Civil v. Criminal Law

2.  Criminal Laws: They regulate public conduct
and can only be brought by the government
against a person charged with committing a
crime.

3.  Prosecutor: District Attorney (DA) or Assistant
District Attorney (ADA) represents the state by
bringing charges against the defendant

4.  Pressing Charges: When the government
makes a claim of wrongdoing; accuse or blame
 Once a person brings their claim before a law
enforcement agency, the state will decide whether
there is enough evidence for an arrest
 If a victim would like to drop charges against the
defendant, the prosecutor may still proceed with the
charges

5.  Criminal Charges may result in jail time, fines,
penalties and probation
 Two types of crimes:
 Felony- more serious crime, usually more than one
year in jail (murder, rape, robbery, kidnapping, etc.)
 Misdemeanor- Less serious crime, either no jail time
or sentence is less than one year

6.  Civil Laws: Regulate relations between people
(marriage, divorce, contracts, real estate,
negligence, etc.)

7.  Lawsuit: A civil action in court between two or
more people
 Damages: Money asked for or awarded to a
plaintiff in a lawsuit as a result of the
defendant’s actions

8.  Compensatory- Money paid for
physical/emotional harm that resulted in lost
wages, medical bills, damage of property, pain
and suffering
 Punitive: Awards totaling more than the
damage caused to punish the defendant for
their behavior and as a warning for others to
not do the same
 Nominal: Not a lot of money, awarded to
prove that the plaintiff’s claim was justified,
even if they cannot prove economic harm