Comment by slowmovintarget
3 days ago
I thought only capital crimes (murder, for example) held the standard of beyond a reasonable doubt. Lesser crimes require the standard of either a "Preponderance of Evidence" or "Clear and Convincing Evidence" as burden of proof.
Still, even by those lesser standards, it's hard to build a case.
It's civil cases that have the lower standard of proof. Civil cases arise when one party sues another, typically seeking money, and they are claims in equity, where the defendant is alleged to have harmed the plaintiff in some way.
Criminal cases require proof beyond a reasonable doubt. Most things that can result in jail time are criminal cases. Criminal cases are almost always brought by the government, and criminal acts are considered harm to society rather than to (strictly) an individual. In the US, criminal cases are classified as "misdemeanors" or "felonies," but that language is not universal in other jurisdictions.
Thank you.
No, all criminal convictions require proof beyond a reasonable doubt: https://constitution.congress.gov/browse/essay/amdt14-S1-5-5...
>Absent a guilty plea, the Due Process Clause requires proof beyond a reasonable doubt before a person may be convicted of a crime.
Proof or a guilty plea, which is often extracted from not guilty parties due to the lopsided environment of the courts
Thank you.