Inchoate crimes
Inchoate crimes refer to behaviors that are intended to lead to criminal acts but are not completed. These crimes are criminalized to deter individuals from engaging in or preparing for actual criminal behavior. Inchoate crimes encompass various actions, including attempts to commit crimes, solicitation, conspiracy, and possession of materials intended for use in crimes. Examples include attempted murder, conspiracy to commit fraud, and stockpiling weapons or cash for illegal purposes. Significantly, individuals can be prosecuted for inchoate crimes regardless of whether the intended crime was ultimately carried out. Inchoate crimes are typically categorized with the same severity as the intended offense, influencing the possible penalties. The legal landscape surrounding inchoate crimes raises constitutional concerns, including issues related to free speech, search and seizure, and due process. Law enforcement’s role in investigating these crimes may involve controversial tactics, which can complicate the legal and ethical implications of prosecution. Overall, inchoate crimes illustrate the complexities of criminal intent and the legal system's efforts to prevent crime before it occurs.
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Inchoate crimes
SIGNIFICANCE: Inchoate crimes are behaviors intended to lead to crimes. They are criminalized to prevent the subsequent criminal act and also to punish those who plan, discuss, encourage, facilitate, threaten, or prepare for criminal acts.
Inchoate crimes include preparatory or uncompleted acts, including intent or attempt to commit a crime, even if the attempt is not completed; verbal crimes, including solicitation to commit a crime or conspiracy to commit a crime; and pre-criminal acts that imply that a crime is likely to be committed, such as possession of the instruments of crime (like pry bars, offensive weapons, or master keys), possession of items in areas where they are prohibited (like firearms in schools or airports, where the items could be used to commit a crime); and purchasing and stockpiling weapons and other material items that subsequently could be used to commit a crime (for example, explosive materials or hordes of cash).
The inchoate crime is attached to the intended crime. Examples of inchoate crimes include attempted murder, solicitation of prostitution, conspiracy to commit fraud, possession of the instruments of burglary, possession of weapons with the intent to commit an act of terror, or stockpiling cash with the intent of purchasing drugs. The inchoate crime may be prosecuted whether or not the actual crime occurred. The inchoate crime is usually considered to be of the same grade and degree as the most serious offense being prepared to commit. For example, if the completed act would have been murder in the first degree, then the charge is attempted murder in the first degree, and those found guilty are sentenced accordingly.
In many cases, the defendant is charged and the material items are seized or forfeited as a precaution against their use by others in the commission of a crime, or as a preconviction punitive act permitted by law. Seized cash, vehicles, real estate, computers, firearms, and other material items make their way into police custody and are sold, distributed, or used as allowed by law.
Legal Issues Related to Enforcement
Because the crimes are either verbal crimes or the possession of otherwise legal materials, there are serious free speech, search and seizure, due process, and other constitutional issues involved in investigation and prosecution. Police sometimes engage in entrapment behaviors to encourage potential criminal actors to reveal their intentions; this raises questions about due process, admissibility of evidence, police corruption, and police culpability, and the rights of otherwise law-abiding citizens. Clandestine police involvement with suspect groups changes the group dynamics and creates a new and larger critical mass, making possible inchoate crimes far beyond the group’s original capabilities, further raising questions about police culpability.
Bibliography
Adams, David. “The Problem of Incomplete Attempt.” Social Theory and Practice 24 (1998): 317-343.
"Criminal Attempt Conspiracy and Aiding and Abetting Under the Law." Justia, 15 Oct. 2023, www.justia.com/criminal/offenses/inchoate-crimes/. Accessed 5 July 2024.
Gillies, Peter. The Law of Criminal Conspiracy. Sydney: Federation Press, 1990.
Hasnas, John. Attempting the Impossible: The Conditions for Culpability. Durham, N.C.: Duke University Press, 1988.
Lassiter, G. Daniel, ed. Interrogations, Confessions, and Entrapment. New York: Kluwer Academic/Plenum, 2004.
Marcus, Paul. The Entrapment Defense. Newark, N.J.: LexisNexis, 2002.
Nicholson, Christie. "Attempt, Conspiracy, and Aiding." FindLaw, 6 Oct. 2023, www.findlaw.com/criminal/criminal-charges/attempt-conspiracy-aiding.html. Accessed 5 July 2024.