Crime

Abstract

Criminologists differ on how they define crime. One definition is a legal definition: crime is a violation of the criminal law. Edwin Sutherland and Donald Cressey (1960) call this the conventional definition of crime because it is the commonly used definition. They add that it is typical to distinguish a crime from a tort: a crime is a violation against the state whereas a tort is a violation against an individual and the civil law. Hence in criminal law the charge readsState of ______v. John Doewhile in civil court it isMary Smith v. John Doe. A dramatic example of crime versus tort occurred in one of the best‐known crimes of the twentieth century: the O.J. Simpson matter. In criminal court he was acquitted of the crime of murder but he was found civilly liable for wrongful death in civil court. Two such trials do not violate the constitutional protection against double jeopardy (being tried twice for the same crime), because criminal and civil court are considered two completely distinct systems and civil court carries no stigma of a criminal conviction.