Term
|
Definition
| The collectivity of crime control practices, philosophies, and policies used by the police, courts, and corrections to achieve their missions and functions od due process and crime control. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| A series of decision points (the criminal justice structure) and the decision making criminal justice process, which takes place in the government crime control agencies |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| The shifting of discretionary decision making from one agency to another. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| Decision making "by the book" |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| decision making "in action" |
|
|
Term
| Discretionary Decision Making |
|
Definition
| Decision making according to the judgments of criminal justice professionals guided by their education, training, and experience in the field. |
|
|
Term
| Legitimate decision making criteria |
|
Definition
| Criteria that produce legal, fair, and smart decisions. |
|
|
Term
| Discriminatory decision making criteria |
|
Definition
| Criteria that influence decision making to produce illegal, discriminatory, and harmful decisions. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| Crimes that can send conviced offenders to prison for a year or more |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| A model of criminal justice that focuses on the need to protect people and their property. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| The belief that people caught up in criminal justice that are probably guilty. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| A criminal justice model founded on the principle that it is more important to guarantee the rights of individuals to fair procedures than to catch criminals |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| decision making according to formal rules growing out of the Bill of Rights and the due process clauses of the US Constitution and state consitutions. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| Getting the truth by fighting in court according to the formal rules of criminal procedure. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| The burden upon government to justify its use of power even against people who turn out to be guilty. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| A period in the 1960s during which the US Supreme Court extended the interpretation of the Bill of Rights to apply to state as well as federal criminal proceedings |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| People agree on the nature of social harms using social morality to determine rights and wrongs |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| different interest groups define social harm according to who has the power to define the laws and social harms at any given point in time |
|
|
Term
| Uniform Crime Reports (UCR) |
|
Definition
| official statistics of crimes known to the police, collected by the FBI and published annually as Crime in the United States |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| serious crimes, like murder, forcible rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, theft, motor vehicle theft, and arson |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| minor crimes, like vandalism, vagrancy, public drunkenness, gambling, disorderly conduct, and driving under the influence |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| summary of raw numbers of crimes and crime rates |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| the number of crimes reported for every 100,000 people |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| the unknown number of crimes |
|
|
Term
| National Incident Based Reporting System (NIBRS) |
|
Definition
| new system of incident-based reporting that replaced reporting based on summaries |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| the collection of detailed information about individual cases by local law enforcement agencies for each offense |
|
|
Term
| National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS) |
|
Definition
| an annual survey that collects detailed information about violent and property crimes and publishes it in Criminal Victimization in the U.S |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| surveys of special groups in the general population about their delinquent acts |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| observable phenomena that tend to vary with each other systematically |
|
|
Term
| Classical (utilitarian) Theories |
|
Definition
| theories based on free will and reason |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| theories based on determinism or forces beyond individual control |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| forces beyond individual control |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| the idea that crime is whatever the law says it is, and so the focus of social conflict theories is on lawmakers and law enforcers instead of lawbreakers |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
individuals make decisions according to what they believe is in their self-interest
|
|
|
Term
|
Definition
a focus on the influence of the location of targets and movements of offenders and victims in time and space on decision making by criminals
|
|
|
Term
| Social Structure Theories |
|
Definition
| explain the link between individual criminal behavior, social class, and structural conditions like poverty, unemployment, and poor education |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| crime results from the breakdown of social norms |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| American culture defines goals, which the social structure blocks many members of the lower classes from achieving |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| explanations of crime based on the interactions among members of families, peer groups, schools, churches, neighborhoods, and other social institutions |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| individuals learn behavior from others |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| individuals are rule breakers by nature |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| criminal behavior is learned by being labeled a criminal by the criminal justice system |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| conflict is the normal state of society and social control requires active constraint, sometimes in the form of coercion |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| tells private individuals what behavior is a crime and lays down the punishment for it |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| tells government officials the extent and limits of their power to enforce the criminal law, and it sets out the consequences for illegal official actions |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| money for personal injuries awarded by courts |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| defendants have to prove they couldn't have committed the crime because they were somewhere else when the crime was committed |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| defendants admit what they did was wrong but argue that, under the circumstances, they weren't responsible for their actions |
|
|
Term
| Defenses of Justification |
|
Definition
| defendants admit they're responsible for their actions, but argue that, under the circumstances, their actions were justified |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| the right to fair procedures |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| efforts by law enforcement officers to get people to commit crimes |
|
|
Term
| Equal Protection of the Laws |
|
Definition
| criminal laws can only treat groups of people differently if the different treatment is reasonable |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| clause in the U.S. Constitution that bans retroactive criminal laws |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| the result wouldn't have happened if it weren't for the defendant's actions |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
capital felonies are crimes punishable by death or life imprisonment; ordinary felonies are crimes punishable by one year or more in prison
|
|
|
Term
| Irresistable Impulse Test |
|
Definition
