A mitigating circumstance is a factor that lessens the severity of an act or the actor’s culpability for the action. Mitigating circumstances can be found in both criminal and civil cases and may be used to justify a reduction in the severity...
criminal law and procedure
mitigating factor
A mitigating factor, also called a mitigating circumstance or extenuating circumstance, is any fact or circumstance that lessens the defendant’s severity or culpability of a criminal offense. Unlike justification or excuse defenses,...
Model Penal Code (MPC)
The Model Penal Code (or MPC) is a model code assembled by the American Legal Institute that was first promulgated in 1962. Following the MPC’s promulgation, many states’ criminal codes underwent significant reforms, and to this day, many...
Model Penal Code insanity defense
The Model Penal Code insanity defense is the distinct formulation of the insanity defense found in the Model Penal Code and adopted by 21 states either completely or in a modified format.
The defense is found in MPC §4.01,...
money laundering
Money laundering refers to a financial transaction scheme that aims to conceal the identity, source, and destination of illicitly-obtained money. Given the many ways money laundering can be achieved, the regulation of money laundering by the...
motion
A motion is a formal request made by any party for a desired ruling, order, or judgment.
The party that makes the motion is known as the movant. A motion can be written or spoken, as the relevant rules require. Various...
motion to quash
In law, a motion to quash is a formal request made to a court to declare a specific proceeding, such as a subpoena, an arrest warrant, or a legal complaint, as invalid or void. The purpose of filing a motion to quash is to challenge the legal...
motive
In a legal context, motive is the reason a person may have committed a crime. Rather, as defined in the case State v. Willis, motive is “the moving course, the impulse, the desire that induces criminal action on the part of the accused.” A motive can...
mutiliation
Mutilation is a war crime under international criminal law. In International Criminal Court, a prosecution for mutilation must show the following:
The victim was permanently disfigured, or else an organ or appendage was permanently...National Security Letter
A National Security Letter is an administrative order that compels the recipients to provide information to federal investigators. The letter is issued by a federal agency, most frequently the FBI, to subpoena information related to national...