01:202:201 Lecture Notes - Lecture 4: Jaywalking, Procedural Law, Actus Reus
28 Mar 2016
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Document Summary
Staredecsis: a case or issue decided by a court that can be used to help answer future legal questions. Case law: sets our interpretations of laws set by the courts. Subsitive criminal laws are the laws on the books (homicide) Procedural law: how the police go about enforcing the subsitive law. Felonies: serious crime punishable by more than one year in prison. Misdemeanors: less serious crimes >1 year in prison. Inchoate crimes: crimes that were started but weren"t completed. Actus reus: have to commit criminal act that can be punishable; must affirmatively do something, it"s not a crime to be something (drug user) Mens reus: criminal intent, what you wanted to do, looking at their behavior to determine. A person acts knowingly (allows crime to happen, might not have intent but is still responsible) A person acts recklessly (no intention of causing harm but should"ve known better ex: reckless driving)
