Mens Rea
guilty mind
M'Naghten Rule
A common law test of criminal responsibility derived from M'Naghten's Case in 1843 that relies on the defendant's inability to distinguish right from wrong., A rule for determining insanity, which asks whether the defendant knew what he or she was doing o
Durham Rule
an accused is not criminally responsible if his unlawful act was the product of mental disease or defect
Common Law
a system of law based on precedent and customs
Case Law
law created by appellate courts
Statutory Law
the body of laws created by legislative statutes
Conspiracy
a secret agreement between two or more people to perform an unlawful act
Deviance
a state or condition markedly different from the norm
Burger Court
Warren Burger was appointed by Nixon in 1969 as the 15th Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. The Court he presided over was more conservative than the Warren Court, handing over more power to the states throught the Court's decisions
Crime control model
A criminal justice model that places primary emphasis on the right of society to be protected from crime and violent criminals. Crime control values emphasize speed and efficiency in the criminal justice process; the benefits of lower crime rates outweigh
criminal justice
the process of achieving justice through the application of the criminal law and through the workings of the criminal justice system
due process model
a criminal justiced perspective that emphasizes individual rights at all stages of justice system processing
ethnocentrism
belief in the superiority of one's own ethnic group
law and order
Made by elected legislatures. Police inforce laws and keep order over a populace
Law Enforcement Assistance Administration
Federal agency that granted hundreds of millions of dollars in aid to local and state justice agencies between 1968 and 1982. Also helped fund LEEP which helped train young adults in Law and Order
Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act
Established the federal law enforcement assistance administration (LEAA). The report of the presidents commission clearly defined the tasks of criminal justice and in so doing, identified criminal justice as an approach, a governmental aim and indeed a sc
President's Commission on Law Enforcement and Justice
commission appointed by President Johnson in 1965 to investigate the causes of crime and the condition of the criminal justice system
Terrorism
the calculated use of violence (or threat of violence) against civilians in order to attain goals that are political or religious or ideological in nature
Warren Court
the chief justice that overturned Plessy v. Ferguson in Brown v. Board of Education (1954); he was the first justice to help the civil rights movement, judicial activism. Due Process Model
abettor
one who helps or encourages or incites another
Accessory after the fact
a person who gives assistance or comfort to someone known to be a felon or known to be sought in connection with the commission of a felony
accessory before the fact
a person who procures or advises or commands the commission of a felony but who is not present at its perpetration
administrative law
the body of rules and regulations and orders and decisions created by administrative agencies of government (littering, polluting, etc)
anomie
personal state of isolation and anxiety resulting from a lack of social control and regulation
constitutional law
law that involves the interpretation and application of the U.S. Constitution and state constitutions
crime
(criminal law) an act punishable by law
defense
the justification for some act or belief
differential association
a theory of deviance that holds that violation of rules results from exposure to attitudes favorable to criminal acts
differential opportunity theory
crime takes place due to a lack of legitimate opportunity and is also due to the availability of illegitimate opportunities
differential reinforcement theory
an attempt to explain crime as a type of learned behavior. It is a version of the social learning view that employs differential association concepts as well as elements of psychological learning theory. Gang behavior
Jones v. United States
You can hold a mental patient longer than his normal jail sentence in a mental facility than they would be normally in a jail
Mistake of fact
a defense claiming an error or misunderstanding of fact or circumstances resulting in an act that would otherwise not have been undertaken
Lambert v. California
Ruling whereby the U.S. Supreme Court held that "due process requires that ignorance of a duty must be allowed as a defense when circumstances that inform a person as to the required duty are completely lacking.
Duress and Consent
any unlawful constraints exercised on a individual forcing him or her to consent to committing some act that would not have been done otherwise
moral turpitude
an act showing inherent baseness or vileness of principle or action; shameful wickedness; depravity. A crime involving a willful wrongdoing, usually a felony.
Violations
less crimes than misdemeanors
Social disorganization theory
The theory that attributes increases in crime and deviance to the absence or breakdown of communal relationships and social institutions, such as the family, school, church, and local government
Strain Theory
the proposition that people feel strain when they are exposed to cultural goals that they are unable to obtain because they do not have access to culturally approved means of achieving those goals
Ritualism
reject the goal and accept the means, accept a less successful life
Social control theory
As they lose attachment to the people and things around them they become more prone to crime
Primary deviation
In labeling theory, the act or attitude that causes one to be labeled deviant
Secondary deviation
the labeling theory: this results from the societal reaction to the primary deviation; it's reactionary and may close legitimate opportunities (reaction to the Primary)
Family violence perspective
Origin of violent behavior lies in the family structure and principles