Questions and Answers of Criminal Law

Should morality, in and of itself, be considered a sufficient basis for defining particular conduct as criminal?
What are the chief distinctions between the civil and criminal law? Why do the criminal and civil law sometimes overlap?
To what extent is the English common law significant in contemporary American criminal law?
What is the essential difference between substantive criminal law and procedural criminal law? Can you give examples of each?
What means of punishment for criminal offenses exist in your state? Is capital punishment available for persons convicted of first-degree murder? Which punishments, if any, do you think are most
Go to http://www.findlaw.com/casecode/supreme.html. Use this page to locate the Supreme Court’s decision in Gonzales v. Raich (2005). Read the decision. Identify the key issue and the Court’s
Go to the Web. Locate the United States Code (hint: Try the “Legal Information Institute”). Locate Title 18, “Crimes and Criminal Procedure.” Locate Chapter 115, “Treason, Sedition, and
How does the concept of federalism complicate the administration of criminal justice in the United States?
Describe the functions of federal and state law enforcement agencies.
Compare and contrast the functions of trial and appellate courts. How are they similar? How are they different?
What function does a grand jury serve? Does replacement of the indictment function of grand juries at the state level with prosecutors authorized to charge crimes by filing a sworn information impair
Is there a justification for the broad discretion vested in a prosecutor?
To what extent does the U.S. Constitution protect the right to trial by jury in a criminal case?
What are the arguments for and against allowing trial judges broad discretion in criminal sentencing?
What factors do you think a prosecutor should take into consideration in determining whether to prosecute an individual the police have arrested for possession of illegal drugs?
What chief characteristics distinguish the military justice system under the Uniform Code of Military Justice from civilian criminal prosecutions?
What factors should a judge consider in determining whether to sentence a convicted felon to prison?
Log on to http://supreme.lp.findlaw.com/supreme_court. Examine the pending cases on the Supreme Court’s docket. Do any of these cases involve constitutional limitations on criminal law? How would
Can you think of an example of an ex post facto law?
Is it possible for the criminal law to define the crime of obscenity precisely enough to avoid the “vice of vagueness” or the problem of overbreadth?
Can a municipality enforce an ordinance totally banning religious organizations from canvassing neighborhoods in search of new members? What about an ordinance that prohibits such canvassing between
Should the constitutional right of privacy invalidate criminal statutes that require a minor to obtain parental consent to obtain an abortion?
Would the constitutional right of privacy provide a defense to a charge of possession of obscene materials where videotapes were viewed only by the defendant in the privacy of his or her home?
Could a father who, without judicial approval, unplugs the respirator sustaining the breathing of his comatose, terminally ill child be prosecuted for murder?
Would a law making it an offense for a person to carry prescription medicine in other than the original, labeled container meet the test of being rationally related to a legitimate government
How does the doctrine of judicial review affect the power of a state legislature to define criminal conduct? Would the constitutional limitations on legislative power be as stringent without the
Give an example of a law that would be constitutional per se, and point out how such a law may be unconstitutional in its application to a specific conduct.
Give an example of a law defining a crime that, although held to be constitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court, has been declared unconstitutional by some state courts. Why can such a result occur in
Amelia Eyeland has been arrested for trespass, disorderly conduct, and resisting arrest. The charges stem from an incident in which Amelia and other members of the Green Warriors staged a raucous
John Masters, a licensed psychotherapist, has been charged with violating a new state statute making it a crime for “any licensed psychologist, psychiatrist, or psychotherapist to have sexual
Go to the web. Locate your state’s criminal statutes (or another state’s if yours are not available online). Determine whether your state uses Model Penal Code terminology (“purposely,”
Distinguish between the concepts of motive and intent in the criminal law. Can you cite an instance where, despite good motives, a person would be guilty of a crime?
What justifies the criminal law making mere possession of contraband articles illegal?Do you think this rationale extends to criminalizing the mere possession of such innocent items as a screwdriver,
Given the fact that the common-law requirement of intent is not an element of strict liability crimes, what rationale supports legislative enactment of such offenses?
