Criminal Justice Mid-Term

What is the difference between Mala in Se and Mala prohibita?

Mala in se: means evil unto itself, and is a behavior that is morally law, and implies that a given behavior would be wrong in any context, even if there was no law against it. Seen as a violation of basic universal social value.values

Mala Prohibita: Mala Prohibita crimes, or statutory crimes, are criminal acts because they are prohibited by law, and they reflect public opinion at that given time.

What is the difference between the Consensus and Conflict Perspective?

Consensus: A perspective that sees laws defining crime as the product of a social agreement or consensus about what criminal behavior is. Criminals are individuals whose behavior expresses values and beliefs at odds with those of mainstream society.

Conflict: A perspective that views the definition of crime as one outcome of a struggle among different groups competing for recourses in society. Believes that laws are influenced and created by those who control political and economic power within society.

What is a sanction and its two types?

Sanctions are prescribed consequences intended to reinforce people’s conformity to norms. They can be either positive or negative, and informal or informal. Informal sanctions could be disapproving glances, and formal sanctions are used in response to criminal behavior in the Criminal justice System.

Explain the Workings of the Criminal Justice System, including the Funnel and Cake model.

The Criminal Justice System cannot take every case to trial, and extensive filtering and compromise occur at all steps of he process to reduce the number of trials.

Criminal Justice Funnel- Process of filtering cases for Trial.

Wedding Cake- Four types of cases based on severity, demonstrating why many do not go to trial

Bottom (4)= the majority of misdemeanor and infraction cases

3: Lesser felonies

2: Serious felonies

1: Popular/ celebrated cases

Factors influence criminal justice professionals’ decisions such as the quality of evidence and recources needed to take a case to trial.

What is Hammurabi’s Code?

The Second earliest known written law, set down by Babylonian king Hammurabi. The basic principle was that violators should suffer punishment equal to their offense.

What are Statues?

Laws enacted by the State legislatures or by Congress.

What are Ordinances?

Laws enacted by local governments such as cities and countries

What is the Model Penal Code?

Suggested code of criminal law drafted by the American Law Institute, used to guide states in modernizing their laws.

What is case law?

Decisions judges have made in previous court cases.

What is Administrative law and regulations?

Administrative Law is the Body of law that concerns the content and use of these regulations. Regulations are rules that carry the force of law created by administrative agencies.

What is international Law?

Consists of rules that operate among nations and the citizens of different nations.

What is Common Law?

Common Law relies on Judges’ interpretations of previous cases. Precedent: Previous court decisions that have binding authority on subsequent cases. It remains the foundation of the legal system of the United States.

What is Civil Law?

Systems of laws used in many countries that do not use the common law system. It is noncriminal law, or law that concerns disputes between individual parties. The Plaintiff is the party who initiates the lawsuit in a civil case. The Defendant is the person against whom criminal charges or a civil lawsuit are filed.

In civil law, what are torts and damages?

Torts: Civil disputes in which one party sues another for the damages that the defendant’s actions have caused. Damages: Payments that a defendant must make to a winning plaintiff to compensate the plaintiff for the injuries or costs that the defendant’s actions have caused.

What is criminal law and Double Jeopardy?

Criminal law is bodies of laws in which people are punished by the government for specific prohibited actions. DOuble Jeopardy: Fifth Amendment right that protects anyone from being tried twice for the same offense. Restitution: Money or services a defendant must provide as reparations to the victim for the cost and inconvenience suffered.

What is the difference between a felony and Misdemeanor?

A felony is a serious criminal offense that brings a potential punishment of a year or more in state or federal prisons. Capital felonies are those that in some states might result in a death sentence.

Misdemeanor: Criminal offense that is punished by fines or a maximum of a year in a county or city jail.

What are wobblers and infractions?

Wobblers are crimes that may be charged as either misdemeanors or felonies. An infraction is a minor violation of a local ordinance or state law that brings a potential punishment of fines.

What is the National Crime Victimization Survey?

Statistical Sampling of households and individuals who have been personally victimized by specific crimes. Includes details about the victims, the crime, and the consequences.

