Midterm Flashcards
(111 cards)
1
Q
What is a felony?
A
crimes punishable for more than one year in prison
2
Q
What is a misdemeanor?
A
crimes punishable by less than one year
3
Q
what is wantonness?
A
knowing something is dangerous is likely to happen
4
Q
what is an example of wantonness
A
driving the wrong way on a freeway
5
Q
what is negligence and provide an example
A
failure to exercise normal caution EX: firing a gun at a party
6
Q
what are the 6 legal defenses for crime? provide examples.
A
- accident/mistake (driving car at safe speed and slip on ice and hit pedestrian)
- ignorance (someone gives you a package to mail with drugs in it but you did not know)
- duress/coercion (threatening life if they do not commit crime)
- self-defense (abused woman kills husband in SD)
- entrapment (law enforcement induced you to commit crime)
- insanity (person does not have mens rea)
7
Q
what is the first step in CJS process?
A
investigation and arrest/initial questioning
8
Q
what are some things that happen during pretrial?
A
preliminary hearing (charged with crime); bail is set or ROR; proceeding to the arraignment (enter plea)
9
Q
what does guilty plea lead to?
A
adjudication (trial) = acquittal or conviction; leads to sentencing phase
10
Q
what happens in sentencing phase
A
you enter correctional (prison sentence, jail, community service, house arrest, probation)
& appeals (errors in process)
11
Q
when can you have chance of parole
A
85% of sentence is served (earliest possible release date)
12
Q
what happens between 1 year and 6 months before seeing board?
A
psych evaluation and comprehensive risk assessment
13
Q
who sits in on parole suitability hearing?
A
one commissioner, one deputy commissioners, defense attorney, district attorney, family of victim
14
Q
what does offender bring to parole hearing?
A
list of program/rehab; letters of support, jobs offered, housing, and plants for post release
15
Q
what is the 3 strikes law?
A
legislation popular in 1990s; required life imprisonment for people convicted of a third felony
16
Q
was 3 strikes law successful? and why
A
no: violent crime dropped in states that did not enact this; many people with this sentence have aged out of crime; financial burden and overcrowding in prisons; replacement effect
17
Q
what is the difference between state and federal CJS
A
federal is constitutional violations and state is most criminal law
18
Q
who is the local, city, and county law enforcement
A
police, sheriffs, and DAs
19
Q
who are federal law enforcement?
A
FBI and federal courts
20
Q
what is difference between probation and parole?
A
probation (period of supervision) so sentence is offered by judge that is usually an alternative of incarceration
Parole: form of release before completion of sentence based on good behavior
21
Q
what did re Gault 1967 do
A
guaranteed due process clause for juvenile defendants (ex: child’s right to counsel, notify parents, safe guards against self incrimination)
22
Q
what is current law for death penalty
A
states decide if they want death penalty; CA is under moratorium
23
Q
what is process of execution
A
lethal injection, gas chamber, hanging, and shooting (lethal = anesthesia, freezing muscles, then stopping heart)
24
Q
trends of death penalty
A
DNA decreased death penalty executions (50% believe in death penalty)
25
pro death penalty arguments
general deterrence, retribution, and incapacitation
26
con death penalty
costs more than life sentence, states with death penalty do not have lower rates of homicides, brutalization effect, inadequate representation, wrongful executions, double racism
27
reasons for wrongful executions
eye-witness misidentification, perjured testimony, attorney misconduct, forensic error, police misconduct
28
Furman v. Georgia (1972)
strike down the death penalty and placed it on hold for 4 years; on grounds that it violated the 8th amendment for cruel and unusual punishment; the death penalty was arbitrary with no consistency
29
Gregg v. Georgia (1976)
Could be constitutional if there are aggravating and mitigating; these decide life with or life without parole
30
what are mitigating factors
lack of criminal history, poor mental health, childhood abuse
31
aggravating factors?
what makes you get death penalty: law enforcement officer was victim, rape/murder, victim was mutilated, victim was child
32
what are bifurcated trials
1. adjudication (trial deciding innocence vs guilt)
2. penalty is decided/sentencing phase
33
what does death qualified jury mean?
jurors have to be willing to impose death penalty if they come to that conclusion
34
who collects that NCVS
collected by census bureau and USDOJ
35
process of NCVS
phone survey of random houses
36
weakness of NCVS
does not include homicides; there may be a lot of unreported crime (dark figures)
37
strengths of NCVS
has characteristics of victims and offenders; has more crime reported than UCR; context of crime/settings/relationship to the offender
38
what is the uniform crime report
massive data collection from almost all of the nation's police precints
39
what is UCR reporting process
citizen - police - county - state - FBI
40
strengths of UCR
has multiple crimes in on incident
41
weakness of UCR
no national data only in 45 states; phased out after 2019; diversion of attention from white collar crime
42
national trends in crime and in SF?
nationally down on violent crime since 1990s; much more property crime since pandemic (people are forced to stay indoors); violent crime was up on homicide
43
what are the 4 justifications of punishment
retributions, deterrence, incapacitation, and rehabilitation
44
describe retributions
for punishment's sake (death penalty); why does it not work = brutalization effect
45
what is deterrence and who created idea
Bentham & Beccaria: people who are sent to prison may be less inclined to commit crimes when they get out because they don’t want to go back in or that potential offenders are deterred with the threat of being put behind bars
46
does deterrence work?
