Identify and explain the three rationales for excuse defenses
What will be an ideal response?
There are three main reasons for excuse defenses. The first is concerned with deterrence. Namely, if a person cannot be deterred, what is the point of punishing him or her? More generally, if a person cannot grasp that what he or she did is wrong (not because of ignorance, but because of some deficiency), then no amount of criminal law or punishment will be capable of stopping that person. This requires weighing two competing sets of interests, those of society in catching and punishing lawbreakers and those of the undeterrable actor. In some cases, the pain inflicted on the undeterrable actor may deserve more weight than society's concern with catching criminals. Another reason for excuse defenses is a lack of causation.
Causation is a core requirement in certain criminal offenses (particularly result crimes). If a defendant's conduct is caused by factors beyond her control, it does not make sense to punish her for it.
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a. employee health and welfare. b. officers who were very stressed and working graveyard shift. c. overtime benefits. d. dissention within police ranks due to 14-hour shifts.
The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine is a Christian group that wanted to liberate Palestine
a. True b. False
According to Blakeley, "terrorism," as a term, must be used ___________ and not ___________.
a. judicially; selectively b. less; wantonly c. carefully; with restraint d. analytically; politically
There are explicit rules of criminal procedure to guide judges, prosecutors, and defense counsel in courtrooms
Indicate whether the statement is true or false