Chapter 1 Flashcards
(23 cards)
What is the criminal justice system?
The law enforcement, court, and correctional agencies that work together to effect the apprehension, prosecution, and control of criminal offenders.
What is the criminal justice process?
The decision-making points from the initial investigation or arrest by police to the eventual release of the offender and his or her reentry into society.
What was the Law Enforcement Assistance Administration (LEAA)?
An agency funded by the federal government’s Safe Streets Act that provided technical assistance and aid to local and state justice agencies between 1969 and 1982.
What is evidence-based justice?
Determining through the use of the scientific method whether criminal justice programs actually reduce crime rates and offender recidivism.
What is social control?
The control of an individual’s behavior by social and institutional forces in society.
What is the in-presence requirement?
With a few exceptions, in order to make an arrest in a misdemeanor, a police officer must have witnessed the crime personally.
What does nolle prosequi mean?
The term used when a prosecutor decides to drop a case after a complaint has been formally made.
What is a grand jury?
A type of jury responsible for investigating alleged crimes, examining evidence, and issuing indictments.
What is a true bill of indictment?
A written statement charging a defendant with the commission of a crime, drawn up by a prosecuting attorney and considered by a grand jury.
What is an information in criminal justice?
A charging document filed by the prosecution that forms the basis of the preliminary hearing.
What is a probable cause hearing?
Term used in some jurisdictions for a preliminary hearing to show cause to bring a case to trial.
(p. 12)
What does the term courtroom work group refer to?
The phrase used to indicate that all parties in the adversary process work together cooperatively to settle cases with the least amount of effort and conflict.
(p. 15)
What is the crime control perspective?
A model of criminal justice that emphasizes the control of dangerous offenders and the protection of society. Advocates call for harsh punishments as a deterrent to crime and support the availability of the death penalty.
(p. 17)
What is the rehabilitation perspective?
A view that the primary purpose of criminal justice is helping to care for people who cannot manage themselves. Crime is an expression of frustration and anger created by social inequality and can be controlled by giving people the means to improve their lifestyle through conventional endeavors.
(p. 18)
What does the due process perspective entail?
Due process provides the basic rights of a defendant in criminal proceedings and the requirements for a fair trial.
(p. 18)
What is the nonintervention perspective?
The view of criminal justice that emphasizes the least intrusive treatment possible. Among its central policies are decarceration, diversion, and decriminalization. In other words, less is better.
(p. 19)
What is decriminalization?
Reducing the penalty for a criminal act but not actually legalizing it.
(p. 20)
What does legalization mean?
The removal of all criminal penalties from a previously outlawed act.
(p. 20)
What is deinstitutionalization?
The policy of removing as many offenders as possible from secure confinement and treating them in the community.
(p. 20)
What is pretrial diversion?
A program that provides nonpunitive, community-based alternatives to more intrusive forms of punishment such as jail or prison.
(p. 20)
What does widening the net of justice refer to?
The view that programs designed to divert offenders from the justice system actually enmesh them further in the process by substituting more intrusive treatment programs for less intrusive punishment-oriented outcomes.
(p. 20)
What is the equal justice perspective?
The view that all people should be treated equally before the law. Equality may be best achieved through the control of individual discretion in the justice process.
(p. 20)
What is the restorative justice perspective?
A view of criminal justice that advocates peaceful solutions and mediation rather than coercive punishments.
(p. 21)
