criminal justice ch. 1-3

three components of agencies in criminal justice system:

law enforcement, courts (prosecutor-gathers info. against you and gives it to judge, court passes punishment), corrects

unconstitutional as applied

law may be valid but is applied in an unconstitutional way

common law

law that are based on customs and general principals and that may be used as precedent or for matters not addressed by statue. based on judiciaries past decisions.

substantive criminal law

law that describes which behaviors have been defined as criminal offenses- usually says what the parameters on the punishment of each offense are. defines crime and penalties.

procedural law

law that specifies how the criminal justice system is allowed to deal with those who break the law or are accused of breaking the law. based on constitutional rights; protects from arbitrary decision making of criminal justice profession. decides rules of arrest, each and seizure, rights to attorneys, and attorney-client privilege. how is the law enforced, what rights do you have? (bill of rights), rules designed to implement substantive law.

what is the third tier of the cake?

less serious felonies: burglary, etc. unusually don't go to jail, plea bargains

where do you go if a sentence is less than a year?

local jail

uses for executive orders

make policy in security classification, governance of civil servants etc, direct legislation, delegate authority to other agencies, reorganize agencies, eliminate agencies, create new agencies, control the military, manage foreign policy

victim precipitation

a situation in which a crime victim plays an active role in initiating a crime or escalating it

criminal justice

a social institution that has the mission of controlling crime by detecting, detaining, adjudicating, and punishing and/or rehabilitating people who break the law

what are the 4 parts of the corpus delicti?

actus reus, mens rea, concurrence, attendant circumstances, result (criminal harm)

attendant circumstances

additional conditions that define a given criminal offense. usually present in cases only composed of actus reus. ex: speeding-excessive rate of speed= attendant circumstance and mens Rea is not required for driver to be sanctioned

type II crimes

all other offenses not listed in the UCR (white collar, digital) things the police usually don't know about unless they find you on the street. low arrest stats. no white collar/corporate, no cyber crime and drugs

irresistible impulse rule

although defendant understands that act is wrong, defendant has an irresistible impulse due to mental disease that makes person incapable of stopping said act. I know it's wrong but I can't stop my self

victim impact statement

an account given by the victim, victim's family, or others affected by the offense that expresses the effects of the offense, including economic loss, the extent of physical or psychological injuries, and major life changes. given tot he judge before sentencing hearing and may be read by victim during sentencing hearing. is supposed to help victims address offender directly to deal with loss and give a sense of participation/closure in the process. came into existence w/h victim's rights and restitution act (1990) who's goal was to include victims in criminal justice process b/c they're often left out b/c the state prosecutes criminal offense in the name of society

uniform crime report

an annual publication by the FBI that uses data from all participating law enforcement agencies in the U.S. to summarize the incidence and rate of reported crime (4 violent crimes, 4 property crimes). always about a year and a half behind on reporting data. summary data. not mandatory but everybody reports to it.

tort law

an area of the law that deals with civil acts that use harm and injury, including libel, slander, assault, trespassing and negligence. part of civil law.

inchoate offenses

an offense composed of acts necessary to commit another offense. idea is that the offender doesn't have to be successful in completing the crime before the criminal justice system can respond. arrest people for planning crimes b4 they happen

habeas corpus

an order to have a prisoner/detainee brought before the court to determine if it is legal to hold the prisoner/detainee

Victimless crimes

behaviors that are deemed undesirable b/c they offend community standard rather than directly harm people or property ex: gambling, liquor law violations (this is otherwise known as public order crimes)

burglary

breaking and entering with intent o theft or felony (street crime vocab)

what classifies as property crime?

burglary (breaking and entering to commit a felony), larceny theft (stealing), motor vehicle theft (only applies to things designed to go on roads, arson

what property crimes to the UCR report on?

burglary, larceny-theft (of anything), motor vehicle theft (only things designed to be drive on roads), arson

types of insanity defenses:

durham rule, M'Naghten rule, and model penal code test, irresistible impulse test

social control

consists of the rules, habits, and customs a society uses to enforce conformity to its norms

what are the sources of criminal law?

