C. Law Ch. 2

Question 1

Constitutional Democracy

Answer 1

the majority can’t make a crime out of conduct protected by the fundamental rights in the U.S. Constitution

Question 2

Rule of Law

Answer 2

the idea that government power should be defined and limited by laws

Question 3

Principle of Legality

Answer 3

no one can be convicted of, or punished for, a crime unless the law defined the crime and prescribed the punishment before the person engaged in the behavior that was defined as a crime

Question 4

Ex Post Facto Law

Answer 4

a retroactive law that does one of three things: 1) criminalizes an act that wasn’t a crime when it was committed. 2) increases the punishment for a crime after the crime was committed. 3) takes away a defense that was available to a defendant when the crime was committed

Question 5

Void-for-Vagueness Doctrine

Answer 5

the principle that statutes violate due process if they don’t define a crime and its punishment clearly enough for ordinary people to know what is lawful

Question 6

Fair Notice

Answer 6

in ex post facto laws, it isn’t whether the defendant knows there’s a law against the act but whether an ordinary, reasonable person would know that the act is a crime

Question 7

Equal Protection of the Law

Answer 7

a constitutional command that criminal laws can treat groups of people and types of conduct differently only if the different treatment is reasonable

Question 8

Expressive Conduct

Answer 8

nonverbal actions that communicate ideas and feelings

Question 9

Void-for-Overbreadth Doctrine

Answer 9

protects speech guaranteed by the First Amendment by invalidating laws written so broadly that the fear of prosecution creates a “chilling effect” that discourages people from exercising that freedom

Question 10

Second Amendment

Answer 10

“the right of law-abiding, responsible citizens to use arms in defense of hearth and home” The right to bear arms.

Question 11

Constitutional Right to Privacy

Answer 11

a right that bans “all governmental invasions of the sanctity of a man’s home and the privacies of life”

Question 12

Fundamental Right to Privacy

Answer 12

a right that requires the government to prove that a compelling interest justifies invading it

Question 13

Cruel and Unusual Punishment

Answer 13

“barbaric” punishments and punishments that are disproportionate to the crime committed

Question 14

Barbaric Punishments

Answer 14

punishments considered no longer acceptable to civilized society

Question 15

Principle of Proportionality

Answer 15

the punishment has to fit the crime

Question 16

Three-strikes laws

Answer 16

intended to make sure that offenders who are convicted of a third felony get locked up for a very long time (sometimes for life)

Question 17

Mandatory Minimum Sentencing Laws

Answer 17

statues that require judges to impose a non-discretionary minimum amount of prison time that all offenders have to serve

Question 18

Fixed (determinate) sentencing

Answer 18

a legislative sentencing scheme that makes sentence length according to the seriousness of the crime

Question 19

Sentencing Guidelines

Answer 19

a commission establishes a narrow range of penalties, and judges choose a specific sentence within that range. The guideline sentence depends on a combination of the seriousness of the crime and the prior criminal record of the offender

Question 20

Apprendi Rule

Answer 20

other than the fact of prior conviction, any fact that increases the penalty for a crime beyond the prescribed statutory maximum must be submitted to a jury and proved beyond a reasonable doubt