CIVIL LAW VS CRIMINAL LAW Madeline Ferm & JoJo Sandefur

CRIMINAL LAW

CRIMINALLAW CRIMINAL LAW ■Laws that make certain actions a crime ■They come from federal, state, and local government and can be found in statues, regulations, and sometimes in state constitutions.

CRIMINAL LAW FELONIES ■Serious crimes that result in more than a year of jail time MISDEMEANORS ■Lesser serious crimes that usually result in less than a year of jail time Two general levels of crime:

CRIMINAL LAW ■In criminal trials, the question always asked is: “Did this person commit a crime?” ■The government is always on one side of a case- the prosecuting side ■The defendant is either found not guilty and acquitted, or they are found guilty and sentenced with a fine or jail time

CIVIL LAW

■If it is not criminal, it is civil. ■Civil law includes divorce, property, contracts, wills, personal injury, bankruptcy, employment, agriculture, and taxes ■There are many more civil laws than criminal laws because it entails so much more. ■Civil laws usually settle disagreements between people: right to property, custody of children, etc.

CIVIL LAW ■The two sides in a civil court case are: –Plaintiff- the person filing a suit –Defendant- the person being sued ■Each side gets to tell their side of the story, and in the end, the judge and jury look at the facts and decide what the remedy or solution should be.

STANDARD OF PROOF

CRIMINAL ■Crimes must generally be proved "beyond a reasonable doubt“- in other words, there has to be hard evidence that a person is guilty. CIVIL ■Are proved by lower standards of proof such as “the preponderance of evidence”- which means that it was more likely than not that something occurred in a certain way