Criminal Law Paper

Criminal Law

Criminal Law

In this paper, I will discuss what interested me about this Supreme Court case. We will examine the sources, purposes and jurisdictions of criminal law related to this case. Lastly, we will look at the various elements of a crime, including actus reus, mens rea, and concurrence and watch how they relate to this case.

As I went from a police officer into corrections I have seen both sides. Years ago when I was a police officer cases would make it to the Supreme Court, and the decision by them would change what we did on the street. At this point in my career, I became interested and began reading the decisions. When I went into corrections and started promoting, the cases meant a lot because the policy would have to change due to a decision. Once I became Assistant Warden and acting Warden, I would read cases about inmate's cases that made it to the Supreme Court, and the case I am using for this paper is Abbott v. the United States. It is on the mandatory minimum sentencing law. The case could affect a lot of convicts so to me it was fascinating.

The case of Abbott v. the United States or Abbott and Gould v. the United States was a federal case which we all know the federal government dictates what happens in all prisons. Abbott and Gould were charged with drug and firearm offenses. Abbott was convicted of two predicate drug trafficking counts and a felon in possession of a firearm. Abbott received 15 years mandatory minimum sentence for his felon in possession conviction and five years for a crime of violence or drug trafficking. Gould predicates drug trafficking crime carried a ten-year mandatory minimum sentence, and he received a five-year mandatory sentence for a crime of violence or drug trafficking which is referred to 924. The appeal to the Supreme Court is the five-year sentence (924). The case is over the mandatory sentence laws. The jurisdiction is the federal system. Both of the convicts are in the federal system which...