AJ 21

Chapter 1: Crime and Justice in the United States

Assignment word: Justice & Myth

Institution of social control

Jurisdiction:

Misdemeanors: A misdemeanor is more serious than an infraction but less serious than a felony charge.

Felonies: A crime punishable by a term of imprisonment of not less than one year or by the death penalty.

Arrest: The seizing and detaining of a person by lawful authority

Booking: The administrative recording of an arrest

Defendant

Initial appearance: A court hearing where a defendant is first brought before a judge after being arrested or charged with a crime. The purpose of the hearing is to inform the defendant of their rights and charges, and to ensure they have adequate legal representation

Summary trial: May take place in case of in the case of a misdemeanor or an ordinance violation

Probable cause

Bail

Preliminary hearing: A court proceeding that determines if there is enough evidence to try a defendant for a crime. It's also known as a probable cause hearing

Grand jury

Information

Arraignment: The first court date in a criminal case; the defendant finds out what they're charged with and what rights they have. They allow the defendant to enter a plea.

Plea bargaining

Bench trial

Probation

Parole: The release of a prisoner temporarily (for a special purpose) or permanently before the completion of a sentence, on the promise of good behavior

System

Doctrine of legal guilt

Myths: Based on emotions rather than what is actually happening

Ex: People believe that cases will be solved in 2 seconds; Some young person will follow their gut & get it right even though he did it behind their backs (based on what shows show)

Due Process Model (liberal): Focus on a fair and just system for all and does not violate constitutional rights. Individual rights and freedoms are more important (such as Miranda Rights, Right to an Attorney, Shutting down private prisons that abuse prisoners). Obstacle course rather than assembly line. Based on the doctrine of legal innocence.

Crime Control (conservative): Focus on efficiency, Most important function is to suppress and control crime (more important than individual freedoms.) Advocates swift & severe punishment. Assembly line style prosecutorial style of charging.

NOTES:

- THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM CONSISTS OF THE POLICE, THE COURTS, AND CORRECTIONS.

- A suspect becomes a defendant after being charged with a crime and appearing in court for arraignment.

- If defendants are not satisfied with the outcome of their trials, they have the right to appeal

Chapter 2: Crimes & Its Consequences

Word: Causation

Norm or social more: any standard or rule regarding what human beings should or should not think, say, or do under given circumstances

Legal definition of crime: An intentional violation of the criminal law or penal code, committed without defense or excuse and penalized by the state

Overcriminalization: The prohibition by the criminal law of some behaviors that arguably should not be prohibited (arises primarily in the so-called area of victimless crimes, and they include: gambling, use of illegal substances)

Nonenforcement: is common for white-collar crimes and government crimes (causes disrespect for the law)

Undercriminalization: Some argue that some very harmful and destructive actions or inactions that are not criminal should be

Harm: is the external consequence required to make an action a crime (for crime to occur, there must be harm, either physical or verbal)

Legality: A harm must be legally forbidden for the behavior to be a crime, and the law must not be retroactive

Ex post facto law: Declares criminal, an act that was not illegal when it was committed. Increases the punishment for a crime after it is committed. Alters the rules of evidence in a particular case after the crime is committed.

Actus reus: Criminal conduct--Specifically, intentional or criminally negligent (reckless) action or inaction that causes harm (Crime involves not only what people do but also things they do not do)

Mens rea: Criminal intent or a guilty state of mind (refers to the mental aspect of crime)

Negligence: is the failure to take reasonable precautions to prevent harm

Duress: threats, violence, constraints, or other action brought to bear on someone to do something against their will or better judgment.

Juvenile delinquency: Special category of offense created for youths who, in most US jurisdictions, are persons between the ages of 7 and 18

Insanity: refers to mental or psychological impairment or retardation as a defense against criminal charge (legal term that rests on the assumption that someone who is insane at the time of a crime lacks the capacity, or has diminished capacity, to form mens rea)

Entrapment: occurs when a person, who was not already predisposed to it, is induced into committing a crime by a law enforcement officer or by his/her agent

Necessity defense: A legal defense against criminal responsibility used when a crime has been committed to prevent a more serious crime

Mala in se: “Wrong in themselves.” A description applied to crimes that are characterized by universality and timelessness (Ex: murder)

Mala prohibita: Offenses that are illegal because laws define them as such. (They lack universality and timelessness; Ex: gambling)

Dark figure of crime: The number of crimes not officially recorded by the police

Crime index: An estimate of crimes committed

Offenses known to the police: (Probably) The best index of crime

Crime rate: A measure of the incidence of crime expressed as the number of crimes per unit of population or some other base (When crime indexes are compared, it is usually by crime rate; Crime rates are used because they are more comparable) (Crime rates can change because of demographic changes or other factors)

Uniform Crime Reports (UCR): A primary resource of crime statistics in the United States. Are a collection of crime statistics and other law enforcement information gathered under a voluntary national program administered by the FBI (includes offenses known to the police & Statistics about persons arrested)

Eight index crimes: Offenses known to the police provide information about eight index crimes or Part 1 offenses.