constitutions, statues, case law, administrative rules: rules developed by federal, state, and local agencies to oversee aspects of commerce and public protection, executive orders

substantial capacity test ALSO KNOWN AS model penal code test (or ALI)

created by American law institute (Ali) in 1972. called "substantial capacity test" attempts to determine wether the defendant as result of mental disease lacks the substantial capacity to appreciate the criminality of his/her conduct or to conform conduct to the requirements of the law (basically doesn't know right from wrong and accounts for impulse control) combines irresistible impulse and M'Naghten rule -lack the capacity to appreciate wrongfulness or unable to conform behavior to the law

mala in se

crimes that are inherently evil

hate crime

crimes that manifest evidence of prejudice based on race (biggest category), religion, sexual orientation (second biggest category), ethnicity. changed in '94 to include disabled (smallest category) and in '09 to include gender

type I crimes

crimes the UCR reports on

wedding cake model

criminal justice model that shows that the smallest category of criminal acts that occur (murder, race cases, anything with celebrities) receives the most media attention and shapes a lot of what people perceive crime to be. ;your rights decrease as you go down.

conditions for consent to take place

have to be competent and informed (understand consequences of consenting) in consent c ases strict liability can come up (you did it but no mens reas ex: statutory rape or corruption of a minor in which it is an inappropriate relationship so there is not consent needed

infancy

in legal terminology, the state of a child who has not yet reached a specific age; almost all states end this at 18. if under 7 years old cannot be responsible for understanding gravity of guilty behavior.

infraction

in most jurisdictions, a minor civil offense that is not serious enough to warrant curtailing an offender's freedom. rarely any jury or legal rep. decided on a bench trial. ex: traffic law

rule of law

in the context of criminal justice, the government cannot punish any individual without strict adherence to clear, fair, and defined rules, laws, and procedures

how is the U.S. criminal justice system unique?

individual rights are protected as part of law enforcement. The system is balanced between imposing order and preserving individual rights.

violation/infraction

offense less serious than a misdemeanor, sometimes called a minor misdemeanor, local

felony

offense punishable by more than a year in state or fed. prison and sometimes death

coperate crime

offenses committed by a coloration's officers who pursue illegal activity in the corporation's name ex: criminal negligence results in oil spill

indirect/co-victims

other people affected by crimes. have to deal with anger/violence inflicted on loved one, stigma (ex: family can be blamed for not stopping murder of loved one), media, justice system if they have to witnesses/subjects and are still grieving, isolation if they feel like no one can understand their loss

problems with the UCR

people don't always report crimes, police may be biased/selective in reporting crimes (may over report something to get more funding), not all agencies report correctly and each agencies definition of crime/reporting procedure is different only reported offenses, crime control strategies: depends on where the police are patrolling for what crime gets reported, police conduct: are they following instructions? crime rate doesn't figure in visitors to a place. side note: the south and the west is where we have the most violent crime-new England and central planes is the lowest violent crime.

why does street crime receive more attention than corporate and white-collar crime?

people remove afraid of street crime because it is sometimes violent. it also gets more media attention and is easier for the public to understand. corporate and white-collar offenses may take years to perpetrate and investigate, whereas most street crime happens relatively quickly.

formal social control

police, criminal justice system

terrorism

political violence. the use of a threat of violence against a state or other political entity in order to coerce

discretion

power of criminal justice official to make decisions on issues within legal guidelines. make decisions on individual cases. introduces personal bias and allows for sentencing to not be exactly the same across jurisdictions. why we have mandatory minimum statues (laws that require judges to sentence offenders to a specified minimum prison term for a specific crime) and 3 strike laws (increases the prison sentence of a person convicted of a felony who has been previously convicted of 2 or more violent crimes or serious felonies) to try to limit it.

what are the two types of proof of evidence?

preponderance of the evidence and beyond a reasonable doubt

where do you go if a sentence is more than a year?

