CHAPTER I. Crimes against religious liberty and conscience ........ 255-277 II. Rape, abduction, carnal abuse of children and seduction, 278–286 Unlawful confinement of idiots, insane persons, etc.. Refilling or selling stamped mineral water bottles, etc.. Defacing marks upon logs or lumber. Officer unlawfully detaining wrecked property. Fraud in affairs of limited partnership.. Solemnizing unlawful marriages.... Taking usury................. SECTION. 369 370 371 372 373 374 375 376 377 378 VII. Fraudulently fitting out and destroying ships and 575-577 XIII. Frauds relative to documents of title to merchandise.. 628-634 635-654 THE PENAL CODE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. CHAPTER 676. AN ACT TO ESTABLISH A PENAL CODE. PASSED July 26, 1881; three-fifths being present. The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows: PRELIMINARY PROVISIONS. SECTION 1. Title of Code. 2. Its effect. 2. Definition of "crime." 4. Division of crimes. 5. Definition of felony. 6. Definition of misdemeanor. 7. Definition of misdemeanor. 8. Objects of the Penal Code. 9. Convictions must precede punishment. 10. Jury to find degree of crime. 11. General rules of construction of this act. 12. Of sections declaring crimes punishable. 13. Punishments, how determined. 14. Punishment of felonies when not fixed by statute. 15. Punishment of misdemeanors when not fixed by statute. SECTION 1. Title of Code. - This act shall be known as the PENAL CODE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. New. § 2. Its effect. No act or omission begun after the beginning of the day on which this Code takes effect as a law, shall be deemed criminal or punishable, except as prescribed or authorized by this Code, or by some statute of this state not repealed by it. Any act or omission begun prior to that day may be inquired of, prosecuted and punished in the same manner as if this Code had not been passed. U. S. Const., art. I, § 10, subd. 1. (a) Retrospective act.— An act of the legislature is not to be construed to operate retrospectively, so as to take away a vested right. (Dash v. Van Kleck, 7 Johns., 477.) (b) Law must be prospective. It is a principle of universal jurisprudence that laws, civil and criminal, must be prospective, and cannot have a retroactive effect. (Id.; Van Valkenburg v Torrey, 7 Cow., 252; Sayre v. Wisner, 8 Wend., 661; Van Rensselaer v. Wisner, 12 id., 490.) (c) Rules of evidence excepted. The rules of evidence, however, or the details of a criminal trial, may be changed as to prior as well as subsequent offenses. (Stokes v. People, 53 N. Y., 164.) An act in relation to capital punishment is retrospective, and applies to all persons thereafter convicted, though the crime was committed before the enactment of the law. (Hartung v. The People, 26 N. Y., 167.) (d) Ex post facto.- An act is ex post facto which attempts to change the punishment for arson committed before the passage of an act. (Shepherd v. People, 25 N. Y., 406; 24 How., 388.) §3. Definition of "crime.” — A crime is an act or omission forbidden by law, and punishable upon conviction by 1. Death; or 2. Imprisonment; or 3. Fine; or 4. Removal from office; or 5. Disqualification to hold any office of trust, honor or profit under the state; or 6. Other penal discipline. 3 R. S., 995, § 54; see, also, 2 R. S., 726, § 32 (2 Edm., 702); 1 Bish. Cr. Law, § 43. (a) Criminal proceedings defined. Proceedings against beggars and vagrants, to prevent the commission of crime, against disorderly persons, and those in reference to search warrants, are criminal proceedings. (People v. Supervisors of Ontario, 4 Den., 260.) (b) Id. All acts injurious to private persons, and which tend to produce violent resentment, are criminal. (People v. Smith, 5 Cow., 258.) (c) Malice. When malice is unnecessary to constitute a guilty act. (People v. Reed, 47 Barb., 235.) § 4. Division of crimes. A crime is either 1. A felony; or 2. A misdemeanor. See 4 Black. Com., 94 and 95; 2 R. S. (Edm.), 726, and Id., 690, § 30. |