Essay on "Attempted Crime Should Be Punished Just as Severely as Completed"

Essay 5 pages (1799 words) Sources: 1+

[EXCERPT] . . . .

Crime

When a person commits a murder, they not only have completed the act but also have engaged in intent, planning and implementation of the planned murder. Accordingly the crime of murder not only consists of the actual killing, but also the steps leading up to the crime. Intent is therefore an integral factor in the crime of murder. But when the crime of murder goes awry and a person's attempt to kill another fails, that person is treated differently than an actual murderer; they are accused of attempted murder. The only difference in the crimes of murder and attempted murder is the result, a death. However, the intent and actions of the person committing the murder are identical, only the outcome is different. Because the intended murder is disrupted by unforeseen factors, and not by any change in the person's conscience, anyone who is charged with attempted murder should be treated by the legal system no different than someone who actually commits a murder.

A crime is an offense against a law, it is performing an act which is prohibited by society and specifically included in the official list of prohibited acts called laws. But there can be a vague area in cases where a person attempts to commit a crime but is somehow stopped from completing it. In response to cases like this, the law provides for people to be charged with an attempted crime; but this also brings up the question of what exactly constitutes a legal attempt to commit a crime. Therefore, a very specific definition of an attempted crime has been created: it is a planned endeavor to actually perform a criminal act, carried out beyond the preparation phase, but failing to actually accomplish the crime.



The cause of the failure must be something independent of the person's intent to commit the crime; an accident or an unforeseen turn of events, but not a change of mind in the person committing the crime. if, for instance, a person sets about to commit a murder, undertakes preparations and begins the actual plan to kill another person, but then changes their mind and does not carry through on their plan, then the law states that there has been no attempt. But if the person's plan goes awry because of some outside influence and the attempt to commit a crime is thwarted, then the law considers this to be an attempted criminal act.

On the other hand is a resulted crime, and like the definition of an attempted crime, the definition of a resulted crime is very similar but extends beyond the attempt, to the completion of the intended crime. The crime itself must be something that has been prohibited by statute or common law, and can be considered to be either mala in se, or bad because of its nature, or mala prohibita, bad because it is prohibited by society.

This naturally implies some sort of standard by which acts are judged to be bad, some sort of morality that governs society. And therefore, is can be asserted that morality is the basis of the legal system, and that a criminal act is directly related to the morality of a society.

Morality has set the standard for behavior in society, but the law, along with its authority, is a means to enforce this standard.

Insight into the way criminal activity is viewed in a society can allow a glimpse into the morality that is the basis of that society. But whatever the criminal activity is being discussed, when a person plans, prepares, and commits an act that is prohibited by the law, then a resulted crime has taken place.

Because of the moral basis of the law, the morality of a society is sometimes a controversial subject. One such example is the Roe v. Wade decision on which a woman's right to obtain a legal abortion in the United States is based. Supporters of the decision assert that is has morally balanced the right to life of an unborn fetus with the life and liberty of a woman, while the opposition claims that the woman's rights are immorally favored over those of an unborn child.

Another complex issue is the right to kill in self-defense, and whether it is morally acceptable. While there are many who claim that killing in any form is morally unacceptable, there are many others who claim that morality allows for the killing of others in self-defense. Those who favor this approach assert that the morality of killing in self-defense finds it basis in the morality of self-love; and that the desire to preserve oneself is predicated on natural law.

If the desire to remain alive is a natural reaction, it must be good and acceptable. While such cases as abortion and self-defense killing may be controversial, there are many moral precepts that are generally accepted as good for society; such as the prohibition on murder.

When discussing the prohibition on murder, one must discuss not only the act committed by the accused, but also their state of mind. It has been the tradition for centuries that the law incorporate the idea of the free will and knowledge of the accused by incorporating the idea of mens rea, (Latin for "guilty mind)."

This has been especially important when discussing the punishment phase of the process when the morality of the society plays an integral part. And in the modern world, the definition of mens rea is generally divided into three concepts: intent, knowledge, and recklessness.