prison

robbery

taking of valued items from custody of person by force/violence (street crime vocab)

crime rate

the # of crime index offenses divided by the population of an area, usually given as a rate of crimes per 100,000 people

stare decisis

the doctrine under which courts adhere to legal precedent; similar cases treated in a similar way, earlier cases that decide later similar ones. once a decision is made by a court its stands for other courts in the area.

social imagination

the idea that we must look beyond the obvious to evaluate how our social location influences how we perceive society

criminal law

the law specifying the prosecution by the government of a person or people for an act hat that been classified as a criminal offense. between a defendant and the government

civil law

the law that governs private rights as opposed to the law that governs criminal issues. between 2 people. private attorneys. court sentencing is concerned with monetary damages not jail. ex: contracts, personal property, commercial law. law that is not criminal law. ex: regulating commerce, disagreements.

serial murder

the murder of a series of victims over a period of time at separate events

jurisdiction

the official power to make legal decisions and judgement (each places have different _________)

case law

the published decisions of courts that create new interpretations of the law and can be cited as precedent. run into problems when crossing jurisdictions but it pretty much holds up. operates under stare decisis.

probation

the suspension of all or part of a sentence subject to certain conditions and supervision in a community

statutory law

the type of law that is enacted by legislatures

motivations 4 violent crime

1. interpersonal disputes: ex: money disagreement, charge of infidelity 2. instrumental violence: violence as means to another criminal end ex: drug dealer kill competitor 3. group violence: ex: gang clash

Magna Carta

"great charter"; a guarantee of liberties signed by king John of England in 1215 that influenced many modern legal and constitutional principals. limited kings power, provided rights for citizens. 1st time king was subject to the same law as his ppl.

actus reus

"guilty deed" physical action of criminal offense can occasionally be prosecuted for negligent acts ex: DUI prosecuted as murder occasionally can be prosecuted a s failure to act when he law requires you to ex: don't call an eat when son collapses

mens rea

"guilty mind"; intent or knowledge to break the law. the mental element of a crime.

preponderance of evidence

(for civil trial) the burden of proof in a civil trial, which requires that more than 50% of the evidence be in the plaintiff's favor

beyond a reasonable doubt

(for criminal trail) the highest level of proof required to win a case; necessary in criminal cases to produce a guilty verdict

durham rule

(only used in New Hampshire) durham v. United States (1954): monte durham convicted of breaking into a house in a atrial without a jury.his defense was that he was of unsound mind when he did it. durham had spent years in prisons/mental institutions. at 17 discharged form navy because he had personality disorder. in 1953 he was subjected to "sub shock insulin therapy" after he broke into the house until he was deemed "mentally competent" but he hospital to stand trial. D.C. court of appeals reversed decision and remanded the case for a new trail. court wrote that "an accused is not criminally responsible if his unlawful act was the product of mental disease/defect" does not require medical diagnosis of mental disease or disorder. most courts reject this b/c it is too broad.

what are the three kinds of inchoate offenses

1. attempt (individual tries to break the law) 2. conspiracy (2 people break the law) 3. solicitation (one person encourages another to break the law)

reasons why people very rarely make it all the way to the bottom of the criminal justice funnel (that's to prison/parole)

1. cost (don't have enough $$ to up law enforcement 2. discretion 3. errors (cases fall through cracks, workers over worked, low resources

self defense conditions

1. defendant believes that physical force is necessary for protection 2. physical force belief has to be on reasonable grounds 3. defendant has to think force used is necessary to avoid imminent danger or death 4. force used cannot be in excess of what is necessary to repel danger castle defense: if you're in your own house and someone is threatening you, you don't have to use the escape clause, you can fight back castle defense goes with "stand your ground"- in Florida-no need to attempt escape if out in the streets. armed individuals who believe they are in imminent danger can use deadly force. ex: Trayvon Martin. Zimmerman was a neighborhood watch volunteer. similar to castle doctrine because of deadly force.

what are the obstacles to measuring crime effectively?

