Not much escapes the intellect and imagination of the Angelic Doctor, St. Thomas Aquinas. Whether it be love, children, education, moral reasoning, happiness or the proper dispositions for human existence, St. Thomas seems an expert in all of it. Crime and criminal conduct are no exceptions to this general tendency with him. Not only does he have much to say about it, what he relates is perpetually fresh and surely the bedrock of what is now taken for granted. In this short treatise, the focus targets St. Thomas’s criminal codification – his law of crimes.

Indeed the magnanimity of his crimes code is a subject matter not yet treated in any detail in the scholarly literature. While parts and pieces are covered in many quarters, the literature has yet to develop a systematic, codified examination of Thomistic criminal law. The essence of the endeavor is threefold: first, how does St. Thomas factor the nature of the human person into the concept of criminal culpability and personal responsibility; second, what types of criminal conduct does St. Thomas specifically delineate and define; and lastly, what is Thomas’s view of mitigation and defense, as well as the corresponding punishment meted out for criminal conduct? This short commentary zeroes in on Thomistic Criminal Law – a project which will illuminate the root, the heritage and the foundation of modern criminal codification.

Contents
Preface	vii
Chapter 1 Aquinas and the Idea of Law	1
 Introduction	1
 The Thomistic Idea of Law	3
 Law as the "Rule and Measure" of Reason	4
 Law as an Instrument of the Common Good	6
 Law as Good and End	6
The Various Kinds of Law 	7
The Eternal Law	8
 The Natural Law	10
 The Divine Law	13
 	The Human Law 	17
 The Necessity of Human Law		18
 Human Law is Derivative 	19
 Summary	22
Chapter 2 Aquinas on Criminal Culpability	30
 Introduction	30
 Freedom and Criminal Culpability	30
 Free Choice and Criminal Culpability	38
 Good and Evil in Human Action	39
 Improper Object	41
 The Sum of Circumstances	42
 The Proper End and the Concept of Evil	43
 Summary	45
Chapter 3 Crimes against the Person		50
 Introduction	50
 Criminal Homicide	50
 Homicide by Accidental Means	51
 Homicide in Self-Defense	54
 Abortion and Infanticide		57
 Mayhem	59
 Assault	62
 Corporal Punishment and Child Abuse	63
 Summary	64
Chapter 4 Aquinas on Sexual Offenses	67
 Introduction	67
 Rape	68
 Sodomy	72
 Incest		74
 Bestiality	76
 Adultery	77
 Fornication	78
 Illegitimacy	79
 Marriage and the Impact of Fornication	81
 Fornication and Objectification of the Human Person	82
 Bigamy	83
 Polygamy	84
 Summary	86
Chapter 5 Aquinas on Property Offenses	90
 Introduction	90
 The Right to Property	90
Theft and Stealing	93
The "Taking"	93
Theft and Secrecy	94
Theft and Gravity	97
Value of Property	97
Robbery	99
Fraud	100
Fraud in the Price	101
Fraud and Commercial Practice	101
Fraud in the Exchange	102
Defects in the Exchange	103
Summary	105
Chapter 6 Offenses Involving Judicial Process	108
Introduction	108
Lawyers and Truth	110
The Lawyer as Advocate	111
Perjury	113
Malicious Prosecution	113
Judges and Truth	115
Defendants and Truth	117
Summary	119
Chapter 7 Aquinas On Offenses Against Public Morality	122
Introduction	12
Public Drunkenness and Disorder	122
Drunkenness and Mitigation	125
Disorderly Conduct/Public Fighting	126
Hatred and Human Interaction	126
Discord	127
Contention	128
Strife		128
Sedition	129
Public Indecency	130
Obscenity	132
Summary	133
Chapter 8 Law, Justice, Sentencing and Punishment	136
Introduction	136
Punishment as Reciprocity	136
Types of Punishment and Penalties in Thomistic Jurisprudence	140
Corporal Punishment	140
Imprisonment	142
The Death Penalty	143
Restitution	146
Punishment and Salvation	147
Summary	148
Index
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