Criminal Justice 101 - Exam 2

Frankpledge System

Policing system, medieval Europe that relied on locals to police each other

Policing

refers to controlling deviance, maintaining order, and providing public assistance

Peel Act

established a civilian run police force for the city of London to maintain law and order in society

Slave Patrols

organized group of white people whose primary job was to find and capture runaway enslaved people

Cronyism

system where politicians give government jobs, including police officers, to their political allies.

Professionalized

movement in the early 20th century to make policing a more "serious" career; involved education

War on Drugs

1970s effort to treat illegal drugs primarily as an issue for law enforcement and not as a public health issue.

Community Policing

1980s approach to police/public relations that seeks to break down the barriers between officers and the broader public.

Homeland Security Era

transformation of policing after 9/11/01 attacks. Included a greater emphasis on fighting terrorism and a militarization of local police forces.

Robert Peel

Founded the London Police Force, first full time and paid police force.

1837

First U.S Police Force founded in Boston.

Max Weber

(1864-1920) noted that the state has a monopoly on the legitimate use of force. Law enforcement is an instrument of state power.

Origins of Policing in America

created so the wealthy get labor, meant to serve certain people.

ATF

Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and explosives.

ATF Jurisdiction

Federal Firearm Laws, Federal Explosives Laws, Federal Arson Laws.

De-Escalation

Taking action to attempt to stabilize a situation.

De-Escalation Techniques

1.) Scene Control - situational awareness, threat assessment. 2.) Start Dialogue - body language, active listening.

Reactionary Distance

Distance between ourselves and an aggressor (32ft for officer)

Use of Force Continuum

Rough guidelines that determine how much force an officer should use in dealing with a suspect

Probable Cause

A reasonable ground to suspect that a person has committed or is committing a crime or that a place has evidence.

Fruit of the Poisonous Tree

Evidence gathered because of tainted evidence can't be used in court.

Reasonable Exception of Privacy

Places where individuals have a right to be protected from police searches.

Automobile Exception

Police don't need a warrant to search your car, only probable cause.

Special Needs Searches

Can be conducted without probable cause or a warrant (ex. TSA)

Plain View Doctrine

Principle that officers don't need a warrant to search what's plain view.

Open Fields Doctrine

Principles that officers don't need a warrant to search what's an open field.

Protective Sweep

A search by police to ensure their safety.

Reasonable suspicion

Lower standard of proof than probable cause, requires suspicion based on facts.

Terry Stop

Brief detention where an officer stops and frisks a suspect, requires reasonable suspicion.

Shopkeeper's Privilege

Stores can detain suspected thieves against their will.

Minneapolis Domestic Violence Experiment

A study that investigated the impact of police discretion of domestic violence.

Civil Forfeiture

Allows officers to confiscate property that they suspect was involved in criminal activity (ex. cars)

50s and 60s

Action and hope, racial progress, class inequalities

70s

New drug War

80s

significant backlash against reform and racial progress, drug war gets more serious, mass incarceration begins

2001

police gets more militarized, more surveillance.

Recently

U.S. is critiqued for mass incarceration, disregards excessive force claims.

Use of Force Continuum

LVL1: Officer Presence LVL2: Verbalization LVL3: Empty hand control (grabbing, holding, punching, etc.) LVL4: Non-Lethal Force (Clubs, Taser, Pepper Spray) LVL5: Lethal Force

The 4th Amendment

Protection against unreasonable searches and seizures

Miranda Rights

Protection of your 5th amendment right against self incrimination, also protects against double jeopardy

Police Deviance

Racial profiling, excessive use of force, corruption, the "blue wall of silence"

DWB

Driving while black

FWM

Flying while Muslim

MA number of killings by police

2nd lowest, 0.28 per million

Highest killings by police

New Mexico (13.22 per million)

Blue Wall of Silence

Belief among officers that policing problems are not to be shared with outsiders and any officer who openly discusses police problems is not to be trusted

Dirty Harry Problem

Problem that the public often wants officers to catch people who commit crimes and often approves of illegal means for doing so.

Excessive Force

officers use force when there's no need to or use more force than is necessary.

Net Widening

Officers use force when there's no need to, simply because it's an easy way to subdue a suspect.

Pretexual Stops

Pulling someone over for a minor infraction as an excuse to find out other info or scan for incriminating evidence.

Police Corruption

Abuse of police authority for personal gain.