1. definition: laws are written by legislatures and interpreted by police officers. what is clear cut in defining a crime to one may not be for the other. 2. resources: not enough personnel/$$ to track crime 3. politics: public officials might not want crime reported so they can make their areas seem safer

my client is guilty but has an excuse:

1. duress 2. age: kids under 7 can't have criminal intent but for kids between 7-14 presumption can be challenged 3. mistake: don't know facts ex: you buy a car but it was actually a car the seller stole unknown to you 4. intoxication: usually doesn't work because you chose to get drunk

what determines if a behavior is criminal:

1. enforceability of the law ex: prohibition could not be enforced 2. effects of the law ex: because of prohibition more organized crime arose to bring it in among ppl. who were usually law abiding citizens 3. the existence of other means to protect society against undesirable behavior ex: instead of war on drug laws it may be better to use psychological treatment

reasons why people see the criminal justice system as ineffectual:

1. has multiple levels of government (local and federal) and the lines between them aren't clean for how has the primary responsibility for each case 2. lots of institutions with different goals involved in the system (the difference between goals of law enforcement vs. judicial vs. corrections) 3. some pieces of system work against each other ex: law enforcement arrests ppl. and then lawyers defend the arrestees.

arguments employed in defense against criminal indictment:

1. my client did not do it 2. my client did it, but my client is not responsible because he or she is insane 3. my client did it but has a good excuse 4. my client did it but has a good reason 5. my client did it but should be acquitted because the police or prosecutor cheated 6. my client did it but was influenced by outside forces cannot claim ignorance of the law as a defense or intoxication because it is voluntary (and also everybody drinks but they aren't all committing crimes)

reasons why it's hard for agencies to work together:

1. no formal plan or routine for situations across agencies 2. no independent authority to train personal in interagency cooperation 3. individual agencies have different policies and operations 4. personnel policies focus on making people loyal to THEIR agency not all of them

to classify as a hate crime victim must report 1/3

1. offenders hate lang. 2. offender used hate symbols 3. police confirmed it was a hate crime

4 issues that guide precedent

1. predictability: consistent with reasoning of previous cases 2. reliability: participants expect the court to follow ______ and consider previous cases even if they don't follow through with it 3. efficiency: participants expect cases to be solved in a reasonable amount of time 4. equality: similar cases expected to be treated in similar fashion

my client did it but has a good reason:

1. self defense 2. consent: used in rape cases, cannot consent under duress/intoxication 3. necessity: harm that would have resulted form compliance with the law would have exceeded that form its violation. ex: you break into a cabin out of necessity for warmth during a mountain snowstorm while camping technically entrapment can be included in these also

my client did it but prosecutor/police cheated

1. statue of limitations 2. entrapment 3. double jeopardy 4. police fraud or prosecutor misconduct: withholding evidence, making false statements, putting up false evidence law enforces failing to follow procedural law, engaging in fraud, threatening defendants discriminatory

victim bill of rights

1. the right to be informed (release date, parole hearings 2. the right to be heard 3. the right to restitution (return of lost items) 4. right to protection (restraining order) 5. right to victim assistance programs

6 attributes we associate with innocent victims:

1. the victim is weak in relation to the offender. "ideal victim" = old, young, weak, sick, female 2. acting virtuously, or going about everyday business 3. blameless 4. victim is stranger to the offender (also implies that offender is person, not cooperation and that this is a single incident offense) 5. offender= big/bad 6. victim has right combo of power, influence, or sympathy to not be threatening

Hons von Hentig's typology of victims:

1. the young: susceptible b/c immaturity, vulnerability, at mercy of adult care takers. lack strength/maturity to fight off assault or know when they are being sexually exploited 2. females: low physical strength 3. elderly: low strength, low alertness (at risk for being scammed( 4. mentally ill 5. immigrants: might not know English, taken advantage of and illegal immigrants can be talked into stuff because of threat of deportation 6. minorities 7. dull normals: normal people who are naive and can't detect deception 8. depressed: not vigilant/on guard 9. acquisitive: greedy people who could be targets for scammers who take advantage of their desire for financial gain 10. lonely/heartbroken: intimate partners= perpetrators, will do anything to be with someone 11. tormentors: primary abusers in relationships become victims when abused turn on them 12. blocked, exempted, fighting victims: taken advantage but its their fault ex: getting blackmailed 4 criminal activity u r doing and not being able to report it focus: biological, sociological, psychological factors

types of hate crime offenders

1. thrill seekers (largest category) 2. defensive: committed in response to perceived outsiders in neighborhoods 3. retaliatory: retaliate against real or perceived ________ 4. mission: commitment to bigotry(smallest category)

classes of crime

1. violent crime: homicide, rape, sexual assault (most severely punished) 2. property crime: burglary arson 3. public order crime: drug use, disturbing the peace, prostitution

