Transcript Criminal Law - Cloudfront.net

Slide 1
BHS Law Related Education Program
Criminal Justice
Lesson 2: Criminal Law
III. The Limits of Criminal Law
Lesson Objectives
A. Identify limits of criminal law.
B. Analyze the causal effect between drugs and
crime
C. Recognize connections between guns and
crime.
Slide 2
BHS Law Related Education Program
Criminal Justice
Lesson 2: Criminal Law
III. The Limits of Criminal Law
A. Is the act of passing laws a
viable solution to the crime
problem in the United States?
1) Deterrence-People refrain from committing
crimes because of consequences.
Is there a deterrent affect to death
penalty laws?
Slide 3
BHS Law Related Education Program
Criminal Justice
Lesson 2: Criminal Law
III. The Limits of Criminal Law
B. Drugs and Crime
The connection between drugs and crime is reflected
in at least three types of crimes:
1.
Drug-defined crimes, such as the possession, use, or sale
of controlled substances, which violates drug laws.
2.
Crimes committed by drug users to get money to buy
more drugs or crimes committed by persons under the
influence of drugs.
3.
Organized criminal activities, such as money laundering
and political corruption, in support of the drug trade.
Slide 4
BHS Law Related Education Program
Criminal Justice
Lesson 2: Criminal Law
III. The Limits of Criminal Law
B. Drugs and Crime
• Crime is associated with drug use,
but drugs usually don't cause crime.
• Only a small percentage of burglaries
and robberies are drug related.
• Studies of high-rate offenders show
that many of them began their
criminal careers before using drugs.
Slide 5
BHS Law Related Education Program
Criminal Justice
Lesson 2: Criminal Law
B. Drugs and Crime
Significant Drug Laws in History;
1)The first major drug law, the Harrison Act (1914), required persons dealing
in opium, morphine, heroin, cocaine, and derivatives of these drugs to register
with the federal government.
2)The Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act (1970) forms
the basis of federal enforcement efforts today.
3)In 1988, the government stepped up the war on drugs passing the Anti-Drug
Abuse Act, which substantially increased the penalties for recreational drug
users.
4)The Crime Control Act (1990) and the Violent Crime Control and Law
Enforcement Act (1994) helped fund the War on Drugs by providing money to
state and local communities for drug enforcement and created drug-free school
zones by increasing penalties for drug crimes occurring close to schools.
Slide 6
BHS Law Related Education Program
Criminal Justice
Lesson 2: Criminal Law
D. Guns and Crime
1. Gun Ownership-Over 200 million firearms
are in circulation, including 70 million
handguns. The production of new firearms
adds two million new handguns each year
to the total.
2. During the past 20 years, the main type of
gun made in the United States has shifted
from manual revolvers to semiautomatic
pistols.
Slide 7
BHS Law Related Education Program
Criminal Justice
Lesson 2: Criminal Law
D. Guns and Crime
3. Gun-control laws-The federal government and most of the
states have some gun-control laws. Federal and state laws
prohibit alcoholics, drug addicts, mentally unbalanced people,
or people with criminal records from owning guns.
4. Some cities require a person to buy a license to own a gun and
register the serial number of the weapon with the police.
5. The Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act (1994), named
for James Brady, who was shot and wounded in an attempt on
President Reagan's life in 1981, provides for a five-day waiting
period before the purchase of a handgun.
6. The Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act (1994)
bans the manufacture of 19 military assault weapons.