SOUTH CAROLINA CRIMINAL LAW: BURGLARY
This research reviews the principles of general criminal law in the United States to provide a basis for the analysis of burglary law in South Carolina. Following the review of the principles of general criminal law, the South Carolina burglary statute is assessed within the context of consistency with the principles of general criminal law.
A crime is generally defined as an act committed or omitted in violation of a public law that either forbids or commands the relevant act. Within this context, a crime is considered to be an offense against the sovereignty of the state that is injurious both the victim and the public at large, and which is punishable through a judicial proceeding in the name of the government. No act can be considered to be a crime unless the act previously has been made a crime by statute or by common law.
To impose criminal penalties on an individual, the state must show that the individual committed some unlawful act or engaged in some prohibited course of conduct, together with a wrongful intent or mens rae. No person can lawfully be convicted of a crime where intent was present but wherein the individual did not execute the intention. Further, an individual can be convicted only for an offense actually committed, and not for an offense that the individual might commit in the future. To constitute a crime, the act in question must be one that is punishable upon conviction. An act declared unlawful by statute but wherein no penalty was prescribed by the statute is not a crime.
Common law requires that a crime be described with appropriate definiteness, and this requirement is an essential element of constitutional due process of law. Indefiniteness in state criminal statutes have been found to be incompatible with a requirement that all general laws be of uniform operation. When a statute punishes a crime known at common l...