Criminal Law · Solicitation
Clear answer to: How Does Solicitation in Criminal Law? with key cases, examples, and exam tips for law students.
Solicitation in criminal law refers to the act of intentionally encouraging, requesting, or commanding another person to engage in criminal conduct. This offense can exist even if the solicited party does not commit the crime.
Solicitation is an inchoate crime, meaning it is an offense that occurs in the preparation stages of a criminal act rather than the act itself. The key element of solicitation is the intent of the solicitor to persuade another person to commit a crime. Once this intent is coupled with an overt act aimed at getting the third party to commit the crime, solicitation is established, even if the third party declines the request or is apprehended before committing the crime.
Common examples of solicitation include hiring a hitman to commit murder or urging someone to sell illegal drugs. The crime remains complete at the point of solicitation, irrespective of whether the underlying crime is actually executed. This distinguishes it from other inchoate crimes like attempt, which requires a substantial step toward the commission of the crime.
From a jurisdictional perspective, solicitation can encompass various forms of criminal activity, and laws may differ regarding the treatment of lesser offenses, such as solicitation to commit a misdemeanor. A critical legal threshold in many jurisdictions is whether the solicitation was made with a genuine attempt to have the crime enacted. Thus, mere expression of a hope or desire to commit a crime typically does not meet the standard for solicitation.
The defenses available to solicitation charges can include a withdrawal or renunciation, where the solicitor informs the solicited individual of a change of heart before any crime occurs; however, this defense may not always hold depending on local statutes. Like many criminal charges, solicitation is subject to statutory requirements regarding mens rea (mental state) and actus reus (physical act), typically requiring a clear demonstration of intent to persuade the other individual to engage in crimes that can include anything from drug offenses to violent crimes.
If Alice tells Bob, "I will pay you $1,000 to rob the bank next week," Alice has committed solicitation regardless of Bob's willingness to participate in the robbery or whether he actually follows through with the plan.
Solicitation is often tested in criminal law exams through hypothetical scenarios that require students to analyze intent and the relationship between the solicitor and the solicited party.