TABLE OF CONTENTS
Criminal Law: An Overview
Just about everyone is touched in some way by our criminal
justice system. You, a relative or a friend may be arrested
and charged with a crime. Or perhaps you've been the victim
of one. Maybe you're a teacher, social worker or counselor
who frequently needs clear answers to questions about criminal
law so you can help others understand how the criminal justice
system works. This page is for all of you, and for anyone
else who wants to understand a little more about such modern-day
dramas as the O.J. Simpson, Menendez brothers or Timothy McVeigh
trials.
- What
Makes a Case a Criminal Case?
There are two fundamentally
different types of court cases--criminal and civil. Here's
how to tell the difference.
- What
is a Crime?
Straightforward reasons why
some acts are considered crimes while others are not.
- How
to Interpret Criminal Statutes
Knowing how to read the law
will help you determine whether it's been broken.
- How
People Get Charged With Crimes
Learn how police officers
and prosecutors initiate criminal cases.
- Derivative
Liability: When People Who Help Other People Commit a Crime
Can Be Charged
Most of us have heard the
terms "accomplice," "accessory," and
"aider and abettor"--if only on TV. This article
explains what these terms mean, and how anyone who intentionally
participates in a crime may be held responsible for it.
- Guilty,
but Guilty of What? Understanding Degrees of Guilt
Even when it's clear that
a defendant committed a crime, judges, defense attorneys
and prosecutors may bend the law to obtain the results they
want.
- How
a Defendant's Mental State Affects His Or Her Responsibility
for a Crime
What a defendant intended
to do often affects how severely he or she will be punished--but
not always.
- Common
Defenses to Criminal Charges
Here are a handful of ways
in which a defendant might get off the hook.
- When
a Young Person Commits a Crime
A look at what happens in
juvenile court.
Criminal
Procedure: An Overview
Criminal procedure refers to the methods we use to deal with
people accused of committing a crime--when they can be searched,
when evidence can be seized, when eyewitnesses can be investigated.
The core purpose of modern criminal procedure is to bring
criminals to account in a manner that:
* instills confidence that the result is correct and just,
and
* meets constitutional standards of fairness (known as "due
process" in legalese).
Here you'll find articles on some of the basic procedural
devices and issues that lie at the heart of our criminal justice
system.
- Where Our Criminal Procedures Come
From
How federal and state constitutions,
legislatures and courts protect the rights of criminal defendants.
- Key Aspects of Modern Criminal Procedure:
Defendant's Rights
A quick tour of the ways in
which the U.S. Constitution attempts to ensure fair treatment
for criminal defendants.
- A Walk Through Criminal Court
Sample Chapter from The
Criminal Law Handbook: Know Your Rights, Survive the System,
by Attorneys Paul Bergman & Sara J. Berman-Barrett
- A Walk Through Two Drunk Driving Cases:
How the Criminal Justice System Works
Follow two defendants through
the criminal justice system, from the circumstances leading
to their arrests to the final resolution of their cases.
Dealing with the Police
The overbearing police interrogation designed to wrench a
confession from a quivering suspect is an enduring dramatic
image. Though the image is largely a relic of the past, police
officers do question individuals in a variety of circumstances.
For example, aside from seeking a confession, police officers
may question an arrestee to uncover information about additional
suspects, or officers may simply seek information from people
they have no intention of arresting. This section examines
common situations in which police officers are likely to ask
questions (and conduct limited searches), and describes the
typical legal consequences of both talking and remaining silent.
For information about searches accompanying an arrest, see
Search and Seizure.
- Police
Questioning Prior to Arrest
If you haven't been arrested,
but a police officer wants to question you about a crime,
what should you do? Here are some tips.
- Knowing When An Arrest Is Legal
Learn when the police are
permitted to make an arrest--and how to tell if an arrest
has actually taken place.
- Police Questioning After Arrest
What really happens if the
police fail to read a suspect his rights or use coercion
to extract information from a suspect.
- Bail: Getting Out of Jail After an
Arrest
What you need to know about
bail--what it is, how it's set and how to pay it.
Search and Seizure
Most people instinctively understand the concept of privacy.
It's the freedom to decide which details of your life are
public and which are not. At the same time, most of us acknowledge
that society is served when the police, in appropriate circumstances,
are allowed to look for and seize contraband, stolen goods
and evidence of a crime.