Mooching

Receiving gratuities sometimes in exchange for favoritism.

Quid Pro Quo (This for That)

Officers explicitly trade favors for goods or services.

Shakedown

Threats from officers to arrest suspects unless they pay a bribe.

Knapp Commission

Investigate body created because of Frank Serpico's revelations regarding corruption in the NYPD.

Grass Eaters

officers who accept bribes when offered on the job but don't actively seek out money or compensation.

Meat Eaters

Officers who engage in police activity primarily for their own profit.

Bad Apples

Theory that only a few deviant police officers cause the rest of American policy to have a bad reputation.

Authoritarian Personalities

Individuals who need the submission of everybody they encounter, and a need to dominate anybody who fails to respect them and their authority.

Flaking

Officers Planting evidence

Padding

Officers adding additional evidence to put suspects in greater legal jeopardy

Civilian Review Boards

Government communities tasked with keeping an eye on police behavior and handling complaints from the public

Qualified Immunity

Officers have a protection from many lawsuits to prevents them from being harassed by a hostile public.

Adversarial Model

The criminal procedure in the Anglo-American system.

Finder of Law

The person at the trial who's officially authorized to determine what the law says (ex. Judge)

Finder of Fact

Person or group that determines the guilt or innocence of a defendant (ex. jury)

Burden of Proof

Criminal defendant is innocent until proven guilty.

Brady Rule

Rule that prosecutors must share exculpatory evidence with defendants.

Exculpatory Evidence

Evidence that tends to show the is not guilty.

Double Jeopardy

Putting someone on trial twice for the same crime which is not allowed in American criminal justice.

Plea Bargain

Prosecutors offer the defendant a chance to plea guilty to a lesser charge in exchange for waiving their right to trial.

Capital Case

Prosecutor seeks the death penalty for the defendant.

Prosecutorial Discretion

Authority that officers have to charge or not charge a person with a crime and to determinate what the precise charges against a defendant will be

Pro Bono (For the common good)

Legal work done for free

Impeachment

Process where public officials are removed from office by congress or state legislators for improper conduct

Judicial Activism

Judges who use their power to promote a political agenda

Juris Doctorate (JD)

law degree

Corruption

Bribes, protection racket, taken stolen/illegal goods, partnering with criminals.

Causes of Police deviance

Authoritarian personality, personal hardships/greed, stress/frustrations/fear, learned from other officers, poor screening/training/lack of accountability

Addressing police deviance

Internal affairs, civilian review boards, federal interventions (DOI), civil lawsuits, national police accountability project(1999), Reform, defund the police movement.

6th Amendment

right to a speedy and public trial, right to a jury and lawyer, right to be informed of charges, right to confront witness.

8th Amendment

Protection against cruel and unusual punishment

Threshold in Criminal Courts

Guilt proven beyond a reasonable doubt

3 Main Figures in the Courtroom

prosecutor, defense, and judge.

Lady Justice

Lady Justice is an allegorical personification of the moral force in judicial systems. Symbol for fair and equal treatment under law.

Voir Dire

Challenge for cause, peremptory challenge

5 Stages of Trial

1.) Opening statements 2.) Prosecutions case (burden of proof) 3.) Defense Case (burden of proof) 4.) Closing Statements 5.) Jury instructions, deliberation, verdict.

Hierarchy of U.S. Law

U.S. Constitution, Federal Laws and Treaties, State Constitutions, State Laws, Local Ordinances.

Nolo Contendere

Plea that states the defendant doesn't accept guilt but still declines to defend themself

Change of Venue

Motion to move the site of the of the trial from one location to another

Suppress

Motion that requests to exclude certain evidence against a defendant before a criminal trial begins.

Discovery

Motion where district attorney (DA) request access to evidence held by the prosecutor that they believe will benefit their client

Bench Trial

trial where the judge is both the finder of law and finder of fact

Challenge for cause

removes a perspective juror because there's a clear reason to believe someone can't be impartial during the trial.

Peremptory Challenge

Elimination of a prospective juror without providing a justification.

Theory of the Case

What both the prosecutor and defense believe really happened in the case.

Cross Examination

examination of a witness for the opposing side during a trial.

Hostile Witness

Witness for the opposition in trial

Circumstantial evidence

requires interpretation by the jury and doesn't immediately point to the guilt or innocence of the defendant.

Probative Value

Evidence that he's prove an important part of the case