M'Naghten rule

1843 Daniel M'Naghten was charged with murder after he shot/killed Edward Drummond, assistant to prime minister of G.B. Robert peele. M'Naghten thought he was being persecuted by peele and tried to kill him him but accidentally got Drummond. jury found him not guilty because he was incapable of determining right from wrong at time of the incident. house of lords wrote that the jury should acquit the defendant if the defendant can't understand the nature and quality of the act he was committing. can't tell right from wrong. this became foundation for insanity defense.

premenstrual syndrome defense

1982 Shirley Santos arrested for beating her baby and putting it in hospital. said she had PMS and blacked out so she couldn't form intent to harm. found her guilty of harassment, but pretty much got off but didn't get her kid back.

penal code

a code of laws that deals with crimes and the punishments for them (statues are published in this while common law derives from precedent

national incident-based reporting system

a crime-reporting system in which each separate offense in a crime is described, including data describing the offense's, victims, and property (better than UCR but less states have it b/c it does not have hierarchy rule, accounts for white collar crime, and has more categories (46 group A, 11 group B, and then all other offenses) so it requires more money/personnel to record). asks for individual data and has more crimes; also records ALL the crimes in an offense so no hierarchical rule. it isn't manditory but it's heavily pushed; 25% of police departments are doing git.

affirmative defense

a defense in which the defendant must provide evidence that excuses the legal consequences of an act that the defendant has been proven to have committed (my client did not do it)

insanity defense

a defense that attempts to give physical or psychological reason that a defendant cannot comprehend his or her criminal actions, their harms, or their punishments legal definition, NOT medical. just being mentally ill won't cut it.

alibi

a defense that involves the defendant claiming not to have been at the scene of a criminal offense when it was committed (my client did not do it)

misdemeanor

a minor criminal offense punishable by fine or jail time up to a year

white collar crime

a nonviolent criminal offense committed during the course of business 4 financial gain, hard to investigate takes a while to prosecute

victim

a person that has suffered direct physical, emotional, or pecuniary harm as a result of the commission of a crime

precedent

a prior legal decision used as a basis for deciding a later, similar case

the Twinkie defense

a random defense that worked. SF supervisor dan white recently laid off and broke into SF city hall. killed Harvey milk and mayor Moscone in 1978. had spent entire weekend in building so he only lived off twinkles and coke. said he had diminished capacity for mens Rea because he was in sugar shock. sugar used as evidence of his depression which was evidence of his depression which gave him no mens rea.

national crime victimization survey

a survey that is the primary source of info. on criminal victimization in the U.S. and attempts to measure the extent of crime by interviewing crime victims. run annually by U.S. census bureau, goal is not to get a complete picture of crime instead wants to focus on samples of the public and specific types of crime. Does not cover murder, victims under 12, or consensual crime (drug deals, prostitution) done twice a year. how we find out about unreported crime. more than twice as much crime picked up than the UCR.

dark figures of crime

a term describing crime that is unreported and never quantified

what are the ways that people avoid counting crimes?

assigning new codes to serious offenses so that they're recorded as less serious, recording stuff later so it doesn't count for that year's crime stats, charging suspects with less serious offenses, recategorizing cases

things that go against the constitution

can't criminalize a person's status, bill of attainer (where a prince/king would demand someone get locked up just cuz) now you can't be punished without a trial, ex post facto laws (charge things that happened/existed before enactment of the law)

what is the top layer of the cake?

