It's rape week in law school

[Bricker]

@Northern_Piper

Then for a specific offence, you turn to the relevant statute. Crimes are defined by statute, which sets out the physical elements for each offence, and the mental element (the latter may be specifically set out for a particular offence, or it may be implicit in the general principles of the criminal law). Each jurisdiction defines its criminal law in its own way, so the specific elements of an offence can vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction.

To this excellent answer I would only add that in some jurisdictions, some crimes are defined at common law. This is a disfavored practice in the modern world, but Virginia’s Code still specifies that “The common law of England, insofar as it is not repugnant to the principles of the Bill of Rights and Constitution of this Commonwealth, shall continue in full force,” and “[t]he right and benefit of all writs, remedial and judicial, given by any statute or act of Parliament, made in aid of the common law prior to the fourth year of the reign of James the First, of a general nature, not local to England,” are also still applicable.

So to pick one example, in Virginia, robbery is not statutorily defined – the penalty is, but the definition of robbery is not. So we would learn the elements of robbery from the common law: the taking, with intent to steal, of the personal property of another, from his person or in his presence, against his will, by violence or intimidation.

[dasmoocher]

@Northern_Piper

In law school, you don’t learn about what leads to a charge being brought, like assessment of the evidence. That kind of practical knowledge is acquired once you’re in practice, after being called to the bar, and comes from working with senior lawyers or attending specialised professional training sessions.

Would something like the Duke lacrosse case be discussed in law school as an example of a rape prosecution gone bad, though?

Seems like that’s a textbook example of how not to investigate/charge/prosecute an alleged rape.

[pancakes3]

@dba_Fred

pancakes3, your newly-acquired knowledge is requested in this thread: Is this statutory rape?

snerk Shared that with the 1L listserv.

@Bricker

To this excellent answer I would only add that in some jurisdictions, some crimes are defined at common law. This is a disfavored practice in the modern world, but Virginia’s Code still specifies that “The common law of England, insofar as it is not repugnant to the principles of the Bill of Rights and Constitution of this Commonwealth, shall continue in full force,” and “[t]he right and benefit of all writs, remedial and judicial, given by any statute or act of Parliament, made in aid of the common law prior to the fourth year of the reign of James the First, of a general nature, not local to England,” are also still applicable.

So to pick one example, in Virginia, robbery is not statutorily defined – the penalty is, but the definition of robbery is not. So we would learn the elements of robbery from the common law: the taking, with intent to steal, of the personal property of another, from his person or in his presence, against his will, by violence or intimidation.

Yup, there’s a common law approach for some crimes. We didn’t learn it for rape as I assume it’s universally defined via statute but from the reading for next week it appears that there is both common law and statutory interpretations for murder.

@dasmoocher

Would something like the Duke lacrosse case be discussed in law school as an example of a rape prosecution gone bad, though?

Seems like that’s a textbook example of how not to investigate/charge/prosecute an alleged rape.

We don’t go into anything procedural or anything that happens before the charges - or if there’s a controversial decision. The Duke rape case, OJ case, etc. are noteworthy but not from a crim law perspective because from a fundamental statute/common law approach of defining the crime - it’s straightforward. Whatever that may influence the jury from an evidence or procedural aspect is outside the scope of the class. At least that’s my take. Bricker? Others?