Criminal Justice Test 1

Crime

Whatever the law declares to be a criminal offense and punishes with a penalty.

Moral Condemnation

The formal and solemn pronouncement of community disapproval that results from criminal conduct.

Criminal Law Burden of Proof

Beyond a reasonable doubt.

Civil Law Burden of Proof

Preponderance of the evidence.

Actus Reus

The criminal act.

Mens Rea

Criminal intent.

Mala in se

Acts that are considered to be inherently evil.

Mala prohibita

Acts that are not inherently evil, but are wrong because they are prohibited by statute.

Nullum crimen sine lege

"No crime without law, no punishment without law" (Rule of Legality).

Bill of Attainder

A legislative act that punishes an individual or a group of persons without the benefit of a trial.

Ex Post Facto Law

A retroactive law that makes past innocent acts criminal, increases punishments, or alters rules to make conviction easier.

Void for Vagueness

The constitutional doctrine requiring statutes to be clear and understandable to provide fair notice and definite law enforcement standards.

Rational Basis Scrutiny

The lowest tier of Equal Protection review, requiring a law to be rationally related to a permissible state interest.

Intermediate Scrutiny

The middle tier of review, requiring gender distinctions to be substantially related to an important government objective.

Strict Scrutiny

The highest tier of review, requiring racial/ethnic classifications or fundamental rights to be strictly necessary to advance a compelling state interest.

Retribution

The punishment goal based on "eye for an eye," proportionality, and deserved moral blameworthiness.

General Deterrence

Punishing an offender to make an example of them so the general public is afraid of getting caught.

Specific Deterrence

Imposing a severe punishment to keep a specific individual from committing the same crime again.

Incapacitation

Removing offenders from society so they cannot harm the public.

Determinate Sentencing

Fixed sentencing terms with little to no judicial discretion or deviation.

Indeterminate Sentencing

A sentencing range (minimum-maximum) where a parole board or prison institution decides the actual release date.

Downward Departure

A sentence below the lowest permissible guidelines, allowed only when specific mitigating circumstances are present.

Pardon vs. Commutation

A pardon completely exempts someone from punishment as though nothing happened; a commutation reduces/eliminates a sentence while the conviction remains.

Charge Bargaining

A plea bargain where the defendant pleads guilty to a less serious charge.

Count Bargaining

A plea bargain where some, but not all, charged counts are dropped in exchange for a guilty plea.

Sentence Bargaining

A plea bargain where the defendant pleads guilty as charged in return for a lenient sentencing recommendation.

Voluntary Act Requirement

Criminal liability requires a conscious choice or willed bodily movement, not unconscious behavior.

Involuntary Intoxication

Intoxication caused by excusable ignorance, coercion, fraud, or artifice, which can negate the capacity to distinguish right from wrong.

American Bystander Rule

An individual has no legal duty to rescue or assist a person in peril unless a specific legal duty exists.

Legal Duty Sources (Omissions)

Status, Statute, Contract, Assumption of Duty, Creation of Peril, and Control/Property Owner.

Actual Possession

Contraband is located directly on an individual's physical person or within their immediate reach.

Constructive Possession

Contraband is outside physical reach, but the person exercises control through access to the location or ability to control the item.

Joint Possession

When multiple individuals simultaneously exercise dominion and control over the same contraband.

Fleeting Possession Exception

A limited exception permitting an innocent person to momentarily possess and dispose of an illegal object.