Criminal Law is a necessary part of the world we live in. It's vital to have laws established and kept when offenders break them. Without necessary punishment for offenses, people will continue to commit crimes. Laws were made in order to prevent crimes.
Wouldn't it be great to live in a world without crime? We all know that's not possible. Crime pervades almost every aspect of our lives.
That's a real shame.
But isn't it wonderful to know that if a crime does touch your life or the life of a loved one,
there is such a thing called criminal law to help you?
Criminal law has to do with crimes that are prosecuted by governmental agencies. In the U.S., almost all processes to handle crimes are set up by the local, state or federal government.
If you or anyone you may know is involved in a criminal lawsuit, the prosecutor must prove that you, as the defendant, fully intended to act as you did. In contrast, civil law states that you might be responsible for your actions, but you may not have intended what happened. A good example of this is a car accident. That's why the law makes you pay for the damages.
The Goal of Criminal Law
Simply put, it is to deter crimes and/or establish punishment for crimes already committed. There are a number of ways punishment is performed:
Capital punishment
Physical or corporal punishment
Incarceration in jail or prison
House arrest
Parole and probation
Monetary fines
Community service
Five punishments of enforcement:
Retribution
Deterrence
Incapacitation
Rehabilitation
Restitution
It goes without saying, people who disobey the rules of their state or government should in some way suffer. None of us like it when we truly believe someone is guilty and they get away with it.
We, as humans, also don't like being taken advantage of and so the law protects us from that. The punishment puts the disadvantaged on equal footing and balances the scale.
The ultimate aim of punishment is deterrence. Which in simple terms means the punishment will hopefully discourage offending humans from taking illegal action against each other. This is what every lawmaker hopes to achieve.
But, we all know that many people still make the wrong choices and break the law. Many times their own greed is the cause of the offense. When people persist in wrongdoing, they sometimes need to be incapacitated or "put away" somewhere in order to protect people at large.
The form of punishment known as rehabilitation is a good way to instill the ability to make better choices without dire consequences. It also helps return offenders to society.
It hopes to help them see what they did was wrong and why and how to avoid doing it again.
Restitution is a great way to mend broken bridges between the offender and the person offended. It's goal is to rectify, through perhaps monetary means, any loss to the victim.
I'm sure you can see how vital criminal law is in our society today. Unfortunately, it's a necessary part of life - one which we wouldn't want to do without.
