Criminal Law and Criminal Defense: Bulwark of Justice and Order

Crime purports a long history since man has always been prone to break the rules for which human society ultimately assigned a penalty. Criminal law, also called penal law, is the prescribed regulation applicable in different domains whose prevailing feature is the rigid imposition of punishment for failure to obey. Perpetrators of crime resort to criminal defense.

Every time crime is committed, the force of law brings the suspect to face charges. If the suspect merits a conviction, criminal law will impose punishment, based on gravity of the act committed and its jurisdiction. This may take the form of: execution or capital punishment, imprisonment or loss of liberty, government supervision as parole or probation, or fine.
Criminal law has five objectives:

• Retribution – The law requires that the offender must suffer to a certain degree. For example:  a prison is sentence to hard labor.
• Deterrence – This is considered as individual and general. Individual deterrence is directed to make the convict suffer so as to dissuade potential crime offenders. General deterrence is directed in insuring the good of society.
• Incapacitation has the objective of keeping the offender separate from the citizenry in order to protect the public.
• Rehabilitation aims to re-educate and transform the criminal to become a valuable member of society after serving his term.
• Restitution is responsibility of the state authority to repair or recompense the damage done to the victim of the crime.

After criminal law is applied, criminal defense is the best option adopted by a person facing criminal charges. It is categorized into five:

1. The person claims that he did not commit the crime. He avails the following course of action -
   
   
   • The accused is always presumed to be innocent until convicted or found guilty. The prosecutor must present the jury or judge convincing arguments of the defendant’s guilt.
   • The prosecutor must be able to convince the jury or judge that the accused is guilty beyond reasonable doubt. The burden of proof lies heavily on the prosecutor’s arguments. He must clear all doubts in the judge or jury of the defendant’s innocence by the evidences presented.
   • The defendant states an alibi that he was somewhere when the crime was committed. He can present witnesses to prove that he was somewhere else.
2. Criminal law considers the commission of a crime for various reasons:
• The act was done for self defense. The act was justified for the victim made the first move of threatening the life of the defendant.
• The defendant gives a plea of insanity. He was incapable of controlling his behavior. The jury/judge rarely accepts the plea of insanity unless the defendant will agree to a psychological test. If the plea is proven, the defendant will be placed in a mental institution.
• Criminal law finds the reason of entrapment as a very difficult defense to prove. Entrapment happens when the government force compels the victim to commit the crime by planting evidences. This is the common reason given by drug addicts.

Although crime will always remain a menace, citizens have criminal law and criminal defense as their bulwark of justice and order.

If you are arrested, one of the most important steps you can take is to hire an experienced criminal law attorney in Tuscaloosa