What is crime? What are the elements of a crime? What changes would you recommend to the law to improve the reduction of crime?
Some people think a crime could be committing a sin or doing something unthinkable. If you church holds a monthly bingo night then could this be considered a crime? On the same guidelines if someone was out shopping and left their car parked on a street to long would you consider this a crime? A crime is when you act in any way that breaks the law, in which encounters a punishment.
The elements of a crime include intent, conduct, and causation. Intent is considered to be voluntary it is known as mens rae. If you plan on committing a crime then you have made the intent of the crime. Conduct means ( actus rae) which is a criminal act. You can intent to commit a crime but if the crime hasn't occurred then no conduct has occurred. Causation means ( mens rae and actus rae together) A person can intend to commit a crime and find themselves engaged in criminal conduct but they actually don't commit the crime. A good example would be if I had a gun aimed that gun at someone pulled the trigger and missed then you could say that intent and conduct are present but you can't say that that causation was present.
I would change the law that if you go into jail for a crime that you can't do a plea bargain to get a lesser sentence, and I also would like to see people do their full jail time and not have the opportunity to get out early.
Cynthia