1. Unit 6. Criminal and Civil Law

2.  II: Criminal Law: seeks to prevent people from deliberately or recklessly harming one another or one another’s property.  III: In a criminal case the government (state, federal) is the plaintiff-the party that brings the charges against the accused.  IV: “We are all victims” the individual or groups accused of a crime is the defendant.

3.  Almost 95% of all cases are violations of state law.  Felonies: Serious crimes i.e murder, rape, arson, robbery, drug trafficking, kidnapping,  Misdemeanors: are offenses such as vandalism, shoplifting, petty theft, minor violations. Most misdemeanors are punishable with a fine, or a jail sentence less than a year

4.  A: Most common type of crime.  B: Arson and vandalism: destruction of property.  C: Larceny, Robbery, and Burglary: crime of taking property against the will of the owner.  Larceny: unlawful taking away of another person’s property with the intent of not returning it.  Robbery: taking of property from a person’s possession by using force or threats  Burglary: is the unlawful entry into a dwelling or building with the intention to commit a crime.

5.  Tort Law: a civil wrong  Who was John Zenger ( 1732) arrested for publishing stories about the colony’s corrupt royal governor. Newspapers did not have freedom to criticize government officials. Zenger was charged with libel. The case went to trial and Zenger was found NOT GUILTY.  Ida Wells-Barnett (1884): daughter of a slave in Memphis. She crusaded against lynching and for equal rights for all Americans. Forcibly removed from a railroad car reserved for whites. She helped found the NAACP and fought against segregation and for women’s rights.

6.  Constitutional Law: laws that concern the interpretation of constitutions such as limits of government’s power and rights of individuals.  Administrative Law: laws that deal with rules and regulations of government agencies within the Executive branch such as EPA and FAA laws.  Statutory Law: laws regulated by the state, such as speed limits.