Status offense: An act that is illegal for a juvenile but would not be a crime if committed by an adult.

Crime index offenses cleared: is a rough index of police performance in solving crimes

National Crime Victimization Surveys (NCVS): are a source of crime statistics based on interviews in which respondents are asked whether they have been victims of any of the FBI’s index offenses (except murder, nonnegligent manslaughter, and arson) or other crimes during the past six months

Self-report crime surveys: Surveys in which subjects are asked whether they have committed crimes

Overcriminalization is mainly a problem when addressing victimless crimes.

A typical social definition of crime is behavior that violates the norms or mores of society.

A typical legal definition of crime is "an intentional violation of the criminal law or penal code, committed without defense or excuse and penalized by the state."

The term actus reus refers to criminal conduct—specifically, intentional or criminally negligent action or inaction that causes harm.

In most American jurisdictions, the upper age limit for juvenile delinquency is 18, and the lower limit is usually 7.

Necessity defense is a legal defense against criminal responsibility used when a crime has been committed to prevent a more serious crime

Entrapment is legal defense against criminal responsibility when a person, who was not already predisposed to it, is induced into committing a crime by a law enforcement officer or by his or her agent

Mens rea refers to criminal intent or a guilty state of mind.

Mala prohibita offenses are illegal because laws define them as such

According to official statistics, about 25-50% of all crimes committed annually are violent crimes.

Arson is a Part 1 offense

A status offense is an act that is illegal for a juvenile but would not be a crime if committed by an adult.

Fear of crime is an intangible cost of crime.

Nonwhites worry more about crime than whites. It is true about the fear of crime.

It is false that; norms or social mores are consistent from group to group within a single society.

Chapter 3: Explaining Crime

Words: Deterrence

Theory: An assumption (or set of assumptions) that attempts to explain why or how things are related to each other. (A theory of crime attempts to explain why or how a certain thing/s is related to criminal behavior.)

Criminological theory: It is the explanation of criminal behavior as well as the behavior of police, attorneys, prosecutors, judges, Correctional personnel, victims, and other actors in the criminal justice system. Most of what is done in criminal justice is based on that. Failure to understand these criminological theories leads to: Problems that may undermine the success of criminal; justice policies & intrusion in people's lives without good reasons

Classical theory: Based on the assumption that people exercise free will and are thus completely responsible for their actions & criminal behavior is motivated by a hedonistic rationality in which actors weigh the potential pleasure of an action against the possible pain associated with it.

Utility: The principle that a policy should provide ‘the greatest happiness shared by the greatest number.”

Social contract: An imaginary agreement to sacrifice the minimum amount of liberty necessary to prevent anarchy and chaos

Special or specific deterrence: The prevention of individuals from committing crime again by punishing them

General deterrence: The attempt to prevention of people in general or society at large from engaging in crime by punishing specific individuals and making examples of them

Neoclassical theory: Conceded that certain factors, such as insanity, might inhibit the exercise of free will. Introduces the idea of premeditation as a measure of the degree of free will. Mitigating circumstances as legitimate grounds for diminished responsibility.

Biological inferiority: Early positivists believed that the cause of crime was biological inferiority

Criminal anthropology: is associated with the work of Cesare Lombroso who published his theory of a physical criminal type in 1876.

Atavist

Limbic system: is a structure surrounding the brain stem that is believed to moderate expressions of violence, such as, anger, rage, fear, and sexual response (it controls the life functions of heartbeat, breathing, and sleep)

Psychopaths, sociopaths, or antisocial personalities: Persons characterized by no sense of guilt, no subjective conscience, and no sense of right and wrong. They have difficulty in forming relationships with other people, they cannot empathize with other people.

Anomie (Durkheim): Durkheim argued that crime is also a social fact. The cause of crime is anomie: The dissociation of the individual from the collective conscience or general collective conscience, or the general sense of morality of the times.

