A crime has three parts: the act (actus reus), the intent, and the concurrence of the two. Generally, crimes can be divided into categories: crime against a person, crime against property, sexual crimes, public morality See more

All levels of government rely on the following:
Common law
Common law is law developed by judges through legal opinions, as opposed to statutes adopted through the legislative process or See more

Crimes can generally be reduced to actus reus elements and mens rea elements. Actus reus elements are elements that describe conduct. Mens rea elements are elements that identify a particular mental state.
Actus reus See more

American law generally categorizes the level of punishment and creates varied sentences, as opposed to the British common law "one … See more

An overarching concept in American criminal law is that people may not be punished for committing merely immoral or unethical acts. They … See more

In the United States, the adversarial system is used. The prosecution must prove each element of the alleged crime beyond a reasonable … See more

The two categories of affirmative defense are: justification and excuse. Justifications differ from excuses in that a successful justification shows that defendant's conduct was not wrong, whereas a successful excuse does not show the defendant's … See more