Criminal Law

XIII

Crimes Against the Government

A government has the authority to protect itself against injury and destruction and to protect its administrative functions from corruption. To promote these objectives, it may define certain activities, such as treason, perjury, and bribery, as criminal.

A

Treason

The crime of treason consists of attempting by overt acts to overthrow or levy war against the government, to adhere (devote) oneself to the enemies of the government, or to give aid and comfort to the enemy. To be guilty of treason, the person must intend to betray the government to which he or she owes allegiance.

B

Perjury

A common law misdemeanor, perjury is now generally classified as a statutory felony. Perjury is defined as willfully giving a false statement while under oath concerning a material matter in a judicial proceeding. A statement is material if it could have influenced the outcome of the proceeding in which it was given. For example, a witness to an automobile accident who lies under oath about her age is not guilty of perjury because the false statement does not concern a relevant issue. However, an alleged victim of statutory rape commits perjury if she falsely testifies that at the time of the intercourse she was over the statutory age of consent. The age of the victim is a core issue in a statutory rape prosecution.

People swear falsely when they tell what they know to be a falsehood or even what they believe to be a falsehood (even if it is in fact true). It is not swearing falsely, however, to tell what is in fact false when the witness honestly believes it to be true. Modern statutes have generally expanded perjury to include proceedings other than judicial proceedings, such as congressional hearings and proceedings before a notary public.

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The crime of intentionally causing or encouraging another person to commit perjury is known as subornation of perjury. If the other person erroneously believes his or her testimony to be true and thus does not commit perjury, the person who encouraged the perjury is not guilty of subornation of perjury.

C

Bribery

A common law misdemeanor, bribery is now generally classified as a statutory felony. Bribery is defined as giving or promising to give a public official something of value with a corrupt intent to influence the official in the discharge of his or her official duty. The public official who solicits or accepts anything of value or a promise of something valuable, accompanied by a corrupt intent to influence the performance of his or her public duty, also commits bribery.

The common law definition limited bribery to conduct concerning the judiciary, but most modern statutes have extended it to include all public officials in the judicial, executive, and legislative branches of the federal, state, county, and municipal governments. Modern statutes often expand the scope of bribery even further to include similar conduct relating to persons who are not public officials—for example, athletes paid by gamblers to intentionally perform poorly in games.

XIV

Inchoate Crimes

Crimes that occur prior to and in preparation for what may be a subsequent offense are called inchoate crimes. Inchoate offenses include attempt to commit, conspiracy to commit, and solicitation to commit criminal acts. An inchoate offense is a completed crime in itself, even though a further contemplated criminal act has not been completed. For example, when two or more people genuinely agree to rob a bank, they commit the inchoate offense of conspiracy—whether or not they then commit the robbery.

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