Secondary Victimization- Suffering of the friends and families of the victim

Dark Figure of Crime: Group of unreported and unrecorded crimes as revelaed by crime victim surveys.

Explain the Trauma of victims, and their statistics.

Victims experience economic losses, psychological and emotional trauma, injury, disability, and death. Victims can be victimized due to factors such as gender, health, and age. 60% of violent crime victims are male, and rates of male victimization have declined faster than the female rate.

What is victimology?

The Scientific Study of Victims. Offenders target individuals who display attributes that make them easy prey, and vulnerability factors are human characteristics that can be exploited by criminals.

What is Homicide?

Act of unjustifiably causing the death of anothr human being. Types of homicide are distinguished primarily by the culpability of the offender. It incurs the severest penalties.

What is the difference between the types of murder and manslaughter?

1st Degree: Murder purposely killed his or her victim and planned it ahead of time

2nd: Intentional killing that is not planned

Manslaughter: Killing in which the offender is less blameworthy, and carries a less severe penalty

Voluntary: A killing in which the offender is provoked and loses control, killing his or her victim in the heat of the moment

Involuntary: Killing resulting from the offender’s negligence/ careless actions

Vehicular: Death resulting from careless driving.

Name the three types of murder (mass).

Serial: Killing of three or more people over an extended period of time for personal gratification

Mass: Multiple murders that occur at one place an time

Spree: killing of several victims within a fairly narrow time span.

What is policing?

An officer’s daily activities, however, they have little to do with directly enforcing the law. Police officers are individuals to whom society ahs granted the power to use physical force when they deem it necessary or appropriate.

Discuss the history of Policing until the English model.

Vigilantism: Residents organized to punish people deemed outlaws

Slave patrols: Residents organized to enforce laws meant to control slaves

English Model: The local patrol force had limited authority and a quasi-military organizational structure. Police departments in the U.S. cities developed similary.similarly

Explain the history of policing from the Political to Community policing era.

Political: Police received jobs because of political affiliation and enforced the priorities of the political party in power

Professional: Focus was on enforcing the law, hiring qualified offices, using technology, and improving police training.

Community Policing era: Focus is on crime prevention with the assistance of improved relations with community members.

What is the difference between the Sherriff offices and Police departments?

Sheriffs’ offices: Police counties in rural areas and towns that have no law enforcement services. Sheriffs respond to violations of criminal statutes and to violations of city or county ordinances

Police: Operate in urban areas and perform most law enforcement duties. They respond to violations of state penal codes and local ordinances and provide only temporary housing for arrested persons.

What are the four policing strategies?

Preventive Patrol: Officers’ maintenance of a visible presence in communities to: Serve as a deterrent to a variety of street-level crimes. Focuses on reducing street crime; however, a study shows that the level of patrol did not affect the measured crime levels.

Problem Solving: Conducting specific and detailed research on a community’s problems to discover the underlying dynamics of crime, devising strategies to address the problem, and the Sara Process.

Community-Oriented Policing: Getting community members to address the problems that plague their neighborhoods. Police- community reciprocity: Relies on collaboration between police and community members to solve and prevent crime

Aggressive order maintenance:policy strategy that emphasizes strict enforcement of the law.

What is the Sara process?

1: Scanning/ Identifying problem

2: Analysis/ Causes and influences

3: Response/ creative solutions

4: Assessment of implementation

What is the difference between sworn personnel and nonsworn personnell?

Sworn personnel: Police department employees entrusted with arrest powers, referred to as peace officers

Civilians: Nonsworn personnel, consists of local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies.

Difference between general and Specific Intent?

General: Intention to preform the act itself without intending a further result/consequence

Specific: Intent to preform the act and achieve a result/consequence.

What does the Fourth Amendment protect?

Protects residents from unreasonable searches and seizures. Applies only to actions taken by a government agent. The target of the search or seizure must have a responsible expectation of privacy. Technological advancements make it difficult to determine the scope oft he Fourth Amendment.

What is Reasonableness and Probable Cause?

