Hello Again -  I am looking for help with the answer for my discussion board posting.  Just as before, It needs to be completed in APA with intext citations and references following .. I have included question below as well as the lecture notes and weblinks .... TIA!! /also, we now have resolved the issue with tipping that I have previously.  I will get you as I promised last time on this payment's tip!

Post in this Forum as follows:

1. Do you agree or disagree with the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in the Berghuis v. Thompkins case (textbook, 157 - 159)? Is the majority or the dissenting opinion more convincing? Please explain.
2. Comment on classmate postings.

Unit Title: Crimes

Reading: Read Chapter 5 Crimes

Lecture

The Overall Framework

We are no longer in the area of Private Law. Crimes involve the State (the government) and the individual, and sometimes corporations. The government decides what a crime is by passing laws that define the elements of a crime; the Legislature is elected by citizens, hence crimes are called “public wrongs”. Unlike the Civil system, this does not involve a Plaintiff and a Defendant. The Criminal Law involves the State versus a Defendant who the State is accusing of having committed a crime.

Classifications of Crimes

Two broad classifications have been created. The distinction is made in the area of Punishment.

(1) A Felony is usually punishable by one or more year in jail and perhaps a fine, and loss of voting rights, and loss of a professional license.

(2) A Misdemeanor usually involves punishments of a lesser nature.

Essentials of a Crime

The State must prove that the defendant committed the crime (“ actus reas”) he or she is charged with; the defendant does not have to prove his innocence or even defend himself. The State must prove that the defendant committed the crime Beyond a Reasonable Doubt. (By way of comparison, the standard, or burden, of proof in a Civil case is “preponderance of the evidence”; in other words, is the defendant more likely than not to have committed the Tort.)

The State must also prove that the defendant had the intent (“mens rea”) and the capacity to commit the crime. For example, according to the law, someone who is involuntarily intoxicated, insane, or below a certain age does not have the capacity to form the intent to commit a crime.

Criminal Procedure

You will recall from the previous Unit, that there are “rules of the game” when you go to Civil Court. Similarly, in the Criminal Law system, there are also rules of the game; however these rules click-in well before the Court gets involved and may result in evidence against the accused never making it to Court because some of these rules were not followed to begin with (such as at the time prior to making an arrest or at the time of making an arrest). All of these rules make up a system of “Criminal Procedure”.

A. Constitutional Safeguards

Foremost among the “rules” the State must follow when it is prosecuting a person, are the safeguards found in the U.S. Constitution. These are found in the 4th, 5th, 6th, and 8th Amendments to the Constitution. See pages 145 – 161 of the Text for a review of the various rights an accused has because of the Constitution. These are called “Constitutional Safeguards, The Text discusses how these work and the cases in the Chapter show the safeguards in action.

B. The Exclusionary Rule

The result of any violations of the Safeguards is that the evidence that has been gathered cannot be used against the accused; that is, the evidence is excluded. The Herring v. U.S. and Hudson v. Michigan cases (discussed on page 154) are recent U.S. Supreme Court cases that show how the Court is beginning to limit the extent of how far the Exclusionary Rule can go. See Herring at: https://www.law.cornell.edu/supremecourt/text/07-513/#writing-07-513.ZS

See Hudson at: https://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/04-1360.ZS.html 

C. Double Jeopardy

Just about everyone believes that a person cannot be prosecuted twice for the same crime. This is basically correct but there are a few wrinkles, one of which is the concept of Separate Sovereigns. An example of this is the “Rodney King” case from Los Angeles. In this case L.A.P.D. officers were prosecuted by the State of California in the beating of Mr. King. They were found not guilty yet shortly afterward they were tried again and found guilty. How could this happen? The answer is that the second prosecution was brought by the federal government under a federal law. Remember the concept of Jurisdiction from Unit 2, the Federal Government has a separate jurisdiction, hence a State and the Federal government are Separate Sovereigns.

Another aspect of two “prosecutions” for the same act is sometimes confused with Double Jeopardy. An example of this is the "O.J” case. Mr. Simpson was found not guilty in the criminal trial yet he was found liable in a later trial brought by Ron Goldman’s family. One was a criminal trail, the other was a civil trial. This does not involve double jeopardy.

White Collar Crimes

The focus in this Chapter is on criminal offenses committed by corporate employers and employees. The notion of “white collar crime”, though, does not necessarily have to involve corporations. The term can be applied to nonviolent crimes committed in the course of business activity.

These crimes include embezzlement, bribery, fraud, and violations of Federal or State Laws governing business activity.

The allegations surrounding the corporate corruption scandals involving Enron and Tyco are examples from past events.

Racketeering was originally designed as a criminal concept to apply to organized crime; however the elements of this type of criminal law can be applied to otherwise legitimate business that engages in the four activities listed in the text.

Computer Crime

This type of crime involves using computers to commit any of the white collar crimes mentioned in the Chapter and also targeting computers for criminal acts.

Federal Courts (they also hear Criminal cases)

Texas Court of Criminal Appeals http://www.txcourts.gov/cca   

New York City Criminal Courts

FBI Uniform Crime Reports

Bureau of Justice Statistics

Virtual Law Library

Click on the above link for an online Law Library: it is a searchable law directory from the Indiana University School of Law- Bloomington. Also browsable by topic or information source.