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Understanding Crimes: Felonies, Misdemeanors, and the American Legal System

This overview of criminal law focuses on defining crimes as acts against the public good, distinguishing between felonies and misdemeanors, and exploring the American legal system's structure. It explains how the state or federal government acts as the plaintiff in criminal proceedings, defining felonies as serious crimes with severe penalties like imprisonment or death (e.g., murder, robbery) and misdemeanors as less serious offenses (e.g., driving without a license). Additionally, it outlines the roles of federal and state laws, the powers of law enforcement, and the impact of the Fifth Amendment on criminal trials.

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Understanding Crimes: Felonies, Misdemeanors, and the American Legal System

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Presentation Transcript

  1. Criminal Law Chapter 3 Part I

  2. What is a Crime? • Crime – is considered an act against the public good. • Laws in the U.S. detail crimes and provide punishment

  3. In a criminal proceeding, the state or federal government is the plaintiff. • The prosecutor is the government attorney who presents the case in court against …. • ….the person accused, called the defendant.

  4. Felonies • A felony is a major crime punishable by imprisonment or death. • EXAMPLES: • Murder, manslaughter, burglary, robbery, arson

  5. Misdemeanor • A less serious crime with a less severe penalty is a misdemeanor. • Penalized by a fine or brief imprisonment in a city or county jail. • EXAMPLES: • Driving without a license, lying about age to purchase alcohol, leaving the scene of an auto accident

  6. Criminal Law in the American System • The American system consists of 2 systems: • Federal law • State law • Both systems make and enforce criminal law, but the source of their power differs.

  7. State Criminal Law • Police power • Allowed to make statutes to protect the public • Penalty for crimes may differ from state to state • Example: a crime that is called assault in one state may be called battery in another

  8. Federal Criminal Law • Has no police power • Is able to create criminal statutes only in its own jurisdiction • Example: created laws against counterfeiting because it has the power to coin money • Today, the Fed has a criminal code and several national police agencies • FBI and DEA

  9. Federal Law • Treason is one crime named and defined in the U. S. Constitution. • Confession in open court or testimony of 2 witnesses is needed for conviction

  10. Federal Law • Double Jeopardy sometimes the federal and state systems overlap • can happen when someone has been accused of a crime that can be thought of as both federal and state crimes • Fifth Amendment guarantees that no person can be tried twice for the same crime – double jeopardy

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