celebrates cases, murders, race cases, have trials

role of courts:

charging > preliminary hearing > arraignment > plea bargaining > adjudication > sentencing

perpetrator

commits criminal offense

duress

commits offense out of fear of bodily injury. does not apply to moral agendas.

guilty but mentally ill

defendant is guilty of the crime but unable to control behavior. judge can sentence defendant to any sentence specified by the law but has to address 3 criteria in imposing sentence: protecting society, holding offenders accountable for their offenses, and making the treatment available to those with mental illness. basically a step down from M'Naghten rule because offender doesn't have both lack of appreciation for wrongness of actions and lack of understanding of consequences they usually just have 1

index crimes

developed in 1927. police departments report to FBI who categorize data by region then send them out in press releases. only most important is listed (hierarchical rule).

my client did it but was influenced by outside forces

ex: Twinkie defense: 1973 dan white (San Fran city supervisor) broke into city hall ad killed mayor George Moscone and supervisor Harvey milk. turned himself in to place and claimed in trail that he had severe depression and that he had a lot of junk food during his depression and that this change in behavior was a symptom of depression (sugar rush). worked and only got less than 8 years in prison.

reasons people don't report crimes

family member committed offense, victim may think offense is trivial, victim might not even realize they are a victim, victim may also have broken the law, victim may be embarrassed about that happened, victim may not think the police can help, victim may fear retaliation from perpetrator if they report, victim might not trust police, victim reported to someone else (ex: school official), fear of getting offender in trouble HALF OF CRIMES ARE NOT REPORTED

role of corrections

fines and probation and/or incarceration, re-entry

bill of rights

first 10 amendments to the U.S. constitution, which guarantees fundamental rights and privileges to citizens

Benjamin Mendelsohn's typology of victims:

focus: situational 1. innocent victim-stenotype 2. victim with minor guilt (didn't make themselves a victim but contributed in some small way like coin to high crime areas) 3. guilty victim, guilty offender: both groups In criminal activity 4. guilty offender, guiltier victim: ex: victim picks a fight with the offender who beats them up 5. guilty victim: victim who instigates conflict is killed by offender who acts in self defense 6. imaginary victim: ppl. pretending to be victims

larceny

form of theft in which offender takes possessions that do not belong to them with no intent of keeping them (street crime vocab)

principle behind insanity defense

fundamental fairness: is it fair to lock someone up who doesn't know what they're doing?

war on drugs

government policy aimed at reducing the sale and use of illegal drugs

role of law enforcement:

initial contact --> investigation --> arrest --> booking

what is the bottom layer of the cake?

misdemeanors: traffic and drug violations, etc. overwhelm small courts, trials rare, fine or jail up to a year

informal social control

morals, norms, religion, base needs, family career

what violent crimes does the UCR report on?

murder and non-negligent manslaughter, rape (and statutory rape/incest), robbery (threat of force or use of force), aggravated assault and battery (threatening someone then attacking them)

mass murder

murder of 3 or more people in 1 incident

mala prohibida

prohibited wrongs

principal behind social control and criminal law

proportionality: the more serious the infraction of societies rules and sensibilities, the more severe the sanction

criminal justice model

proposed by Herbert l. packer to describe the public's expectations of an efficient criminal justice system - more sympathetic to victim, goal is to control crime. this model is quicker like an assembly line.

due process model

proposed by legal scholar Herbert l. packer to describe the public's expectation of a just and fair criminal justice system- protects legal rights. this model is slower like a blacked assembly line with lots of stops along the way to assure that the person being tried REALLY DOES need o be locked up, offers more protection from human error

statue of limitations:

prosecution must take place within a specified time period (murder is exception)

double jeopardy

prosecution of a defendant in the same jurisdiction for an offense for which the defendant has already been prosecuted and convicted or acquitted. BUT there can still be legal actions from multiple jurisdictions. a criminal could be prosecuted n both state and federal jurisdictions.

