CJ ST 240 Lecture Notes - Lecture 7: Vigilante, Payphone, Larceny
11 Oct 2016
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Document Summary
Law is the codification of a society"s values, beliefs, and norms regarding justice and what is appropriate and wrongful conduct. Traditional common law, case law or precedent, legislated statutes, and the u. s. Laws encompass proscribed behavior that varies in its seriousness and the degree to which the criminal justice system will respond to its violation. An illegal act (actus reus) coupled with criminal intent (mens rea) that concurs in time and space results in crime (corpus delicti) There are numerous defenses against criminal liability, including alibis, justifications, excuses, and conditions, such as insanity, that compromise mens rea. A variety of doctrines, customs, and court cases have been developed relating to the insanity defense. Despite public hype and concern, insanity defenses are rarely attempted and often unsuccessful. Procedural defenses protect the accused from violations of due process by agents of the criminal justice system.