Should the criminal law punish a person whose mere carelessness, as opposed to willfulness, causes harm to another?
Is there a justification for the criminal law not punishing a person for failing to act when there is a clear moral duty to act?
Has the moral integrity of the criminal law been jeopardized by the increasing number of offenses for which a person can be convicted without proof of any criminal intent?
Why has the common-law doctrine distinguishing between principals and accessories before the fact diminished in importance in contemporary criminal law?
Contrast an offense that requires proof of causation with one that does not.
Is it fair to assess the same degree of fault and impose the same punishment on an accomplice as on a perpetrator? What rationale supports your conclusion?
Is there a valid reason to exempt close family relatives from punishment as accessories after the fact to felonious conduct?
Sol Toolmaker visited his long-time friend, I. N. Mate, a prisoner in a state institution. Mate had previously told Toolmaker how much he wanted to escape from the prison. So on this occasion,
Alice Alpha had a long-standing grievance against Benjamin Beta and had threatened to kill him. When Alpha saw Beta standing on a street corner amidst a crowd of people, Alpha pulled a gun and fired
Go to the Web. Locate your state’s statutes on line. Does your state have a generic statute defining attempt, solicitation, and conspiracy? If not, find a state that does have such a statute.
What justifies criminalizing attempt, solicitation, and conspiracy?
How does the criminal law distinguish between mere preparatory conduct and the overt act required for a criminal attempt? Can you think of a situation in which preparatory conduct might have the
Should it be a defense to a charge of attempt that the accused voluntarily abandoned the attempt?
Describe a scenario where an attempt to commit a crime is subsumed by the definition of the crime.
What is the rationale for making solicitation a crime even where a solicitor’s requests are completely unheeded?
Which do you think poses a more serious threat to society: an attempt or a solicitation to commit murder? Why?
Should statutes defining conspiracy require proof of an overt act in furtherance of the conspirators’ agreement? Why or why not?
Given the First Amendment protections of freedom of expression and association, can members of a revolutionary political organization be prosecuted for conspiring to overthrow the government of the
Name some instances where the offense of conspiracy provides a means to protect the public from dangers incident to group activities.
What distinguishes the offense of conspiracy from the crime of aiding and abetting?
Leo Lothario was having an affair with Lucy Slarom, a woman separated from her husband, Joe. One night while Lothario and Lucy were playing tennis in her backyard, Joe appeared on the scene. Lothario
John and Jane were running a student loan “scam.” They were convicted of soliciting several students to make false applications in exchange for a “cut” of the loan proceeds and also for
A state statute makes it a criminal offense for “three or more persons to conduct, direct, or own a gambling business.” Several defendants were convicted of “conspiring to violate the
Go to the Web. Locate your state’s criminal statutes online. Find the statute defining homicidal crimes. How does your state define the various gradations of homicide? Locate the online statutes
What elements, in addition to those required for assault or battery, must the prosecution prove to convict a defendant of aggravated assault or battery?
Is it legitimate for a jury to find a defendant guilty of manslaughter in a case where there is evidence of premeditation simply because members of the jury feel that the defendant was somewhat
How can the prosecution establish the corpus delicti in a murder case when the body of the victim cannot be found?
Compare the U.S. Supreme Court’s 1997 opinion holding that there is no constitutional right to have assistance in committing suicide with the constitutional right of privacy discussed in Chapter
Can these views be logically reconciled?
Why has the common-law doctrine of felony murder become controversial among courts and legal scholars in recent years?
Is a state law making it a crime to kill a viable fetus constitutional, notwithstanding the Supreme Court’s decision in Roe v. Wade?
A male who is aware that he has been diagnosed with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) engages in sexual intercourse with a female. He does not inform the female that he has AIDS. As a result,
What interests does the law seek to protect in proscribing (a) forcible rape and(b) statutory rape?
Which statutory and judicial reforms of the 1970s and 1980s in the law of rape were the most significant from a female victim’s standpoint? Are there other biases against female victims of sexual
Does Hale’s Rule, which creates a marital exception in the law of rape, apply in your state?
