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Crime and the Criminal Justice System (The Criminal Justice System (Terms,…
Crime and the Criminal Justice System
Crime and Crime Causation
Types of Crime
Transnational Crime
Organized Crime:
money laundering
Occupational Crime
Visible Crime:
Violent crimes, property crimes, public-order crimes
Victimless Crime:
drugs and prostitution; participants do not feel harmed
Political Crime
Cybercrime
How Much Crime is There?
The National Crime Victimization Surveys (NCVS):
dependent upon reports to police
National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS):
corrects issues of UCR
The Uniform Crime Reports (UCR):
published from FBI
Dark figure of crime:
unreported crime
Crime Victimization
More likely to be victimized by someone you know
Most likely to be victimized
Women
Youth
Nonwhite
Low-Income City Dwellers
Terms
Visible crime:
An offense against persons or property, committed primarily by members of the lower class.
Occupational crime:
Criminal offenses committed through opportunities created in a legal business or occupation
Organized crime:
A framework for the perpetration of criminal acts
Money laundering:
Moving the proceeds of criminal activities through a maze of businesses, banks and brokerage accounts so as to disguise their origin
Transnational crime:
Profit-seeking criminal activities that involve planning or execution across national borders
Victimless crime
Offenses involving a willing and private exchange of illegal goods or services that are in strong demand
Political crime:
An act, usually done for ideological purposes, that constitutes a threat against the state; or a criminal act by the state
Cybercrimes:
Offenses that involve the use of one or more computers
Dark figure of crime:
A metaphor that emphasizes the dangerous dimension of crimes that are never reported to the police
Uniform Crime Reports (UCR)
An annual published statistical summary of crimes reported to the police, based on voluntary reports to the FBI by local, state and federal law enforcement agencies
National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS):
A reporting system in which the police describe each offense in a crime incident, together with data describing the offender, victim and property
National Crime Victimization Surveys (NCVS)
Interviews of samples of US population conducted by the Bureau of Justice Statistics to determine the number and types of criminal victimizations and thus the extent of unreported as well as reported crime
Victimology:
A field of criminology that examines the role the victim plays in precipitating a criminal incident and also examines the impact of crimes on victims
Criminal Justice and the Rule of Law
Foundations of Criminal Law
Substantive criminal laws
Felonies
Misdimeanors
Civil infractions
Seven Principles of Criminal Law
Concurrence: the intent and act must be present at the same time
Mens rea
Harm: harm brought to person, property or other object of value
Punishment: there must be provision in the law calling for punishment
Causation: there must be a reason for the crime
Actus reus:
aimed at human acts
Legality: there must be a law
Justification Defenses
Self-Defense: feels as though was in immediate danger
Necessity: feels the need to harm aggressor
Excuse Defenses
Duress (coercion): forced to do it
Entrapment: lack of intent
Infancy: children under 7 years old
Mistake of Fact: mistake of charge
Intoxication: under the influence in which influence was not willing
Insanity: does not know the difference between right and wrong
M'Naghten Rule: delusional at time of crime
Irresistible Impulse
Durham Rule: not responsible if mental illness is there
Civil laws
Legal responsibilities
Terms
Legal responsibility:
The accountability of an individual for a crime because of the perpetrator's characteristics and the circumstances of the illegal act
Civil Law:
Law regulating the relationships between or among individuals
Substantive criminal law:
Law that defines acts that are subject to punishment and specifies the punishments
Civil infractions:
Minor offenses that are typically punishable by small fines and produce no criminal record for the offender
Inchoate or incomplete offenses:
Conduct that is criminal even though the harm that the law seeks to prevent has not been done, but merely planned or attempted
Mens rea:
"Guilty mind," or blameworthy state of mind, necessary for legal responsibility for criminal offense, criminal intent. as distinguished from innocent intent
Entrapment:
The defense that the individual was induced by the police to commit the criminal act
Bill of Rights:
First 10 amendments of the US constitution
Self-incrimination:
The act of exposing oneself to prosecution by being pressured to respond to questions when the answers may reveal that one has committed a crime
Double jeopardy:
The subjecting of a person to prosecution more than once in the same jurisdiction for the same offense; Fifth Amendment prohibites this
Fundamental fairness:
A legal doctrine supporting the idea that so long as a state's conduct maintains basic standards of fairness, the Constitution has not been violated
Incorporation
The extension of the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to make binding on state governments many of the rights guaranteed in the Bill of Rights
Grand jury:
Body of citizens drawn from the community to hear evidence presented by the prosecutor in order to decide whether enough evidence exists to file charges against a defendant
Cases
Baron v. Baltimore (1833):
Case deciding that the protections of the Bill of Rights apply only to actions of the federal government
Powell v. Alabama (1932)
Case deciding that an attorney must be provided to a poor defendant facing the death penalty
Gideon v. Wainwright (1963)
Case deciding that indigent defendants have a right to counsel when charged with serious crimes for which they could face six or more months of incarcerations
The Criminal Justice System
The Goals of Criminal Justice
To have fairness and equity when treating citizens
To have swift and certain punishments to control crime and prevent the future activity of crime
To protect the public with investigation and punishment of criminals
To have policies that are effective and cost efficient to guide the public to avoid criminal activities
Criminal Justice as a Social System
Sub-organizations of the justice system such as police, prosecutors' offices, courts, and corrections are all interconnected and change together and aid the government in controlling crime
Bail agents and probation officers are less known but offer
exchanges
with the public.
