Chapter 1: What Is Criminal Justice?

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Crime

Back 1

Conduct in violation of the criminal laws of a state, the federal government, or a local jurisdiction for which there is no legally acceptable justification or excuse.

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Individual rights

Back 2

The rights guaranteed to all members of American society by the U.S. Constitution, known as the bill of rights. These rights are particularly important to criminal defenses facing formal processing by the criminal justice system

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Social disorganization

Back 3

A condition said to exist when a group is faced with social change, uneven development of culture, maladaptiveness, disharmony, conflict, and lack of consensus.

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Individual rights advocate

Back 4

One who seeks to protect personal freedoms within the process of criminal justice

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Social order

Back 5

The condition of a society characterized by social integration, consensus, smooth functioning, and lack of social disorganization

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Public-Order advocate

Back 6

One who believes that under certain circumstances involving a criminal threat to public safety, the interests of society should take precedence over individual rights.

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Justice

Back 7

The principle of fairness; the ideal of moral equity.

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Social justice

Back 8

An ideal that embraces all aspects of civilized life and that is linked to fundamental notions of fairness and to cultural beliefs about right or wrong

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Civil justice

Back 9

The civil law, the law of civil procedures and activities having to do with private rights and remedies sought by civil action. Civil justice cannot be separated from social justice because the justice enacted in our nation's civil courts reflects basic American understandings of right and wrong.

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Criminal justice

Back 10

In the strictest sense, the criminal (penal) law, the law of criminal procedure, and the array of procedures and activities having to do with the enforcement of this body of law. Criminal justice cannot be separated from social justice because the justice enacted in our nation's criminal courts reflects basic American understandings of right and wrong.

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Administration of justice

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The performance of any of the following activities: detection, apprehension, detention, pretrial release, post-trial release, prosecution, adjudication, correctional supervision, or rehabilitation of accused persons or criminal offenders

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Criminal justice system

Back 12

The aggregate of all operating and administrative or technical support agencies that perform criminal justice functions. The basic divisions of the operational aspects of criminal justice

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Consensus model

Back 13

A criminal justice perspective that assumes that the system's components work together harmoniously to achieve the social product we call justice.

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Conflict model

Back 14

A criminal justice perspective that assumes that the system's components function primarily to serve their own interests. According to this theoretical framework, justice is more a product of conflicts among agencies within the system than it is the result of cooperation among component agencies.

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Sustainable justice

Back 15

Criminal laws and criminal justice institutions, policies, and practices that achieve justice in the present without compromising the ability of future generations to have the benefits of a just society

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Sustainable justice

Back 16

Criminal laws and criminal justice institutions, policies, and practices that achieve justice in the present without compromising the ability of future generations to have the benefits of a just society

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Warrant

Back 17

In criminal proceedings, a writ issued by a judicial officer directing a law enforcement officer to perform a specified act and affording the officer protection from damages if he or she performs it.

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Booking

Back 18

A law enforcement/correctional administrative process officially recording an entry into detention after arrest and identifying the person,the place, the time, the reason for the arrest, and the arresting authority

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Booking

Back 19

A law enforcement/correctional administrative process officially recording an entry into detention after arrest and identifying the person,the place, the time, the reason for the arrest, and the arresting authority

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Bail

Back 20

The money or property pledged to the court or actually deposited with the court to effect the release of a person from legal custody.

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Preliminary hearing

Back 21

A proceeding before a judicial officer in which 3 matters are decided: (1) whether a crime was committed. (2) whether the crime occurred within the territorial jurisdiction of the court, and (3) whether there are reasonable grounds to believe that the defendant committed the crime.

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Probable cause

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A set of facts and circumstances that would induce a reasonably intelligent and prudent person to believe that a specified person has committed a specified crime. Also, reasonable grounds to make or believe an accusation. Probable cause refers to the necessary level of belief that would allow for police seizures (arrests) of individuals and full searches of dwellings, vehicles, and possessions

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Information

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A formal, written accusation submitted to a court by a prosecutor, alleging that a specified person has committed a specified offense.

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Indictment

Back 24

A formal, written accusation submitted to the court by a grand jury, alleging that a specified person committed a specified offense, usually a felony.

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Grand jury

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A group of jurors who have been selected according to law and have been sworn to hear the evidence and to determine whether there is sufficient evidence to bring the accused person to trial, to investigate criminal activity generally, or to investigate the conduct of a public agency or official.

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Arraignment

Back 26

Strictly, the hearing before a court having jurisdiction in a criminal case in which the identity of the defendant is established, the defendant is informed of the charge and his or her rights, and the defendant is required to enter a plea. Also, in some usages, any appearance in criminal court before trial

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Trial

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In criminal proceedings, the examination in court of the issues of fact and relevant law in a case for the purpose of convicting or acquitting the defendant

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Consecutive sentence

Back 28

1 or 2 or more sentences imposed at the same time, after conviction for more than one offense,and served in sequence with the other sentence. Also a new sentence for a new conviction, imposed upon a person already under sentence for a previous offense, which is added to the previous sentence, thus increasing the max time the offender may be confined or under supervision

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Concurrent sentence

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1 or 2 or more sentences imposed at the same time, after conviction for more than 1 offense, and served at the same time. Also, a new sentence for a new conviction, imposed upon a person already under sentence for a previous offense, served at the same time as the previous sentence

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Due process

Back 30

A right guaranteed by the fifth, sixth, and fourteenth amendments of the U. S. Constitution and generally understood, in legal contexts, to mean the due course of legal proceedings according to the rules and forms established for the protection of individual rights. In criminal proceedings, due process of law is generally understood to include the following basic elements: a law creating and defining the offense, an impartial tribunal having jurisdictional authority over the case, accusation in proper form, notice and opportunity to defend, trial according to established procedure, and discharge from all restraints or obligations unless convicted.

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Crime-control model

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A criminal justice perspective that emphasizes the efficient arrest and conviction of criminal offenders.

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Due process model

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A criminal justice perspective that emphasizes individual rights at all stages of justice system processing.

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Social control

Back 33

The use of sanctions and rewards within a group to influence and shape behavior of individual members of that group. Social control is a primary concern of social groups and communities, and it is their interest in the exercise of social control that leads to the creation of both criminal and civil statues.

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Evidence-based practice

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Crime-fighting strategies that have been scientifically tested and are based on social science research

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Criminology

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The scientific study of the cause and prevention of crime, the rehabilitation, and punishment of offenders

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Multiculturalism

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The existence within one society of diverse groups to maintain unique cultural identities while frequently accepting and participating in the larger society's legal and political systems. Multiculturalism is often used in conjunction with the term diversity to identify many distinctions of social significance.