The intent of the accused is important because a person who intends to harm, or kill, another person is morally deserving of punishment. Knowledge as a legal concept is often interchanged with the concept of "oblique intention," in which the accused may be guilty of a crime if they are knowledgeable that their actions could result in the harm of another person. This is different than the third concept, recklessness, which goes further and requires that the accused knows that harm is being risked, and may most likely happen, and continues anyway.

In the case of murder, or even an attempted murder, the mens rea is necessary to define the defendant's purpose: the intent to kill another person.

The main difference between a murder and an attempted murder is the result; whether or not a person has been killed. While mens rea is a necessary component to both crimes, the crime of murder requires that a person has actually died as the result of the intentional actions of the accused. Actus reus (Latin for "guilty act") is the part of the crime that does not involve the mental aspects. In the case of a murder, the actus reus would be the intentional and illegal action resulting in the death of another human being. The killing must be considered to be illegal, so cases that have been judged to be self-defense, or no-guilt accidents, there is no guilty act. However, murder, by its definition must be illegal, and therefore possessing an actus reus which has resulted in the death of another person. It is because of the result that murder is considered a result crime, while attempted murder is not, but also the reason why attempted murder is often punished less severely that actual murder.

Seeing how the intent of both attempted murder and murder are the same, and, in the case of attempted murder, the victim only survived because of outside influences, it is difficult to understand why attempted murder and actual murder are not treated identical. After all, if the accused did not carry out the murder because they changed their mind, meaning there was no mens rea, then there was no attempted murder; however, by definition the crime of attempted murder requires that the accused fully intended to commit the murder but was stopped by other, outside factors. If this is the case, then the only reason the accused did not complete the murder was due to simple circumstances, or luck, and nothing to do with the intention of the accused. Without some unforeseen outside factor, the murder would have occurred. Why then should a person be punished less because factors that were outside their control intervened? They should not.

The problem with enforcing a punishment on attempted murders that is equal to actual murders is that the laws are created by legislators and then given to judges to enforce. Legislators are required to consider public opinion and social factors when creating laws and because most people require that actual harm or death has occurred before they will hold someone responsible for that harm, the social inertia regarding this issue is immense. It is unlikely that society will change its requirement of both mens rea and actus reus in order to bring about a criminal conviction on the charge of murder, and without the guilty act, no one will be punished as an actual murderer. Too many assert that treating attempted murderers and murderers… READ MORE

How to Reference "Attempted Crime Should Be Punished Just as Severely as Completed" Essay in a Bibliography

Related Essays:

Citizens of the United States Term Paper

With the popularity of criminal investigation films and television shows, Miranda Rights have been plastered all over the screen. This has falsely provided many Americans with the idea that they… read more

Term Paper 10 pages (3817 words) Sources: 10 Topic: Crime / Police / Criminal Justice

---

Sentencing Disparities Between Crack Cocaine vs. Powder Term Paper

SENTENCING DISPARITIES BETWEEN CRACK COCAINE vs. POWDER COCAINE

After a decade of contentious debate regarding the federal sentencing disparities between crack cocaine and powder cocaine, a number of significant initiatives… read more

Term Paper 32 pages (8900 words) Sources: 1+ Topic: Drugs / Alcohol / Tobacco

---

History of Punishment Essay

History Of Punishment

Critically assess Foucault's thesis on the birth of the prison; is his argument a convincing one?

Disciplinary punishment gives professionals like psychologists, program administrators, and parole officers… read more

Essay 13 pages (4559 words) Sources: 9 Topic: Crime / Police / Criminal Justice

---

Super Max Prisons Term Paper

Capital Punishment

Supermax Prisons

Supermax is short for super-maximum security. Supermax prisons are places intended to house violent prisoners or prisoners who might threaten the security of the guards or… read more

Term Paper 10 pages (3103 words) Sources: 1+ Topic: Crime / Police / Criminal Justice

---

Is Recidivism for DUI Offenders Electronically Monitored Lower Than Those Not Electronically Monitored? Term Paper

Recidivism for DUI offenders who are electronically monitored lower than for those that are not electronically monitored?

Sentencing of those that commit crimes while they are impaired by alcohol varies… read more

Term Paper 20 pages (5575 words) Sources: 10 Style: APA Topic: Crime / Police / Criminal Justice

---

View 100+ more related papers  >>