Ex:
plea bargain
Characteristics of the Criminal Justice System
Resource Dependence: depends on other agencies for funding
Sequential Tasks: decision makers depend on each other to create a verdict
Ex: officers arrest and courts judge the offense
Discretion
Filtering process
Operations of Criminal Justice Agencies
Police: the "front line" in controlling crime; keep peace, apprehend violators, combat crime, prevent crime and provide social services
Courts:
dual court system and adjudication
Corrections: consequences to breaking the law and the process of carrying the punishment out.
The Flow of Decision Making in the Criminal Justice System
Steps in the Decision-Making Process
Sentencing: judge imposes sentencing
Appeal: can appeal to a higher court or for different corrections
Trial: defendant pleads guilty or not-guilty
Corrections: the court's sentence is carried out by a correctional subsystem
Arraignment: goes to court to be told of the indictment or information
Release: depending on crime, release from corrections can occur
Indictment/information
Preliminary Hearing/Grand Jury: decision if there is enough evidence
Initial Appearance: violator is brought in front of judge where formal notice of charges are given
Charging: charges are made against the violator with details of crime
Booking: recording of the arrest
Arrest: taking the violator or violators into custody
Investigation: collecting evidence
Crime and Justice in a Multicultural Society
An important American value is "equality" but is argued that it is not always in place
Disparity and Discrimination
Minorities are subjected to the Criminal Justice System more than the white majority
Disparity:
colored people commit more crimes
Terms
Crimes:
Actions that violate laws defining which socially harmful behaviors will be subject to the government's power to impose punishments
Mala in se:
Offenses that are wrong by their very nature
Mala prohibita:
Offenses prohibited by law but not necessarily wrong in themselves
Evidence-based practices:
Policies developed through guidance from research studies that demonstrate which approaches are most useful and cost-effective for advancing desired goals
Federalism:
A system of government in which power is divided between a central (national) government and regional (state) governments
System:
A complex whole consisting of interdependent parts whose actions are directed toward goals and are influenced by the environment in which they function
Exchange:
A mutual transfer of resources; a balance of benefits and deficits that flow from behavior based on decisions about the values and costs of alternative courses of action
Plea bargain:
A defendant's plea of guilty to a criminal charge with the reasonable expectation of receiving some consideration from the state for doing so, usually a reduction of the charge. The defendant's ultimate goal is a penalty lighter than the one formally warranted by the charged offense
Discretion:
The authority to make decisions without reference to specific rules or facts, using instead one's own judgment; allows for individualization and informality in the administration of justice
Filtering Process:
A screening operation process by which criminal justice officials screen out some cases while advancing others to the next level of decision making
Dual court system:
A system consisting of a separate judicial system for each state in addition to a national system. Each case is tried in a court of the same jurisdiction as that of the law or laws broken
Adjudication:
The process of determining whether the defendant is guilty
Arrest:
The physical taking of a person into custody on the grounds that there is reason to believe that he or she has committed a criminal offense. Police are limited to using only reasonable physical force in making an arrest. The purpose of the arrest is to hold the accused for a court proceeding
Information:
A document charging an individual with a specific crime. It is prepared by a prosecuting attorney and presented to a court at a preliminary hearing
Indictment:
A document returned by a grand jury as a "true bill" charging an individual with a specific crime on the basis of a determination of probable cause as presented by a prosecuting attorney
Felonies:
Serious crimes usually carrying a penalty of death or of incarceration for more than one year
Misdemeanors:
Offenses less serious than felonies and usually punishable by incarceration of no more than one year in jail, or by probation or intermediate sanctions
Crime control model:
A model of the criminal justice system that assumes freedom for the public to live without fear is so important that every effort must be made to repress crime; it emphasizes efficiency, speed, finality and the capacity to apprehend, try, convict and dispose of a high proportion of offenders
Due process model:
A model of the criminal justice system that assumes freedom for the individual who are wrongly accused and risk unjust punishment is so important that every effort must be made to ensure that criminal justices decisions are based on reliable information; it emphasizes the adversarial process, the rights of defendants, and formal decision-making procedures
Disparity:
A difference between groups that may be explained either by legitimate factors or by discrimination
Discrimination:
Differential treatment of individuals or groups based on race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation or economic status, instead of their behavior or qualifications
Criminal Justice in a Federal System
Most crimes are processed by the state
Criminology is based on
federalism
with divided power between the nation and states
In the 1960s the government reported the Law Enforcement and Administration of Justice which gave the government more involvement with the Criminal Justice System