The Illustrated Guide to Criminal Law
Chapter 13: I Had No Choice!
Necessity pg 1: Two Type of Defenses
The Illustrated Guide to Criminal Law
Part 13: “I Had No Choice!”
Remember, there are two types of defenses:
“Excuse” defenses
The State looking “sorry, but this is how it is”
THE STATE
Where society would prefer you hadn’t done it, but still isn’t going to punish you for it.
and “Justification” defenses
The State giving you a big thumbs-up “ding!” and tossing away her big freaking hammer
THE STATE
Where society says you actually did the right thing.
Is there a practical difference between “excuse” and “justification” defenses? For example, a justified act isn’t punished at all, an excused act is punished less severely? Or is it just a theoretical distinction?
I suspect that it is just a theoretical distinction. The jury is only allowed to return a verdict of “guilty” or “not guilty” and sentencing is mostly at the judge’s discretion. There are defenses that reduce the conviction from that of a relatively major charge to that of a relatively minor charge, there are defenses that, if successful, result in an acquittal. However, I don’t think that there are any sentences that reduce the punishment while leaving the conviction unchanged.