POS 282 Quiz #3: Criminal Law and Criminal Procedure

Vocabulary flashcards covering the core concepts of criminal law, theories of punishment, Model Penal Code mens rea, homicide classifications, criminal procedure steps, constitutional amendments, and landmark Supreme Court cases from POS 282.

Utilitarian Theory

The theory that punishment is justified because it benefits society by preventing future crimes, focusing on future consequences rather than past conduct.

General Deterrence

A purpose of utilitarian punishment aimed at discouraging other people in society from committing crimes.

Specific Deterrence

A purpose of utilitarian punishment aimed at discouraging the specific offender from committing another crime in the future.

Rehabilitation

A utilitarian purpose of punishment focused on helping offenders change their behavior so they are less likely to reoffend.

Incapacitation

A utilitarian purpose of punishment that prevents an individual from committing crimes by restricting their physical freedom, such as through imprisonment.

Retributivist Theory

The theory that punishment is justified because a person who committed a crime deserves to be punished, focusing on past wrongdoing, moral responsibility, and proportionality.

Actus Reus

The physical act or legally significant failure to act that constitutes the physical element of a crime, generally requiring a voluntary action.

Mens Rea

The required mental state or state of mind for a particular criminal offense, describing what the defendant intended, knew, or should have recognized.

Purposely

A Model Penal Code mental state where an individual acts with the conscious objective to engage in specific conduct or cause a particular result.

Knowingly

A Model Penal Code mental state where an individual is aware that their conduct is practically certain to cause a particular result, regardless of whether they desire that result.

Recklessly

A Model Penal Code mental state where an individual consciously recognizes and disregards a substantial and unjustifiable risk, grossly deviating from reasonable conduct.

Negligently

A Model Penal Code mental state where an individual fails to recognize a substantial and unjustifiable risk that a reasonable person would have recognized, grossly deviating from reasonable care.

Inchoate Crimes

Crimes that involve taking steps toward committing another crime, which remain punishable even if the intended substantive crime is never completed.

Attempt

An inchoate offense where a person intends to commit a crime and takes a sufficiently significant or substantial step toward completing it.

Solicitation

An inchoate offense involving asking, encouraging, or attempting to persuade another person to commit a crime, accompanied by the intent that the crime be committed.

Conspiracy

An inchoate crime consisting of an agreement between two or more people to commit an offense, accompanied by the required criminal intent and, in some jurisdictions, an overt act.

Homicide

The killing of one human being by another human being, which can be either unlawful or legally justified (such as in valid self-defense).

Murder

An unlawful killing committed with the requisite culpable mental state, traditionally referred to as malice aforethought.

First-Degree Murder

An intentional homicide that involves premeditation and deliberation, or certain qualifying felony murders.

Second-Degree Murder

An unlawful murder lacking the additional elements required for first-degree murder, such as an intentional killing committed without premeditation or an extremely reckless killing demonstrating disregard for human life.

Manslaughter

An unlawful killing that is legally classified as less culpable than murder.

Voluntary Manslaughter

An intentional killing committed under legally recognized mitigating circumstances, commonly characterized by legally adequate provocation and the heat of passion.

Involuntary Manslaughter

An unintentional killing caused by criminally reckless or criminally negligent behavior.

Preliminary Hearing

A court proceeding in which a judge evaluates evidence presented by the prosecution to determine whether probable cause exists to believe the defendant committed the charged offense.

Grand Jury

A group of citizens who review evidence presented by a prosecutor in a secret proceeding to determine whether probable cause exists to formally charge an individual with a crime.

Indictment

A formal criminal accusation issued by a grand jury affirming that probable cause exists to charge a defendant.

Information

A formal written criminal charge filed directly by a prosecutor without obtaining a grand jury indictment.

Fourth Amendment

A constitutional amendment that protects people against unreasonable searches and seizures by the government and requires search warrants to be supported by probable cause.

Exclusionary Rule

A legal rule providing that evidence gathered through an unconstitutional search or seizure may be excluded from the prosecution's case in a criminal trial.

Fifth Amendment

A constitutional amendment providing protections including the right against compelled self-incrimination, protection against double jeopardy, the guarantee of due process, and federal grand jury requirements.

Sixth Amendment

A constitutional amendment establishing trial protections for criminal defendants, including the rights to a speedy and public trial, an impartial jury, notice of charges, witness confrontation, compulsory process, and the assistance of counsel.

Eighth Amendment

A constitutional amendment prohibiting the federal government from imposing excessive bail, excessive fines, or cruel and unusual punishments.

Gideon v. Wainwright (1963)

A landmark Supreme Court case establishing that the Sixth Amendment right to counsel is incorporated via the Fourteenth Amendment to require states to provide appointed attorneys to indigent defendants in felony prosecutions.

Miranda v. Arizona (1966)

A landmark Supreme Court case holding that to safeguard Fifth Amendment rights against self-incrimination, police must inform suspects of specific constitutional rights prior to conducting custodial interrogation.

Custodial Interrogation

A situation where a suspect is both in custody (under formal arrest or equivalent restraint) and subjected to police questioning or actions reasonably likely to elicit an incriminating response, triggering the requirement for Miranda warnings.