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| Law based on the U.S. Constitution and the contributions of the various states. |
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| The body of law enacted by legislative bodies |
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| A statutory text created by the American Law Institute that sets forth general principles of criminal responsibility and defines specific offenses. |
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| The body of law created by administrative agencies (in the form of rules, regulations, orders, and decisions) in order to carry out their duties and responsibilities |
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| The rules of law announced in court decisions |
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| A court decision that furnishes an example of authority for deciding subsequent cases involving similar facts |
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| The branch of law dealing with the definition and enforcement of all private or public rights, as opposed to criminal matters |
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| The person or institution that initiates a lawsuit in civil court proceedings by filing a complaint. |
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| In civil court, the person or institution against whom an action is brought. In criminal court, the person or entity who has been formally accused of violating a criminal law. |
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| In a civil court, legal responsibility for one’s own or another’s actions. |
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| beyond a reasonable doubt |
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| The degree of proof required to find the defendant in a criminal trial guilty of committing the crime. The defendant’s guilt must be the only reasonable explanation for the criminal act before the court |
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| A serious crime, usually punishable by death or imprisonment for a year or longer. |
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A homicide in which the intent to kill was present in the mind of
the offender, but malice was lacking |
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| A negligent homicide, in which the offender had no intent to kill his or her victim. |
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| A criminal offense that is not a felony; usually punishable by a fine and/or a jail term of less than 1 year |
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| ) In most jurisdictions, a noncriminal offense for which the penalty is a fine rather than incarceration |
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| A description term for acts that are inherently wrong, regardless of whether they are prohibited by law |
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| A descriptive term for acts that are made illegal by criminal statute and are not necessarily wrong in and of themselves |
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| The body of circumstances that must exist for a criminal act to have occurred. |
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| A guilty (prohibited) act |
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| The act of taking substantial steps toward committing a crime while having the ability and the intent to commit the crime, even if the crime never takes place |
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| Mental state, or intent. A wrongful mental state is as necessary as a wrongful act to establish criminal liability |
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| A failure to exercise the standard of care that a reasonable person would exercise in similar circumstances |
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| The state of being aware that risk does or will exist and nevertheless acting in a way that consciously disregards this risk |
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| Certain crimes, such as traffic violations, in which the defendant is guilty regardless of his or her state of mind at the time of the act |
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| A strict liability crime in which an adult engages in a sexual act with a minor. |
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| An unlawful homicide that occurs during the attempted commission of a felony. |
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| Facts surrounding an event that must be proved for the event to be considered a criminal act. |
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| A statute that provides for greater sanctions against those who commit crimes motivated by bias against an individual or a group based on race, ethnicity, religion, gender, sexual orientation, disability, or age |
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| The offense of preparing or attempting to commit a criminal act |
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| A condition that, under early American law, excused young wrongdoers for criminal behavior because they could not understand the consequences of their actions |
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| A defense for criminal liability that asserts a lack of criminal responsibility due to mental instability |
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| A test of criminal responsibility that relies the defendant’s inability to distinguish right from wrong |
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| substantial-capacity test (ALI/MPC test) |
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| A test for the insanity defense that states that a person is not responsible for criminal behavior if he or she lacked the “substantial capacity” to “appreciate the wrongfulness” of the conduct or to behave in a manner consistent with criminal law. |
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| irresistible-impulse test |
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| A test for the insanity defense under which a defendant who knew his or her action was wrong may still be found insane if he or she was unable, as a result of a mental deficiency, to refrain from acting |
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| ) A defense for criminal liability in which the defendant claims that the taking of intoxicants rendered him or her unable to form the requisite intent to commit a criminal act |
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| Unlawful pressure brought to bear on a person, causing the person to perform an act that he or she would not otherwise perform. |
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| The legally recognized privilege to protect one’s self or property from injury by another. |
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| The requirement that a person claiming self-defense prove that he or she first took reasonable steps to avoid the conflict that resulted in the use of deadly force. |
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| A defense against criminal liability in which the defendant asserts that circumstances required him or her to commit an illegal act |
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| A defense in which the defendant claims that he or she was induced by a public official – usually an undercover agent or police officer – to commit a crime that he or she would otherwise have not committed. |
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| Law that defines the rights and duties of individuals with respect to each other. |
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| Rules that define the manner in which the rights and duties of individuals may be enforced. |
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| ) The first ten amendments to the U.S. Constitution |
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| The provisions of the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments to the Constitution that guarantee that no person shall be deprived of life, liberty, or property without due process of law |
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| The constitutional requirement that the law must be carried out in a fair and orderly manner. |
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| The constitutional requirement that laws used in accusing and convicting persons of crimes must be fair. |
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