Part 1: Crime and the Criminal Justice System

Entrapment

Traditional defense against criminal charged based on the claim that the individual had no inclination to commit a crime but was tricked into doing so by the police.

Insanity defense

Argues that certain individuals’ mental state is such that they cannot genuinely form intent - they do not know what they are doing/suffering from delusions due to mental illness

Legal responsibility

Accountability of an individual for a crime because of the perpetrator’s actions and circumstances of the illegal act

Substantive criminal law

Law that defines acts that are subject to punishment and specifies the punishments for such offences

Procedural criminal law

Law defining the procedures that criminal justice officials must follow in enforcement, adjudication, and corrections

Inchoate/incomplete offences

Conduct that is criminal even though the harm that the law seeks to prevent has not bene done - merely planned/attempted

Justification defense examples

1. Self-defense

2. Necessity

Justification defenses

• Focus on the act

• Whether the act was socially acceptable under the circumstances

Excuse defense examples

1. Duress (coercion)

2. Entrapment

3. Infancy

4. Mistake of fact

5. Intoxication

6. Insanity

Excuse defense

• Focus on the actor

• Whether they possessed the knowledge/intent needed for a criminal conviction

Insanity defense standards

• M’Naghten (1843)

• Irresistible Impulse (1897)

• Durham (1954)

• Model Penal Code (1972)

• Comprehensive Crime Control Act

Self-incrimination

Prohibited by the 5th Amendment - act of exposing oneself to prosecution by being pressured to answer questions when they may reveal that one has committed a crime.

Double jeopardy

Prohibited by the 5th Amendment - subjecting someone to prosecution more than once in the same jurisdiction for the same criminal act.

Barron v. Baltimore (1833)

Case deciding that the protections of the Bill of Rights apply only to actions of the federal govt.

Fourth Amendment

Right to be free from unreasonable search/seizures

Fifth Amendment

Right against self-incrimination

Sixth Amendment

Right to counsel and a speedy and public trial by an impartial jury.

Eighth Amendment

Right to be free from cruel and unusual punishments

Fourteenth Amendment

Right to due process and equal protection under the law at all levels of government.

Powell v. Alabama (1932)

Case deciding that an attorney must be provided to poor defendants facing death penalty.

Fundamental fairness

Legal doctrine supporting the idea that so long as a state’s conduct maintains basic standards of fairness, the Constitution has not been violated.

Incorporation

State govts have to abide by the rights in the first 10 amendments as part of the due process clause in the 14th Amendment.

Grand jury

Body of citizens drawn from the community to hear evidence presented by the prosecutor to decide whether enough evidence exists to file charges against a defendant.

Civil infractions

Minor offences - punishable by small fines, produce no criminal record for offender

Civil law

Regulates relationships between/among individuals - involving property, contracts, business disputes

Mens rea

“Guilty mind”/blameworthy state of mind/criminal intent - necessary for legal responsibility for a criminal offence

Gideon v. Wainwright (1963)

Case deciding that impoverished defendants have a right to counsel (attorneys) when charged with serious crimes facing >6 months of incarceration

Penal code

Contain substantive criminal law that defines crimes and the punishments for those who commit crimes.

Actus reus

For a crime to occur, there must be an act of commission/omission by the accused

Principles of criminal law

1. Legality

2. Actus reus

3. Causation

4. Harm

5. Concurrence

6. Mens rea

7. Punishment

Types of crime

• Felonies

• Misdemeanour

• Infraction

• Status offences

• Strict liability crimes

Status offence

An action that is prohibited only to a certain class of people - most often applied only to crimes committed by minors e.g. underage drinking

Strict liability crime

Does not need to prove mens rea/state of mind e.g. statutory rape, environmental crimes

Levels of mens rea

1. Purposeful - intentional

2. Knowing - stress on knowing, less on purpose

3. Reckless - aware of risk of harm

4. Negligent - should have known better

Characteristics of criminal law

1. Politicality

2. Specificity

3. Uniformity

4. Penal sanction

Concurrence

Both an intention to commit the crime (actus reus) and voluntary criminal action (mens rea) are present at the same time

Causation

1. Necessary condition/factual causation
   Actual cause: but-for standard

2. Sufficient condition/legal causation
   Proximate cause: various corrections, natural and probable consequences

Anomie

Breakdown/disappearance of the rules of social behaviour

Biological explanations

Explanations of crime that emphasise physiological and neurological factors that may predispose a person to commit crimes

Classical criminology

A school of criminology that views behaviour as stemming from free will, demands responsibility and accountability of all perpetrators, stresses the need for punishments severe enough to deter others.

Control theories

Theories stating that criminal behaviour occurs when the bonds that tie an individual to society are broken/weakened.

Criminogenic

Having factors thought to bring about criminal behaviour in an individual.

Critical criminology

Theories that assume criminal law and the criminal justice system are primarily a means of controlling the lower classes, women, and minorities

Cybercrimes

Offences that involve the use of one or more computers

Dark figure of crime

Metaphor - dangerous dimension of crimes that are never reported to the police

Integrated theories

Theories that combine differing theoretical perspectives into a larger model

Labelling theories

Theories emphasising that that causes of criminal behaviour are found not in the individual but in the social process that labels certain acts as deviant/criminal

Life course theories

Theories that identify factors affecting the start/duration/nature/end of criminal behaviour over the life of a person who has committed crimes

Lifestyle-exposure theory

Approach to understanding the unequal distribution of crime and victimisation - examines the differential exposure to crime of demographic groups e.g. young, poor

Money laundering

Moving the proceeds of criminal activities through business, banks, brokerage accounts to disguise their origin

National Crime Victimisation Surveys (NCVS)

