CHAPTER ONE: DEFINING AND PROVING CRIMES

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CHAPTER ONE: DEFINING AND PROVING CRIMES

1. Criminal law possesses the following characteristics:

• conviction carries with it the community’s moral condemnation.
• punishment of wrongdoing.
• society as a whole is considered to be the injured party.
• all of the above.

Answer: d

2. The primary objective of a criminal prosecution is:

• punishment of the wrongdoer.
• compensation of the victim for any financial loss.
• promoting negotiation and settlement.
• enforcing morals.

Answer: a

3. The United States has:

• a uniform criminal code.
• a common law that supersedes the statutes of individual jurisdictions.
• a federal criminal code under which most charges are brought.
• variations among jurisdictions in defining crimes and punishments.

Answer: d

4. The Model Penal Code was developed by:

• the American Law Institute.
• the U.S. Congress.
• the American Association of Law Professors.
• a conference of state legislatures.

Answer: a

5. The original source of our criminal laws was:

• English common law.
• Church law.
• Roman law.
• statutory law.

Answer: a

6. Judicial activism:

• binds courts to stand by prior decisions.
• requires courts to defer to legislative intent.
• encourages courts to interpret law to achieve social goals.
• is relevant only to constitutional interpretation.

Answer: c

7. Judicial restraint:

• encourages the courts to enforce good public morals.
• binds the courts to follow prior decisions and defer to legislative intent.
• is relevant only to constitutional interpretation.
• is mandated by the constitution.

Answer: b

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8. In the 20th century:

• all states have abolished common law crimes.
• many states have abolished common law crimes but have retained general principles of the

common law.

• the common law remains in effect in all jurisdictions.
• common law crimes are relevant only as a part of our heritage.

Answer: b

9. Misdemeanors are:

• “violations,” not crimes.
• minor crimes.
• civil harms.
• common law offenses.

Answer: b

10. A malum prohibitum crime is:

• punishable only by fines.
• wrong by its very nature.
• prohibited by administrative regulation.
• a wrong created by statute or administrative regulation.

Answer: d

11. Criminal acts that are wrong by their very nature are referred to as:

• administrative crimes.
• mala in se.
• public crimes.
• mala prohibita.

Answer: b

12. The primary difference between felonies and misdemeanors is:

• the person prosecuted.
• the penalty imposed.
• whether the victim is an individual or general society.
• the court that tries the case.

Answer: b

13. The ex post facto principle prohibits:

• decreasing punishments for past crimes.
• increasing punishments for future crimes.
• laws that create new crimes not recognized by common law.
• laws that punish conduct done before the law’s passage.

Answer: d

14. The vagueness doctrine prohibits laws that:

• violate the ex post facto clause.
• violate the constitution in any way.
• violate the equal protection clause.
• violate the constitutional requirement of due process.

Answer: d 2 / 4

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• The doctrine that requires criminal laws to be reasonably specific is known as the:
• ex post facto doctrine.
• uniformity doctrine.
• void-for-vagueness doctrine.
• liberal construction doctrine.

Answer: c

• Which of the following constitutional provisions limits the government’s power to prohibit and punish

certain conduct?

• The right to free speech
• The right to due process
• The right to privacy
• All of the above

Answer: d

17. Rehabilitation, incapacitation, and deterrence are:

• mutually exclusive purposes of punishment.
• essential components of all punishment.
• accomplished only through incarceration.
• sometimes conflicting, sometimes complementary purposes of punishment.

Answer: d

18. Deterrence theory is based upon the assumption that:

• criminals are beyond society’s control.
• rehabilitation requires incapacitation.
• human beings govern their conduct by considering potential punishment.
• rehabilitation is more humane than retribution.

Answer: c

19. Critics of deterrence theory maintain that:

• human beings govern their conduct by considering potential punishment.
• a major purpose of criminal law is crime prevention.
• much human behavior is emotional, not rational.
• most criminal conduct is voluntary.

Answer: c

• According to incapacitation theory, the purpose of criminal punishment is to:
• express community condemnation.
• reform criminals into noncriminals.
• eliminate an offender’s capacity to commit crimes.
• vindicate victims’ rights.

Answer: c

21. Robinson v. California declared disproportionate punishments to be:

• cruel and unusual.
• constitutional.
• unconstitutionally vague.
• inconsistent with rehabilitation.

Answer: a 3 / 4

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• In Robinson v. California, the defendant’s conviction for being addicted to narcotics was overturned

because:

• the state failed to prove that the defendant was addicted.
• the defendant was a mere user, not a seller of narcotics.
• punishment for a condition or status is cruel and unusual.
• the defendant’s addiction was not voluntary.

Answer: c

• The prosecution’s responsibility to prove all elements of a crime beyond a reasonable doubt is known

as its:

• burden of production.
• burden of proof.
• burden to prove the corpus delicti.
• presumption of guilt.

Answer: b

24. The burden of production in a criminal case requires:

• evidence beyond a reasonable doubt.
• some evidence to support a claim.
• evidence to rebut the presumption of innocence.
• direct, not circumstantial, evidence.

Answer: b

25. The preponderance of evidence is:

• evidence that raises a reasonable doubt.
• clear and convincing evidence.
• evidence that makes a fact more likely than not.
• a constitutional standard.

Answer: c

26. A presumption is:

• adequate for conviction.
• the same thing as a permissive inference.
• determined by the judge, not the jury.
• a mandatory finding when certain predicate facts are established.

Answer: d

27. A permissive inference is:

• a possible but not mandatory conclusion to be drawn.
• available only to the defense, not the prosecution.
• unconstitutional in a criminal trial.
• not a proper way to prove the corpus delicti.

Answer: a

• Recognition that people normally intend the natural and necessary consequence of their acts is:
• a “true” and proper presumption.
• a permissible inference.
• unconstitutional.
• part of a proper defense, but not part of the prosecution’s case.

Answer: b

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