Blackstone With Washington Criminal Code the American

¶ … Blackstone with Washington Criminal Code The American legal system derives almost entirely from the British common law system. That is why, in America, if there is no precedent for a particular set of facts at trial, the court will look to common law from centuries before America even existed as a nation. The similarities are even more noticeable in criminal law than they are in civil law.

The homicide passages in Blackstone's descriptions of the law, for instance, are strikingly similar in many ways to the homicide paragraphs in the Washington Criminal Code. Blackstone divides homicide into three separate branches: justifiable homicide, excusable homicide and felonious homicide. All three are the "killing of any human creature," but there are significant differences between the three, according to Blackstone.

(Blackstone, 71) Justifiable homicide can be due to necessity (a public official putting a felon to death as prescribed by the law, for instance, is one of Blackstone's examples), or a homicide committed in the advancement of public justice (stopping a more dangerous crime, for instance), or in the defense of chastity or in defense of one's relations. Blackstone, 72). Justifiable homicide, for Blackstone, means that the person committing the homicide should not at all face liability for his or her actions.

Just as the word implies, the act was entirely justified by the surrounding circumstances. Excusable homicide, on the other hand, is an entirely different ballgame for Blackstone. For instance, if a man kills someone by accident, and his actions were "moderate," he may not be culpable at all, or his crime might be more appropriately labeled "manslaughter." (Blackstone, 73) However, if he exceeds the "bounds of moderation," he is still culpable. A generally excusable action is only excusable for Blackstone if certain qualifications are met by the actor.

(Blackstone, 73) Also, self-defense homicide is also excusable, and not justifiable, according to Blackstone. (Blackstone, 74) Blackstone differentiates self-defense from homicide in order to prevent a public crime or an assault. (Blackstone, 74) Then, lastly, Blackstone cites felonious homicide. He divides felonious homicide into murder and manslaughter, with manslaughter having voluntary and involuntary categorizations. (Blackstone, 78) Manslaughter, for Blackstone doesn't involve malice, and murder does. Murder is generally premeditated, for instance, and carries a much stiffer legal penalty and punishment.

In the Washington Criminal Code, homicide is defined as follows: "Homicide is the killing of a human being by the act, procurement or omission of another, death occurring within three years and a day and is either (1) murder. (2) manslaughter. (3) excusable homicide, or (4) justifiable homicide." (WCC, 9A.32.040) Like Blackstone, the criminal code distinguishes between premeditated killing and other types of killings. And like Blackstone again, the criminal code distinguishes between murder and manslaughter.

However, the criminal code differs in that it severely limits the possibilities in which manslaughter is an option: recklessly causing the death of another person, intentionally and unlawfully killing an unborn child by killing its mother, and killing via criminal negligence. (WCC, 9A.32.050, 60) Blackstone generally leaves the possibilities for assigning liability to a particular crime more open. The criminal code builds on Blackstone's theories and general categorizations, but imposes stricter guidelines.