Criminology - Unit 3

Retribution

A goal of law that states that punishment is deserved or morally right. In addition, it is a goal of sentencing that seeks to punish the offender for criminal behavior.

Ex post facto law

A law that a legislature passed after a crime was committed. At the time the person committed the action, it was legal, and only later was the act deemed criminal.

Misdemeanor

A less serious crime punishable by fine, forfeiture, or short-term confinement, though in some jurisdictions gross, aggravated, or serious misdemeanors may be charged

Constitutional law

A major source of law that establishes the fundamental rules and relationships among the judiciary, legislative, and executive branches at the state and federal levels

Felicitous or hedonistic calculus

A measure indicating how much pleasure an individual gains from a specific act.

Common law

A type of legal system originally developed in England, whereby the courts define the law and determine how to apply the law. This is the body of law derived from judicial opinions

Victims' Rights Amendment (VRA)

1. Right to fairness, respect, and dignity 2. Right to reasonable notice of and the right not to be excluded from public proceedings related to the offense 3. Right to be heard at any release, plea, and sentencing court session 4. Right to notification of release or escape of the accused 5. Right to due consideration of the crime victim's safety and privacy 6. Right to restitution

Laws change according to

1. Societal norms 2. Cultural Shifts 3. Technology

Jeremy Bentham

1. Stressed rationality in the legal system and opposed brutal methods of punishment 2. Hedonistic Calculus 3. Utilitarianism 4. Panopticon

Cesare Beccaria

1. The Classical School 2. Wrote on crime punishment 3. Emphasized rationalism, intellectualism, and humanitarianism 4. Believed free will, logic, and rationality were central in decisions to commit crime 5. Promoted the idea of deterrence

Battered woman syndrome

A criminal defense developed to excuse or mitigate the actions of women who kill their abusers in cases of domestic violence despite a lack of imminent danger

Felony

A criminal offense (e.g., murder, robbery, rape) that is more serious and generally results in more severe punishment than a misdemeanor.

Insanity defense

A defense based on the belief that a select group of people who suffer from mental illness are unable to control their actions to such an extent that they cannot be held accountable for their crimes

Irresistible impulse test

A defense that fails to find a person criminally responsible if mental disease prevents the person from controlling their behavior

Utilitarianism

A doctrine stating that an action is morally right as long as the behavior is a benefit for the majority of a society. This is the concept of the "greatest good for the greatest number."

Gateway drug

A drug (e.g., marijuana) believed to lead to the use of more serious substances (e.g., heroin)

Rule of law

A fundamental principle in the U.S. criminal justice system that all government officers—including those in law enforcement, corrections, and the courts—pledge to uphold the Constitution and to follow the Constitution, not any particular human leader.

proving if a defendant committed a crime in a criminal case has what two major elements?

Actus reus and mens rea

M'Naghten standard

Also called the "right-wrong" test, requires a jury to consider two questions: Did the defendant understand what they were doing when the crime was committed? Did the defendant know that their actions were wrong?

Brawner rule

Also called the ALI rule, it reduced "knowing right from wrong" to the capacity to appreciate the difference between the two. In other words, a defendant must possess an "understanding of his conduct" and be able to "control his actions."

Panopticon

An architectural design developed by Jeremy Bentham that allows a single person to watch others in a prison setting without those incarcerated knowing they are being watched

Dog leash laws are an example of ______.

An ordinance

What guides procedural law as it pertains to arrests, warrants, and searches and seizures?

Bill of rights

Age of Enlightenment

Brought about new ways of thinking, including reforms arising from outrage against the barbaric system of law and punishment just before the French Revolution in the late 18th century

Precedent

The legal principle of stare decisis, Latin for "let the decision stand," it establishes prior case decisions as binding precedent

Landmark cases

Cases that establish precedent that markedly changes the interpretation of a prior law or establishes new case law

Class action lawsuits

Civil cases involving large numbers of victims in which courts authorize a single individual or small faction to represent the interests of the larger group.

Most states have created statutes that give victims the right to apply for ______

Compensation

When prosecutors contend with ______, they must try to prove that a guilty act and mind both occurred when a crime was committed.

Concurrence

If one boxer severely injures another during a fight, what defense could the uninjured boxer use?

Consent

Wobblers

Crimes that can be charged as either felonies or misdemeanors

Administrative law

Derives from a legislative body's delegation of authority over commissions or boards to regulate activities controlled by written statutes

Durham test

Determines if a criminal act was a product of mental disease or defect. This requires that jurors determine if a defendant had a mental disease or defect and if the condition was the reason for the criminal behavior.

