Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
Grand theft, also called grand larceny, is a term used throughout the United States designating theft that is large in magnitude or serious in potential penological consequences. Grand theft is contrasted with petty theft , also called petit theft , that is of smaller magnitude or lesser seriousness.
The classification of larceny as grand or petit larceny originated in an English statute passed in 1275 (grand is a French word meaning "large" while petit is a French word meaning "small"). Both were felonies, but the punishment for grand larceny was death while the punishment for petit larceny was forfeiture of property to the Crown and whipping.
Offenses under United States federal law are grouped into different classes according to the maximum term of imprisonment defined within the statute for the offense.
Attempted forcible entry into a property is also classified as burglary, in the FBI's Uniform Crime Reports (UCR) definition. As of 1999, there were 1.4 million residential burglaries reported in the United States, which was a record low number, not seen since 1966. [5] Though, up to 50% of burglaries are not reported to the police. [5]
Senator (and future Chief Justice) Oliver Ellsworth was the drafter of the Crimes Act. The Crimes Act of 1790 (or the Federal Criminal Code of 1790), [1] formally titled An Act for the Punishment of Certain Crimes Against the United States, defined some of the first federal crimes in the United States and expanded on the criminal procedure provisions of the Judiciary Act of 1789. [2]
Crimes of this sort are typically prosecuted as larceny, and may be either a misdemeanor or a felony, based upon the value of the services illegally obtained.This category encompasses a wide variety of criminal activity including tampering with (or bypassing) a utility meter so that the true level of consumption is understated, leaving a hotel or restaurant or similar establishment without ...
The first codification of Texas criminal law was the Texas Penal Code of 1856. Prior to 1856, criminal law in Texas was governed by the common law, with the exception of a few penal statutes. [3] In 1854, the fifth Legislature passed an act requiring the Governor to appoint a commission to codify the civil and criminal laws of Texas.
The term crime does not, in modern criminal law, have any simple and universally accepted definition, [2] though statutory definitions have been provided for certain purposes. [3] The most popular view is that crime is a category created by law ; in other words, something is a crime if declared as such by the relevant and applicable law. [ 2 ]