Test Three Flashcards
What are reasons for the potential occurrence of police corruption?
Reluctance of officers to report corrupt activities of fellow officers
Reluctance of administrators to acknowledge corruption in their agencies
Benefits of corrupt transactions
Lack of victims willing to report corruption
What is excessive use of force, and what is illegal use of force?
Excessive use of force:
The application of an amount or frequency of force greater than that required to compel compliance from a subject
Illegal use of force:
Situations where the use of force by police violates a law or statute
What is the doctrine of “qualified immunity”?
“Qualified immunity”:
Shields individual officers from constitutional lawsuits unless unreasonable law violation.
The Doctrine of Qualified Immunity Saucier v. Katz 2001
For a lawsuit against a federal agent:
Can a citizen sue police officers?
YES- the police officers, the municipality, and the police officers supervisor.
Under what circumstances can someone sue a federal agent?
For a lawsuit against a federal agent:
Defendant’s conduct violated a constitutional right
The constitutional right of the plaintiff was clearly established
What is a “1983 lawsuit”?
1983 Lawsuits (Title 42, Section 1983 U.S. Code) against an officer who denies others constitutional rights to:
- Life
- Liberty
- Property
- Without due process of the law
What is racial profiling? Does it ever happen? What are the major problems caused by racial profiling?
Racial Profiling is any police action initiated by the race, ethnicity or national origin of a suspect rather than their behavior.
YES- racial profiling happens and is different for each state.
PROFILINGS MAJOR PROBLEMS
- Hard to say what constitutes profiling
- Reduces effectiveness of community policing
- Profiling poor neighborhoods:
- Middle- and upper-class people commit as much crime as the poor, just different types
- Self-report studies:
- Whites and females commit more crime than previously thought
What are the major dangers that police officers face in the line of duty?
Stress, Training accidents, Car crashes, Violence at the hands of criminal offenders
Why are police deaths in the line of duty declining overall in recent decades?
a
Is fatigue a problem for law enforcement officers?
Fatigue: 6 times higher for cops than shift workers in industrial and mining jobs
Why?
Lack of work-hour standards
Inconsistent patterns and length of work hours
Effects? Accidents Injuries Misconduct Long-term stress
What is the basic structure of U.S. courts? Which courts hear what cases?
Individual states retain judicial autonomy from federal courts
Limits federal intervention into local affairs
States could create laws, and state courts hear cases about violations of those laws
State courts hear violations of state law.
Federal courts hear violations of federal law.
Where was the first state court? Why did state courts begin to have some degree of uniformity across states?
Massachusetts Bay Colony 1629 → first
Uniformity across states began because of Industrial revolution, urbanization, Westward expansion, etc. increased arrests and litigation.
What is original jurisdiction, and appellate jurisdiction?
Jurisdiction is a territory, subject matter, or people, a court can exercise lawful authority, determined by statute or constitution.
Original Jurisdiction: Lawful authority of a court to hear cases that arise in a specific geographic area, or that involve particular types of law violations
Appellate Jurisdiction: “” to review a decision made by a lower court.
Where do criminal cases begin for people accused of violating state laws?
State trial courts
If someone convicted in a state trial court wants to appeal their verdict, what court hears their appeal first? Second? Etc.?
First Appeal:
Trial courts of general jurisdiction (Circuit, superior)
First appellate level for lower courts (of limited jurisdiction)
Offer defendants the chance for a new trial instead of a review of the record.
Under what circumstances will the U.S. Supreme Court hear an appeal for a trial that originated in a state trial court?
a
What is a trial de novo?
New trial = trial de novo (Cases retried on appeal)
What does it mean to use an adversarial process?
Interests of the state (prosecutors) vs. skills of the defense attorney
Constrained by procedural rules specified by law
Sustained through tradition
If someone is charged with a federal offense, what court will hear their case first? If they are convicted, what court do they appeal to?
First: Level 1: U.S. District Courts hear federal cases, civil and criminal:
Original jurisdiction over all cases involving violations of federal statutes:
Largest recent growth in cases is drug prosecutions near U.S.-Mexico border.
94 district courts organized into 12 regional circuits for 12 courts of appeals.
How many circuit courts of appeals are there in the U.S.?
12 courts of appeals
