Natural Crime vs. Legal Crime

This paper compares and contrasts the concepts of "natural crime" and "legal crime", using each of the crime classifications on the FBI's crime index.

1,409 words () | 4 sources | MLA | 2007 United States

Paper Summary:

The paper examines the seven classifications of crime listed in the Uniform Crime Reporting Program. The paper determines which crimes might be considered "mala in se", crimes that are inherently dangerous or "mala prohibita", crimes not inherently wrong, but are considered criminal because their prohibition is necessary to regulate the general welfare. The paper asserts that the crimes in which human life is lost, in threat of being lost or violated in any way, should be considered "mala in se." The paper posits that crimes in which property or belongings are lost or taking away, should be considered "mala prohibita" because property is less valuable than human life.

From the Paper:

"Murder and nonnegligent manslaughter, as defined in the Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program, is the willful (nonnegligent) killing of one human being by another. (www.fbi.gov) There are some homicides that are reduced to a lesser crime because there was no intent evident in the act. The intent to kill is where the defendant consciously desired to cause death or where the defendant intended to cause great bodily harm. There are other crimes of murder that are justified or excusable. An example of this is if an intruder entered a home with a gun, the occupants could murder the intruder and not be charged with a homicide. The occupants could argue that they were protecting their family from being murdered by the intruder."

Sample of Sources Used:

http://www.fbi.gov/ucr/cius_02/html/web/offreported/offreported.html Section II - Crime Index Offenses Reported. Retrieved August 1, 2007 from World Wide Web.
Ronald Boyce, Donald Dripps, Rollin Perkins. (2004). Criminal Law and Procedure. New York, New York: Foundation Press.
Researched website http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/320903/aggravated_assault_crime_causation_.html Aggravated Assault: Crime and Causation. Retrieved August 2, 2007 from World Wide Web.
George Dix. (2002) Criminal Law. Chicago, IL: Gilbert Law Summaries

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APA Citation:

Natural Crime vs. Legal Crime (2012, January 15). Retrieved February 10, 2012, from http://www.academon.com/Comparison-Essay-Natural-Crime-vs-Legal-Crime/99129