Social disorganization: The usual controls over delinquents are largely absent. Delinquent behavior is often approved of by parents and neighbors. There are many opportunities for delinquent behavior. There is little encouragement, training, or opportunity for legitimate employment.

Anomie (Merton and Cohen)

Imitation or modeling

Differential association

Learning theory

Positive reinforcement

Negative reinforcement

Extinction

Punishment

Social control theory

Labeling theory: A theory that emphasizes the Criminalization process as the cause of some crime

Criminalization process: The way people and actions are defined as criminal

Conflict theory

Power differentials

Relative powerlessness

Notes:

The modification of classical theory that admits that some factors may inhibit the exercise of free will is known as neoclassical theory

Which of the following best captures classical criminologists' concept of "utility"?

"The greatest happiness shared by the greatest number."

Which of the following theories assumes that crime is committed by people with free will who are motivated by a hedonistic rationality?

classical theory

According to Cesare Beccaria, the basis of society, as well as the origin of punishments and the right to punish, is

the social contract.

Cesare Lombroso argued that criminals are, by birth, a distinct type, and that this type can be recognized by physical characteristics or stigmata such as enormous jaws, high cheekbones, insensitivity to pain, etc.

Which of the following theorists is associated with body-type theory?

William Sheldon

According to body-type theory, an athletically built individual would be classified as a(n) mesomorph

Psychoanalytic theories of crime causation are associated with Sigmund Freud

From whose theory can it be inferred that crime may be a means by which individuals satisfy their basic human needs?

Abraham Maslow

For Émile Durkheim, the cause of crime is the dissociation of the individual from the collective conscience

According to Robert Merton's anomie theory, which of the following statements is true of ritualists?

They take no chances.

The research of the Chicago School was based on a model taken from

ecology

Which of the following is one of the characteristics of social disorganization?

There is an absence of gangs and gang-related delinquency.

According to Robert K. Merton, conformers pursue the cultural goal of wealth only through legitimate institutional means.

According to Robert K. Merton, innovators pursue the cultural goal of wealth through illegitimate means.

According to Albert K. Cohen, what is the cause of anomie experienced by juveniles?

the inability to achieve status among peers by socially acceptable means

Edwin H. Sutherland's differential association theory states that persons become criminal because of contacts with criminal definitions and isolation from noncriminal definitions.

According to learning theorists, positive reinforcement involves the presentation of a stimulus that increases or maintains a response.

Extinction is a process in which the rewards for a behavior are removed.

According to social control theory, people will commit crime unless they are prevented from doing so.

Which of the following is the focus of labeling theory?

the way people and actions are defined as criminal

Reintegrative shaming is a policy implication for which theory?

labeling theory

Which of the following statements reflects a feature of conflict theory?

It is reformist in its policy implications.

A theory of crime attempts to explain why or how a certain thing or things are related to criminal behavior.

True

Specific deterrence is the use of the punishment of specific individuals to prevent people in general or society at large from engaging in crime.

False

Chapter 4: The Rule of Law (pgs: 95-134)

Right & Miranda

Criminal law: A crime is a violation of the criminal law, or the penal code

Penal code: Criminal law

Tort: A violation of the civil law

Civil law: Includes: The Law of contracts and property; Subjects such as administrative law and the regulation of public utilities

Substantive law: Body of law that defines criminal offenses and their penalties.

Procedural law: The body of law that governs the ways in which the substantive law are to be administered (Sometimes called adjective or remedial law; Concerned with due process of law, or the rights of people suspected of or charmed with crimes)

Due process of law: The rights of people suspected of or charmed with crimes

Politicality: Violations of rules made by the state

Specificity: Providing strict definitions of specific acts

Regularity: Applied to all persons regardless of social status

Uniformity: Enforced against any violators regardless of social status

Penal sanction: And subject to punishment or threatened punishment by the state.

Precedent: A decision that forms a potential basis for deciding the outcomes of similar cases in the future

Stare decisis: is the principle of using precedents to guide future decisions in court cases

Searches: Exploration or inspections, by law enforcement officers, of homes, premises, vehicles, or persons, for the purpose of discovering evidence of crimes or persons who are accused of crimes.

Seizures: The taking of persons or property into custody in response to violations of the criminal law.

