A complete and accurate understanding of the concepts inherent in our American criminal law system can only be attained by a review of its history, philosophy, and development. Modern criminal law is the result of a long evolution of laws that have attempted to deal with and define deviant behavior in Society.

b.1 Code of Hammurabi

The Code of Hammurabi is considered one of the first known attempts to establish a written code of conduct. King Hammurabi ruled Babylon at approximately 2000 B.C. During that period, Babylon was a commercial center for most of the known and civilized world. Since its fortune lay in trade and other business ventures, the Code of Hammurabi provided a basis for order and certainty essential for commerce. The Code established rules regarding theft, sexual relationships, interpersonal violence, and other issues. It was intended to replace blood feuds with a system sanctioned by the state.

The Code of Hammurabi was divided into five sections:

1. A penal or code of laws

2. A manual of instruction for judges, police officers, and witnesses

3. A handbook of rights and duties of husbands, wives, and children

4. A set of regulations establishing wages and prices

5. A code of ethics for merchants, doctors, and officials (Masters and Roberson, 1985).

The code established certain obligations and objectives for the citizens of Babylon to follow. These included: An assertion of the power of the state. This was the beginning of state-administered punishment. The blood feuds that had occurred previously between private citizens were barred under the code. Protection of the weaker from the stronger. Widows were to be protected from those who might exploit them, elder parents were protected from sons who would disown them, and lesser officials were protected from higher ones.

Restoration of equity between the offender and the victim. The victim was to be made as whole as possible and, in turn, he or she was required to forgive vengeance against the offender.

Of noteworthy importance in the code was its concern for the rights of victims. In reality, this code may have been the first "victims' rights statute" in history. Unfortunately, as will be seen, society began to neglect victims in its rush to punish the offender, with the result that victims' rights would not resurface until the present century (Gordon 1957).

b.2 Early Roman Law

Another important milestone in the development of American law was early Roman law which was derived from the Twelve Tables, written about 450 B.C. These tables were a collection of basic rules relating to conduct of family, religious and economic life. Early Roman legions conquered England in the middle of the first century. Roman law, customs, and language were forced upon the English people during the next three centuries of Roman rule.

Emperor Justinian I codified the Roman laws into a set of writings. The Justinian Code, as these writings became known, distinguished between two major types of laws:

• Public laws: Dealt with the organization and administration of the Republic.

• Private laws: Addressed issues such as contracts, possession and other property rights, the legal status of various persons such as slaves, husbands and wives, and injuries to citizens.

It contained elements of both our civil and criminal law and influenced Western legal theory into the Middle Ages.

b.3. The Bible

It is unclear when the fifth book of the Old Testament, Deuteronomy, was written, and indeed, as "oral history," the very first version was not written at all (it was probably written for the first time in about 100 B.C.). Deuteronomy instructs that with respect to certain crimes, the penalty shall be ". . eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot" (Chapter 19, Verse 15). Because the rabbinic tradition taught that this penalty was not to be interpreted literally and that what the Biblical instruction really meant was that a victim of an assault or other crime should receive from the criminal the value of an eye, or the value of a foot, arguably Deuteronomy presents the first more formalized scheme of victim restitution since the Code of Hammurabi.

b.4. The Legal System in England

Prior to the Norman conquest of 1066 A.D., the legal system in England was very decentralized. There was little written law except for crimes against society. As a society, England had forgotten or moved away from the teaching of the Code of Hammurabi, and crimes during this period were again viewed as personal wrongs. Compensation was paid to the victim or his/her family for the offense. If the perpetrator failed to make payments, the victim's family could seek revenge resulting in a blood feud. For the most part during this period, criminal law was designed to provide equity to what was considered a private dispute.

The Norman Conquest under William the Conqueror established royal administrators who rode circuit to render justice. These royal judges would use local custom and rules of conduct as a guide in rendering their judgments. This system, known as stare decisis (Latin for the phrase "to stand by the decided law"), would have far reaching effects on modern American criminal law.

b.5. Common Law

The next major development in the history of law was the acknowledgment of the existence of Common Law. Early English Common Law forms the basis for much of our present day legal system. Common Law is a traditional body of then unwritten legal precedents created by court decisions (as distinguished from statutory law written by a Congress or other legislative body) during the Middle Ages in England. During this period of time when cases were heard, judges would start their deliberations from past decisions that were as closely related as possible to the case under consideration. In the eleventh century, King Edward the Confessor proclaimed that Common Law was the law of the land. Court decisions were finally recorded and made available to lawyers who could then use them to plead their cases. This concept is one of the most important aspects of today's modern American law.

b.6. The Magna Carta and the U.S. Constitution

The Magna Carta of England and the U.S. Constitution both stand as great documents and moments in the history of American law. The Magna Carta was signed on June 15, 1215 and was later interpreted to grant basic liberties to all British citizens. The U.S. Constitution established certain individual rights, defined the power of the federal government, and -- among other things -- limited punishment for violation of laws.

American law combines both Common Law and written statutes:

Statutory laws are enacted by state legislatures and Congress, and are the major sources of American criminal law today.

These laws are usually compiled in various codes, and are subject to revision by the legislatures and Congress.

Constitutional law is at the foundation of American criminal law. The Constitution does not define new crimes (the only crime defined in the Constitution is treason); rather, it sets limits on other laws as they apply to individuals. An example of this principle is the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling that flag burning, which was proscribed as criminal conduct by a state statute, is protected under the First Amendment right to freedom of expression.

b.7. The Purpose of Law

Max Weber, an acclaimed sociologist during the early twentieth century, stated that the primary purpose of law is to regulate the flow of human interaction (Rheinstein 1954).

Dr. Weber, who is famous for a number of modern day concepts including the concept of bureaucracy, believed that laws make the behavior of others predictable (Wallace, Roberson, and Steckler 1994). Thus, one of the accepted purposes of law is to support social order. Laws also serve other purposes including:

• Banishing private retribution.

• Reflecting public opinion.

• Deterring criminal acts.

• Punishing offenders.

• Providing socioeconomic control (Siegel 1989).

Roscoe Pound, one of the great legal scholars of modern times, believed that law was a type of social engineering (1968). The law was a tool that met the needs of men and women living and working together in society. Pound believed that law must change with the advent of new ideas. He articulated a series of Jural Postulates that were propositions setting forth the basis of all law because they reflected the shared needs of society.

It is against this legal framework and amidst tremendous societal as well as political upheaval and transition that the victims' movement began to take hold in this country nearly three decades ago.