Posted: February 14th, 2023

Criminal Conduct and Criminal Law

Criminal Conduct and Criminal Law

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Criminal Conduct and Criminal Law

Introduction
Criminal conduct and criminal law affect the exercise of power among individuals for the safety of the community. The criminal justice system should engage in proactive measures of ensuring that society is aware of the punitive measures that individuals will face when they break the law. The essay will examine the purpose of the Ex Post Facto Clause which includes punishing criminals retroactively. It will discuss Tort which is categorized into intentional torts, negligent tort, and strict liability. Solicitation is the act of requesting or demanding another person to commit a crime on their behalf and conspiracy is the act of committing a crime as a group (Niyozova, 2011). The essay will examine the goals of criminal law and the purpose to prevent innocent people and protect public property. The purpose of the essay is to examine the criminal conduct and criminal law in society today.
Ex Post Facto Clause
The Ex Post Facto Clause can be used as a defense to prohibit the increase in federal minimum or mandatory sentencing after a federal defendant has committed a crime. The purpose of the Ex Post Facto Clause is to punish criminals retroactively (Mikhail, 2019). According to Articles 1 and 9, Section 9 prohibits Congress from passing laws that apply ex post facto. One of the restrictions of the clause is to limit the powers of both state and federal legislative authorities (Mikhail, 2019). The limitations are important in limiting the exercise of powers retroactively.
While the clause can be used as a defense, it is important to demonstrate the practicality with an example. The case study to illustrate the application of the Ex Post Facto Clause is the California Department of Corrections v. Morales (Reingold & Thomas, 2018). The defendant was to serve a jail term of 15 years for the murder of his wife. In 1990, Morales become eligible for parole. In 1989, the court ruled that he is as unsuitable for parole (Reingold & Thomas, 2018). He filed a federal habeas corpus indicating that the 1981 law that denied him parole had an ex post facto law.
The outcome was that rather than altering his punishment, the court followed another method to fix the parole issue under identical substantive standards. Similarly, the court cannot judge people with laws that were passed after a person committed a crime (Reingold & Thomas, 2018). Therefore, the Ex Post Facto Clause can be used as a defense to prohibit an increase in the federal minimum or mandatory sentencing after a federal victim has committed a crime.
The Distinction between Criminal, Tort, and Moral Wrongs
Criminal wrongs are actions that harm society as a whole as compared to one individual. Acting or failing to act in a manner that violates society’s rules attracts fines and punishment (Hershovitz, 2018). The government has a responsibility to punish people who offend society. A tort is a body of civil law that comprises an act or omission that involves injury or harm (Hershovitz, 2018). A tort leads to a civil wrong that imposes liability. Some of the torts include car accidents that occur due to lack of carefulness or falling after sliding on a slippery floor.
A tort provides the basis for remedying the harm (Hershovitz, 2018). Tort, which means wrong in French, is categorized into intentional torts, negligent tort, and strict liability. Intentional tort involves a deliberate and premeditated wrong (Hershovitz, 2018). Negligent tort involves an act of negligence such as causing an accident for failure to observe traffic rules. Strict liability involves the sale of defective products causing harm to consumers.
Moral laws comprise a guideline for behavior based on human dignity. Morals laws vary from one community to another and that no statutes are governing the violation of the moral laws (Vallentyne, 2018). I believe that moral laws are higher than criminal laws. One of the common examples in the community is that killing or stealing is both morally and criminally wrong. In moral law, disrespecting others based on the choice of words is wrong but criminal law does not put limits on the behavior of respecting others (Vallentyne, 2018). People fear criminal law since it can subject them to life imprisonment while others fear moral law since it shreds them of respect from others in society.
Solicitation and Conspiracy