What role do the Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction Act (UCCJA) and the Parental Kidnapping Prevention Act (PKPA) play in controlling child snatching?
Do the federal statutes making it unlawful to deprive persons of their civil rights under color of law have a significant deterrent effect on misconduct of law enforcement personnel? Or do these
Explain the necessity for the prosecution to prove asportation in order to establish the offense of kidnapping.
Why have most state courts rejected prosecution of a mother whose child suffers adverse medical effects from the mother’s ingestion of cocaine during her pregnancy?
Shortly before midnight, a man is driving through a residential area in an attempt to get his wife, who is in labor, to the hospital. The posted speed limit is 30 mph, but the anxious husband is
A store manager observes Lucy Grabit stuffing a pair of nylon hose into her purse before going through the checkout counter in a supermarket. The manager detains her and promptly directs his employee
Several college freshmen enter the dean’s private office and remain there for several hours. They refuse to let the dean leave until he yields to their demands to allow unrestricted visitation in
An intoxicated driver recklessly drove his vehicle into a car being driven by a woman who was seven months pregnant. As a result of the accident, the woman’s baby was born prematurely, suffered
The defendant was convicted of battery under a statute that provides that “a person commits a battery who either intentionally or knowingly, and without legal justification, makes physical contact
The defendant and her husband have two sons, ages five and three. Without notifying her husband, she left the family home with both children while no court proceedings were pending concerning either
A nineteen-year-old woman returns home from an evening at the beach. She tells her mother that she has been raped and sodomized by an attacker she does not know. Some hours later, the woman
Go to the Web. Locate the decisions of your state’s highest appellate court.Find a recent decision in which the court discussed the definition of one of the crimes covered. If you cannot locate
What advantages do you see for a state that adopts a comprehensive theft statute?
What measures can be taken to protect oneself against identity theft?
Is it a crime to share digital music files with a friend if there is no commercial purpose or monetary gain in doing so?
How does the crime of burglary as it is typically defined under modern statutes differ from the definition of this offense under English common law?
Is it more important for theft offenses to be classified as specific-intent crimes than robbery? Why?
What provisions would you include in a model statute making arson a crime?Would you provide for separate degrees of the offense?
Should the offense of forgery be divided into degrees based on the importance of the forged documents? If so, what criteria would you propose for the various degrees of the crime?
Give some examples of actions that would probably fall within the conduct proscribed by (a) extortion and (b) vandalism or malicious mischief statutes.
What offense would a person who destroyed or damaged data in someone’s computer have committed? If a person electronically accessed another’s computer without permission, would this constitute a
Name some important similarities and distinctions between the offenses of robbery and extortion.
What is the rationale for courts to require that to obtain a conviction for possession of burglary tools the state must prove the accused knowingly had possession of burglar’s tools, knew the tools
Assume you are working as a staff assistant to a legislator who desires to introduce a bill to assist merchants who are experiencing losses from “bad checks.”What types of provisions and
A. H. Hacker is a skilled computer operator at a business office. Through stealthful operation of his computer, he successfully obtains a list of names and addresses of a competitor’s customers
Laura Lightfingers steals a package of filet mignon priced at $19.99 from the meat counter in a supermarket. As she leaves the store, she is approached by a security guard. Lightfingers kicks and
Sally Spendthrift has an established bank account at a local bank. She gives a check to a merchant for the purchase of a new stereo. Her bank returns the check to the merchant because Spendthrift’s
Go to the Web. Locate your state’s criminal statutes online. What forms of gambling are legal in your state? Using other resources available on the Internet, determine whether there are efforts
Assume you are a legislative assistant for a member of the state house of representatives.Your representative intends to introduce a bill to prohibit up-skirt videography in public shopping areas.
Should it be a defense to a charge of bigamy that both persons in the alleged bigamous union are adherents to a religious faith that sanctions polygamy?
Do you think proponents of same-sex marriage can use the Supreme Court’s decision in Lawrence v. Texas as a basis for constitutional assaults on state laws that prohibit such unions?

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