Which defense holds that a person acquitted of a crime cannot be taken to trial again?

Double jeopardy

Criminal and civil law have developed from many sources, including:

English common law, legislative statutes, constitutions, and ordinances

A law enforcement officer tricks a citizen into committing a criminal act he or she would not otherwise have committed. What defense could be used by the citizens?

Entrapment

A law that criminalizes an act that was legal at the time it was committed is a(n) ______ law.

Ex post facto

Common law was designed to treat everyone equally regardless of their background.

False

Ordeals were an early form of trial decided by an elected village council.

False

Victims are not allowed to attend criminal justice proceedings because they may sway the jury

False

Civil law

Law that deals with disputes between individuals or organizations and typically seeks some type of compensation for the harmed party.

Preemption Law

Federal law is the "supreme law of the land"

Statutes

Formal rules, or law, adopted by a governing body such as a state legislature

what was emphasized during the Age of Enlightenment

Free will and rational choice

the idea that humans make decisions based upon maximizing pleasure and minimizing pain

Hedonistic calculus

Case law

Law that is based on previous court decisions or precedents.

Mens rea

Latin for "guilty mind," used in court to prove criminal intent

Stare decisis

Latin for "let the decision stand," meaning that judges must respect precedents set in previous court cases

Lex talionis

Latin for "the law of retribution" and commonly referred to as "an eye for an eye." This philosophy calls for retaliation in which the punishment received should fit the crime committed

Actus reus

Latin term meaning "guilty act," used to indicate the physical act of the crime. Usually paired with mens rea to show criminal liability

If someone accidentally physically harms another person but did not mean to, what element of crime is missing?

Mens rea

Compensatory damages

Money awarded in a civil lawsuit for loss or injury suffered as a result of unlawful conduct

Punitive damages

Money awarded in addition to compensatory damages to punish the defendant for recklessness, malice, or deceit.

Ordinances

Municipal or city rules

Cole memo

Named after former deputy attorney general James Cole, it outlined guidelines for states related to marijuana, including use by minors, driving under the influence, and out-of-state trafficking.

"Equal justice under the law"

Phrase inscribed on the front of the U.S. Supreme Court

Trial by ordeal

Primitive form of trial in which the outcome rested in the hands of God to determine guilt or innocence by protecting an innocent person from some or all the consequences of the test

Restitution

Repayment as part of a punishment for injury or loss

Procedural law

Rules governing court proceedings

Substantive law

Rules that are used to determine the rights of individuals and collective bodies.

Incapacitation

Sentencing goal that isolates the offender from the public and takes away one's ability to commit a crime against those in the public.

Rehabilitation

Sentencing goal that seeks to reduce chances of future offending through education, alcohol or drug programs, psychological programs, and other treatments.

a foundation of punishment based on discouraging individual offenders

Specific deterrence

Bill of Rights

The first 10 amendments to the U.S. Constitution, which guide procedural law pertaining to issues such as arrests, warrants, search and seizure, and trials

Preemption doctrine

The idea put forth in the Constitution that federal law is the "supreme law of the land." In other words, usually federal law overrides conflicting state laws.

Specific deterrence

The notion that punishment deters the individual being punished from committing crime in the future.

General deterrence

The notion that the general populace will be deterred from committing crimes based on the perceived negative consequences of being caught

Code of Hammurabi

The oldest known legal code, it established approximately 300 provisions for family, trade, real property, personal property, and labor.

According to the rule of law, criminal justice practitioners must uphold the U.S. Constitution

True

Cesare Beccaria transformed the legal system from arbitrary punishments to one that recognized the importance of the social contract.

True

Compensatory damages are awarded to replace the loss suffered by the victim

True

People who are considered white-collar criminals may be charged with mail fraud or tax evasion if prosecutors lack specific laws related to their case.

True

Statutory law

Written and enacted by legislature

Primary goals of the law

deterrence, retribution, restitution, rehabilitation, and incapacitation

Landmark decisions by the U.S. Supreme Court clarify:

due process rights under the Bill of Rights and establish legal precedent

The law and criminal justice systems are based on principles of:

fairness and justice

Defenses used at trial include:

justification, insanity, mistake of fact, mistake of law, intoxication, duress, entrapment, and infancy

a design that allows one person to watch many

panopticon

What is the Latin legal term for "let the decision stand?"

stare decisis

Which is the oldest known legal precedent that influenced more modern ideas in the United States about standards of appropriate behavior?

the Code of Hammurabi

What is the primary role of constitutional law?

to establish relationships among the branches of government

the ethical philosophy seeking the greatest good for the greatest number of people

utilitarianism