quiz 1 Flashcards
The three major components of the criminal justice system
policing / law enforcement
Courts
Corrections
Crime
an act that is against law and causes punishment
suspect
a person thought to be guilty of a crime or offense
defendent
individual or company or institution sued or accused in a court of law
Components of a criminal act
1.actus reus: evil act(society must decide which acts are wrong
2. Mens rea: evil thought
3. Intent: intent to commit evil harm
4. concurrence : mens + actus
5. Strict liability: certain cases where an individual lacked the mens rea to commit a crime
Ex someone struck someone while driving drunk)
Criminal acts
Assaults: the threat of physical harm
Battery: involves the actual physical harm of another
Burglary: also involves the taking of property but no force or threat is used
Robbery: taking personal property of another by use of force, fear or threat
Issues with media and the criminal justice system
1.large media holders have global reach (very big from west)
2. concentrated and organized around networks of production and distribution: want to get message out there
3. media dominating all aspects of media (tell, film and music)
4. media corporations are intertwined with global networks finance (tech research)
what does the term criminal justice refer to :
system of institutions, policies and practices with the goal of maintaining social control and deterring crime through sanctions and rehabilitation
courts
overseen by judge in civil and criminal cases
policing
protectors of the general public: able to enforce force
major myth makers
Mass media:
Government > all thrive on making money, being in control of what information we consume
Social elite:
Crime myth development:
- Media expands, highlights and brings much coverage to isolated events
- Investigating reporting not always used (time consuming and costly)
- The crime myth making has to have a strong impact on the consumer
The value of myth making:
money, power/ us has a fascination with crime
They are for profit organizations
The truth regarding violent crimes and murder
Men more likely to be a victim because more violent
- 22% of violent crimes committed by intimates/family memebr
- 34% committed by acquanintances
- 36% violent crime committed by strangers
Crime of murder comes to 10% commmitted by stranger
Hierarchy rule
data presented in crime in the us (UCR) reflect this rule, requires that only serious offense in a multiple offense criminal incident be counted
- arson only exception to hierarchy rule
ex. kill someone, rob their car, commit arson
(only reported killing and arson)
ex2. rob kid, kill them, steal clothes (only reporting killing kid)
some issues with measuring crime
- Only as good as info provided by agency
- Possibilities exist to under report or over rate the seriousness of offenses
dark figure of crime
- Crimes that fail to come to the attention of police because were unreported, no one learned that the crime was committed
- Who or what tries to measure dark figure
- Victim survey (National crime survey) NCS
problem : very costly
mythmaking
uncover crime and transmit info (can be good) but then structure reality by selecting and characterizing events thereby cultivating images of crime thus, causing a distortion of reality
FBI internet crime complaint center
fib uses data gathered via the internet crime complaint center
IC3 uses an online internet crime compliant form
a victim of a cybercrime or a third party may file a compliant
Crime multiplier:
the saturated media presentation belief that there is more crime than there actually is. This disproportionate and repetitive coverage leads to enhanced fear of crime among the public.
wobbler
a crime that can be charged and punished as either a felony or misdemeanor in california. In most cases the prosecutor will decide what it classifies under.
examples of wobblers
Ex. penal code 192( vehicular manslaughter)
243.4 sexual battery
245 assault with deadly weapon
422 making criminal threats
646.9 stalking
penal code for stealing a child
278
penal code for child porn
311
parole
state
serve after being released from jail
felony
criminal offense punishable by imprisonment for a term of one year or longer, more serious offenses can be punishable by life or death
probation
county
saved after community service for example
these ppl did not serve time in jail
misdemeanor
less serious crime punishable by fine, forfeiture or short term confinement (can be up to 365 days in custody)
types of crime
- Property crime: such as burglary,wire fraud , embezzlement, forgery, theft, larceny, shoplifting)
- Persons : murder/manslaughter, rape/ sex crimes, kidnapping and assault
- White collar crimes: generally non violent crimes in nature include public corruption, health care fraud, morgate fraud, securties fruad. Not reported in the UCR
- Cyber crimes: Is a crime that involves a computer or comupter network
Ex. fraud via computer
Intellectual property theft through computer
Not reported in UCR
How do we measure crimes in USA :
- gathering official law enforcement records and asking ppl if they have been a victim of a crime (UCR) uniform crime reporting program
- Published by the FBI
- UCR produced annually from the data received from more then 18000 cities, universities, state (people who voluntarily participate)
goals of law of america
Retribution: eye for an eye
Restitution: ordering to pay back the image caused, both to the state and to the victim
ex. paying shop for stolen item
Rehabilitation
Incapacitation: preventing someone from committing crime in society through direct control during incarceration experience
Deterrence (knowing the law will lead people to not commit crimes because they don’t want to serve time)
bill of rights amendments
- freedom of religion, speech, press and peaceable to assemble
second: right to bear arms
fourth: Search and arrest; no searching houses without a warrant and probable cause
five: rights for non self incrimination
six: Right to a fair/ speedy trial
eight: bail, fines and punishment; no cruel punishment or excessive fines
14. Civil rights: no one deprived of property, persons or liberty
federal kidnapping of 1932
Criminalized kidnapping and made it a federal offense if the victim was moved across state lines
Congress gave FBI jurisdiction to investigate any cases of missing children under age 12
kidnapping
moving another person without consent, by means of force, fear or threat
Child abduction
where a person, with no right of custody takes a child away and keeps the child away from the parents or legal guardians. Can be charged as misdemeanor or felony - up to 4 years in prison
percentage of children that going missing are?
runaways / 95%
3% wrongfully abducted by parent
About 300 children abducted by strangers annually
leading cause of death for children age 1- 4
drowning
4 negative consequences of “stranger danger”
- Linking feelings of danger o those outside of ones family
- Tiggers anxieties about kidnapping and identify the perp to most likely be a stranger
- Impress that parents should be responsible for educating kids on this
- Inaccurate and abuse by strangers is inaccurate
Which president officially proclaim “national stalking awareness month”
obama
Stats of crime currently;
- No crime wave in us
- Majority of crimes committed in us are not violent (yes there are still violent crime but not majority)
- Most crimes are not done by strangers but have some kind of relation to the victim
- Most crimes are intra-racial
2 competing ideologies
crime control vs. crime causation
which type of sex offender has the highest rate of recidivism among convicted sex offenders ?
indecent exposure
which criminal offense is the most underreported
sexual assaults.
aprox 310 out of 1000 sexual assaults are reported
2/3 go unreported
which criminal offender has the lowest rate if recidivism once discovered and brought to court ?
sex offenders
recidivism
the tendency of convicted criminal to reoffend
which criminal offenders have the highest rate of recidivism ?
drug users
when mafia went with other us members what did us do ?
made organized crime unit
definition for rico
- Passed in 1970
- Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt
Organizations Act (RICO) is a federal law designed to combat
organized crime in the United States. - It allows prosecution and civil penalties for racketeering activity
performed as part of an ongoing criminal enterprise.
racketeering
The organized criminals set up a coercive, fraudulent,
extortionary, or otherwise illegal coordinated scheme or
operation to repeatedly or consistently collect a profit
transnational
Organized crime is transnational as it involves some form of
profit-driven economic exchange across borders.
Organized crime
made up of flexible networks that adapt to
changes in the law and regulatory practices, the growth or
decline of market demand and the availability of new sources
for supply and distribution.
ex. human trafficking, gambling services, money laundering, drug sells
what do we do we charge criminals with to make sure they get highest sentencing ?
Rico
organized crime
profit driven
