Ch. 1,2,4,5 Flashcards
As an institution of social control, criminal justice differs from the family, schools, organized religion, the media, and the law in that it
is generally society’s “last line of defense.”
Like the family, schools, organized religion, the media, and the law, criminal justice is a(n)
institution of social control
American criminal justice consists of three main agencies. What are these?
Corrections, Police, Courts
What type of offense may be punishable by death in the United States?
A felony
The term “jurisdiction,” as used in your text, means
a politically defined geographical area
during which stage is an administrative record of an arrest made?
booking
a suspect becomes a defendant after
one or more charges have been filed
The purpose of a(n) ______ is for a judge to determine whether there is probable cause to believe that the defendant committed the crime/s with which he/she is charged.
Preliminary hearing
The primary purpose of a(n) _____ is to hear the formal information or indictment and to allow the defendant to enter a plea.
arraignment
What percentage of criminal defendants plead guilty to the charges against them in an arraignment called plea bargaining?
95%
Cases that are not resolved through plea bargaining or by a jury trial are decided by a judge in a(n)
bench trial
One of the main purposes of an arraignment is to
allow the defendant to enter a plea
Currently, five general types of punishment are in use in the U.S. What are these?
Fines, probation, intermediate punishments, imprisonment, and death
Defendants can appeal their convictions on legal or constitutional grounds. What is an example of a constitutional ground on which a defendant may appeal a conviction?
illegal search and seizure
What is given before prisoners have served their full sentences?
Parole
Because there is considerable conflict and confusion between different agencies of criminal justice, an accurate way of defining American criminal justice may be to call it
a nonsystem
When politically conservative values are dominant in society, the principles are policies of ______ seem to dominate the operation of criminal justice.
The crime control model
According to the crime control model of criminal justice, the most important function of criminal justice is
the control of criminal behavior
The due process model is based on the doctrine of
legal guilt
What would be considered a condition of legal guilt?
the right to counsel
What is a problem associated with finding an appropriate definition of crime?
Many dangerous and harmful behaviors are not defined as crimes, while many less dangerous and less harmful behaviors are.
Overcriminalization is mainly a problem when addressing which types of crimes?
victimless crimes
a typical _______ definition of crime is behavior that violates the norms or mores of society.
social
A(n) ______ is any standard or rule regarding what human beings should or should not think, say, or do under given circumstances.
norm or social more
a typical ______ definition of crime is “an intentional violation of the criminal law or penal code, committed without defense or excuse and penalized by the state.”
legal
The term ___ refers to criminal conduct - specifically, intentional or criminally negligent action or inaction that causes harm.
Actus reus
If George did not want to commit a crime but was forced or coerced to do so against his will, he may have committed the crime ______.
under duress
In most American jurisdictions, the upper age limit for juvenile delinquency is _______, and the lower limit is usually ______.
18;7
What is defined as a legal defense against criminal responsibility used when a crime has been committed to prevent a more serious crime?
necessity defense
What is a legal defense against criminal responsibility when a person, who was not already predisposed to it, is induced into committing a crime by a law enforcement officer or by his or her agent?
entrapment
_________ refers to the failure to take reasonable precautions to prevent harm.
Negligence
The Latin term _______ refers to criminal intent or a guilty state of mind.
mens rea
What is true about ana ex post facto law?
It declares criminal an act that was not illegal when it was committed
______ is defined as mental or psychological impairment or retardation as a defense against a criminal charge.
insanity
____ offenses are illegal because laws define them as such.
Mala prohibita
______ crimes are considered to be “wrong in themselves” and are characterized by universality and timelessness.
Mala in se
___ refers to crimes that are not officially recorded by the police.
the dark figure of crime
____ refers to an estimate of crimes committed.
A crime index
A(n) _______ may be expressed as the number of crimes per unit of population.
crime rate
What is defined as a collection of crime statistics and other law enforcement information published annually under the title Crime in the United States?
the uniform crime reports (UCR)
What is an example of a Part 1 offense?
arson
_______ is an act that is illegal for a juvenile but would not be crime if committed by an adult.
A status offense
What is the most important difference between the National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS) and the uniform crime reports (UCR)?
Compared with the UCR, the NIBRS makes it possible to examine crimes in much more detail because it contains more data on each crime.
What is true about self-report crime surveys?
They ask selected subjects whether they have committed crimes.
What are the number of offenses for which at least one person has been arrested, charged with the commission of the offense, and turned over to the court for prosecution?
crime index offenses cleared
For many crime victims, ____ is the most burdensome and lasting consequence of their victimization.
fear
What is the most important problem with the M’Naghten rule?
It fails to address the situation of a defendant who knew the difference between right and wrong but was unable to control his/her actions.
According to official statistics, about _____ of all crimes committed annually are violent crimes.
