President's Crime Commission
Created by President Johnson. Appointed several task forces to study the crime problem and the structure of criminal justice administration and make recommendations for action.
Key Recommendations for the PCC
1. Society must seek to prevent crime before it happens by assuring all Americans a stake in the benefits and responsibilities of American life, by strengthening law enforcement, and reducing criminal opportunities.
2. The criminal justice system should d
Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968
Generated heated controversy. Political maneuver aimed at allaying current fears about crime and calming agitation over inner-city riots and anger over SC decisions that allegedly tied the hands of the police.
1. The commission reported that to reduce the
Law Enforcement Assistance Administration
LEAA. Organized to develop new devices, techniques, and approaches in law enforcement; to award discretionary grants fro special programs in the field of CJ; and to supply states and municipalities with funds for improving their CJ systems and for trainin
Models of Criminal Justice
Due Process Model and the Crime Control Model. Opposites
Due Process Model
This model stresses the possibility of error in the stages leading to trial. It therefore emphasizes the need to protect procedural rights even if this prevents the legal system from operating with maximum efficiency. Justice is better if everyone gets hi
The Crime Control Model
This model emphasizes efficiency and is based on the view that the most important function of the CJ process in repression of criminal conduct. Proponents of this model put a premium on speed and finality, and cannot understand why obviously guilty defend
Crime
Crime is an intentional act or omission in violation of criminal law (statutory and case law), committed without defense or justification, and sanctioned by the state as a felony or misdemeanor.
Act and Omission
A person cannot be punished for his/her thoughts. For there to be a crime, there must be an act that is legally forbidden or the omission of an act that is legally required. An attempt may be construed as an act. The omission of an action which meets the
Conspiracy
concert or collaboration in criminal purpose, and it must involve two or more people.
abettor
one who, with requisite criminal intent, encourages, promotes, instigates, or stands by to assist the perpetrator of a crime.
accessory before the fact
an individual who abets a crime but is not present when the crime is committed.
accessory after the fact
one who, knowing that a felony has been committed, receives, relieves, comforts, or assists the perpetrator to hinder apprehension or conviction.
parties to crime
people become parties to crime when they assist, aid and abet, incite, or otherwise encourage others to commit crimes.
misprision of felony
the offense of concealing a felony committed by another person, even if the party to the concealment did not take part in the planning or execution of the felony.
mens rea
guilty mind" or criminal intent. Based on the assumption that people have to capacity to control their behavior and to choose between alternative courses of conduct. Two basic types of intent: specific and general. One of the three elements of crime.
Three Elements of Crime
Mens Rea: :Guilty mind"; the conscious decision to commit a criminal act.
Actus Reus: The behavior that must be committed to meet the definition of a crime.
Attendant Circumstances: "Casual Link"; Concurrence between the act the harm that results. The har
specific intent
is present when the circumstances of the crime show that the offender must have consciously desired the prohibited result.
general intent
refers to the conscious wrong-doing from which a prohibited result follows but not necessarily the result planned. (Ex: shooting the wrong person, but still having intent to shoot a desired person.)
Culpability
Intent -> acts intentionally to commit a crime.
Knowledge -> acts knowledgeably that he could be committing a crime
Recklessness - > acts recklessly and disregards a substantial risk that may occur from a wrongful act
Criminal Negligence-> acts negligentl
Constitutional law
the legal rules and principles that define the nature and limits of governmental power, and the duties and rights of individuals in relation to the state. Constitutional law is set forth in the Constitution of the US and in the Constitutions of the variou
Criminal law
the branch of jursiprudence that deals with offenses committed against the safety and order of the state. (State vs. somebody).
Civil law
the body of principles that determines private rights and liabilities. (Somebody vs. somebody / plaintiff vs. defendant).
Statutory law
the law created within a statute, handed down by the legislatures. State statutes must conform to US Constitution and the state in which it is enacted Constitution.
Case law
law that results from court interpretations of statutory law or from court decisions where rules have not been fully codified or have been found to be vague or in error. Must be specific enough to guide society. Usually comes from a SC case. Narrows and d
Administrative law
a breach of public law that deals with the powers and duties of government agencies. More specifically, administrative law refers to the rules and regulations of administrative agencies. Most boring sect of law -> environmental, bureaucratic law.
Common law
refers to customs, traditions, judicial decisions, and other materials that guide courts in decision making but have not been enacted by legislatures or embodied in the Constitution.
Insanity
any unsoundness of mind, madness, mental alienation, or want of reason, memory, and intelligence that prevents an individual from comprehending the nature and consequences of his or her acts or from distinguishing between right and wrong conduct. Legal, n
Defense
a broad term that can refer to any number of situations that would serve to mitigate guilt on a criminal offense.
M'Naghten Rule
the "right or wrong" test of criminal responsibility, which states: If the accused was possessed of sufficient understanding when he or she committed the criminal act to know what he or she was doing and the know that it was wrong, he or she is responsibl
Durham Rule
the legal standard by which an accused is not held criminally responsible if he/she suffers from a diseases or defective mental condition at the time the unlawful act is committed.
