Opinion ID: 2150185
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: powers of the legislative branch

Text: As imprecise as the line between the branches may sometimes be, logic and case law dictate that it is the Legislature's function through the enactment of statutes to declare the law and public policy and to define crimes and punishments. [24] In defining crimes and punishments, it sets the broad policy goals of this state's criminal justice system, including whether, for a particular type of crime, the corrective goal should be retribution, deterrence, or rehabilitation. [25] In setting out the Legislature's powers to define crimes and punishments, we have stated: [T]he Legislature has the authority to fix the penalty range which can be imposed for the crimes it has defined. The Legislature determines the nature of the penalty imposed, and so long as that determination is consistent with the Constitution, it will not be disturbed by the courts on review. In this regard, in State v. Tucker, [26] we observed: `The legislature is clothed with the power of defining crimes and misdemeanors and fixing their punishment; and its discretion in this respect, exercised within constitutional limits, is not subject to review by the courts.' [27] We have [also] stated: The range of the penalty for any offense is a matter for legislative determination. The court exercises its discretion as to the penalty to be applied under any particular state of facts within the range provided by the law. [28] Thus, once the Legislature has defined the crime and the corresponding punishment for a violation of the crime, the responsibility of the judicial branch is to apply those punishments according to the nature and range established by the Legislature. [29] In short, the Legislature defines crimes and establishes the range of penalties.