Introduction to Criminal Justice

Communal Living: Human survival requires living in social groups, where individuals relinquish certain freedoms to maintain social order, security, and safety.
Socialization & Social Control: The internalization of culture occurs through social learning, language, and artifacts.
- Values: Shared standards used to define and rank what is desirable, good, or bad relative to social desirability.
- Beliefs: Statements purposed to describe collective reality that are held as truths, regardless of factual proof.
- Norms & Mores: Norms form the basis of legal rules; mores are strictly enforced norms essential to core values and moral health.
Social Institutions: Organized structures responsible for meeting societal needs. The criminal justice system serves as society's last alternative when primary institutions (family, religion, education) fail.

United States Constitution: Establishes the organizational framework for federal, state, and citizen interactions, distributing power among three branches to create checks and balances:
- Legislative Branch: Holds the power to create laws, approve budgets, and confirm political appointments (e.g., U.S. Congress, South Carolina state legislature, county/city councils).
- Executive Branch: Responsible for executing policies, creating budgets, and enforcing laws (e.g., U.S. President, state governors, mayors).
- Judicial Branch: Adjudicates legal disputes and evaluates the constitutionality of laws (e.g., U.S. Supreme Court, state courts of appeals).

Primary Components: Operates across federal, state, and local jurisdictions (encompassing jurisdiction over person, subject, and issue/judgment sought):
- Law Enforcement: Enforces formal rules and apprehends offenders. Includes approximately $18,000$ police agencies across the U.S.
- Courts: Adjudicates legal controversies and administers justice.
- Prosecutor: Examines cases for merit and prosecutes defendants on behalf of the government.
- Defense: Legal counsel representing and defending the accused.
- Judicial Officers & Juries: Judges manage legal procedure; juries determine guilt. Approximately $97\%$ of criminal cases are resolved without going to trial.
- Corrections: Manages individuals accused or convicted of crimes (jails, prisons, probation, parole). As of $2020$ , over $7\text{ million}$ adults were under correctional supervision, with over $2\text{ million}$ incarcerated.
Jurisdiction: The legal authority to exercise control and hear cases. Original jurisdiction refers to the first court empowered to hear a case (e.g., U.S. Supreme Court handling state boundary disputes in Louisiana v. Mississippi, $516\text{ U.S. } 22$ , $1995$ ).

Packer's Models ( $1968$ ):
- Crime Control Model: A conservative perspective focusing on crime suppression through any legitimate means as the system's primary duty.
- Due Process Model: A liberal perspective emphasizing individual rights protection, procedural fairness, and the presumption of innocence.

Bill of Rights ( $1791$ ): The first $10$ Amendments protecting citizens against government abuse.
- Fourth Amendment: Shields against unreasonable searches and seizures. Requires warrants supported by oath/affirmation with probable cause, explicitly describing the place to be searched and the persons or items to be seized.

Fifth Amendment: Guarantees grand jury indictment for capital crimes; protects against double jeopardy, compulsory self-incrimination, and deprivation of life, liberty, or property without due process.
Sixth Amendment: Ensures a speedy and public trial by an impartial jury, notification of accusations, confrontation of witnesses, compulsory process for defense witnesses, and assistance of counsel.
Eighth Amendment: Prohibits excessive bail, excessive fines, and cruel and unusual punishment.
- Fourteenth Amendment: Extends protections against arbitrary state government actions:
Due Process Clause: "No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law."
Equal Protection Clause: Directs that no state shall deny any person within its jurisdiction equal protection of the laws.

Legal Categories:
- Civil Law: Covers non-criminal matters including torts, contracts, property, maritime, and commercial law.
- Criminal Law: Codified rules declaring specific conduct criminal and prescribing punishments to preserve public order.
Crime Classifications:
- Mala In Se: Acts inherently wrong, evil, or immoral (e.g., murder).
- Mala Prohibitum: Acts wrong solely because prohibited by legislative statutes or codes.
Elements of a Crime:
- Actus Reus: A voluntary, deliberate illegal act or failure to act (omission).
- Mens Rea: A guilty mind or criminal intent.
South Carolina Criminal Statutes:
- Murder (Section $16\text{-}3\text{-}10$ ): The willful killing of a person with malice (extreme disregard for human life without legal excuse).

Manslaughter (Section $16\text{-}3\text{-}50$ ): Unlawful killing without malice, committed during the heat of passion under adequate provocation.
Voluntary Manslaughter (Section $16\text{-}3\text{-}50$ ): Killing resulting from criminal negligence or reckless disregard for safety creating a high risk of death or serious harm.
- Ideal Characteristics of Law:
Politicality: Created through lawful legislative processes.
Specificity: Unambiguous definitions of specific acts.
Regularity: Applies universally to all people regardless of status.
Uniformity: Enforced consistently across all individuals.