ABSTRACT
Ann swings her arm and injures Ben. She might make a claim of justification that, despite initial appearances, her action was desirable or proper, or she might make a claim of excuse that she does not bear full responsibility for injuring Ben. In the legal context, a defendant who successfully establishes the legal analogue of a moral justification or excuse is typically relieved of liability. In modern American criminal law the terms "justification" and "excuse" only refer to the second kind of explanation—that is, they concede the presence of the basic elements but deny liability on independent grounds. Partial exonerations present a more difficult decision about terminology. It is easy to determine how to treat partial excuses, which diminish responsibility. The major problems for the law are factual misperceptions, the coalescence of elements of justification and excuse, and varying standards of moral appropriateness.
