Week 2 Discussion 1 CRJU 8350- Sophia King

THIS IS ONLY AN INTERPRETATION, FIVE SENTENCES AND A QUESTION IS ALL I NEED. TELL ME YOUR THOUGHTS, HAVE REFERENCES

Offer an alternative explanation for how these patterns of criminal activity and violence affected constitutional law and political freedom.

Two patterns of criminal activity I will discuss is that of theft and violence . With the rise of these two crimes rising England began to put into place, over time, a systematic criminal system. As the system England once used, was very horrific, violent, and the crime was not equal to the offense (beating, flogging, and hanging). Theft could be punishable by death in some instances. Another criminal activity, murder, was sometimes only punishable by fine. The effect of the development of constitutional law and political freedom in England lead to policy. England began to focus on who was committing what types of crimes (men, women, children) and began to put into place actual policies and statutes. England had a very weak government in the medieval times, with only a magistrate volunteering their time, people stealing from the wealthy which caused economic issues, and in order for a victim to pursue someone to be hung it may take time and money they didn’t have due to being poor or because prosecuting would cost more to pursue rather than let the thief get away with stealing. As time passed, England began to establish a Parliament and people began to be taxed as well. England’s innovative improvements procedurally began to shift and mold what we know as American Law. American Law adopted a constitution which follows similarly England’s influence; hence, we have separation of powers and also have the House and the Senate, which is separate from the President (who has little power accept when it comes to foreign affairs). English common law paved the way for American Law, in that it provided substantive and procedural rights. Which we know as substantive and procedural due process. The Constitution was built on the basis of what its founding fathers knew, English law. Political freedom allowed people to cast votes, whether it were people in Parliament casting a vote or today in America, citizens casting a vote or even Congress voting on legislation. Today crimes against people, state, and property still exist. For example, if a person speeds on the interstate, they have committed a crime against the state. In court, the person speeding will be defendant, and the state will be the prosecution. Because this offense is minor (depending on speed) a person can pay a fine and admit to speeding and never have to go to court. However, the state is still paid due to the crime you committed against it. You will also have to pay a fee, cost of court. This fee is to pay the cost that it will be in order for the state to prosecute you. This is similar to medieval times, when victims were prosecutors because they tried to punish the person who committed the crime.