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Purposes - 18 Pa. Cons. Stat. § 104

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     § 104.  Purposes.
        The general purposes of this title are:
            (1)  To forbid and prevent conduct that unjustifiably
        inflicts or threatens substantial harm to individual or
        public interest.
            (2)  To safeguard conduct that is without fault from
        condemnation as criminal.
            (3)  To safeguard offenders against excessive,
        disproportionate or arbitrary punishment.
            (4)  To give fair warning of the nature of the conduct
        declared to constitute an offense, and of the sentences that
        may be imposed on conviction of an offense.
            (5)  To differentiate on reasonable grounds between
        serious and minor offenses, and to differentiate among
        offenders with a view to a just individualization in their
        treatment.

Last modified: November 27, 2007