Chapter 2

Front 1

Apprendi (bright-line) rule

Back 1

other than a prior conviction, any fact that increases the penalty for a crime beyond the prescribed statutory maximum; must be submitted to a jury and proved beyond a reasonable doubt.

Front 2

abuse-of-discretion standard

Back 2

an adjudicator’s failure to exercise sound, reasonable, and legal decision making.

Front 3

barbaric punishments

Back 3

punishment considered no longer acceptable.

Front 4

bench trial

Back 4

trials without juries, in which judges find the facts.

Front 5

case-by-case approach

Back 5

the facts and circumstances surrounding the way the felony was committed in the particular case, not the elements of the crime in the abstract, may be considered to determine whether it was dangerous to human life.

Front 6

chilling effect

Back 6

when people hesitate to express themselves because they fear criminal prosecution even though the Constitution protects their speech.

Front 7

constitutional democracy

Back 7

the balance between the power of government and the rights of individuals.

Front 8

criminal codes

Back 8

definitions of crimes and punishments by elected legislatures.

Front 9

cruel and unusual punishment

Back 9

punishments banned by the Eighth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

Front 10

equal protection of the laws

Back 10

criminal laws can treat groups of people differently only if the different treatment is reasonable.

Front 11

ex post facto laws

Back 11

laws passed after the occurrence of the conduct constituting the crime.

Front 12

express conduct (in First Amendment)

Back 12

nonverbal communication.

Front 13

fair notice (void-for-vagueness doctrine)

Back 13

vague laws deny individuals life, liberty, and property without due process of law because they don’t give individuals fair warning.

Front 14

fixed (determinate) sentences

Back 14

sentences that fit the punishment to the crime.

Front 15

fundamental right to privacy

Back 15

preferred right guaranteed in the Bill of Rights that requires a compelling state interest to justify legislation restricting privacy.

Front 16

mandatory minimum sentences

Back 16

the legislatively prescribed, nondiscretionary amount of prison time that all offenders convicted of the offense must serve.

Front 17

present danger

Back 17

danger that’s probably going to happen sometime in the future but not right now (self-defense).

Front 18

principle of proportionality

Back 18

a principle of law stating that the punishment must be proportional to the crime committed.

Front 19

retroactive criminal law making

Back 19

a person can’t be convicted of, or punished for, a crime unless the law defined the crime and prescribed the punishment before she acted; “the first principle of criminal law.”

Front 20

right to privacy

Back 20

a right that bans “all governmental invasions of the sanctity of a man’s home and the privacies of life.”

Front 21

rule of law

Back 21

the principles that require that established written rules and procedures define, prohibit, and prescribe punishments for crimes.

Front 22

Second Amendment

Back 22

the right to bear arms.

Front 23

sentencing guidelines

Back 23

a narrow range of penalties established by a commission within which judges are supposed to choose a specific sentence.

Front 24

three-strikes-and-you’re-out laws

Back 24

statutes enacted by state governments in the United States which require the state courts to hand down a mandatory and extended period of incarceration to persons who have been convicted of a serious criminal offense on three or more separate occasions.

Front 25

void-for-overbreadth doctrine

Back 25

the principle that a statute is unconstitutional if it includes in its definition of “undesirable behavior” conduct protected under the U.S. Constitution.

Front 26

void-for-vagueness doctrine

Back 26

the principle that statutes violate due process if they don’t clearly define crime and punishment in advance.