The real significance of crime is in its being a breach of faith
with the community of mankind. Joseph Conrad, Lord Jim
Welcome to the Criminal Law Web Site. The material on our pages is intended as a resource for anyone with an interest in the law of crimes, defenses, and punishment. It also serves as a supplemental resource for students taking the first-year introductory law school course in criminal law.
Coverage includes general principles and elements of criminal liability: culpable mental states, act and omission, causation, and attendant circumstances. Attention is also given to inchoate crimes - solicitation, conspiracy, and attempt - and to theories of complicity.
You'll also find treatment of the basic defenses: self-defense, defense of another, defense of habitation, use of force to prevent crime, use of force to arrest, use of force in discipline of children, duress, necessity, and insanity.
The site is maintained and written as a public service by