>> Hello. Today we're going to be introduced to law
and legal topics that are essential
to understanding any course in criminal justice.
There's a lot of material here,
but this is just an introduction.
Try not to be concerned with the plethora of topics
that we're going to be exploring because all
of these topics will be explored in much more detail later
as you go through your criminal justice course.
So let's begin by understanding the difference
between two essential topics to any criminal justice program.
Criminal law and criminal procedure.
In this course, we're going to be talking about criminal law.
And the basic topics we're going to focus on all crimes,
various crimes that exist in our legal system.
The elements of those crimes,
and elements are just parts of any crime.
And also criminal defenses.
Now, if you were studying criminal procedure
which is the counterpart to criminal law,
you would be looking at the process that an individual goes
through when being subjected
to our criminal justice system beginning with investigation,
moving into any sort of a trial.
And then moving on to post trial remedies.
But in this class, we're going to be looking at crimes
and defenses as I stated.
So it's also helpful, aside from distinguishing
between criminal law and criminal procedure,
to distinguish between criminal law and civil law.
And these are just two classifications.
Criminal law and civil law share the same ports,
but they're very different.
And the goals are different as well as the processes
that an individual will go through.
So let's start by looking at what civil law is.
And there are various types of civil law,
but I'll focus on civil litigation.
Because civil litigation is the sort of mirror image
of a criminal prosecution in our civil system.
So with the civil litigation matter, you have an individual
or business suing another individual
or business because of a dispute.
And if the dispute involves an injury,
we generally call these litigation matters torts.
In a civil litigation matter, the individual
or business that's suing is called a plaintiff.
And plaintiff is a term of [inaudible].
So if you hear the word plaintiff, I want you to think,
oh, okay, we're talking about a civil litigation matter,
not a criminal prosecution.
The person being sued in a civil litigation matter
or business being sued is called the defendant.
And we use the same term in a criminal prosecution.
The goal of the civil litigation matter,
the reason we allow people to sue other people or businesses,
is compensation for an injury.
I'm speaking in general terms here.
Sometimes there's other goals.
And when you receive compensation for an injury
in a civil litigation matter, we call that compensation damages.
Now, let's compare the civil litigation matter
to a criminal prosecution.
In a criminal prosecution, the government is,
we call it prosecuting but think of it as suing just like we did
when we talked about the plaintiff.
So it's the government doing the suing in a criminal prosecution.
And the government can either be your state government
or the Federal Government.
And we're going to discuss the differences as we move
through this introductory chapter.
But keep in mind for now
that most criminal prosecutions are state, not federal.
And when the state prosecutes,
we often call the state the people.
So if it's the State of California, for example,
it would be the People of the State
of California that's prosecuting.
And if it's the Federal Government,
we call it the United States of America.
But in either event whether there's a criminal prosecution,
you're being sued or prosecuted by your government.
The person being prosecuted is still called the defend even
in a criminal prosecution, just like it was
in a civil litigation matter.
But because the government is actually bringing the action,
something interesting happens.
The Constitution comes into play.
And the Constitution, we have a lot
of constitutions in this nation.
But there's one federal constitution,
and every state has their own.
And the Constitution is just kind of like a set of rules
that your government has to follow.
So it provides a lot of extra protections
for the criminal defendant.
And keep in mind that none of these protections are evident
in a civil litigation matter
where the government isn't necessarily suing.
It's another person or a business.
And some of the constitutional protections
that the defendant will enjoy are the privilege
against self incrimination.
Meaning the defendant does not have to say anything
that incriminates him or her.
The protection against double jeopardy meaning the defendant
will not be prosecuted more than once for one crime.
And also the right to an attorney.
Very important protection.
So you get these rights in the criminal prosecution along
with many others, and you do it in a civil litigation manner.
So I want you to keep in mind
that in a civil litigation matter, the plaintiff has
to pay, pay for their attorney, pay to sue.
So does the defendant.
Even if the defendant hasn't done anything wrong
because there's no right to an attorney
in a civil litigation matter.
The Constitution is not evident.
And so both parties have to pay for their own attorneys.
In a criminal prosecution, the defendant
that can't afford an attorney might get one for free
because of the Constitution giving you the rules set
and the right to the attorney being in the sixth amendment.
Well, we're going to talk about all
of this stuff later in much more detail.
So this is just an overview.
And the main thing you want to keep in mind is
that the Constitution is protecting the defendant
in a criminal prosecution,
but it is not protecting the defendant
in a civil litigation matter.
Another difference between civil litigation
and a criminal prosecution is the goal.
The goal of a criminal prosecution is punishment.
And the gold of a civil litigation matter, as I said,
is compensation or damages for the injured party.
Okay, let's look at another few common principles
that we're going to be exploring in detail.
I said the goal of a criminal prosecution is punishment,
it is.
And there are five recognized purposes of punishment.
Deterrence which is frightening an individual or society
so that they don't commit crimes.
Rehabilitation which helps to reform the criminal defendant
so that he or she doesn't commit any crimes again.
Restitution which is punishing the defendant financially,
forcing them to pay a fine or also compensation
to any victims for injury.
Incapacitation which is removing the criminal defendant
from society like putting them in jail
or prison or on house arrest.
And also retribution which is a feeling of avengement.
That allows society to believe in our criminal justice system
and to see that it is working.
We can also divide crimes up by the severity of punishment.
We do do this, and it's called grading.
So the most serious crimes
that have all punishment options available are called felonies.
And if a state allows for it, and keep in mind
that states can govern themselves
and create their own laws, so you're going to see a lot
of variation of criminal law from state to state.
If states decide that they want to have the death penalty,
this would be the most serious punishment option,
and it is available for felonies but not for any
of the other graded classifications.
A less serious offense would be called a felony misdemeanor.
In California, we call these wobblers.
And these crimes can be prosecuted as a felony
or a misdemeanor depending on the circumstances.
Less serious than a felony misdemeanor is a misdemeanor.
Misdemeanors do not have all punishment options available
like felonies because they're considered less
serious offenses.
So for a misdemeanor, you may spend only
up to one year incarcerated and also
for a misdemeanor you would be incarcerated in jail rather
than prison which is where we incarcerate those
who have been convicted of felonies.
And then the lowliest classification
of grading is called an infraction or violation.
These crimes are typically punished by a fine
and generally do not create a criminal record
for the criminal defendant.
Good luck with this chapter.
As I said, don't be worried
about all the material that's coming in.
We will explore it all in detail later.
And please don't hesitate to contact
if you have any questions.