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Natural crime and legal crime

the differnce between theses two,contrast and concepts

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Asked in criminal justice asked on: 10/02/2007 01:43am
closed on: 10/09/2007 01:43am

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blacksmith81

blacksmith81

Rank: Leonardo daVinci (12,243) | criminal justice (16)

31 minutes after the question was opened (10/02/2007 02:13am)

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KentPDG

KentPDG

Rank: Bachelor (945)

4 hours after the question was opened (10/02/2007 04:46am)

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Two concepts are useful: mala prohibita and mala in se. The first term means acts that are wrong because they are prohibited, such as driving your car above a certain speed on a particular roadway. The second term means acts that are evil at all times and all places, such as sexual abuse of a child.

Obviously there are numerous laws that prohibit crimes which are in themelves evil, such as the statutes against murder, rape, child abuse, and a long list of others. These laws are useful because they establish levels of various crimes -- differentiating, for example, between killing a person by neglect (involuntary manslaughter), killing without intent (voluntary manslaughter), killing on impulse (second-degree murder) and premeditated, planned killing (first degree murder). The nature of these crimes is different one from another, even though the consequence is the same -- unwarranted death of another human being. Because there are the (and other) differences, the penalties are different although there is often considerable overlap of the penalty scales (such as years in prison).

Your term "natural crime" is rather troublesome. In the natural world, we do not define crime -- even though predators may take the lives of other creatures on a daily basis, and may employ cunning traps and ambushes to do so. We are all familiar with "the law of the jungle", kill or be killed. Fraud exists in the natural world, with protective coloration and patterns that mimic another creature. Many creatures steal from one another. And so on; there are many examples of acts in the natural world that we would not tolerate among humans.

There is no such thing as "natural crime" in humans; at least, not among those who have achieved the power of rational thinking. Most of us have been taught, and have learned by observation, which crimes are intrinsically evil. On the other hand, very few people are sufficiently familiar with the legal codes to know every action that is a crime because it is prohibited (though Judges nevertheless impose penalties, on the theory that "ignorance of the law is no excuse").

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jeevabindu

jeevabindu

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8 hours after the question was opened (10/02/2007 09:40am)

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I see that almost all legal crimes are natural positive instincts developed in living beings. All carnivorus animals must kill to survive. All animals must mate for reproduction and so on. But the natural principle is the survival of the winners. But a modern welfare state will protect both the powerful and the weak through legislation and its enforcement. Similarly they will restrict both of them equally. Even though the protection proves beneficial to the weak the restriction is against them. Hence there is an equilibrium. The only real worthy standard is the use of the so called crime with the requirement of the time and other constituents of the society.

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