Human Event to Qualify As a Crime Term Paper

Open, View, and/or
Download this Document

Total Length: 696 words ( 2 double-spaced pages)

Total Sources: 2

Page 1 of 2

Human Event to Qualify as a Crime

According to criminal scholar Jerome Hall, there are seven basic requirements that transform a regular human event into a crime. These requirements are critical, because a person can do something that creates a significant harm to another person, but that event will not qualify as a crime unless it also has the other elements of a crime. These elements are: (1) act requirement; (2) legality requirement; (3) harm requirement; (4) causation requirement; (5) mens rea requirement; (6) concurrence requirement; and (7) the punishment requirement. Unless a prosecutor can prove all seven elements exist, they will be unable to convict someone of a crime.

The first element of a crime is the act requirement. People may not be convicted of status offenses. Instead, criminal offenses must be based on either an action or a failure to act. For example, while states may prosecute people for using, possessing, selling, or transporting drugs, which are all acts, they may not prosecute them for being drug addicts, which is a status (Cole & Smith, 2010, p.124).

Stuck Writing Your "Human Event to Qualify As a Crime" Term Paper?

View All Our Example Human Event to Qualify As a Crime Term Paper

Have A Custom Example Essay Written



The second element of a crime is the legality requirement. There has to be a law that describes the behavior in question as a crime, and that law had to be in existence at the time that the act was committed. Ex post facto laws are prohibited under the U.S. Constitution (Cole & Smith, 2010, p.124). Therefore, a person can only be prosecuted for laws in existence at the time the act is committed.

The third element of a crime is the harm requirement. The harm requirement means that an act must cause harm to a legally protected value. "The harm can be to a person, property, or some other object that a legislature deems valuable enough to deserve protection through the government's power to punish" (Cole & Smith, 2010, p.124). It is important to realize that the harm can be self-harm; society can protect the individual through laws, such as seatbelt or helmet laws, even if the individual would waive that protection. Furthermore, if an act,….....

Show More ⇣

     Open the full completed essay and source list


OR

     Order a one-of-a-kind custom essay on this topic


sample essay writing service

Cite This Resource:

Latest APA Format (6th edition)

Copy Reference
"Human Event To Qualify As A Crime" (2011, October 12) Retrieved June 5, 2026, from
https://www.aceyourpaper.com/essays/human-event-qualify-crime-46342

Latest MLA Format (8th edition)

Copy Reference
"Human Event To Qualify As A Crime" 12 October 2011. Web.5 June. 2026. <
https://www.aceyourpaper.com/essays/human-event-qualify-crime-46342>

Latest Chicago Format (16th edition)

Copy Reference
"Human Event To Qualify As A Crime", 12 October 2011, Accessed.5 June. 2026,
https://www.aceyourpaper.com/essays/human-event-qualify-crime-46342
   

Open, View, and/or
Download this Document
order custom essay example