(ECO 170 - 09.09.26) Sociological Analysis of Law Enforcement, Justice, and Legal Structures

Vocabulary flashcards identifying major terms, legal codes, theoretical concepts, and historical examples discussed across the lecture chapters.

Principal Function of Law Enforcement

The primary responsibility of police as articulated in legal and governmental structures, which is to enforce and uphold the law.

Courtesy, Professionalism, and Respect

The revised police motto adopted by departments to replace the former motto 'Protect and Serve'.

Notes on Authority

A collection of notes written by Alexander Mikhailovich that outlines four forms of authority: past (parents), present (master), future (leader), and the judge.

Authority of the Judge

A form of authority described by Alexander Mikhailovich that stands outside the temporal framework of past, present, or future.

Code of Hammurabi

One of the earliest written legal codes, famous for establishing physical retribution ('an eye for an eye'), whose majority of laws targeted property distribution and property arrangements rather than violent crime.

Jaywalking Origin

An offense developed alongside automobiles to criminalize pedestrians in the street, derived from 'jay', a slur used to describe individuals who were mentally disabled, unsteady, or unwell.

Law of Value

A core feature of capitalist society where individuals spend time participating in, generating, and ascribing to value that is described by money.

WHO Valuation of Human Life

A calculation cited from the World Health Organization that valued a human life at approximately $250{,}000$.

Civil Asset Forfeiture

A practice by which police seize property, acquiring a total raw value each year that exceeds the value taken in all burglaries combined.

Contras

A guerrilla organization fighting communists in Nicaragua during the Cold War that produced cocaine distributed in American black communities to raise funding outside of an official act of Congress.