Laws are defined as a set of rules developed by a body of legislation to maintain order and peace of an organized people. Laws can be used as an umbrella to blanket a multitude of subsets, such as, political, administrative, financial, and civil infractions. Public Order crimes can also be placed in to a subcategory of criminal legislation. When defining a criminal infraction there are two sides of the spectrum, the victim and the offender. Drug usage and drug-related crimes have the most relevant association when it comes to violation of federal and state statutes.
(2008). Theories of criminal law. Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Retrieved March 01, 2012 from http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/criminal-law/ Meloy, M. (2008). Law and crime.
When deterrence fails, criminals need to be identified and held accountable for their actions. Law enforcement enforces many different crimes; some of the most serious crimes are violent crimes. According to the FBI’s Uniform Crime Reporting Program, violent crime is defined by four offenses: murder and non-negligent manslaughter, forcible rape, robbery, and aggravated assault (FBI, 2007). Defeating the threat of violent offenders is important to the safety of society. Many can agree safety is important; however holding offenders accountable varies from state to state.
For advocates of restorative justice, crime is perceived primarily as a violation of people and relationships, and the aim is to make amends for all the harm suffered by victims, offenders and communities. The most commonly used forms of restorative justice include direct mediation, indirect mediation, restorative cautioning, sentencing panels or circles and conferencing. In recent... ... middle of paper ... ...Oxford University Press, 2004. Siegel, Larry J. Introduction to criminal justice.
The legislature's job is to define the crimes, fix sentences, and provides funding. The judiciary is the next big part of the criminal justice system. The judiciary systems job is to make judgments and pronounce what a person is or is not charged with for doing or for not doing a crime. There is also an appellate court within this. Their job is to make decisions and decide whether the judgments made are within the boundaries of state law, federal law, and the United States Constitution.
Laws serve several purposes in the criminal justice system. The main purpose of criminal law is to protect, serve, and limit human actions and to help guide human conduct. Also, laws provide penalties and punishment against those who are guilty of committing crimes against property or persons. In the modern world, there are three choices in dealing with criminals’ namely criminal punishment, private action and executive control. Although both private action and executive control are advantageous in terms of costs and speed, they present big dangers that discourage their use unless in exceptional situations.
Second, a criminal act involves either criminal intent or guilty mind (mens rea). There are levels in criminal intent (which are relevant to guilt and punishment), the intent to harm in general is a necessary part in a typical case involving personal injury. Unlike civil wrongs that are generally concerned with harm caused by negligent or reckless behavior, criminal wrongs are necessarily the product of intentional, eventually cruel, behavior. Criminal acts are subjected to punishment. Any individual who commits a crime puts himself or herself at risk for punishment.
Through use of records, surveys and statistics prevalent levels of data are available in relation to crime. The main sources used to measure crime are the official crime or police statistics and victim and self- report surveys. Crime statistics are influenced by funding and therefore may leave out some areas of crime. Victim surveys may not record the amount of offences committed against one person while self-report surveys show the amount of crime that has already been undetected. When compared this data shows huge gaps between the amount of crime reported and some of the crime committed.
The relationship between crime and intention To begin with, this paper will investigate the Crime and the different reasons why they are committed and whether or not those who commit certain crimes with good intentions are blameless or not. In order to determine if a crime is acceptable in certain situations or not the term “crime” has to be defined and the different motives why people commit crimes have to be clarified. Most people’s understanding of a crime is that it is an action punishable by society. According to Oxford dictionary, crime is “an action or omission which constitutes an offence and is punishable by law.” Although this is the most common and generally accepted definition, there are many ambiguities regarding what it is that defines an action that is punishable. Who determines what actions are punishable and what actions are not?
65) suggests that the recording of crime by police may itself be a factor contributing the limitations of crime statistics, as not all crimes that have taken place are recorded. She goes on to state that, “Police discretion determines whether a crime is considered to have actually been committed and whether it warrants recording” (Bishop 2004, p. 65). These statements suggest that the police themselves have a lot of influence into the recording of crime and their interpretation play a large role in what is recorded. These interpretations are suggested by Bishop (2004, p. 66) to include the categorisation of a crime that has taken place. She highlights that individual officers may interpret crimes differently, therefore effecting the recording and categorisation of crimes (Bishop 2004, p. 65).