why white collar crime isn't really in the crime stats

reporting to the UCR and NIBRS comes from local places who aren't too concerned with white collar crime b/c that is usually dealt with by the fed. gov. they are more concerned with street crime, regulating of white collar crime is one by regulatory agencies/professional associations so the UCR and NIBRS would only know about them if criminal charges are filed, white collar crime is typically recorded in the "all other offenses category" (so not prevalent to public) and white collar crime wasn't even a concept when the UCR was made so they don't record it, corporations often don't report offenses within them b/c it will make them look bad

self reported study

research in which individuals are asked about criminal offenses they have committed, even those they have never been arrested for or charged with (uses questionnaire, is confidential). looks at crime without focusing on victims or law enforcement. only done on high school populations so far, can't really do rates on these. point is that everybody does some crime.

strict liability

responsibility for a criminal offense without intention to break the law. does not require mens Rea. usually public welfare violations like narcotics violations, health and safety violations, and sanitary violations you do it, you're guilty ex: speeding, statutory rape is the exception to mens Rea

what crimes are violent crimes?

serial murder, mass murder, political violent (terrorism), sexual assault/rape, robbery (stealing under threat of violence)

what is the second tier of the cake?

serious felonies: rape, murder, robbery (usually gets a bit of local media coverage) have trials

statutory rape

sexual activity conducted with a person who is younger than a specified age or incapable of valid consent because of mental illness, mental handicap, intoxication, unconsciousness, or deception

rape

sexual activity forced without consent under threat of harm or with a person incapable of consent

sexual assault

sexual contact without consent or when party isn't capable of giving consent

street crime

small scale, personal offenses like single-victim homicide, rape, robbery, assault, burglary, vandalism (this is what most people see crime as and fear the most b/c it is violent, why money/focus would be poured into the war on drugs)

justice

the administering of a punishment or reward in accordance with morals that a given society considers to be correct

what is the problem with victim impact statements

the can affect offender's sentencing especially if presented to jury, victim can also suggest what should be done with offender in statement and the judge can act on it - statement creates bias to victim because it evokes empathy for them

concurrence

the coexistence of acts reus and mens Rea

parole

the conditional release of a prison inmate who has served part of a sentence and who remains under court's control ( trying to integrate offender back into society)

entrapment

the use of extreme measures by law enforcement to pressure someone to break the law. police can encourage criminal to commit a crime legally but can't induce someone to commit a crime they otherwise wouldn't have done. basically police can provide someone with an opportunity to commit a crime. the motive comes from police not you if ________ occurs

crime

the violation of the laws of a society by a person or group of people who are subject to the laws of that society

nullen crimen, nullen poena, sine lege

there is not crime, there is not punishment, without law

adjudication

to administer a legal process of judging and to pronounce a judgement (verdict)

examples of federal crimes

treason, counterfeit, interstate commerce, DUI on federal roads, theft of military installations, federal facilities (post office)

unconstitutional per se

unconstitutional in all circumstances

what are the two ways that a law's constitutionality can be challenged?

unconstitutional per se and unconstitutional as applied

elderly/child victims:

unreported because they can't contact law enforcement or are afraid to because they are co-dependent, elderly= hard to define b/c there's not a clear age that someone transfers into elderly (usually though it's over 60, dependent on care giver, and victimization involves a violation of trust), most occurs in victim's residence, kids from birth to 3 years= highest percentage of child abuse, infants whoa re physically abused are more likely to expire long term physical effects and neurological alterations like irritability, lethargy, vomiting (if a long abuse: blindness, development delays) , abused children are more at risk for mental illness, homelessness, crime, and unemployment, abused kids may have more problems with self-control, self-image, and relationships

rape shield laws

victim's personal history is used against them

victims of financial crime characteristics:

victims sometimes don't know they're victims or can't get the criminal justice system to take them seriously so they don't try to influence law enforcement to go after white collar crime, they may think they'll appear stupid so they don't report (and they think it's unlikely they'll get $$$ back), usually complicated and hard to investigate

arrest

when law enforcement detains and holds a criminal suspect or suspects

hierarchy rule

when more than one criminal offense is committed in a given incident, but only the offense that is highest in severity is reported to the FBI's uniform crime reports

arson

willfull or malicious burning of personal property (street crime vocab)