Warrant: A written order from a court directing law enforcement officers to conduct a search or to arrest a person

Arrest: The seizure of a person or the taking of a person into custody

Contraband: An illegal substance or subject

Mere suspicion: is the standard of proof with the least certainty. (A gut feeling)

Reasonable suspicion: is a standard of proof that is more than a gut feeling (has a greater degree of certainty/it includes the ability to articulate reasons for the suspicion)

Frisking: Conducting a search for weapons by patting the outside of a suspect’s clothing, feeling for hard objects that might be weapons

Probable cause: The amount of proof necessary for a reasonably intelligent person to believe that a crime has been committed or that items connected with criminal activity can be found in a particular place.

Preponderance of evidence: Evidence that outweighs the opposing evidence, or sufficient evidence to overcome doubt or speculation

Clear and convincing evidence: Evidence indicating that the thing to be proved is highly probable or reasonably certain

Beyond a reasonable doubt: The standard of proof necessary to find a defendant guilty in a criminal trial

Proof evident, presumption great: The standard of proof required for a judicial officer to deny bail in cases involving capital felonies

Exclusionary rule: Illegally seized evidence must be excluded from trials in federal courts and state courts

Double jeopardy: The trying of a defendant a second time for the same offense when jeopardy attaches in the first trail and a mistrial was no declared

Self-incrimination: Being a witness against oneself

Confession: An admission by a person accused of a crime that he or she committed the offense charged

Doctrine of fundamental fairness: Rule that makes confessions inadmissible in criminal trials if they were obtained by means of either psychological manipulation or “third-degree” methods

Venue: Is the place of the trial

Subpoena: A written order issued by a court that requires a person to appear at a certain time and place to give testimony

Exoneration: refers to cases in which a person was wrongly convicted of a crime and later cleared of all the charges based on new evidence of innocence

________ is a formal means of social control that involves the use of rules that are interpreted, and are enforceable, by the courts of a political community.

Criminal Law

A crime is a violation of the ________ of a political jurisdiction.

Penal Code

Which of the following refers to the scope of criminal law?

Specificity

Which of the following refers to the way in which criminal law should be enforced?

Uniformity

In common law, the decision in a particular case becomes a potential basis, or ________, for deciding the outcomes of similar cases in the future.

Precedent

The principle of using precedents to guide future decisions in court cases is called ________.

Stare decisis

Which of the following Amendments extends the procedural safeguards of the Bill of Rights to people charged with state crimes?

Fourteenth

The ________ protects American citizens from "unreasonable searches and seizures."

Fourth Amendment

The ________ guarantees the right to a speedy and public trial.

Sixth Amendment

The ________ states that excessive bail shall not be required.

Eight Amendment

Which of the following standards of proof is more than a gut feeling and legally permits a law enforcement officer to stop and frisk a suspect?

Reasonable suspicion

The standard of proof necessary to find a defendant guilty in a criminal trial is

Beyond a reasonable doubt

In which of the following cases was the exclusionary rule created?

Weeks v. United States

In Weems v. United States (1910), the Court ruled on the issue of cruel and unusual punishment, as discussed in which constitutional amendment?

8th Amendment

What is the most important factor contributing to wrongful convictions?

Eyewitness misidentification

A tort is a violation of criminal law.

False

For legal purposes, a particular act may be considered either a tort or a crime or both, depending on how it is handled.

True

The Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution provides a general constitutional right to privacy to every American citizen.

False

Substantive law governs the ways in which procedural laws are to be administered.

False

E-mail has the same privacy protections as regular mail.

False

The Supreme Court has held that the police cannot attach a GPS (global-positioning system) device to the bumper of a suspect's automobile to track his or her movements for nearly a month without a valid warrant.

True

A person is generally protected from searches and seizures without a warrant in all places where he or she has a legitimate right to be.

False

According to the Supreme Court, law enforcement agents must first obtain a search warrant before using high-tech devices to gather information from inside a home.

True

The most important procedural safeguard in the Fifth Amendment is the protection against unreasonable search and seizure.

False

An indigent criminal defendant has a right to state-furnished counsel even if there is no possibility of incarceration.

False

A warrant is a written order issued by a court that requires a person to appear at a certain time and place to give testimony.

False

The Sixth Amendment has been interpreted to mean that defendants have the right to represent themselves.

True

Identify the right provided by the respective amendment.

4th amendment:

Protects people against unreasonable searches and seizures

5th Amendment

gives the right to grand jury indictment and protects against double jeopardy and compelled self-incrimination.

6th Amendment

Right to counsel

8th Amendment

Protects against excessive bail, excessive fines, and cruel and unusual punishments

14th Amendment

Protects against any state depriving any person of life, liberty, or property without due process of law.