Analysis Of The Model Penal Code By Lawrence

An objective fault element “requires only that a reasonable person in the accused’s position would have had the required guilty knowledge or would have acted differently (Week 6)”. In the Buzizi case, in order to prove the defense of provocation and change the conviction to manslaughter, as suggested by Section 232 (2) of the Criminal Code, the objective fault element required to prove second-degree murder must not be present. This is due to the fact that the provision makes a reference to the accused being deprived of self-control in a fashion that reflects a reasonable or ordinary person. In order to satisfy the objective standard for manslaughter, it is also important that the act that provokes the accused is sudden, unjust, and unforeseeable [Lexisnexis]. In Buzizi’s case, the objective fault element for second-degree murder remains present, and the conditions to satisfy the objective standard for manslaughter are not met. As suggested by the facts of the case, there was a significant temporal distance between the initial altercation between the victim and Buzizi’s cousin and the second altercation that resulted in the victim’s death. Since the accused had watched the initial assault on his cousin from far away, he had the option to not intervene. The accused suggested in trial that he made the decision to get

This week we read a journal written by Michael Walker “Race Making in Penal Systems”. Michael Walker writes about his experience in the prison systems of Southern California. His ethnography wasn’t planned and all his experiences were real. Walker who was a black man manage to fit in with the other prisoners and he talks about how different it is inside the system. From what I read, it seemed like the prison system was another playing field because the known rules of society weren’t applied. For example, the fact that facilitator of the prison encouraged segregation of race because he didn’t want interracial fights breaking out between the prisoners. When I was reading this paper I have to say that it seemed like prison system was its own society with its own rules. The fact that the legal system within the prison is enforcing these rules seemed completely outrageous to me. Walker states that

In this chapter, Wacquant discusses how the penal system, which is a way for the wealthier classes to control the delinquent subproleteriat who have become dependent on welfare assistance, has expanded drastically through an increase in budgets, construction of prisons, and an increase in personnel. While the costs to incarcerate an individual greatly outweigh the costs of welfare programs, there are three myths—that the criminal justice system has thus failed because it is not tough on crime, that repression works, and that incarceration is less expensive than welfare overall—perpetuated by neoconservative groups that garnish support for penality. As citizens refused to fund the new penal policy, the state resorted to several other strategies,

Within certain circumstances, liability is based on the accused 's action, which is also known as an act of omission or negative act. Regardless of the defendant 's motive, the failure to act supports a finding of criminal liability only when the s/he is under a binding legal duty, has the necessary knowledge to behave aptly and carrying out his or her responsibility is possible. Even so, there are instances when the issue of guilt results from a lack thereof. Each element must be proven beyond a reasonable doubt and decided as a matter of law by the court. With regard to any crime, all criminal elements are distinguishable and identifiable for the careful analysis of each issue. Take for example the difference between points of dispute in Proctor v. State (1918) and People v. Newton (1973) when reading Criminal Law: Cases and Methods.

Similar to the Sentencing Reform Act, the purpose of the United States Sentencing Commission is to prevent inequity of sentencing among federal judges. It’s role is to serve as a strict guideline for Judges to adhere and limits the discretion at which a Judge may alter the length of sentence. The goal of this commission is to hamper factors such as race, sex, socioeconomic status, etc to affect the length of sentence, and aims for the guideline to stand on a neutral ground.

The idea of blame, defined as, “A particular kind of response (e.g. emotion), to a person, at fault, for a wrongful action,” plays a significant role in the study of crime, with respect to degrees of “fault.” In most modern societies, “criminal culpability,” or degrees of wrongdoing, makes a difference between the kinds of punishment one receives for his action(s). To be culpable for a crime, there must be a guilty act (Actus Rea), and a guilty mind (Mens Rea). Degrees of culpability often depends on the kind of mental state, (Mens Rea), one brings to the act in which he engaged. How much one is blameworthy for wrongful conduct depends in part on the state of mind in relation to the wrongful conduct. One’s mental state while engaging in wrongful conduct, which in a legal sense is determined by legislators, is characterized by the following terms: purposely, knowingly, recklessly and negligence.

The second component of a crime, mens reus, or criminal intent, was demonstrated by the following example. At one point Miller covered Cannon with a sheet and stated, “Cole, I am God, I’ve come to take your life” (2012, p.1) The third element of a crime, concurrence, was chronologically sequenced with Miller’s intent to commit the act followed by his commission of the criminal act.

With regards to the issues mentioned above the Law Commission proposed that murder should be reformed by dividing it up into two separate offences; first degree murder; and second degree murder. First degree murder would cover cases where the D intended to kill and where D intended to inflict serious harm and was aware of the risk of death. Second degree murder would include cases where the D intended to do serious harm but was not aware there was a risk of

The Mandatory Arrest laws came about in 1984, when police failed to protect a woman who was being brutally beaten by her husband. As a result the federal district court in Connecticut and a group of lawmakers decided to implement a new set of rules allowing police the right to intervene in domestic situations and make an arrest on the spot. It sounds like a good idea at first until you look closer at the numbers and the fourth amendment.

The classical perspective founded by Cesare Beccaria and Jeremy Bentham; stated that at people choose to commit crime after they considered the pros and cons that could be associated with a crime, and believed that the pros outweighed the cons (Tonry,2014). The theory relied on deterring criminal acts by assuring that the consequences of crime are absolute, harsh, and quickly administered (Tonry,2014).

The United States is less the 5% of the world population but has almost 25% of the world’s prison population (Coates, 2015; Waldman, 2016). In the last 40 years, the number of American civilians imprisoned by the United States has increased 500%. (Mauer, 2011). However, this explosion in incarceration rates has not been evenly distributed throughout the American population (Waldman, 2016). While one in seventeen White men will be imprisoned in their lifetime, one in sixteen Latino men will face this fate and for Black men, the number is one in three (Mauer,2011). Neither the racial disparity in incarceration nor its scale was accidental (Coates, 2015). The mass incarceration of Black men in the United States was a direct result of the “War

Be sure to address the four types of sentencing models and the issues surrounding them (equity, truth-in-sentencing and proportionality).

Classical criminological theory was introduced in 1764. The tenants of this theory became the backbone for the development of all criminological theories to come. After over 200 years have passed since its conception, is classical criminological theory still relevant to today’s society in explaining the causes of crime? This essay will address this question by discussing the major components of classical criminological theory while highlighting its strengths and weaknesses. The essay will also examine a more modern criminological theory, Merton’s anomie/strain theory, and decipher major differences between the two theories. This essay will also explain the aspects of classical criminological theory that are applicable or outdated in their

In the United States the degrees by which a person can be charged with killing another person vary; the degrees of murder include first, second, and third degree murder, the definitions of which can vary in legal terms from state to state. These charges are considered to be legally separate from voluntary manslaughter, involuntary manslaughter, and justifiable homicide which each have their own definitions (Cole, Smith, & DeJong, 2014). Each type of murder, manslaughter and homicide is determined by intent and negligible behavior and each will be examined in this paper (Cole et al., 2014).

"Stone walls do not a prison make, / [N]or iron bars a cage."-Richard Lovelace (Quiller)