Untitled Flashcards Set

Criminal Justice Exam One Study Guide

Terms

• Bill of Rights: First 10 Amendments of the Constitution, many deal with criminal prosecution, put limitation on Congress and the President but not on the states

• Adjudication: Presentation of evidence to a neutral party, clear rules governing admissibility and process, clear standard of proof, there's been a collective judgement by society that this dispute resolution is more legitimate than other kinds (trial by combat, trial by ordeal, more legitimate than going to an oracle or king)

• Social Contract:

  • Thomas Hobbes: State of nature: “solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short”, violence; anarchy; might makes right, authority is vested in a sovereign, monarchy leviathan: “all powerful ruler”, he will protect his subjects from foreign invasion, from each other with his power being derived from God

  • John Locke: 2nd Treatise on Government, State of nature: State of freedom, natural and inalienable rights, life liberty and property, jefferson tweaked it to be life, liberty and pursuit of happiness, popular sovereignty: consent of the governed, not submission, government must be perceived as legitimate

• Rule of Law: “A government of laws, not of men”, limits on government power, no one is above the law, law making is transparent, like cases treated alike (equality before the law), Procedures for dispute Resolution are specified in legal rules (due Process)

• Legal Guilt vs. Factual Guilt:

  • Legal Guilt: Not whether the defendant actually did it, but can the government prove at a high burden of proof assuming all constitutional rights that the defendant is guilty?

  • Factual Guilt: facts proof they are guilty with no doubts

• Due Process Model:assumes that if police and prosecutors can make mistakes then they will make mistakes. If they are effective with bias- then it doesn't claim that all of them are biased - but we know these people exist in the system. They disagree with the purpose of the CJ system. The model is to protect the innocents and protect the rights of the defendants.

• Crime Control Model: a model that says the reason we have a criminal justice system is to control crime, make us safer, prevent people from committing crime, if a crime is committed-quickly and efficiently identify the perpetrator, punish them, and prevent further crime

• Dual Court System: 50 states systems, one federal system, sometimes cooperate with each other, sometimes against each other etc.

• Actus Reus: “guilty act” voluntary act that results in criminal harm, no punishment for involuntary acts, no punishment for thoughts, no punishment for status (ex: vagrant, drug addict)

• Mens Rea: “guilty intent” culpability/blameworthiness: purposeful, knowingly, recklessly, negligence, strict liability offense (no mens rea required): drunk driving, statutory rape (sexual intercourse with a minor), most traffic violations

• Jurisdiction: refers to the range or limits of a court’s power, every court is defined by its jurisdiction: Four types:

  • Personal: largely irrelevant for criminal court processes. 

  • Subject Matter: General vs Limited and specialized courts 

    • Limited: focused on particular types of cases (minor crimes, small claims)

    • General: Enforce the entire criminal code

  • Geographical: geographical place of crime committed matters. If robbed a place in MD, MD has jurisdiction over you, not DE

  • Hierarchical: Original (trial) jurisdiction- where all cases originate, appellate jurisdiction- hear cases after the trial courts. Primarily correct any mistakes that were made at the trial

• Common Law (judge-made law): Cases decided by judges usually by appellate court judges (appeal level judges) and they write opinions that explains why they decided the case they did, those opinions are collected. “Unwritten laws” that become precedent

• Federalists: advocates for a strong national government

• Anti-Federalists: state’s rights advocates

• Legislation/ Statutory Law: laws that are passed- congress gets together, debates, revises, and passes laws.