Mistake of fact
any erroneous understanding of fact or circumstance resulting in some act that would not otherwise have been undertaken. Basically, an honest mistake. A reasonable belief that certain facts are correct, if they were accurate, which would have made the cri
Mistake of law
any want of knowledge or acquaintance with the laws of the land insofar as they apply to the act, relation, duty, or matter under consideration. It is the citizens responsibility to acquaint themselves with local laws, however, if a jurisdiction has a law
Duress
refers to any unlawful constraints exercised on an individual forcing him/her to consent to committing some act that would not have been done otherwise. Whereas duress implies that one is not acting out a free will, the American system of law emphasizes b
Consent
of the victim is any voluntary yielding of will of the victim causing him/her to agree to the act of the offending party. This defense has several elements. FIRST: the victim must be capable of giving consent. Excludes kids, the insane, the mentally defec
Entrapment
the inducement of an individual to commit a crime not contemplated by him/her, undertaken for the sole purpose of instituting a criminal prosecution against the offender. Cases of entrapment occur when police officers, or citizens acting at their behest,
Inducement
the key word in the entrapment defense. It refers to the fact that the accused has no intention of committing the crime until persuaded to do so by the police officer. All in the way questions are phrased. Cops need to ask general questions whereas the cr
Justification
is any just cause or excuse for the commission of an act that would otherwise be a crime.
Justifiable homicide: includes case of death resulting from legal demands. Self defense or the defense of others.
Excusable homicide: includes cases of death from ac
Necessity
a defense in which a person claims to have engaged in an otherwise criminal behavior because of the forces of nature. (cannibalism).
Felony
a crime punishable by death or imprisonment in a federal or state penitentiary (usually more than a year and a day. 366 days.) Mala in se.
Misdemeanor
a crime punishable by no more than a $1000 fine and/or one year of imprisonment, typically in a local institution (jail). Mala prohibita.
Mala in se
inherently evil, immoral in their nature and injurious in their consequences. Murder, rape, theft, etc.
Mala Prohibita
may not necessarily be wrong in themselves but are simply wrong because they been prohibited by statute. All other crimes.
Atavism
Cesare Lombroso, in the 19th century, developed a theory of crime causation based upon atavistic characteristics, based upon anthropological study. Atavism means a "throwback to some earlier stage in human evolution." The theory of atavistic characteristi
Anomie Theory
the concept of anomie was first introduced during the latter part of the 19th century by Durkheim, who described the phenomenon as a condition of normative confusion or "normlessness", which the existing rules and values have little impact. Robert Merton
Labeling Theory
the theory of crime that focuses on the processes of interaction through which behaviors become defined as criminal and the ways in which the labeling process can bring about more criminality. The impetus for the labeling perspective came in 1951 when Len
Cultural Learning Theory
In a number of case studies (in Chicago), Shaw found that slum youths were participants in a subculture in which delinquency was approved behavior, and the criminality was acquired in social and cultural settings through process of interaction.
Differential Association
Dif. asso. is a more developed cultural learning theory. Created by Sutherland, diff. asso. is the theory of crime that suggests that criminal behavior is learned in the same processes that non-criminal behaviors are learned. Criminal behavior is learned
malice aforethought
refers to the intent to cause death or serious harm or to commit any felony whatsoever.
deliberation
refers to full and conscious knowledge of the purpose of killing, suggesting that the offender has considered the motives for the act and its consequences.
premeditation
refers to a design or plan to do something before it is actually done; it is a conscious decision to commit the offense (even though such a decision may occur only moments before the final act).
felony-murder doctrine
Under common law, the felony-murder doctrine maintained that any death resulting from the comission of, or attempt to commit, the crimes of arson, burglary, larceny, rape, or robbery was to be considered murder. In many contemporary legal statutes, the fe
inquisitorial system
Under this system the accused person was considered guilty until proven innocent. Divine intervention. Opposite of the adversary system.
inquiry system
all participants in law - judge, prosecutor, defense attorney, defendant, and witnesses - are obliged to cooperate with the court in its inquiry into crime. It is believed that the truth will emerge out of this inquiry. Utopian -> everyone will tell the w
adversary system
the accused person is presumed to be innocent and the burden of proof is placed on the court. In the adversary court, the judge is an impartial arbiter or referee between adversaries - the prosecution and the defense. OUR CURRENT SYSTEM.
substantive due process
refers to the content or subject matter of a law. It protects people against unreasonable, arbitrary, or capricious laws/acts of government.
void-for-vagueness doctrine
the rule that criminal laws that are unclear or uncertain as to what or to whom they apply violate due process.
arrest
taking a person into custody for the purpose of charging him/her with a crime
booking
refers to the administrative steps and procedures carried out by the police in order to record an arrest properly and officially.
initial appearance
within a reasonable time after arrest, the accused person must be brought before a magistrate and given a formal notice of the charge
preliminary hearing
the main purpose of the preliminary hearing is to protect defendants from unwarranted prosecutions. They are rare.
indictment
formal charging document based on the grand jury's determination that there is sufficient cause for a trial.
arraignment
actual trial process begins. The accused person is taken before a judge, the formal charges are read, and the defendant is asked to enter a plea: guilty, not guilty, nolo contendre (no contest), standing mute.