Commonwealth v. Donoghue, 63 S.W.2d 3 (KY 1933), was a case decided by the Kentucky Court of Appeals involving a which charged conspiracy based on common law criminal offenses imported through reception statutes.
Contents
Background
M. Donoghue and other people ran the Boone Loan Company in Kenton County which was accused charging usury rates of interest, or loan sharking. The judge-created crime in the case was "a nefarious plan for the habitual exaction of gross injury."
Decision
The Court of Appeals upheld the ability of judges to create common law crimes in the state of Kentucky. From 1975 onward a Kentucky state statute, KRS 500.020, has prohibited prosecution of common law crimes in Kentucky.
References
Commonwealth v. Donoghue Wikipedia(Text) CC BY-SA