Categories of crime
Crime is crime, right? If you break the law, you should serve the time, right? If you perform an unlawful action, you should pay your penalty. It isn’t that easy, you have the right to certain protections under due process of the law and certain pieces are written into various crime definitions and need to be proven to find you guilty in a court of law.
There are eight general elements of a crime. Mens rea, or having a guilty mind; actus reus (the action must be unlawful at the time in which you do it), and corpus delicti (happening of the first two together – you must have intent to do the crime which you are ), these are what are referred to in our text as the three conjoined elements. This leaves causation, legality,
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(An attempt or lending assistance to an offense at this level is what is referred to as an inchoate offense.)
Misdemeanors are offenses punishable by incarceration usually in a local confinement facility, for a period whose upper limit is prescribed by a statute in a given jurisdiction, typically one year or less.
An offense, is a violation of the criminal laws. In some areas this is called ticketable offense. It is often punished by minor amounts of time in local jail, a fine, or both. (Smalleger 2017.)
Treason is an offense that can only be committed by a US citizen or an alien who is living in the US. ("Treason.") It is the taking of an action to help another government in overthrowing, warring against, or severely injuring our government. Treason is the only crime directly defined in the US Constitution. Section 3, Article III states:
“Treason against the United States, shall consist only in levying War against them, or in adhering to their Enemies, giving them Aid and Comfort. No Person shall be convicted of Treason unless on the Testimony of two Witnesses to the same overt Act, or on Confession in open