criminal law
nounDefinition of criminal law
: the law of crimes and their punishments
Examples of criminal law in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Drenick, a spokeswoman for the Alameda District Attorney, said the office sponsored legislation last year meant to close a number of loopholes and shortfalls in criminal law. — Thomas Peele, The Mercury News, "FBI agent dodges fine for AR-15 assault rifle stolen from unattended vehicle in Oakland," 4 Sep. 2019 Those representing/defending the accused can be called criminal law attorneys or defense attorneys. — Kate Knight, Houston Chronicle, "A legal education: What do attorneys do?," 15 Aug. 2019 During his 35-year tenure, Stevens left his stamp on nearly every area of the law, writing the court's opinions in landmark cases on government regulation, the death penalty, criminal law, intellectual property and civil liberties. — oregonlive, "John Paul Stevens, longtime leader of Supreme Court’s liberal wing, dies at 99," 16 July 2019 The charge of residential-mortgage fraud, which the state indictment revolves around, doesn’t exist in federal criminal law. — Corinne Ramey, WSJ, "Manafort Pleads Not Guilty to 16 Additional State Charges," 27 June 2019 Many on the right don’t want to consider any change in criminal laws despite reforms in states that have reduced prison populations without increasing the crime rate. — The Editorial Board, WSJ, "Criminal Justice Advances," 16 Dec. 2018 During his 35-year tenure, Stevens left his stamp on nearly every area of the law, writing the court's opinions in landmark cases on government regulation, the death penalty, criminal law, intellectual property and civil liberties. — Ivana Hrynkiw | [email protected], al.com, "Retired Justice John Paul Stevens left mark on Alabama," 17 July 2019 And lawyers argued that while Proposition 115 changed many parts of the criminal laws, the initiative did not prevent the Legislature from changing the legal requirements under which someone could be held liable for murder. — Greg Moran, San Diego Union-Tribune, "Becerra backs change in murder law that’s widely opposed by state prosecutors," 18 July 2019 While Castro was correct in saying that the Trump administration had used the criminal law in a far more aggressive way than its predecessors, the law that makes unauthorized border crossings a criminal offense has been on the books for decades. — Janet Hook, latimes.com, "This is not your father's Democratic Party: Debate shows how leftward it has moved," 26 June 2019These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'criminal law.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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