10-15%
To date, most self-report crime surveys conducted in the United States have been administered to _______.
school children
_____ is a formal means of social control that involves the use of rules that are interpreted, and are enforceable, by the courts of a political community.
criminal law
A crime is a violation of the ______ of a political jurisdiction.
penal code
What penal sanction is used primarily to prevent undesired conduct and to provide retribution?
punishment
The criminal law of the United States, for the most part, is derived from the laws of
England
In common law, the decision in a particular case becomes a potential basis, or ________, for deciding the outcomes of similar cases in the future.
precedent
The principle of using precedents to guide future decisions in court cases is called _______.
stare decisis
Most of the procedural, or due process, rights given to criminal suspects or defendants in the United States are found in
the Bill of Rights
What amendment extends the procedural safeguards of the Bill of Rights to people charged with state crimes?
14th
The _____ protects American citizens from “unreasonable searches and seizures.”
4th amendment
The _____ guarantees the right to a speedy and public trial.
6th amendment
The ____ states that excessive bail shall not be required.
8th amendment
Explorations or inspections by law enforcement officers of homes, premises, vehicles, or persons for the purpose of discovering evidence of crimes or persons who are accused of crimes?
searches
A(n) _____ is a written order from a court directing law enforcement officers to conduct a search or to arrest a person.
Warrant
In the 1969 case of Chimel v. California, the Supreme Court
limited the scope of searches incident to an arrest
Under the Supreme Court’s _____, a warrantless search not incident to an arrest may be justified in an emergency situation.
exigent circumstances doctrine
An arrest warrant is issued only if substantial and trustworthy evidence supports the conclusion that
a violation of the law has been committed and the person to be arrested committed the violation
Which standard of proof is more than a gut feeling and legally permits a law enforcement officer to stop and frisk a suspect?
reasonable suspicion
Which standard of proof is evidence that more likely than not outweighs the opposing evidence, or sufficient evidence to overcome doubt or speculation?
preponderance of evidence
Which standard of proof is required for a search or an arrest?
probable cause
The standard of proof necessary to find a defendant guilty in a criminal trial is
beyond a reasonable doubt
Which case was the exclusionary rule created?
Weeks v. United States
Which case was the exclusionary rule extended to state courts?
Mapp v. Ohio
What do United States v. Leon, Massachusetts v. Sheppard , and Nix v. Williams share in common?
they provide exceptions to the exclusionary rule
You learn that the police have attached a GPS device to your vehicle without a valid warrant. According to the Supreme Court, this violates the ______ amendment.
4th
In what case did the Supreme Court broaden the protection against compelled self-incrimination to cover nearly all custodial police interrogations?
Miranda v. Arizona
Which case did the supreme court extend the 6th amendment right to be represented by an attorney to indigent defendants facing felony charges in state courts?
Gideon v. Wainwright
The right to counsel may be waived only if the waiver is made
knowingly, intelligently, and voluntarily
What is the most important factor contributing to wrongful convictions?
eyewitness misidentification
The vast majority of American law enforcement agencies are
local
The basic concepts of American law enforcement and criminal justice originated in
England
According to Sir Robert Peel, the main function of the police was to prevent crime by which method
preventative patrol
Early American citizens ______ the formation of the first police departments.
resisted
Which was the first American city to create a paid and unified municipal police force?
New York
Which characteristic of today’s police was taken up by municipal police officers after the American Civil War?
They began to wear uniforms
How did people maintain order and defend against criminals on the American frontier?
they engaged in vigilantism
August Vollmer had many different principles to professionalize American Policing, what is an example of one of these principles?
Education is a key ingredient in professionalizing policing
By the 1970s, research began to show that
unattended disorderly behavior is a signal to more serious criminals that they can move in and operated with impunity
Community policing called for a shift from incident-based crime fighting to a problem-oriented approach. T/F?
true
Who were the first federal law enforcement agents in the United States?
the U.S. Marshals
Why was the U.S. Secret Service created?
to combat counterfeiting
Which U.S. President created the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA)?
Richard Nixon
The federal law that began the War on Drugs in the U.S. was the _______.
Harrison Act
The majority of public law enforcement agencies are considered to be ________.
local police agencies
Breaking up a fight, holding back a crowd at a sporting event, or intervening in a domestic dispute before it gets violent are examples of the police duty of
order maintenance
Taking people to the hospital, escorting funeral processions, delivering mail for city officials, or chasing bats out of a caller’s house are examples of the police duty of
service
What is an example of the police duty of law enforcement?
testifying in court
Most country sheriffs are
elected by the voters of the county
Which of the following officials is responsible for providing civil process services for the court?
Sheriffs
The only state in the U.S. that does NOT have a state policing agency is ______.
Hawaii
According to the Homeland Security Act of 2002, which agency or organization has the “primary responsibility for investigating and prosecuting acts of terrorism”?
federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies
What is currently the top priority of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)?
being an intelligence and counterterrorism agency
Proprietary security agents provide services only for the agency that employs them. T/F?
True
______ is a model of state law enforcement services in which the agency and its officers have the same law enforcement powers as local police anywhere within the state.
The state police model
