Exam 2 Flashcards
Contempt of Cop
The officer perceives a challenge to their authority and escalates the situation to”re-assert” their authority
- contributes to police being more likely to use force against African-Americans
Stop & Frisk
A short (non-intrusive) police stop of a suspect
- a quick pat-down of the suspect’s outer clothing
- 4th Amendment requires that the police must have reasonable suspicion
Patterns in Use of Force
- African Americans are overrepresented among victims of police shootings
- The police are more likely to shoot unarmed Black people than unarmed White people
- There are substantial differences among police departments regarding the number of people shot and killed
Totality of the Circumstances
A method of analysis where decisions are based on all available information
- severity of the crime, whether the suspect poses an
immediate threat to the safety people, and whether he is resisting arrest / attempting to evade arrest by flight
Theory of Procedural Justice
The way police and other legal authorities interact with the public and how the characteristics of those interactions shape the public’s views of the police
- willingness to obey the law, cooperation with the police in fighting crime, and crime rates
Blue Wall of Silence
The informal code of silence among police officers in the U.S. not to report on a colleague’s errors, misconducts, or crimes
8 Can’t Wait
A new push for 8 concrete police reforms
- 8 procedural rules that can conjointly decrease police violence by 72%
Prosecutorial Discretion
- Cannot legally consider race and class in their charging decisions
- Systematically exercised to the disadvantage of Blacks and Hispanics
- Provides power to prosecutors in the pretrial process
- Not unlimited but largely unregulated
What % of cases end in a plea bargain?
95 - 98 percent
Plea Bargaining
An arrangement between a prosecutor and a defendant where the defendant pleads guilty to a lesser charge in the expectation of leniency
Trial Tax
A judge imposing a more severe sentence on a defendant because they rejected the prosecution’s plea agreement and goes to trial
Jail Boom
The number of people in jail pretrial has nearly quadrupled since the 1980s
- 400,000 people
Mandatory Minimum Sentence
Requires judges to impose a prison sentence of at least the time specified in a statute
- in many jurisdictions, prosecutors have discretion whether to file charges that trigger mandatory
minimum sentence
Pretrial Detention
Begins after arrest and ends
when trial begins
- still legally innocent
- Blacks and Hispanics are overrepresented
- they can’t afford money bail or someone has placed a “hold” on their release
Bail Type
Money Bail: money that has to be posted to ensure you will make future court appearances
Surety bond: enlists the help of a bail bond company, which acts as a surety, covering the defendant’s bail amount in full
