Criminal Justice: Unit 1 - CRIME

What distinguishes CRIMINAL from CIVIL cases?

• Criminal cases are based on common law, civil cases are not.

• Criminal cases are prosecuted by the state for offenses against public law, while civil cases involve private disputes between individuals or entities.
• Civil cases do not require lawyers or representation.

• Civil cases involve the government prosecuting individuals for crimes.

Most crimes have ____ basic elements.

• 2

• 3

• 4

• 5

Under U.S. law, which are more severe crimes: felonies or misdemeanors?

• Felonies

• Misdemeanors

Sam sees a young boy struggling in a pond and calling for help. Sam does nothing and the boy drowns. Did Sam commit a crime?

• YES

• NO

Which do you generally go to if you are sentenced for OVER a year in confinement for a crime committed?

• prison

• jail

Of the four elements of crime, this is often the hardest to prove in court. It is sometimes referred to as a "mens rea" which is Latin for "guilty mind." This is called _____.

• a prohibited act

• criminal intent

• concurrence

• causation

There are four types of criminal intent. __________ is when a person did something on purpose and knew what they were doing and what the result would be.

• Specific intent
• Reckless intent
• Negligent intent
• General intent

The next type of criminal intent is when the person consciously disregarded the extreme likelihood that something would happen. An example would be a person shooting a gun into a crowd, but not aiming specifically at anybody. This is called _______.

• recklessness
• criminal negligence

• general intent

• concurrence

Criminal negligence is when ____. An example of this would be a person drag racing down a street and hits and kills a pedestrian who steps out into a crosswalk.

• a person intentionally causes harm to another
• a person is unaware of the law regarding their actions
• a person does an act unintentionally but with an extreme lack of care

• a person acts with full knowledge of the risks involved

In criminal law, ___________ is when it doesn't matter what your mental state is when you committed the crime. An example would be running a red light on accident because you were daydreaming.

• strict liability
• recklessness
• intentional tort
• negligence