CRIMINAL LAWObjective: •Define the elements present in all crimes•Describe crimes that commonly occur in the business environment

Bellwork: What is a crime? What is the difference between a crime and a civil offense.

I’m going to give you each a ballot to vote on our topic order this semester.

We will begin with Criminal Law since it had the most repeated answers from the initial survey.

A crime is a punishable offense against society A civil offense is against a victim, not society

Most crimes also have a civil element, however the victim general doesn’t sue for damages because the criminal doesn’t usually have the ability to pay the judgement.

Crimes are defined by statute. Statutes are laws enacted by state or federal

legislatures.

1. A duty to do or not to do a certain thing Duty is a state statute forbidding certain

conduct. Sometimes federal statutes or city ordinances.

2. An act or omission in violation of that duty

The Criminal Act is the specific conduct that violates the statute.

3. Criminal intent Must be proven in court

1. Intended to commit the act2. Intended to do evil

Davis, the chief accountant of the Del Norte Credit Union, cleverly juggled the company records over a period of years. During that time, she took at least $35,000 belonging to the credit union. When the theft was discovered by outside auditors, Davis repaid the money with interest.

Has she committed a crime even though she repaid?

1. Did Davis have a duty to the credit union not to take the money?

YES!2. Did she act in violation of that duty?

YES, Davis embezzled the money. 3. Can we establish criminal intent?

YES, we can prove through her conduct that she meant to commit the crime and take the money. Her repaying the money doesn’t alter these facts.

If a corporation’s employees have criminal intent, their employer may be judged to have criminal intent. If the employees were doing their assigned duties and the act benefits the organization.

When an employee commits a crime, the corporation’s officers can be held criminally responsible. This is known as vicarious criminal liability.

Most statutes fix the age of criminal liability, but the figure ranges from 16-19.

To have criminal intent one must have sufficient mental capacity to know the difference between right and wrong. Could this impact anyone besides

minors?

For less serious crimes where a jail sentence is unlikely criminal intent is not required. Traffic tickets Extreme carelessness

1. Crimes against a person (assault and battery, kidnapping, rape, murder)

2. Crimes against property (theft, robbery, embezzlement)

3. Crimes against the government (treason, tax evasion, perjury)

4. Crimes against public peace and order (rioting, disorderly conduct, speeding)

5. Crimes against realty (burglary, arson, criminal trespass)

6. Crimes against consumers (fraudulent sale of securities, violation of the pure food and drug laws)

7. Crimes against decency (bigamy, obscenity, prostitution)

The death penalty is a very contested topic. I want the three groups at the front of the

room to research and formulate a pro-capital punishment response.

The three groups at the back of the room will research and formulate a response against capital punishment.

I will give you 15 minutes to research then each group will present their arguments to persuade us to their side.