Уголовное право США

     Criminal law of the United States of America involves the prosecution by the state of wrongful acts which are considered to be so serious that they are a breach of the sovereign's peace (and cannot be deterred or remedied by mere lawsuits between private parties). Generally, crimes can result in incarceration, but torts cannot. The majority of the crimes committed in the United States are prosecuted and punished at the state level. Federal criminal law focuses on areas specifically relevant to the federal government like evading payment of federal income tax, mail theft, or physical attacks on federal officials, as well as interstate crimes like drug trafficking and wire fraud.

     All states have somewhat similar laws in regard to "higher crimes" (or felonies), such as murder and rape, although penalties for these crimes may vary from state to state. Capital punishment is permitted in some states but not others. Three strikes laws in certain states impose harsh penalties on repeat offenders.

     Some states distinguish between two levels: felonies and misdemeanors (minor crimes). Generally, most felony convictions result in lengthy prison sentences as well as subsequent probation, large fines, and orders to pay restitution directly to victims; while misdemeanors may lead to a year or less in jail and a substantial fine. To simplify the prosecution of traffic violations and other relatively minor crimes, some states have added a third level, infractions. These may result in fines and sometimes the loss of one's driver's license, but no jail time.

     For public welfare offenses where the state is punishing merely risky (as opposed to injurious) behavior, there is significant diversity across the various states. For example, punishments for drunk driving varied greatly prior to 1990. State laws dealing with drug crimes still vary widely, with some states treating possession of small amounts of drugs as a misdemeanor offense or as a medical issue and others categorizing the same offense as a serious felony.

     The Model Penal Code ("MPC") was created by the American Law Institute ("ALI"). In other areas of law, the ALI created Restatements of Law, usually referred to just as Restatements. For example, there is a Restatement of Contracts and a Restatement of Torts. The MPC is their equivalent for criminal law.

     Many states have wholly or largely adopted the MPC. Others have implemented it in part, and still others simply reject it. However, even when it is not adopted, it is often cited as persuasive authority in the same way that Restatements are in other areas of law.

     Under the MPC, crimes are defined in terms of a set of "elements of the offense," each of which must be proven to the finder of fact beyond a reasonable doubt. There are three types of elements:

• conduct of a certain nature,
• attendant circumstances at the time of the conduct, or
• the result of that conduct.

     The elements are those facts that:

• are included in the definition of forbidden conduct as provided by the statute, or
• establish the required culpability, or
• negative an excuse or justification for such conduct, or
• negative a defense under the statute of limitation, or
• establish jurisdiction or venue.

     All but the last two categories are material elements, and the prosecution must prove that the defendant had the required kind of culpability with respect to that element.

     The MPC is not law in any jurisdiction of the United States; however, it served and continues to serve as a basis for the replacement of existing criminal codes in over two-thirds of the states. Many states adopted portions of the MPC, but only states such as New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, and Oregon have enacted almost all of the provisions. Idaho adopted the model penal code in its entirety in 1971, but the legislature repealed this action in 1972.

     The repeal of the MPC in Idaho came about after intense rejection of the new codification due to the lack of laws regulating morality, problems with the MPC in certain areas that affected important political groups in the state, and also prosecutors and police who were critical of some areas of the new MPC-based code. The state bar association, judiciary committees in the legislature, and the Supreme Court of Idaho defended the new code based on the MPC. Chief in the objections were the omission of sodomy, adultery and fornication as crimes, as well as objection by gun owners of the new stricter gun control law.

     On rare occasions, the courts will turn to the MPC for its commentary on the law and use it to seek guidance in interpreting non-code criminal statutes. It is also used frequently as a tool for comparison.