Law III

Chapter One Crime and Criminal Justice

Learning Objectives 1. Discuss the importance of crime

and Violence in the United States. 2. Discuss the concept of Criminal

Justice and how it has evolved since the 18th Century.

3. Describe the role of history and the federal governments involvement in criminal justice.

Learning Objectives 4. Describe the three main types of

agencies of the criminal justice system. 5. Describe the formal criminal justice

process. Identify each of the 15 steps in the process and the actions taken in each step.

6. Comprehend the role that the major criminal justice agencies play in each of the 15 steps of the formal criminal justice process.

Learning Objectives 7. Describe the operation of the informal

criminal justice process. 8. Describe the four layers of the criminal

justice wedding cake model and connections to the informal criminal justice process.

9. Describe the various perspectives of contemporary criminal justice.

10. Analyze how the various perspectives of criminal justice shape the policies of the war on drugs.

Key Terms – 55 in Chapter One Criminal Justice System London Metropolitan Police Wickersham Commission The Crime Commission Law Enforcement Assistance

Administration (LEAA) Social Control Legislature Judiciary

More Key Terms Executive Branch Formal Criminal Justice Process Initial Contact Arrest Arrest Warrant Probable Cause In Presence Requirement Custody

Even More Key Terms Charging Nolle Prosequi Preliminary Hearing (Probable Cause

Hearing) Information Grand Jury Bill of Indictment Arraignment Bail

Still Going Plea Bargaining Trial/Adjudication Sentence/Disposition Appeal/Postconviction Remedies Appellate Courts Correctional Treatment Release Postrelease

And going Criminal Justice Assembly Line Criminal Justice Funnel Courtroom Workgroup Wedding Cake Model of Justice Crime Control Perspective Profiling Rehabilitation Perspective Due Process Perspective Nonintervention Perspective

Were getting close Stigma Decriminalization Pretrial Diversion Widening the Net Justice Perspective Truth in Sentencing Laws Restorative Justice Perspective Source Control

They finally end Border Control Police Crackdowns Mandatory Minimum Sentence Drug Abuse Resistance Education

(DARE) Methadone Program Legalization

Criminal Justice System The composite of the police, court,

and corrections agencies that seek to prevent and respond to crime in society.

London Metropolitan Police The first formal police agency,

developed in 1829 by Sir Robert Peel to keep peace and identify criminals on the streets of England’s capitol city.

Wickersham Commission A national study group appointed by

President Hoover. The National Commission of Law Observance and Enforcement analyzed American justice systems and uncovered the complex rules and regulations that the govern the system and exposed how difficult it was for justice personnel to keep track of its legal and administrative capability.

The Crime Commission Refers to the President’s commission

on Law Enforcement and the Administration of Justice, appointed by President L. B. Johnson during the tumultuous 1960’s. It created a comprehensive view of the criminal justice process and offered recommendations for its reform.

Law Enforcement Assistance Administration LEAA Started with a provision in the Safe

Streets and Crime Control Act of 1968, this federal initiative provided hundreds of millions of dollars in aid to local and state justice agencies to fund crime control efforts. The program came to and in 1982.

Social Control Functions of the Criminal justice

system that seek to control or outlaw behaviors that are considered dangerous to society. Includes formalized efforts of agencies and informal efforts to private entities.

Legislature Branch of government that defines

the law by determining what conduct is prohibited and establishes criminal penalties for those who violate the law.

Judiciary Branch of government that

interprets the existing law and determines whether it meets constitution requirements. Also presides over the trial and appeals process for accused criminals.

Executive Branch Branch of government that plans

programs, appoints personnel, and exercises administrative responsibility for criminal justice agencies.

Formal Criminal Justice Process The Fifteen (15) step process that

takes an offender through a series decision points beginning with initial contact with law enforcement officials and concluding reentry into society.

Initial Contact The first step in the formal criminal justice

process, occurs at the moment that a suspected law violator comes to the attention of law enforcement officials. This can include an officer observing a crime, receiving a report from a victim, or being directed to the situation by a private citizen or government official.

Arrest The moment a person is taken into

custody and consequently believes that he or she has lost his or her liberty. An action used to restrain the accused until he/she can be held accountable via court proceedings.

Arrest Warrant A court order that empowers any

police officer to arrest a suspect and bring that named individual before the court.

Probable Cause A legal standard that exist when a

police officer believes there is sufficient evidence that a crime is being or has been committed and that that suspect is the person who committed it.

In-Presence Requirement The requirement that a police officer

must have witnessed a misdemeanor crime personally in order to make an arrest.

Custody The moment after an arrest is made.

Once in custody, the police may wish to perform a lawful search, interrogate or gather personal information from the accused.

Charging A step in the formal criminal justice

process in which the accused is turned over to the prosecutor who then formally alleges violation of specific criminal statutes.

Nolle Prosequi A decision on the part of the

prosecutor to dismiss a case and take no further action against the accused.

Preliminary Hearing AKA – Probable Cause Hearing Alternative to the grand jury. The

defendant and the defense attorney appear before a judge to dispute the prosecutor’s charges.