Solicitation is the act of requesting or demanding another person to commit a crime on their behalf. Solicitation involves influence from one person to the individual who commits the crime (Ali, 2020). For example, if a wife wanted to kill her husband, she can hire or request a person to commit the crime on their behalf. The wife will be soliciting an individual to commit a crime. On the other hand, conspiracy is the act of committing a crime as a group. When two or more people agree to commit a crime, they are simply conspiring (Ali, 2020). For example, if the wife who is angry at her husband asks for support or help from a friend to poison or murder the husband, they will be conspiring.
The unilateral approach to conspiracy convictions has been criticized since they can oppress one individual. One of the reasons for criticizing it is because it does not require an actual agreement among the involved parties (Daly, 2020). The agreement can be due to the fear of the safety of one party and not the intention to participate in the criminal activity. The unilateral approach makes it a crime and accords punishment to any person who engages with another who is ready to commit a crime (Daly, 2020). One of the reasons why it is criticized is that the person signing the agreement may only do it without any intention to cause harm (Daly, 2020). Another reason is that one individual may be under pressure to agree to participate without which they will face negative consequences.
Goals of Criminal Law
Criminal law constitutes a body of law that is used to prosecuting criminal acts. One of the goals of criminal law is to motivate people to avoid any negative or criminal behavior. The second goal is to protect society from people who may purpose to inflict pain on others (Sadeghi & Tanhaee, 2017). The third act is to create an avenue of punishing those who commit criminal activities. The fourth goal of criminal law is to encourage the criminals to reform by demonstrating to them that illegal acts will lead to punishment.
The purpose of the criminal justice system is to prevent criminal activities from occurring. The focus is to protect the community from experiencing disruptions such as theft or violence (Sadeghi & Tanhaee, 2017). People who commit crimes do not care about the people but only think about self-gain. Some people do not fear the authorities or their moral standing. The criminal justice is in place to arrest such people and subject them to imprisonment to ensure they learn the necessary lessons (Sadeghi & Tanhaee, 2017). The criminal justice system should engage in proactive measures of ensuring that society is aware of the punitive measures that individuals will face when they break the law. For example, teaching the younger generation will help them to improve their compliance when they grow up.
The law has necessary measures to protect the public from people whose aim is to injure others and vandalize their property (Sadeghi & Tanhaee, 2017). The criminal justice system has measures to identify the innocent from the guilty ones. It will prevent the punishment of the innocent to establish fairness in society.
Conclusion
Criminal conduct and criminal law have evolved over the years. The purpose of the development is to enhance the safety in society and the welfare of the members. The essay seeks to examine the role of the Ex Post Facto Clause, tort including intentional torts, negligent tort, and strict liability, solicitation, and conspiracy. The purpose is to examine the various roles that criminal law plays in society today. The essay ends by outlining the goals of criminal law in society today. The purpose of the criminal justice system is to prevent criminal activities from occurring. The focus is to protect the community from experiencing disruptions such as theft or violence. The protection is essential in addressing future problems that can occur when people assume that the government is not in control due to mayhem that occurs in the society.

References
Ali, J. H. M. (2020). Forensic Linguistics: A Study in Criminal Speech Acts. Beni-Suef University International Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences, 2(1), 39-65.
Daly, S. (2020). The Aberrant Tort of Lawful Means Conspiracy?. King’s Law Journal, 31(1), 145-163.
Hershovitz, S. (2018). Treating Wrongs as Wrongs: An Expressive Argument for Tort Law. Journal of Tort Law, 10(2), 405-447.
Mikhail, J. (2019). James Wilson, Early American Land Companies, and the Original Meaning of Ex Post Facto Law. Geo. JL & Pub. Pol’y, 17, 79.
Niyozova, S. S. (2021). Legal Conditions For The Lawfulness Of Necessary Defense. The American Journal of Political Science Law and Criminology, 3(01), 21-29.
Reingold, P. D., & Thomas, K. (2018). Wrong Turn on the Ex Post Facto Clause. Calif. L. Rev., 106, 593.
Sadeghi, M. H., & Tanhaee, F. (2017). The nature of the freewill and its role in criminal law. Journal of Criminal Law Research, 6(21), 39-72.
Vallentyne, P. (2018). Ripstein on private wrongs and torts. Jurisprudence, 9(3), 589-596.