Criminal Justice SDC Practice Test

The main idea is the distinction between acts that are illegal because the law says so versus acts that are morally wrong in themselves. Mala prohibita refers to acts illegal due to statutes or regulations, not because they are inherently wrong. Examples include speeding, illegal drug possession, or tax evasion—these are crimes because the law prohibits them, even if their moral acceptability might be debated in some cases. In contrast, mala in se covers offenses that are wrong by their very nature, such as murder or robbery, which society views as morally wrong regardless of specific statutes. Mens rea is about the mental state or intent behind an act, which affects culpability but isn’t itself a label for why an act is illegal. The deprivation model is a criminology concept explaining why people may commit crimes based on deprivation or lack of resources, not a category of illegal acts. So the term that denotes acts illegal because of statutes rather than inherent moral wrongfulness is mala prohibita.