Notes on Civil and Criminal Cases from Chapter 16 in the Glencoe Civics Today textbook

Civil Cases civil case/suit: a legal action one party brings against another, no crime committed. lawsuit: a legal action brought against a person/group to collect damages for some harm that has been done -suit of equity: kind of lawsuit that seeks fair treatment in a situation where there is no law *in attempt to prevent a damaging action from taking place (example: a road is being built near a playground, children could be …

…state -federal penal code Types of Crimes: 1. Crimes against people (examples: murder, rape, assault, kidnapping, manslaughter) 2. Crimes against property (examples: vandalism, larceny[theft, burglary], arson, fraud) 3. Victimless crimes: crimes against morality, no victim to bring complaint; hard to enforce (examples: unauthorized gambling, use of illegal drugs) Court proceedings in criminal cases: 1. Arrest suspect 2. Preliminary hearing 3. indictment 4. arraignment 5. trial 6. deliberation *Aquittal= not guilty, Sentencing= guilty, Mistrial=hung jury plea bargain= plead guilty to a lesser offense