Criminal Law

The Main Sources of Criminal Law

Arhonda Smith

Everest University

CJL 3215-5_Week 1_ Individual Work

April 18, 2014

Instructor William Elfo

The purposes of Criminal Punishment are for individuals who break the law there are criminal penalties range from a small fine or community service to the death penalty. So the purposes of criminal punishment are divided into two different schools since centuries. You have those who are on the retribution side of the divide which insist that offenders can only pay for their crimes by experiencing the actual physical and psychological pain (“hard treatment”) of having punishment inflicted on them (Samaha, 2014, p. 24).

The burden of proof is on the state to prove the defendant guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. This will also refer to just how convinced the judge or jury must be before believing something. The burden of proof applies to each individual element in a claim. The defendant is not required to prove their version of events is true. When the plaintiff is trying to prove the elements of the case, the defendant doesn’t need to convince the jury of an alternative version. So you have an exception to this rule is when a defendant is trying to prove an “affirmative defense.” An affirmative defense occurs when, regardless of the plaintiff’s success in proving elements of the claim ("The Burden of Proof in a Personal Injury Case - AllLaw.com", n.d.).

An indeterminate prison sentence is where the court sets the minimum term of imprisonment an offender must serve before becoming eligible to be considered for release by the Parole Board. There are two types of indeterminate sentence and they are Imprisonment for life and Imprisonment for public. A sentence of imprisonment for life must be imposed, where the following criteria are met the offender is convicted of a serious offence defined as carrying a maximum sentence of life imprisonment or at least 10 years ("Indeterminate Sentencing",...