Ch 3

Question 1

Code of Hammurabi

Answer 1

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

Question 2

Trial by ordeal

Answer 2

Primitive form of trial in which the outcome rested in the hands of God to determine guilt or innocence by protecting those who were innocent.

Question 3

Age of enlightenment

Answer 3

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.

Question 4

Specific deterrance

Answer 4

The notion that punishment serves to deter the individual being punished from committing crime in the future.

Question 5

General detterance

Answer 5

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

Question 6

Felicitous or hedonistic calculus

Answer 6

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

Question 7

Utilitarianism

Answer 7

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

Question 8

Panopticon

Answer 8

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

Question 9

Rule of law

Answer 9

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

Question 10

Common law

Answer 10

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

Question 11

Retribution

Answer 11

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.

Question 12

Lex talionis

Answer 12

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

Question 13

Restitution

Answer 13

Repayment as part of a punishment for injury or loss.

Question 14

Rehabilitation

Answer 14

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

Question 15

Incapacitation

Answer 15

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

Question 16

Constitutional Law

Answer 16

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.

Question 17

Procedural law

Answer 17

Rules governing court proceedings.

Question 18

Bill of Rights

Answer 18

The first ten amendments to the U.S. Constitution, which guide procedural law pertaining to arrests, warrants, search and seizures, and trials.

Question 19

Substantive law

Answer 19

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

Question 20

Preemption doctribe

Answer 20

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.

Question 21

Gateway drug

Answer 21

A drug (e.g. marijuana) believed to lead to the use of heavier drugs (e.g. heroin).

Question 22

Cole nemo

Answer 22

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.

Question 23

Statutes

Answer 23

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

Question 24

Ordinances

Answer 24

Munciple or city rules.

Question 25

Case law

Answer 25

Law that is based on previous court decisions or precedents.

Question 26

Precedent

Answer 26

The legal principle of stare decisis, Latin for “let the decision stand”, it establishes prior case decisions as bindind precedent.

Question 27

Stare decisis

Answer 27

Latin for “ let the decision stand”, meaning the judge must respect precedent set in previous court cases.

Question 28

Landmark cases

Answer 28

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

Question 29

Civil Law

Answer 29

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

Question 30

Compensatory damages

Answer 30

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

Question 31

Punitive damage

Answer 31

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

Question 32

Class action lawsuits

Answer 32

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

Question 33

Administrative law

Answer 33

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

Question 34

Actus reus

Answer 34

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

Question 35

Mens rea

Answer 35

Latin for “guilty mind”, used in courts to prove criminal intent.

Question 36

Misdeameanor

Answer 36

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

Question 37

Wobblers

Answer 37

Crimes that can be charged as either felony or misdeameanor.

Question 38

Felony

Answer 38

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

Question 39

Insanity defense

Answer 39

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.

Question 40

M’Naghten standard

Answer 40

Also called the “right-wrong” test, requires a jury yo consider two questions. Did the defendant understand what he/she was doing at the time of the crime, and did the defendant know what they were doing was wrong.

Question 41

Durham test

Answer 41

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.

Question 42

Brawner rule

Answer 42

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 ale to “control his actions”.

Question 43

Irresistible impulse test

Answer 43

A defense that fails to find a person criminally responsible if mental disease prevents the person from controlling his or her behavior.

Question 44

Battered woman syndrome

Answer 44

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.

Question 45

Ex post facto law

Answer 45

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.