Time: Tuesday, Thursday, 9:30-10:45
Place: BEC (Business Bldg.) 106

Instructor: Theodore M. Benditt
Office: Humanities Building, Room 416

Office hours: Tues. & Wed., 2:00-3:00 p.m.
Office telephone: 934-4083

E-mail address: tbenditt@uab.edu

    August 19

Study Questions

1.     How do criminal and civil cases differ with respect to how they are brought to court, the pretrial stage, and the trial stage?

2.     Explain the deterrence and retributive justifications for punishment.  How is punishment said to deter?  What issues have been raised with respect to the capacity of punishment to deter?

3.     How does retributive theory deal with the question of the extent of punishment that is appropriate for each offense?  What problem has been raised with the idea of “an eye for an eye” as a basis for punishment?  What problems have been raised by habitual offender laws (p.337)?

4.     What is actus reus (p.265)?  Give an example in which there is no actus reus because of lack of voluntariness.

5.     What is the difference, in law, between a justification and an excuse (pp.272-3)?  Give examples of justifications or purported justifications.

6.     How does actus reus apply with regard to so-called status offenses (p.267) and to failures to act (pp.267ff)?  What is a Good Samaritan law?

7.     What is an inchoate crime?  Give examples of the crimes of attempt, solicitation, and conspiracy (pp.290-4).

8.     Can one be guilty of attempting to commit a crime when it is not possible to commit the completed crime (see Legal Puzzler #12)?

9.     What is mens rea (p.265)?  What are some sorts of cases in which people are excused because mens rea is not present?  Why does the criminal law recognize excuses in these cases?  Explain for both retributive theory and deterrence theory.

10.  What is strict criminal liability?  Give an example.

11.  What is the difference between intention and motive (p.268; see also p.296)?  Which is relevant to the definition of an offense such as murder?  What is the difference between acting purposely and acting knowingly (p.269)?

12.  Why is ignorance of the law usually not recognized as an excuse (p.271)?

13.  Give examples of defenses to a criminal prosecution based on duress (pp.288-9), intoxication (pp.287-8), and necessity (choice of evils) (p.279).

14.  What are the McNaghten (pp.283-4) and the Model Penal Code (p.285) versions of the insanity defense?  What are some issues in trying to define insanity?

15.  To what extent is the insanity defense used in criminal prosecutions?

16.  It has been proposed that the special defense of insanity be eliminated and that all cases involving mental condition be dealt with via the mens rea requirement.  What are some arguments on each side?

17.  What is the point of the “guilty but mentally ill” verdict (p.286)?  What is the “diminished capacity” defense (p.287)?

18.  What is the felony murder rule (p.297)?  What is the mens rea in felony murder (see Legal Puzzler #10 and Tison v. Arizona )?

19.  What sorts of problems do the intersection of the values of truth-seeking, efficiency, and rights produce (pp.308-9; 313)?

20.  When is a search reasonable?  What may be seized in a search (pp. 313ff)?

21.  What is the exclusionary rule?  What are the arguments for and against it (pp.322ff)?

22.  What are some of the plusses and minuses of plea bargaining (pp.324-8)?

23.  What is a plea of “nolo contendere”?  What are its implications (p.325)?

24.  What kinds of prosecutorial actions are barred by the double jeopardy clause of the fifth amendment (pp.342)?

Cases to be familiar with: People v. Dlugash (Legal Puzzler #12); State v. Lindberg; Regina v. Dudley and Stephens; Kyllo v. U.S.; Tison v. Arizona; Rummel v. Estelle