Exit CJ Exam Flashcards
Who or what component of the court system is tasked with the following: charging suspects with a criminal offense, recommending bail or detention, negotiating a plea deal, and recommending sentences?
Prosecutor
Who or what component of the court system is tasked with the following: accept/reject negotiated pleas, suspend a sentence, sentence to probation, and hand down maximum/minimum sentences.?
Judge
What would be a normal sentence range for a criminal convicted of sexual assault.
190 months
A misdemeanor can be defined by what length of a sentence to incarceration in prison or jail?
Sentenced to jail for up to one year or less
Explain the concept of the presumption of innocence in the U.S. criminal justice system.
According to the Govt., the government always has the burden to justify its use of power even against people who turn out to be guilty.
Lead by Chief Justice Earl Warren the U.S. Supreme Court adopted an ambitious agenda over years that expanded the rights of criminal defendants and increased protection for defendents. During which years did this occur in the U.S.? By what name do we commonly refer to this period and this series of SCOTUS decisions?
- 1953-1969
- Warren Court era
What does the term Probable Cause to Arrest mean in our criminal justice system?
a legal standard that requires police officers to have sufficient evidence to believe that a suspect has committed a crime before making an arrest
What was the result of the Katz v. U.S. (1967) U.S. Supreme Court decision?
invalidated the FBI’s wiretap evidence and overturned Katz’s criminal conviction
Explain the concept of the plain-view doctrine.
Which allows an officer to seize evidence of a crime without a warrant when the evidence is clearly visible.
* Example: Officer gets a phone call that the neighbors are being loud. He responds to the call and as he is walking in, he smells marijuana. He knocks the door and sees the person with a marijuana cigarette in his hands.
What was the result of the Schneckloth v. Bustamante (1973) U.S. Supreme Court decision?
The court ruled that although knowledge of a right to refuse consent is a factor in determining whether a grant of consent to a search was voluntary, the state doesn’t need to prove that the person who granted consent to search knew of right to refuse consent under the 4th Amendment
What was the result of the Miranda v. Arizona U.S. Supreme Court decision?
Case that decided that suspects must be given their 4 warnings before an office can interrogate a suspect in custody
What was the result of the U.S. v. Banks (2003) U.S. Supreme Court decision?
Officers must execute a warrant legitimately enter a home 15-20 sec after having announced their presence
Describe the primary duties of Supreme courts.
interpret the law and defend the Constitution
What is the constitutional duty of defense lawyers?
They must make sure that the govt. proves every element of its case beyond a reasonable doubt
How many justices sit on the United States Supreme Court?
9
What is proof beyond a reasonable doubt?
The prosecution must convince the jury that there’s no other reasonable explanation that can come from the evidence presented at trial
* thereby overcoming the presumption that a person is innocent until proven guilty.
The courtroom workgroup (prosecutors, defense lawyers, and judges) have different emphases when considering plea bargains. Explain what we mean by plea bargaining.
Is when a legal negotiation between the prosecution and the defense, where the defendant agrees to plead guilty to a lesser charge or to one or more of the charges in exchange for a more lenient sentence
Explain the concept of sentence probation to the community in lieu of incarceration in a jail or prison.
It is a court-ordered period of supervision served in the community, where the defendant must agree to and follow certain conditions to avoid imprisonment
What is the primary purpose of probation?
To rehabilitate the defendant, protect society from further criminal conduct by the defendant and to protect the rights of the victim
Have the prison populations in the U.S. been remarkably stable over the last one hundred years?
No
Describe the differences between Maximum, Medium, and Minimum security prisons.
Minimum “Federal Prison Camps”
* home to inmates who are serving time for non-violent offenses
* offer dormitory-style housing, low intmate-to-correctional officer ration, & little to no perimeter fence
* less than 10 yrs left on their sentences with little to no history of violence
Medium “Federal Correctional Institutions”
* houses their inmates in cells
* enclosed with multiple fences, spools of razor wire, and armed perimeter automobiles that survey the perimeter 24/7
* offer their inmates a nice variety of treatment and work programs, inmate-to-correctional officer ratio is a lot higher
* sentences up to 30 yrs to complete
Maximum “United States Penitentiaries”
* highest level of security in the United States
* a tightly secured border and are home to the most dangerous criminals
* enclosed with multiple fences, spools of razor wire, and armed perimeter automobiles that survey the perimeter 24/7
* sentences of more than 30 yrs to complete
What is the primary the difference between a prison and a jail?
