The Criminal Lawyer’s Guide to Criminal Law (with pictures!)
Part 1: Crime
Page 4: What is “crime”?
NARRATOR
Criminal punishment is not imposed by private citizens, informal groups or one’s social circle.
Introducing The State.
NARRATOR
Criminal punishment is imposed by the STATE.
Aside
NARRATOR
Pictured here as a sort of modern Athena/Roma — forget Hobbes’ Leviathan, or Uncle Sam — the ancients had it right when they personified Government as a badass chick.
You don’t want to get on her bad side.
More text
NARRATOR
So CRIME means an act, deemed unacceptable by society, so bad that the STATE will step in and PUNISH you for doing it.
But what do we mean by “punishment?” What is it, and why does it happen?
We’ll cover that in Part 2: “Take That!”
You can read this entire chapter in its original single-page scroll on the comic’s old Tumblr site here.
I’m impressed with that book. It reminded me of manga, where I used to read them every day. But these pictures and writing at the same time make so much sense to me. I like it when they ask what crime means with funny drawings, such as cheating on a boyfriend. But yeah, it completely helps me understand that crime only depends on actions or acts.
Thank you very much! And welcome to the comic, I hope you enjoy the lessons to come.