Result or conduct "conscious object"
-attendant circumstances-aware of or "believes or hopes" |
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Term
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Definition
1) Knows result is practically certain
2) Attendant circumstances or conduct: “aware of them” |
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Term
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Definition
| Consciously disregards a substantial and unjustifiable risk |
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Term
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Definition
| Should be aware of a substantial and unjustifiable risk but is not |
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Term
| Doctrine of Transferred Intent |
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Definition
(1) A person who while attempting to murder or injure one person, accidentally murders or injures another, is still liable
*Policy-want to prosecute based on moral culpability |
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Term
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Definition
| Person has reason to suspect that a condition exists but chooses to ignore it. |
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Term
| Satisfying "Knowingly" in MPC |
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Definition
| Satisfied if person believes a situation to exist with a high degree of probability, unless actually believes it doesn't exist |
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Term
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Definition
| Crimes that don't require a culpable mens rea for one of more of its elements |
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Term
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Definition
1) Non-CL public welfare statutes that affect large segments of population
2) statutory rape
3) bigamy |
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Term
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Definition
(1) Congressional intent (express or implied)
(2) Public welfare/regulatory laws are more recent developments and aren’t subject to CL principles
(3) Harshness of permissible penalties: SL crimes typically small penalties
(4) Compare with other contested provisions in same statute
(5) Legislative history |
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Term
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Definition
(1) Ignorance of mistake negates any mens rea component required to est. a material element of the offense; OR
(2) Law provides that the state of mind established by such ignorance or mistake constitutes a defense |
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Term
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Definition
| offense in which mental state is expressly set out in def. of offense |
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Term
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Definition
•No specific intent set out in def. of offense
•only prove AR+morally blameworthy state of mind |
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Term
| Mistake of Law can be exculpatory if: |
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Definition
•Reasonable reliance on official statement of law
•Negation of MR (“different law mistake”) |
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Term
| Satisfaction of Requisite Malice in CL |
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Definition
(1)Intent to kill
(2)Intent to commit felony (that results in death)
(3)Intent to inflict GBI
(4)Extreme reckless disregard for human life |
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Term
| 4 Elements that must be present in Heat of Passion killing (CL) |
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Definition
(1)Adequate provocation
(2)Killing in the heat of passion
(3)No cooling off period
(4)Causal connection among provocation, passion, and fatal act |
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Term
| Adequate Provocation in Common Law |
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Definition
a.Discovering one’s spouse in the act of sexual intercourse with another
b.Mutual combat
c.Assault and battery
d.Injury to one of D’s relatives or to a third party
e.Death resulting from resistance of an illegal arrest |
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Term
| Manslaughter in Common Law |
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Definition
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Term
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Definition
| Felony+Killing=Felony Murder |
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Term
| Inherently Dangerous Felony Limitation |
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Definition
FM only applies if the predicate felony is inherently dangerous in:
1) In the abstract or
2) On the facts of the case |
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Term
| Independent Felony Limitation |
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Definition
| FM only applies if hte predicate felony is independent of the homicide. |
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Term
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Definition
Not independent if:
1) felony wasn't integral part of teh homicide OR
2) felony not committed with independent felonious purpose |
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Term
| Furtherance of the Felony Limitation |
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Definition
| Killing occurs during commission of felony or attempt |
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