week 1 (chapter 1.1): law & judicial function

law

a written body of rules of conduct applicable to all members of a defined community, society, or culture that emanate from a governing authority and are enforced by its agents by the imposition of penalties for their violation

code of hammurabi

the first known written legal code; dating back to 2076 BC in ancient mesopotamia, the code delineated crimes and their punishments and also enumerated settlements for common disputes

consensus theorists

emphasize how society is structured to maintain its stability and view it as an integrated network of institutions (the family, church, school, economy, government) that function to maintain social order and the system as a whole; social stability is also achieved in this view through cooperation, shared values, and the cohesion and solidarity that people feel by being part of a shared culture.

conflict theorists

consider society to be composed of individuals and groups with sharply different interests and to be characterized by conflict and dissension; people and groups everywhere, they maintain, seek to maximize their interests; because resources are limited, conflict between different individuals and groups is inevitable and continuous

false consciousness

an ideological worldview that is contrary to people’s best interests; workers have been duped into accepting the legitimacy of the law by the ruling classes and are not aware that the law does not serve them

equity

a term derived from the latin word for just and refers to remedies for wrongs that were not recognized (neither the remedies nor the wrongs) under english common law

due process

procedural justice that is due to all persons whenever they are threatened with the loss of life, liberty, or property at the hands of the state; due process is essentially a set of instructions informing agents of the state how they must proceed in their investigation, arrest, questioning, prosecution, and punishment of individuals who are suspected of committing crimes; due process rules are thus rules that attempt to ensure that people are treated justly by the state

due process model

model that views protecting the rights of individuals as the most important function of the criminal justice system; emphasizes reliability, which is achieved through formal, adversarial proceduresw

crime control model

model that views the suppression of criminal conduct — that is, controlling crime — as the most important function of the criminal justice system; the primary function of the system is to control crime by apprehending, convicting, and punishing those who violate the law; emphasizes efficiency and finality, which is achieved through informal, nonadjudicatory procedures

presumption of guilt

the view, prominent in the crime control model of the criminal process, which holds that defendants who are not screened out early in the process by police and prosecutors are probably guilty and therefore can be passed quickly through the remaining stages in the process; a prediction of outcome: those not screened out early in the process are probably guilty and more than likely will plead guilty or be found guilty at trial

presumption of innocence

the view, prominent in the due process model of the criminal process, which holds that defendants are to be treated as though their guilt is an open question until they have been adjudicated guilty