Editing Excuse (section)

{{About|excuses in legal trials|"making excuses"|Rationalization (psychology)|other uses}}
{{inline|date=October 2023}}
{{Criminal defenses}}

In American [[jurisprudence]], an '''excuse''' is a [[defense (legal)|defense]] to [[crime|criminal]] charges that is a distinct from an [[exculpation]]. [[Justification (jurisprudence)|Justification]] and excuse are different defenses in a criminal case (See [[Justification and excuse]]).<ref name=CL>Criminal Law Cases and Materials, 7th ed. 2012; John Kaplan, Robert Weisberg, Guyora Binder</ref> Exculpation is a related concept which reduces or extinguishes a person's [[culpability]], such as their liability to pay compensation to the victim of a [[tort]] in the [[Civil law (common law)|civil law]].

The excuse provides a [[mitigating factor]] for a group of persons sharing a common characteristic. Justification, as in [[justifiable homicide]], vindicates or shows the [[justice]]. Thus, [[society]] approves of the purpose or motives underpinning some actions or the consequences flowing from them (see Robinson),{{clarify|date=August 2017}} and distinguishes those where the behavior cannot be approved but some excuse may be found in the characteristics of the defendant, e.g. that the accused was a serving police officer or suffering from a [[mental illness]]. Thus, a justification describes the quality of the act, whereas an excuse relates to the [[status (law)|status]] or [[capacity (law)|capacity]] (or lack of it) in the accused. These factors can affect the resulting [[Legal judgment|judgment]] which may be an [[acquittal]], or in the case of a conviction may mitigate [[sentence (law)|sentencing]]. An excuse may also be something that a person or persons use to explain any criticism or comments based on the outcome of any specific event.