The dangerous proximity doctrine is an American standard for distinguishing between
preparation and attempt Preparation and attempt are related, but different standards in criminal law.''Criminal Law - Cases and Materials'', 7th ed. 2012, Wolters Kluwer Law & Business; John Kaplan, Robert Weisberg, Guyora Binder, /ref>
An attempt to commit an unconsumm ...
in a
criminal case.
[''Criminal Law - Cases and Materials'', 7th ed. 2012, ]Wolters Kluwer Law & Business
Wolters Kluwer N.V. () is a Dutch information services company. The company is headquartered in Alphen aan den Rijn, Netherlands (Global) and Philadelphia, United States (corporate). Wolters Kluwer in its current form was founded in 1987 with a m ...
; John Kaplan, Robert Weisberg, Guyora Binder,
/ref> It was advocated by Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr.
Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. (March 8, 1841 – March 6, 1935) was an American jurist and legal scholar who served as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1902 to 1932.Holmes was Acting Chief Justice of the Un ...
[ The standard is not a clear bright line. The evidence that preparatory acts are an actual attempt is considered to be stronger if the offense is more probable and more grave or serious.][ It has similarities with the physical proximity doctrine.][
]
References
{{US-law-stub
Legal doctrines and principles
Criminal law legal terminology
United States criminal law