Solicitation to commit a crime
Solicitation to commit a crime refers to the act of requesting, commanding, encouraging, or advising another person to engage in criminal conduct. This action is significant as it is often the initial step toward the commission of a crime and establishes a legal complicity in potential future offenses. Importantly, even if the person solicited refuses or is incapable of carrying out the crime, the act of solicitation itself remains a punishable offense. The legal implications are serious, as the crime of solicitation is treated with the same severity as the most serious crime that is being solicited. It is frequently included in criminal charges, often serving as a strategic element in pretrial negotiations. Additionally, while solicitation committed by civilians is prosecuted, instances where law enforcement engages in solicitation may lead to questions of entrapment, which complicates the legal landscape. A potential defense against solicitation is renunciation, where the individual must actively dissuade the solicited party from committing the crime and demonstrate a genuine change of intent. Understanding the nuances of solicitation can illuminate its role in the broader context of criminal law.
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Solicitation to commit a crime
SIGNIFICANCE: As the typical first step toward commission of a crime, solicitation is requesting, commanding, encouraging, or advising another person to engage in criminal conduct. The act of solicitation establishes complicity in a future crime. Prosecution of solicitation is a way to prevent future criminal acts.
The term “solicitation” is attached to an intended crime, for example, solicitation to commit burglary. The crime of solicitation is of the same legal grade and degree as the most serious crime solicited, and convicted solicitors are sentenced accordingly. The act of solicitation is a crime even if the person solicited declines, the person solicited is incapable of committing the crime, or the person for whom the solicitation was intended did not hear or receive the solicitation.
Merely discussing a criminal act can be considered solicitation. Solicitation is a crime similar to conspiracy and is added to charges in a quarter of all cases, usually as a bargaining chip in pretrial negotiations. When civilians solicit, the act of solicitation in itself is considered to be a crime. When police, police informants, or undercover agents solicit, it may sometimes be considered entrapment, but it is rarely prosecuted as a crime.
Renunciation is a defense for solicitation. To renounce solicitation, defendants must have subsequently persuaded the solicited persons not to commit the crimes or have prevented the commission of the crimes, and have demonstrated a voluntary recanting of their intent to solicit, facilitate, or commit the crimes.
Bibliography
Duff, R. Antony. Criminal Attempts. New York: Clarendon Press, 1996.
Kessler, Kimberly, and Larry Alexander. “Mens rea and Inchoate Crimes.” Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology 87 (June 22, 1997): 1138-1193.
"Solicitation to Commit a Crime of Violence." Cornell Law School, www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/373. Accessed 10 July 2024.
"Solicitation to Commit a Crime Under the Law." Justia, Oct. 2023, www.justia.com/criminal/offenses/inchoate-crimes/solicitation/. Accessed 10 July 2024.