Mala Prohibita

Many types of crimes exist and each is unique in their own way. Of course, the crimes fall into different categories. One of the categories is known as mala in se. Mala in se is an act wrong in itself both in traditionally and conventionally. In other words, mala in se is a Civil Wrong. The other category is known as mala prohibita. Mala prohibita is any action that is criminalized strictly by statute and statutory law. In other words, Mala prohibita is a simple crime, like littering. Crimes can be broken down into three categories. These categories are felonies, misdemeanors, and infractions. Felonies are considered serious crimes. Felonies consist of criminal homicide, forcible rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, larceny-theft, motor vehicle theft, and arson and so on. A Misdemeanor is a criminal offense that is less serious than a felony. For example, a simple drug charge, petty theft, public intoxication, simple assault, trespassing, indecent exposure and so on. An infraction is basically a fine for something as simple as littering or a speeding ticket. Subject matter jurisdiction is the authority of a court to hear cases of a particular type or cases relating to a specific subject matter. For instance, bankruptcy court only has the authority to hear bankruptcy cases. Unlike personal jurisdiction, lack of subject-matter jurisdiction cannot be waived. Personal jurisdiction refers to a court's power over a particular Person or an item of property. If a court does not have personal jurisdiction over a defendant or property, then the court cannot bind the defendant to an obligation or adjudicate any rights over the property. There are three types of personal jurisdiction. The three types are in personam jurisdiction, in rem jurisdiction and quasi in rem jurisdiction (Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia n.d.). In personam jurisdiction is when the forum has power over the person of a particular defendant (Wikipedia, the free