Solicitor Southampton ? A Little History About Criminal Law

Article by Corey Joe

A Little History About Criminal Law ? Law ? Criminal Law

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Criminal law in the United States has evolved over the history of the nation. The country was founded on principles of individual liberty, but the founding fathers understood the necessity of a justice system in a country that was highly focused on distributive justice and individual equality. The legal system became an extension of the British common law system, largely out of familiarity and simplicity, but was essentially a tort-based criminal system from the beginning. Today, tort claims are all but criminal. Those claims still can lead to criminal charges filed independently by the state.

Contemporary legal systems are often modified according to a state?s claim of commonwealth status. In a ?commonwealth? the state reserves the right to file criminal charges against an individual regardless of a victim. This began acceptance of crime without a victim. A tort legal system requires two individual parties and does not allow for the governmental claim to prosecution authority for the common good. All states do this now, regardless of commonwealth status.

There are currently only four commonwealth states remaining, but all states prosecute laws without need of a victim. Driving under the influence and possession of drugs are prime examples of this claim of authority. Historically, if an individual did not like living in a commonwealth state they could move to a jurisdiction that did not claim commonwealth power. That option no longer exists. The federal government claims the same power and has since the Prohibition Era.

Originally, the Bill of Rights was the individual guarantee of governmental non-interference. Each amendment specifically addressed a libertarian guarantee. Because of global political climate and perceived ?dangers? from which society needs protection, the individual guarantees of governmental non-interference have been largely eliminated by Congress with the implementation of the Patriot Act.

Legal economics have also had a major impact on criminal cases, as many of those indicted or arrested are often in economical distress. The popularity of law degrees in recent decades has been fueled by potential income and has created an increase in legal professionals. In many ways, the defendant only gets as much distributive criminal justice as they can afford. The majority of non-victim criminal cases involve criminal defense from a public defender who is typically an employee of the state. A criminal defendant is completely at the mercy of the state if a state does not allow bail bondsmen.

Criminal charges are still divided into two categories. Those categories are misdemeanors and felonies. The felony classification was originally established to classify career criminals and mark them as potential dangers to a community based on some heinous act against another person. The bar has been lowered in contemporary legal systems to include an individual with child support arrears at a minimal level of $ 1000. This has historically been a civil tort case and was not classified as criminal.

Additionally, prosecution at this generally lower threshold is subject to local legal systems and can be highly political. The original purpose of the criminal system structure was to stop this type of prosecution because it was also the method used in England, which the United States considered an enemy. Eliminating political criminal prosecution was the intended focus of the Constitution. Contemporary prosecutions are largely adjudicated with a guilty presumption from the prosecutor and classifications are largely a function of legal definition. Due process is merely procedural and all constitutional rights vanish with any plea agreement.

In addition, The United States criminal justice system now routinely subcontracts incarceration facilities and the corporations that house the historically high prison populations can make contributions to legislator campaigns in practically any financial manner they please. This serves as a convenient influence mechanism for requesting sympathy from lawmakers to reinforce and maintain the criminal system as this augmented governmental criminal prosecution protocol that maximizes the profits of all facets of the legal industry and keeps incarceration levels at capacity.

About the Author

If you?re charged for a crime, give the Maryland defense attorneys at the Law Firm of Shapiro & Mack a call.

By Corey Joe

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Corey Joe

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