| Criminal Law, or Penal Law, is the body of rules that | | | | under criminal law starts with an accusation of an |
| govern punishments for a number of legal offenses, | | | | alleged crime, usually the result of a complaint. An |
| and is usually enforced by the government. Each state | | | | indictment, or information, may be filed in court which |
| has its own set of procedures to deal with the | | | | results in formal charges being assigned by a grand |
| offense, but a common characteristic is that they all | | | | jury. If a crime is committed against the United States, |
| deal with punishing a person?s failure to comply to set | | | | it is brought before a Federal Grand Jury as required |
| rules or laws. Depending on the offense committed, | | | | by the Fifth Amendment. Although the basic procedure |
| these punishments can range from execution, to | | | | will be similar, specifics can differ from state to state, |
| parole or probation, to a simple fine. | | | | except for those crimes that require a Federal Grand |
| The basic process of bringing someone to justice | | | | Jury. |