Reasonableness- The government must obtain a warrant before its agents can conduct a search or seizure. Agents must collect enough evidence to lead a reasonable person to believe there is probable cause that a crime was committed

Probable cause: Amount of evidence necessary to obtain a warrant or conduct most searches are seizures. If a judge determins that probable cause exists, a warrant is issued.

How do felony and Misdemeanor arrests differ when it comes to warrants?

Felony arrests do not require a warrant if there is probable cause

Misdemeanor arrests, with or without a warrant, require probable cause.

What are some exceptions to the Fourth?

Terry Stop or stop-and-frisk: Permitted when Police have reasonable suspicion to believe a person is engaged in criminal activity

Automobile exception: Courts allow searches of motor vehicles based on probable cause, without any warrant.

Search incident to arrest: Warantless search of a person and the area around that person, conducted shortly after the person is arrested.

What is the difference between Federal and State court systems?

What is the Exclusionary rule?

The rule that illegally obtained evidence cannot be used against a criminal defendant at trial. The rule is implemented strictly, and illegally seized evidence is excluded, even if it is the only evidence.

What are the exceptions to the exclusionary rule? (good faith)

Illegally obtained evidence can be used in deportation and civil tax proceedings, and grand jury hearings.

Good faith exception: Applies when police officers act in good faith on a warrant or law that is later declared invalid

What is the derivative evidence rule?

Extension to the exclusionary rule, and any evidence derived from something that is illegally seized is inadmissible

What does the Fifth Amendment state?

No person shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself. Essentially, right to due process. Voluntariness test: Rule that confessions are inadmissible unless obtained voluntarily.

What is Miranda V.S. Arizona

Case-based on other cases in which suspects were taken into custody and interrogated. Suspects were not informed of their constitutional rights, after which they confessed. Miranda Warnings: Ruling given by the supreme court. Police should notify suspects about their constitutional rights before they are questioned in police custody.

What are the Miranda rights?

An individual has the right to:

Remain Silent; anything he or she says may be used in court. Consult lawyer, and have a lawyer present during questioning. If indigent, a lawyer is provided at no cost End Questioning or consult with a lawyer at any time

What are the Limitations and Exceptions to Miranda?

Limitations: Only applies to custodial interrogations, applies only to testimonial evidence, and testimonial evidence are statements made by the suspect.

Exceptions: Public safety exception: allows police to dispense with the warnings if there is an immediate threat to public safety

Suspects ma choose to waive their fifth amendment right.

What is the Sixth amendment?

It affords accused persons constitutional Protection. Messiah vs. the U.S. led to the ruling that any questioning against a formal charge should be made in the presence of a council, and applies only after the police have conducted a fair amount of investigation. All exceptions to the exclusionary rule apply to the 6th.

How is the Use of Force regulated?

No aspect of law enforcement poses a greater potential for the law than the misuse of force. Tennessee vs Garner Reversed the common law authorization to use deadly force against any fleeing felon

Graham vs. Connor led to the court ruling that the reasonableness of a particular use of force incident must be judged from the perspective of a reasonable officer on the scene.

What is Saucier Vs Katz and the Use of force continuum?

Saucier vs. Katz Established qualified immunity, Qualified immunity is when officers, under specific circumstances, cannot be sued for their actions. Use of force continuum: Training aid depicting the appropriate amount of force that is used by a law enforcement officer in particular situations.

What is the Policy for the use of force?

Leader should be completely aware of the use of force culture and attitudes within her or his agency. Agencies should continuously update policy and related training. Updating reflects changes in law, societal expectations, and tactics.

Explain the Classical, Rational, and Neoclassical view’s on criminals.

Classical school: Views the criminal as having free will and freedom of individual choice to deliberately choose a criminal path

"Neoclassical School of criminology: recognizes differences in criminal circumstances and assumes that some people cannot reason, and have clouded judgment.

Rational: Assumes that criminals choose to commit a crime because they believe the benefits outweigh the risks of getting caught.

How does the Positivist school of criminology view crime, and what is Atavism?