Interviews of samples of US population confused by Bureau of Justice Statistics to determine number and types of criminal victimisations and thus the extent of unreported and reported crime

National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS)

Reporting system - police describe each offence in a crime incident + data describing offender, victim, property

Occupational crimes

Criminal offences committed through opportunities created in a legal business/occupation

Organised crime

Framework for the perpetration of criminal acts e.g. gambling, drugs, prostitution - providing illegal services that are in great demand

Political crime

Ideological act - threat against the state/criminal act by the state e.g. treason, sedition, espionage

Positivist criminology

Views behaviour as stemming from social, biological, psychological factors. Argues that punishment should be tailored to individual needs of lawbreaker

Psychological explanations

Explanations of crime that emphasise mental processes/behaviour

Routine activities theory

Variation of lifestyle approach - sees crime arise in times/places with a convergence of specific elements: motivated offenders, suitable victims, lack of capable guardians to prevent/deter criminal acts

Social conflict theories

Theories that view crime as the result of conflict in society e.g. between economic classes caused by elites using law as a means to maintain power

Social process theories

Theories that see criminality as normal behaviour - everyone has the potential to become a criminal depending on 1. the influences that one toward/away from crime 2. how one is regarded by others

Sociological explanations

Explanations of crime that emphasise social conditions as causes of criminal behaviour

Theory of differential association

People become lawbreakers because they encounter more influences that view criminal behaviour as normal and acceptable than they do influences that are hostile to criminal behaviour

Transnational crime

Profit-seeking criminal activities that involve planning/execution across national borders

Uniform Crime Reports (UCR)

An annually published statistical summary of crimes reported to police based on voluntary reports to FBI by local, state, federal law enforcement agencies

Victimless crimes

Willing and private exchange of illegal goods/services in strong demand. Participants are not harmed - society as a whole is injured.

Victimology

Field of criminology that examines victim’s role in precipitating a criminal incident, examines impact of crimes on victims.

Visible crime

Offence against persons/property. AKA street/ordinary crime - especially feared by public.

Types of visible crime

1. Violent: result in death/physical injury

2. Property: threaten property held by individuals/the state

3. Public-order: threaten general well-being of society, challenge accepted moral principles

Mala in se

Acts that are wrongs in themselves

Mala prohibita

Acts that legislators believe deserve punishment

Goals of the criminal justice system

1. Doing justice

2. Controlling crime

3. Preventing crime

Doing justice

Forms the basis for the rules, procedures, and institutions of the criminal justice system

Three principles:

1. Accountability

2. Protection of rights

3. Fairness, impartiality, equality

Controlling crime

Arresting, prosecuting, and punishing those who commit offenses

Preventing crime

Requires the efforts of citizens and justice system officials

Responsibilities of both the national and state systems of criminal justice

Enforce laws, try cases, punish lawbreakers

Responsibilities of the federal system of criminal justice

• Enforce laws defined by Congress

• Shifted greater attention to antiterrorist efforts since 9/11

Responsibilities of the state system of criminal justice

Most criminal laws and criminal cases

Primary subsystems of criminal justice

Police, courts, corrections

Key characteristics of the criminal justice system

1. Discretion

2. Resource dependence

3. Sequential tasks

4. Filtering

13 steps of the criminal justice system

1. Investigation

2. Arrest

3. Booking

4. Charging

5. Initial appearance

6. Preliminary hearing/grand jury

7. Indictment/information

8. Arraignment

9. Trial

10. Sentencing

11. Appeal

12. Corrections

13. Release

Adjudication

Process of determining whether the defendant is guilty

Crime control model

• Model of the criminal justice system

• Assumes freedom for public to live without fear is so important that every effort must be to repress crime

• Emphasises efficiency, speed, finality, capacity to apprehend, try, convict, dispose of a high proportion of people facing criminal charges

Dual court system

• Separate judicial system for each state in addition to a national system

• Each case is tried in a court of the same jurisdiction as that of the law or laws broken

Due process model

• Model of criminal justice system

• Assumes freedom for individuals who are wrongly accused and risk unjust punishment is so important that every effort must be made to ensure that criminal justice decisions are based on reliable info

• Emphasises the adversarial process, rights of defendants, formal decision-making procedures

Felonies

Serious crimes - penalty of death/incarceration for >1 year.

Indictment

Document returned by a grand jury as a “true bill” charging an individual with a specific crime

Misdemeanors

Offences less serious than felonies - punishable by incarceration of <1 year/probation/intermediate sanctions

Plea bargain

A defendant’s plea of guilty to a criminal charge to receive usually reduction of their charge

Warrant

Court order authorising police officers to take certain actions e.g. arrest suspects/search premises

Arraignment

A defendant’s first formal court appearance in a criminal case where they hear the charges against them, learn their rights, and enter a plea.

Crimes

Actions that violate laws defining which socially harmful behaviours will be subject to govt’s power to impose punishments

Discretion

Authority to make decisions without reference to specific rules/facts - using instead one’s own judgement

Disparity

Difference between groups that may be explained either by legitimate factors or by discrimination

Evidence-based practices

Policies developed through guidance from research studies that demonstrate which approaches are most useful and cost-effective for advancing desired goals.

Federalism

System of govt where power is divided between a central national govt and regional state govts

Filtering process

Screening operation - criminal justice officials screen out some cases while advancing others to the next level of decision making

Implicit bias

Unknowingly associating individuals with stereotyped characteristics of a demographic group

Information

Document charging an individual with a specific crime - prepared by prosecuting attorney, presented to a court at a preliminary hearing

Criminal justice “wedding cake”

1. Celebrated cases

2. Serious felonies

3. Lesser felonies

4. Misdemeanours

Investigation

• Step 1 in the criminal justice system

• Police believe a crime has been committed

• Typically depend on a community member to report the offence