CJCENTRAL: Criminal Law Today, 2E: Glossary

scienter
knowledge; guilty knowledge.

second degree murder
depending upon jurisdiction, either (1) murders committed during the perpetration or attempted perpetration of an enumerated felony such as arson, rape, robbery, and burglary, or (2) all murder not classified by statute as first degree.

sedition
a crime which consists of a communication or agreement intended to defame the government or to incite treason.

selective incapacitation
a sentencing strategy that imprisons or otherwise removes from society a select group of offenders — especially those considered to be most dangerous.

self-defense
a defense to a criminal charge that is based upon the recognition that a person has an inherent right to self-protection and that to reasonably defend oneself from unlawful attack is a "natural" response to threatening situations.

sentencing
the process through which a sentencing authority imposes a lawful punishment or other sanction upon a person convicted of violating the criminal law.

sexual assault
a statutory crime that combines all sexual offenses into one offense (often with various degrees). It is broader than the common law crime of rape.

sexual battery
the unlawful touching of an intimate part of another person against that person's will and for the purpose of sexual arousal, gratification, or abuse.

sexual contact
any touching of the anus, breast, or any part of the genitals of another person with intent to arouse or gratify the sexual desire of any person.

shock incarceration
a sentencing option that makes use of "boot camp"—type prisons in order to impress upon convicted offenders the realities of prison life.

shock probation
the practice of sentencing offenders to prison, allowing them to apply for probationary release, and enacting such release in surprise fashion. Offenders who receive shock probation may not be aware of the fact that they will be released on probation and may expect to spend a much longer time behind bars.

simple assault
see assault.

social debt
a sentencing principle which objectively counts an offender's criminal history in sentencing decisions.

sodomy
oral or anal copulation between persons of the same or different gender, or between a human being and an animal.

solicitation
see criminal solicitation.

soliciting prostitution
is the act of asking, enticing, or requesting another to commit the crime of prostitution.

Son of Sam laws
also known as notoriety-for-profit laws, are statutes that provide support for the rights of victims by denying convicted offenders the opportunity to further capitalize on their crimes. Son of Sam laws set the stage for civil action against infamous offenders who might otherwise profit from the sale of their "story."

specific deterrence
a goal of criminal sentencing which seeks to prevent a particular offender from engaging in repeat criminality.

specific intent
a thoughtful, conscious intention to perform a specific act in order to achieve a particular result.

specific intent crimes
literally, crimes that require a specific intent. Generally speaking, specific intent crimes involve a secondary purpose.

split sentence
a sentence explicitly requiring the convicted person to serve a period of confinement in a local, state, or federal facility followed by a period of probation.

spousal rape
the rape of one's spouse.

stalking
the intentional frightening of another through following, harassing, annoying, tormenting, or terrorizing activities.

stare decisis
the legal principle which requires that courts be bound by their own earlier decisions and by those of higher courts having jurisdiction over them regarding subsequent cases on similar issues of law and fact. The term literally means "standing by decided matters."

status
a person's state of being.

statutory law
law in the form of statutes or formal written strictures, made by a legislature or governing body with the power to make law.

statutory rape
sexual intercourse, whether or not consensual, with a person under the "age of consent," as specified by statute.

strict liability
liability without fault or intention. Strict liability offenses do not require mens rea.

strict liability crimes
violations of law for which one may incur criminal liability without fault or intention.

subornation of perjury
unlawfully procuring another to commit perjury.

substantial capacity test
a test developed by the American Law Institute and embodied in the Model Penal Code. The test holds that "A person is not responsible for criminal conduct if at the time of such conduct as a result of mental disease or defect he lacks substantial capacity either to appreciate the criminality [wrongfulness] of his conduct or to conform his conduct to the requirements of the law."

substantial step
significant activity undertaken in furtherance of some goal. An act or omission that is a significant part of a series of acts or omissions constituting a course of conduct planned to culminate in the commission of a crime. Also, an important or essential step toward the commission of a crime that is considered as sufficient to constitute the crime of criminal attempt. A substantial step is conduct that is strongly corroborative of the actor's criminal purpose. According to one court, a substantial step is "behavior of such a nature that a reasonable observer, viewing it in context could conclude beyond a reasonable doubt that it was undertaken in accordance with a design to violate the statute."

substantive criminal law
that part of the law that defines crimes and specifies punishments.

substantive law
that part of the law that creates and defines fundamental rights and duties.

sudden passion
(as in instances of voluntary manslaughter) passion directly caused by and rising out of provocation by the victim or of another acting with the victim, and includes the understanding that the passion arises at the time of the killing and is not solely the result of former provocation.

syndrome
a complex of signs and symptoms presenting a clinical picture of a disease or disorder."

syndrome-based defense
a defense predicated upon, or substantially enhanced by, the acceptability of syndrome-related claims.

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