| a test of insanity that focuses on whether mental disease affected the defendants' willpower (their capacity to control their actions at the time of the crime) |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| you know you're committing an act or causing a harm, but you're not acting for that purpose |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| asks whether it's fair to blame defendants for the consequences of the chain of events their actions triggered |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| behavior that is criminal only because the law defines it as a crime |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| minor offenses (simple assaults and battery, prostitution, and disorderly conduct) punishable either by fines or up to one year in jail |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| unconsciously creating an unreasonable risk of harm |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| applying criminal law by relying on the least expensive or invasive response to misbehavior |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| (sometimes called specific intent) you did it and/or caused a criminal result on purpose |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| consciously creating a risk of causing a criminal harm |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| an insanity defense focusing on whether a mental disease or defect impaired the defendants' reason so that they couldn't tell the difference between right and wrong |
|
|
Term
| Strict Liability Offenses |
|
Definition
| crimes without criminal intent |
|
|
Term
| Substantial Capacity Test |
|
Definition
| a test of insanity that focuses on whether a mental disease substantially impaired the reason and/or will of the defendants |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| private personal injury actions |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| crimes punishable by a small fine; they don't become part of your criminal history |
|
|
Term
| Void for Vagueness Doctrine |
|
Definition
| states that vague laws deny individuals life, liberty, and property |
|
|
Term
| Community Oriented Policing (COP) |
|
Definition
| a police strategy primarily concerned with establishing a working relationship with the community |
|
|
Term
| Constable/Night Watch System |
|
Definition
| a police system consisting of two elements-constables and night watch-in every local community |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| a police mission in which police are supposed to do something right now to settle problems |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| a system in which police departments are organized with a hierarchical command structure; decisions are made (orders are issued) by the chief at the top and are carried out by officers on the beat |
|
|
Term
| Municipal police Department System |
|
Definition
| a formalized police force responsible to a central office and on duty 24/7 |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| police attempt to prevent crime before it happens by going out looking for suspicious people and behavior |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| officers respond only when called |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| a system in which police are the gatekeepers to the criminal justice system; they focus on the criminal law enforcement mission |
|
|
Term
| CODIS (Combined DNA Index System) |
|
Definition
| a software program that operates databases of DNA profiles from convicted offenders, crime scene evidence from unsolved crimes, and missing persons |
|
|
Term
| Community Policing Strategy |
|
Definition
| a strategy based on the idea that the police can best carry out their missions by helping communities help themselves by getting at the causes of and finding solutions to community problems |
|
|
Term
| Community Oriented Policing (COP) |
|
Definition
| a police strategy primarily concerned with establishing a working relationship with the community |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| police focus on specific types of suspicious people in specific places at specific times to prevent or interrupt crimes and arrest suspects for committing specific crimes |
|
|
Term
| differential response approach |
|
Definition
| an approach that varies police mobilization according to the type of crime |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| crime moves to another location during crackdowns and comes back after the crackdown |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| the building block for each individual's unique genetic makeup |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| detectives conduct an investigation after the preliminary investigation by patrol officers |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| written reports describing what patrol officers found during preliminary investigations |
|
|
Term
| one size fits all approach to crime control |
|
Definition
| law enforcement reacts the same way to all crimes in all places at all times |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| sudden increases in police activity at particular places during hot days and times |
|
|
Term
| preliminary investigation |
|
Definition
| patrol officers collect information at crime scenes and write incident reports describing what they learned |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| officers move through their beats on foot or in vehicles, making themselves visible to control crime and reassure law abiding people that they're safe |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| patrol that gives some locations, like intersections and buildings, special attention at certain times because these areas generate a substantial portion of calls for law enforcement services |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| taking an individual into custody without her consent |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| force that is enough to cause the suspect to fall to the ground but is not deadly |
|
|
Term
| objective standard of reasonable force |
|
Definition
| Fourth Amendment permits officers to use the amount of force necessary to apprehend suspects and bring them under control |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| facts and circumstances that would lead a police officer in the light of his training and experience to believe that a crime has been, is being, or is about to be committed and that the person suspected has committed it |
|
|
Term
| Public Safety Expectation |
|
Definition
| Miranda warnings are not required if giving them could endanger officers or others nearby; also an exception to this exclusionary rule that allows police to seize evidence illegally if it poses a threat to public safety |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| law enforcement decisions based on race or ethnicity |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
facts and circumstances that would lead an officer (in light of her training and experience) to suspect that a crime might be afoot
|
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| courts that do not decide questions of guilt or innocence but that review proceedings from the trial court to make sure it followed the rules of procedure and did not violate the defendant's constitutional rights |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| the professional group of prosecutors, judges, and defense lawyers |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| courts that can decide all felony cases from capital murder to theft and also review the decisions of lower courts |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| when courts only have the power to decide misdemeanors and conduct preliminary proceedings in felony cases |
|
|
Term
| Merit System (Missouri Bar) plan |
|
Definition
| a system in which a commission made up of lawyers, citizens, and an incumbent judge draws up a list of nominees for judicial positions |
|
|
Term
| petition for a writ of certiorari |
|
Definition
| a request of the Court to order a lower court to send up the record of its proceedings for the Supreme Court to review |
|
|
Term
| petition for a writ of habeus corpus |
|
Definition
| a request of the Court to order some official (usually a prison warden or jail supervisor) to come to a trial court and justify a prisoner's imprisonment |
|
|
Term
| prosecutor horizontal case assignment |
|
Definition
| a system in which assistant prosecutors are assigned to manage one stage of the prosecution-drafting criminal charges, working on pretrial motions, negotiating pleas, trying cases, or handling appeals |
|
|
Term
| prosecutor vertical case assignment |
|
Definition
| a system in which assistant prosecutors are assigned to manage all stages of specific defendants' cases from charge at least through trial and often through appeal |
|
|
