NCJ Number
94861
Date Published
1984
Length
1428 pages
Annotation
Focusing specifically on statutory law, this text for lawyers, judges, and legislators describes more than 60 major defenses and hundreds of other defense provisions, citing virtually every criminal law defense statute in every American jurisdiction or the controlling case law authority.
Abstract
The volumes discuss the proof and disproof of criminal law defenses and the alternative consequences of a successful defense. They set out an overall conceptual framework within which all criminal law defenses can be considered and describe practical implications of each conceptual group. The notion of a defense having an internal structure is introduced, and the usefulness of identifying a common internal structure among different defenses is explained. The bulk of the volumes contain a separate section for each criminal law defense. Each section presents an overview of the availability and various formulations of the defense; authority, either statutory or case law, for the recognition or rejection of the defense in each American jurisdiction; an analysis of the major variations in the defense formulation; citation to the academic literature and research devices for further information; and reference to a proposed model codification of the defense found in the appendix. Defenses relating to offense definitions, justification defenses, excuse defenses, and nonexculpatory defenses are covered. The author hopes to provide readers with easy access to current law in their own jurisdictions, to alternative formulation in other jurisdictions, and to scholarly criticism. Selected provisions of the Model Penal Code are appended. Tables include references to the Model Penal Code, statutes, court rules, and authors. An index, a citation form, and a list of legal authorities used are provided.