- When the Police Can Search for and
Seize Evidence
Sample Chapter from The
Criminal Law Handbook: Know Your Rights, Survive the System,
by Attorneys Paul Bergman & Sara J. Berman-Barrett
Criminal Defense Lawyers
and Public Defenders
When people are accused of a crime, they often face the possibility
of going to jail. This fact alone drives people to look for
a good lawyer. Unfortunately, private criminal defense lawyers
don't come cheap, and most people can't afford one. Fortunately,
however, the U.S. Constitution provides that a criminal defendant
is entitled to an attorney if the state is trying to deprive
the defendant of his or her liberty. This means that the court
must appoint a lawyer to represent any defendant who can't
afford to hire a private attorney. These court appointed lawyers
work for free--or for a fee the defendant can afford.
- What a Good Criminal Defense Lawyer
Does
When faced with a serious
criminal charge, it's almost always important to have an
experienced lawyer on your side.
- Developing a Defense Strategy
How criminal defense attorneys
and defendants work together to create a defense strategy.
- Obtaining a Criminal Defense Lawyer
How a defendant who can't
afford a private lawyer can qualify for a court-appointed
attorney.
- Finding a Private Defense Attorney
When faced with criminal charges,
trying to find the right lawyer--quickly--may feel overwhelming.
Here's some guidance on how and where to search.
- Does Self-Representation in a Criminal
Case Ever Make Sense?
Not usually, but here's a
discussion of the few situations in which you might consider
representing yourself in a criminal case.
Understanding Plea Bargaining:
How Most Criminal Cases are Settled
A plea bargain is an agreement between the defense and the
prosecutor in which a defendant pleads guilty or no contest
to criminal charges. In exchange, the prosecutor drops some
charges, reduces a charge or recommends that the judge enter
a specific sentence that is acceptable to the defense.
- Plea Bargains: Why and When They're
Made
As criminal courts become
ever more crowded, prosecutors and judges feel increased
pressure to move cases quickly through the system.
- Defendants' Incentives for Accepting
Plea Bargains
A discussion of the most common
reasons why a defendant might want to enter into a plea
bargain.
- Prosecutors' and Judges' Incentives
for Accepting Plea Bargains
Crowded calendars and overburdened
prisons provide powerful incentives to many judges and prosecutors.
Lie Detectors, Drug Tests
and Other Scientific Evidence
Here you'll find information about what's called scientific
or forensic evidence--evidence such as fingerprints or DNA
analyses that depend on scientific techniques for their reliability.
- Scientific Evidence: An Introduction
Learn about different types
of scientific evidence and how such evidence may be used
in court.
- DNA Evidence: It's in Your Genes
DNA evidence is now common
in our courts. Here's how it works.
- Lie Detector Tests: Truth and Consequences
Learn how polygraph tests
work, as well as what supporters and detractors have to
say about them.
- Justice by Machine: Living with Lie
Detector Tests
A former public defender recounts
his first experience with a lie detector test and argues
for their place in American courtrooms.
- Establishing the Origin and Authenticity
of Documents
At trial, the origin and authenticity
of important documents may be proved by experts known as
"questioned document examiners." Here's how they
do their work.
- Fingerprint Evidence
A brief explanation of the
techniques involved in gathering and using fingerprint evidence.
- Drug Tests: Junk Science?
A discussion of drug tests
as a part of the criminal justice system.
- Exhuming Dead Bodies: Justice From
Beyond the Grave
Some call it an affront to
human dignity. Others say it's an expensive waste of time.
And some swear it's the only way to save a vilified reputation.
Trials, Sentencing, Punishment
and Appeals
Here you'll find information about criminal trial procedures
and tactics, the various options that judges have when defendants
are convicted (sentences) and the legal steps that a defendant
can take if he or she believes that the trial judge made mistakes
(appeals and writs).
- An Anatomy of a Criminal Trial
Lots of things can happen
during a criminal trial, many of them surprising. Nevertheless,
most trials do follow a uniform set of procedures.
- How Sentencing Works
These frequently asked questions
explain how judges decide what a convicted defendant's punishment
will be.
- Sentencing Alternatives: From Incarceration
to Community Service
A convicted defendant's punishment
may involve one or a combination of different elements,
including prison, probation, compensating the victim or
community service. This article looks at each in turn.
- Private Jails: Prisons for Fun and
Profit
We all know there's trouble
with prisons run by the government, but are private prisons
the answer?
- Appeals and the Writ of Habeas Corpus
Defendants who think they've
been wrongfully convicted of a crime have a number of options.
- What's in a Name? Megan's Law
Your reputation has pretty
much hit rock bottom once you've been labeled a sex offender.
And unfortunately, Megan's Law can catch innocent people
in its net.
- Cleaning Up a Criminal Record
Basic information about erasing
a criminal conviction from your record.
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