• Procedural Law: regulates the process of enforcing the criminal law, determined primarily by constitutional law

• Chief Prosecutor (state courts): elected in local election, 4 year terms, represents states in cases

• Courtroom work group: the relationships between judges, prosecutors, and defense attorneys who work together to efficiently process cases, rather than solely focusing on dispensing justice 

• U.S. Attorney: appointed by president, confirmed by senate. One for each of the 93 districts, serve 4 year terms (renewable), typically replaced with new president in office 

• U.S. Attorney General: represents the US in legal matters

• Substantive Law: defines what behavior is criminal and prescribes punishment for its violation, determined by statute

• Stare Decisis/Precedent: “let the decision stand” 

• Writ of Certiorari: supreme court is the only court with the complete power to “decide what to decide” while agenda setting 

• Selective Incorporation: fundamental rights in the Bill of Rights must be observed by the states 

• Total Incorporation: applying all the rules in the bill of rights to the states by interpreting the due process clause of the 14th amendment 

• Strict Liability Offenses: (no mens rea required) drunk driving, statutory rape, most traffic violations

• Chief Justice Earl Warren: revolution in selective incorporation and due process. We came closest to a pure due process system under his tenure

• Judicial Review: the power of a court to declare laws unconstitutional. The power to review whether the actions of the government are in line with the constitution

• Original Jurisdiction: where a case originates 

• Appellate Jurisdiction: hear cases after the trial courts. Primarily correct any mistakes that were made at the trial

• Courts of Limited Jurisdiction: focus on particular types of cases (minor crimes, small claims, etc.) 

• Courts of General Jurisdiction: Enforce the entire criminal code 

• Appellate Courts: 39 states, hear both civil and criminal appeals from the lower courts within their jurisdiction, error correctors, they argue not about evidence, but whether the legal and procedural points of the past trial was done correctly 

• Restitution: monetary damages

• Exclusionary Rule: prevents the government from using most evidence gathered in violation of the US Constitution 

• Trial de Novo: a completely new trial, as if the first trial never occurred 

• Judiciary Act of 1789: a compromise between antifederalists (states right advocates) and federalists ( advocates for a strong national government) establishing the federal court system separate from individual state courts

• Chancery Court (Delaware): focuses on equity and law courts 

• En banc: when all of the judges of a particular court sit on one case- “on bench” 

• Adversary Process: a system in which the accused and the accuser present their arguments in court to be decided by a 3rd party (judge or jurors) 

• Inquisitorial Process: the court actively investigates the facts of a case, rather than relying on the parties to present their cases 

• Executive Orders: a directive by the president (or governor) to take action on a specific subject- bottom of legal hierarchy

Cases

• Robinson v. California (1962)- unconstitutional to criminalize being addicted to drugs because it is status, not an act

• Mapp v. Ohio (1961)- evidence seized in violation of 4th amendment cannot be admitted as evidence in state court 

• Trump v. United States (2024)- granted president's immunity from prosecution for criminal acts committed while in office 

Other Things to Know: 

• Courts as a forum for dispute resolution:

• How the rule of law gives courts legitimacy:

• Policy Making and oversight roles of courts

  • Gap filling: “a legal process that courts use to fill in missing details of a contract

• Structure of the federal courts: 3 tiers- district courts, courts of appeals, and supreme court 

• General structure of state courts

  • Significant variation among state courts:

• Differences:

  • Criminal Law:

  • Civil Law:

• Elements of a crime:

• Defense to criminal accusations:

  • Alibi: “i didn't do it”

  • Justification: “I did it, but i had a good reason” 

    • Self defense- depends what state

  • Excuse: “ i did it, but i couldn't help it/shouldn't be held responsible” 

    • Insanity Defense- used VERY rarely, should be treated for mental illness, not punished for it

    • Immaturity

    • Duress- had to do it or you would have been harmed 

• Compare:

  • Adversarial:two competing interests working against each other to reach a common goal: the truth, in theory justice is done when the most effective adversary is able to convince the judge or jury that their perspective on the case is the correct one, features of the adversary process: 

    • Part presentation of evidence

    • Formal procedural rules

    • Neutral and passive factfinder

  • Inquisitorial:used in most european countries, judge is at the center of the fact-finding process, extensive pretrial investigation “dossier”, investigatory record is the most important evidence at trial