Positivist school: Views criminal behavior as a product of biological, psychological, and social forces beyond a person’s control.

Atavism: Views criminals to be evolutionally primitve people characterized by certain inferior identifiable physical and mental traits.

What are some factors that can cause aggressive and delinquent behavior, especially in male teenagers?

Poor impulse control due to a partially developed brain, and hormones such as testosterone are associated with aggressive behavioral tendencies.

Generally, what are some environmental and neurobiological facts that can cause violent behavior? (three)

Brain functioning (by adults) can be affected by disease, injury, or the effects of chemical agents such as alcohol and drugs. Behavior results from interactions between the rational prefrontal cortex and the emotional limbic system.

Trauma to the brain, violence at home, and psychological disorders can cause violent behavior

Criminal behavior tends to run in families, with environmental factors also playing a role. Studies on twins suggest that genetic makeup has a strong influence on criminal behavior.

What is a mental disorder and Psychoses?

Mental Disorder: Medical condition that interferes with a person’s ability to function on a day-to-day basis, and can make certain individuals act in criminal or violent ways.

Psychoses: Serious mental disorders that distance individuals from reality.

What is Schizophrenia and Major Mood disorder?

Schizophrenia: Mental illness in which an individual is split from reality caused due to aberrations in cognitive functioning

Major Mood disorders: Extreme and prolong emotional states that render the individual incapable of coping with the demands of everyday life.

What is Bipolar disorder and postpartum psychosis?

Bipolar Disorder: Serious depression alternating with periods of extreme elation and exaggerated self-importance.

Postpartum psychosis: Mental illness in a woman characterized by hallucinations, delusions, and obsessive thoughts about her baby.

What is Psychopathy and PTSD?

Psychopathy: Personality disorder characterized by a lifelong pattern of antisocial behavior about which the individual has no remorse. Psychopaths are manipulative, superficial, and self centered. Criminal Psychopaths commit more than half the violent crimes in society.

PTSD: Individuals suffering from PTSD commit serious crimes.

What can damage to the prefrontal cortex cause?

It may cause reckless, antisocial, and violent behavior for which they might have no remorse.

What are Psychodynamic factors and their three types?

Psychodynamic actors posits that an individual’s personality and behavior traits develop early in life.

ID: Consists of unconscious drives that demand instant gratification

The ego: Incorporates conscious thoughts that cope with the demands of reality by satisfying the id through bringing the individual pleasure within accepted norms of society

Superego: Constitutes the moral aspect of personality, or conscience.

What are strain factors and Anomie?

Strain theory proposes that extraordinary pressures make a person more likely to commit crime. Sources of strain factors- Individuals, groups, and social institutions. Additionally, inability to achieve life goals, lack of available opportunities, and pressure to be part of a gang.

Anomie: Felling of alienation or a condition that renders a person hopeless, alienated, isolated, and frustrated. Person feels strained and might indulge in criminal behavior.

What is Social control theory?

It focuses on the belief systems that hold people to society’s standards by putting limits on their actions. Small and large communities control the behavior of their citizens in different ways. Deviance is rare in small, and people living in larger communities are not as close with others.

What is the Difference between Federal and State courts?

State courts: A System in which state crimes are prosecuted, including both trial and appellate courts. Appellate courts are courts that hear appeals from trial courts or other lower courts.

Federal courts: System in which federal crimes are prosecuted consisting of: District courts, appellate courts or circuit courts, and the U.S. Supreme Court.

What is the difference between appeals courts and trial courts?

Appeals- Determine whether legal errors were made at trial attorneys file lengthy documents known as appellate briefs, there is no jury in an appeals case, but usually heard by a panel of judges.

What are the components of the CJS?

Law enforcement: Law enforcement officers are expected to resolve many of society’s problems, and entrusted to use force only when necessary. Police responsibilities have moved into educational settings and community based initiatives.

Courts: State and Federal

Corrections: Systematic, organized effort by society to punush offenders, protect the public, and change an offender’s behavior.

Victim Services: Range of recources aimed at reducing the suffering and facilitating the recovery of victims, especially those who participate in the CJ Process.