Answer Key

Chapter 5 Criminal Law and Cybercrimes

Opening Case Questions

2. Aggravating circumstances are those that are so serious that the death penalty is virtually

3. The mitigating circumstances in this case were Woodward’s (the defendant’s) beneficial

CLASSIC CASES---The Outer Limits of Federal Jurisdiction

2. After Wickard v. Filburn Congress does not have unlimited regulatory power under the Commerce

Clause. That power is extensive, to be sure, and, many would say, almost unlimited. However, the

A QUESTION OF ETHICS

Special Directions to the Instructor for Question 3: It is very difficult to determine in advance the

wide variety of answers that students will provide when they are asked to imagine themselves the

mayor of a large city faced with accepting or rejecting funds for a paramilitary SWAT team for their

3. A crime cannot be committed unless some overt act has occurred. An individual cannot be

accused of a crime for merely “thinking” of the criminal act in question. Sometimes the failure to act,

an omission, or the outright refusal to act may be considered criminal. Generally, however, an omission

must be coupled with a legally imposed duty. Many states specifically exclude involuntary movement

4. The four mental states that can be found in the criminal code are purpose or intent, knowledge,

misconception about criminal law, which is promoted and perpetuated by countless novels, plays,

6. Crimes against the people, most often referred to as felonies, include homicide, assault, battery,

kidnapping, and hate speech. Homicide is any killing of one human by another. Criminal homicide is

7. There are two theories to the sentencing of convicted criminals: (1) those consequences that are

8. What are the various ways that the the federal government has dealt with cyber-crime? The

federal government has attempted to deal with the issue by passing a number of anti-e-crime statutes.

of insanity is the irresistible impulse test. This test holds that criminal defendants can be found NGRI,

if at the time of the offense, they were stricken with a mental disease which prevented them from

knowing right from wrong or compelled them to commit the crime. A more modern insanity test has

Cases for Analysis

1. The Supreme Court should agree with appeals court. The Gun-Free School Zone Act of 1990

4. Yes. The Supreme Court should hear the case. Because of the romantic relationship between the

7. No. The St. Paul ordinance outlawing “hate speech” is not constitutional. Such an ordinance

would be constitutional only if it were not content specific. While it would have been acceptable for the

8. Reese has committed robbery. This is because robbery is the act of taking personal property,

9. No. The trial court was incorrect. Since Cuttiford was in his own apartment he did not have the

duty to retreat any further before attempting to repel the attack from Banks. The appellate court pointed

10. No. Entrapment will not succeed as a defense if the defendant is induced to commit a crime by a

private party, even when that private party later becomes a government informer. In this case, during