Prisons: convicted of crimes with long term > year
Jails: administered by county governments and charged with new crimes, awaiting trail, new crimes > year sentence or innocent
What are the contemporary recidivism rates in the U.S. for criminals after their release from prison?
The vast majority - over 90% - of offenders who are released from prison eventually commit other crimes and return to prison
Describe the differences between the National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS) and the Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program
NCVS = household surveys based on a sample of questions that are asked to a household of people 12 years old or older if they have been a victim of a crime. Doesn’t include murder or business crimes, however, it does include the rest of the index crimes.
UCR = The FBI collects data on crimes in the US. All of the local law departments report these crimes to the FBI. Involves 8 index crimes
Consensus theory
see crime as unusual, dysfunctional, and believe something has ‘gone wrong’ for the people who commit crime
Social Control Theory
posits that people’s relationships, commitments, values, norms, and beliefs encourage them not to break the law
Life-course theory
a way of thinking about how an individual’s life is determined through the occurrence of certain life events
Social strain theory
the anger, frustration, and resentment experienced by people who believe they cannot achieve their goals through legitimate means
Rational choice theory
the view that crime is a function of a decision-making process in which the would-be offender weighs the potential costs and benefits of an illegal act
Biological theory
argue that whether or not people commit crimes depends on their biological nature
Social-conflict theory
suggests that criminal behavior is caused by social inequality and limited resources on Earth, resulting in a constant struggle between the rich and the poor
Review the advantages and disadvantages of the Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program.
Advantages: Provides are great overview of trends in crime
Disadvantages: Can go over reported and under reported. Reasons: police do not want to report it because it makes they look bad, victim is ashamed, police over report it because they want to increase their funding, not every single crime is reported to the police
How was the UCR developed and how is utilized today?
UCR program was developed in 1929 to generate reliable information for use in law enforcement administration, operation, and management
* Over the years, the UCR Program has been expanded, modified, and enhanced to capture additional data and provide more comprehensive information about crime
* As in today, it collects data on four violent crimes (murder/nonnegligent manslaughter, rape, robbery, & aggravated assault) and four property crimes (burglary, larceny-theft, motor vehicle theft, & arson)
What is the impact of the UCR on empirical research and what is the impact that empirical research has on public policy as well as the impact of that policy on social change?
*The impact of the UCR on empirical research is to provide a wealth of data that researchers can use to study crime trends and patterns
* The impact of these policies on social change can be significant, as they can help to reduce crime rates, improve public safety, and promote social justice
What is a useful strategy that can help law enforcement agencies identify the root cause of the problems rather than the symptoms of problems?
Problem-oriented policing (POP)
List some major challenges to implementing community-oriented policing programs in the field.
- Resistance to change from law enforcement agencies
- Lack of resources
- Lack of community trust in the police
- Lack of support from elected officials
- Organizational culture
- Limited training
Why is one of the major concerns about the cost to implement community policing?
It can be expensive
Does traditional law enforcement use an autocratic management style that is very task oriented with little input from line officers in the management decision making process?
Yes, which is considered authoritarian
The growth of transnational criminal enterprises can be attributed to what factors in the world today?
- globalization
- technological advancements
- corruption
- demand for illegal goods and services
- political instability
Describe Community-oriented Policing (COP)
a broad policing strategy that relies heavily on community involvement and partnerships, and on police presence in the community, to address local crime and disorder
* to build trust between law enforcement and community members and the community to prevent crime and promote social justice
What do we mean by Problem-oriented Policing (POP)?
It involves breaking down problems into smaller, more manageable components, and then developing targeted responses to each component
What was learned about increased preventive police patrols from the 1971 Kansas City Study?
within 15 Kansas City police beats found that decreasing or increasing routine preventive patrol within the range tested had no effect on crime, citizen fear of crime, community attitudes toward the police, the delivery of police service, police response time, or traffic accidents
What is the usual result of installing outdoor lighting to high-crime areas?
It can help improve visibility and make potential offenders more visible, which can lead to a reduction in crime
Describe problem-oriented policing as a strategy associated with community-oriented policing (COP)
- Both are proactive policing models that focus on preventing crime before it happens rather than just reacting to it after it happens
- Both require cooperation among multiple agencies and partners, including community members
- Both involve the community in defining the problems and identifying interventions
What do many straw purchasers that buy guns at legal gun shops in the Southwest U.S. do with them?
They transport them across the border to Mexico, where they’re sold to drug cartels
Describe the history of civil rights laws as they apply to hiring practices in law enforcement.