Suspect will stand trial if the judge accepts the prosecutor’s evidence as factual. T must be held within 48 hours of arrest.

Information A charging document filed before a

lower trial court at the preliminary hearing that details the merits of the state’s case against the accused.

Grand Jury A group of private citizens brought

together to consider the merits of a case as presented by the prosecutor in order to determine if there is probable cause that the accused committed the crime with which he or she is charged.

Bill of Indictment A document issued by the grand jury

that specifies the charges on which the accused will stand trial if it considers evidence as sufficient to warrant a trial.

Arraignment The court hearing in which the

formal charges are read, the defendant is advised of his or her constitutional rights, the initial plea is entered, a trial date is set, and bail is considered.

Bail A money bond levied to insure the

return of a criminal defendant for trial while allowing the person pretrial freedom to prepare a defense to the charges.

Plea Bargaining The exchange for a guilty plea for a

reduction or dropping of some of the charges or for a more lenient sentence. Determined in consultation between the prosecutor and the defense and approved by a judge or a magistrate.

Trial/Adjudication A court proceeding held before a

judge or jury to decide whether the prosecution evidence against the defendant is sufficient beyond a reasonable doubt to prove guilt.

Sentence/Disposition Formal sanctions handed down by

the court against a person convicted of a crime.

Appeal/Postconviction Remedies Formal actions taken by a defendant

who seeks to challenge some aspect of his or her guilty verdict.

Appellate Courts Those courts in which defendants

appeal when they believe that they did not receive fair treatment or that their constitutional rights were violated.

Correctional Treatment Postconviction programs or actions

taken on the part of justice authorities to aid in the successful readjustment to society.

Release Point in the formal criminal justice

process when the convicted individual is determined to have paid his or her debt to society and is now free o resume their life in the community.

Postrelease Period in which a person who has

been recently released from a correctional facility is subject to programs that seek to reintegrate him or her back into free society.

Criminal Justice Assembly Line Term used to describe the endless

stream of cases hat are subject to sequential decision points of the formal criminal justice process.

Criminal Justice Funnel Term used to describe the screening

out effect that occurs as cases are processed through the formal criminal justice process.

Courtroom Workgroup Group made up of the prosecutor,

defense attorney, judge, and other court personnel that cooperate to enhance the efficiency of the adjudication process through the use plea bargains and other alternatives.

Wedding Cake Model of Justice Samuel Walker’s dramatic way of

describing the informal justice process by comparing it to a four layer Wedding Cake.

Crime Control Perspective A model of criminal justice that

maintains that the proper role of the criminal justice system is to prevent crime through the judicious use of criminal sanctions.

Profiling Practice on the part of law

enforcement officers that seeks use of behavior or demographic markers to more efficiently identify persons who are thought to engage in improper behavior.

Rehabilitation Perspective A model of criminal justice that sees

crime as an expression of frustration against social inequality and seeks to use treatment approaches to help people who cannot manage for themselves.

Due Process Perspective A model of justice that emphasizes

individual rights and safeguards aimed at making the system run in an efficient and fair manner against those accused of crime.

Nonintervention Perspective A model of justice that favors limited

involvement on the part of formal agencies against crime defendants.

Stigma Enduring label that taints a person’s

identity or changes him or her in the eyes of others.

Decriminalization The reduction of penalties and/or the

legalization of specific criminal offenses.

Pretrial Diversion Informal, community based

treatment programs used to minimize formal contact with the criminal justice system, specifically incarceration.

Widening the Net Assertion that new laws and justice

programs serve to unnecessarily stigmatize individuals and broaden the scope of justice involvement in citizens lives.

Justice Perspective A model of criminal justice

maintaining that all people should not receive the same treatment under the law.

Truth in sentencing Law Legislative mandates that specify

the portion of an incarceration sentence that must be satisfied before an individual is eligible for early release.

Restorative Justice Perspective A model of Justice asserting that the

true purpose of the criminal justice should be to promote a peaceful and just society through mutual aid and mediation, not punishment.

Source Control Crime control policy initiative that

seeks to cut off supplies of drugs by destroying crops and arresting members of drug cartels in drug-producing countries.

Border Control Crime control policy that uses border

patrols and military personnel to interdict drug supplies as they enter the country.

Police Crackdowns Crime control policy initiative that

utilizes local, state and federal law enforcement agencies to combat large-scale drug rings or the street-level drug deals.

Mandatory Minimum Sentence Legislative mandate that restricts

judicial discretion by specifying a minimum sentence that a judge must hand down to anyone convicted of a specific criminal charge.

Drug Abuse Resistance Education (DARE) Elementary school course designed

to give students the skills for resisting peer pressure to experiment with tobacco, drugs and alcohol.

Methadone Program Drug treatment program in which

controlled dispensing of a synthetic narcotic is substituted for heroine as a way of accomplishing abstinence.

Legalization Noninterventionist perspective

calling for the removal of all criminal penalties from a previously outlawed act.

End of Key Terms for Chapter One !