July 12, 1965: Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) prohibit an employer or other covered entity from using neutral employment policies and practices that have a negative effect on employees of a particular race, color, religion, sex, etc.
Explain current perceptions of police engagement with lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender communities and actions that can be taken to improve those relationships
- to engage with the LGBT community is through an LGBT Law Enforcement Community Liaison Program
- provide cultural competence training for agency personnel on LGBTQ+ issues
- help in recruiting applicants for the agency
- troubleshoot conflict before it becomes a significant public relations challenge for the agency
What are immutable characteristics as they apply to law enforcement hiring practices?
- attributes that are considered impossible or difficult to change > race, national, origin, or gender
- traits in a person’s appearance that are tied to their culture but are changeable aren’t protected and can be used to deny job offers
What is police officer discretion and how does it apply to police officer decision making?
Police officer discretion is the power that law enforcement officers have to make decisions in the field based on their judgment and the circumstances of a particular situation
* they’re called upon to make quick decisions in high-pressure situations
* expected to follow departmental policies and procedures (state & federal laws) when making decisions
Define nonfeasance as it applies to policing
a police officer’s failure to act when they have a duty to do so
What is “noble cause corruption” by police officers?
where police officers use illegal or unethical means to achieve a desirable outcome or “greater good”
* planting or fabricating evidence
* lying on reports or in court
* abusing police authority to make a change stick
List at least five methods of accountability for law enforcement officers and organizations.
- Community-based accountability
- Political accountability
- Civil lawsuits
- Criminal prosecutions
- Technology-based accountability
Intelligence-led policing (ILP) is a new theory. Explain the operation ILP theory in policing today.
to facilitate crime reduction and prevention through effective policing strategies and external partnership projects
What are “electronic control devices” (ECD) commonly called in law enforcement and how long have they been in use?
Commonly known as stun, guns, tasers, or conducted electrical weapons; been used since the 1970s
Explain NIBRS and UCR data in law enforcement? Where does it come from?
NIBRS = a crime reporting system that collects detailed data on individual criminal incidents, including information on victims, offenders, and arrestees, as well as the location, time, and nature of the crime
* FBI’s UCR program
UCR = it collects data on crimes reported to law enforcement agencies across the United States and provides a nationwide view of crime trends
* managed by the FBI
Describe ALPR technology in law enforcement?
Automated License Plate Reader captures images of license plates and allow law enforcement to identify and compare plates against those of cars driven by people suspected of being involved in illegal activities
What is the title of the CJ employees that are tasked with the following: investigating crimes, recording crime, arresting criminal suspects, searching criminal suspects, and interrogating criminal suspects?
Police
Define Police Discretion
Is the freedom given to the police officers to make decisions through the use of personal judgement
In response to the political dominance, corruption, and lack of training of police officers in the 1920’s, August Vollmer and O.W. Wilson issued in what “era” in policing in the United States?
The Professional Era (Reform Model Era)
Public police agencies in the United States are organized via a system dividing crime control among federal, state, county and municipal law enforcement agencies. Which of these four is the largest in terms of total expenditures on law enforcement within the United States?
Municipal Law Enforcement Agencies
The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and the Department of Homeland Security
DEA = a federal government agency of the United States that operates under the oversight of the U.S. Department of Justice and in coordination with the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Homeland Security, and the U.S. Border Patrol
* enforcing controlled substance laws and regulations in the United States
DHS = a cabinet department of the United States federal government with responsibilities in public security
* missions involve anti-terrorism, border security, immigration and customs, cyber security, & disaster prevention and management
(DHS) reside within in which of the four levels of the government in the United States
Executive branch
How are police departments different from the military model of organization and management?
PD
* responsible for maintaining law and order within the country
* more decentralized (officers discretion)
* goal to serve and protect the community
Military model
* responsible for defending the country against external threats
* organized around a strict hierarchy of command (orders from top-bottom)
What are the three primary missions of the police?
- maintain public order and safety
- enforce the law and prevent
- investigate criminal activities
Which division of a police department is considered the backbone of policing?
Patrol
What are the main roles of the criminal investigation division in a police department?
Is responsible for investigating crimes reviewing every report submitted by a uniform officer to determine if it will be assigned to a detective for further investigation, & coordinating on-scene investigations of major crimes:
* property crimes
* personal crimes
* sex crimes
* death investigations
* drug investigations
Explain the concept of proactive policing
Aims to prevent or reduce crime by using prevention methods
* High visibility and public interactions to establish crackdowns, or sudden increases in police activity at places during high crime times