Research generally finds that arrest and punishment have only a weak deterrence effect on criminality
Evidence shows: length prison sentences and and mandatory minimums sentencing cannot justify deterrence
Some studies even find recidivism
47
what is incapacitation
as long as offenders are behind bars, they cannot commit crimes, at least not against people on the outside
48
does incapacitation work?
there has been no overall decrease in serious criminal violence and there have been sharp increases in many places; Imprisoning offenders cannot by definition prevent the crimes that got them convicted
- Replacement effect
- Prison paradox: broken families, lose the supervision, community instability, “tipping point” hyper incarceration (if community is over 2% incarcerated, crime rates increase)
49
what is reasoning for rehabilitation?
if we provide schooling, job training, drug treatment, or other services in prison offenders may be better able to avoid returning to crime when released
50
what is specific deterrence? provide example
when offenders already punished fear decide not to commit another crime for fear of recidivism
EX: A person has already received two speeding tickets and another one will result in further punishment so we avoid speeding
51
what is general deterrence? example too
when the general public do not break the law because they fear legal punishment; obey speed limit
52
what is selective incapacitation? and what is an example
Remove those who are more likely to commit the crime again (repeat offenders); 3 strikes law
53
what is chivalry hypothesis?
- Male officers do not arrest women because of notions of chivalry
- Women need to be protected not punished
- May be reluctant to use force on women
54
what is racial profiling and provide two examples:
racial profiling: the use of race/ethnicity as grounds for suspecting someone of a crime
Ex: driving while black, walking while black, use of force/AA more likely to be shot
55
what is double racism?
- Victim/offender race dynamics: double racism, both races of offender and victim impact the case
56
example when double racism is seen:
death penalty cases: more like to be executed when black offender and white victim than the other way around
57
what is liberation hypothesis
idea here is that in the most serious cases, there is little room for prosecutorial or judicial discretion to affect the sentence because a severe sentence is clearly in order BUT
in less serious cases, more discretion is possible which = more opportunity for racial bias
58
True or false: the more discretion that is possible in less serious cases, the more opportunity for racial biases?
true
59
what is evil woman hypothesis?
Because women are usually more virtuous than men, a woman suspected of a crime may seem that much worse by comparison
; Police would be more likely to arrest her
60
what is the in/out decision
determination of whether a convicted offender should be incarcerated or not (should sentence be served inside prison?)
61
class and quality of counsel
if you cannot afford to pay for a lawyer, they are awarded to you; often overworked and overpaid with heavy caseloads; most please guilty to avoid going through and paying for trial
62
What are a few things that caused mass incarceration?
mandatory minimums, three strikes law, war on drugs, change in parole, prison industrial complex, determinate sentencing
63
Brown v. Plata (2011)
CA must resolve overcrowding and bring up necessary access to health care; reduce by 30-35k inmates
64
how did Brown v. Plata resolve overcrowding?
realignment shift to counties; sent nonviolent offenders to county jails (nonviolent, nonsexual, and nonserious)
65
what is Prop 47
took 10 least violent felonies and made them misdemeanors
66
what is determinate sentencing?
whenever you get out you get out; judge has little discretion; fixed time (ex: 6 mo in county jail)
67
what is indeterminate sentencing?
EX: 5-10 years; range of years, release date is left open
68
what is the California sentencing law 1977
it eliminated discretionary parole and set a mandatory release date (mandatory minimums); made for more people in prison for longer period of time; removed rehabilitation as a goal
69
what is the prison industrial complex
monetary incentive; privatization; prison construction; 1980s
70
1980s
war on drugs, change in parole supervision (intensive supervision), prison industrial complex, prison guard union (classified as peace officers/police) and more guards
71
1990s
three strikes law, tough on crime, epidemic of violence concentrated on the young "superpredators", sent youths to adults prisons
72
5 sources of errors for wrongful convictions
1. eye-witness misidentification (such as cross racial like in Carlos De Luna)
2. perjured testimony (jail house snitches)/planted
3. attorney/prosecutorial misconduct (withholding exculpatory evidence)
4. police misconduct (planting evidence, coerced confessions)
5. forensic error or fraud (tainted or no DNA)
73
case of Henry McCollum and Leon Brown
both intellectually disabled; no physical evidence (ages 16 and 21); all based on interrogation; police signed confession
74
Kerry Max Cook
wrongly convicted of murder/rap and spent 2 decades on death row; DNA testing failed to implicated him; investigations revealed witnesses had lied and prosecutors hid evidence
75
clemente Javier Aguirre
undocumented citizen found neighbor's bodies; had blood on him; based on false testimony from mentally ill daughter; DNA matched her blood
76
Marilyn Mulero
deprived of sleep and attorney in interrogation; lawyer entered blind plea of guilty; no witnesses; threatened with larger punishment of death penalty
77
carlos de luna
based on sole eyewitness mis identification and cross identification; wrongful conviction and execution; lower IQ
78
what is the classical theory of crime based on?
people act with free will and calculate if their behavior will cause more pleasure or pain
79
what does classical theory say about legal punishment?
should be certain, swift, and severe (deterence); incapacitation
80
what are some critiques of classical theory?
assumes we are rational beings, no account of social factors; did not account for emotions
81
what is positivist theory?
focuses on biology, heredity, and genetics; "born a criminal"; result of their physical and psychic organization
82
what are some theories under positivist theory?
Phrenology = shape and size of the skull
Atavism = less evolved/developed/animal like
genetics/heredity = family trees
somatology: by William Sheldon (typology)
- endomorph (short and fat like santa clause) extrovert, happy
- ectomorph (tall thin) introvert, shy
- mesomorph (tall, larger, well built) aggression, impulsive, low IQ AND more likely to commit crime
83
what are the three factors for crime to be committed according to routine activities theory?
motivated offenders; attractive targets; and absence of guardianship
84
what are policy implications of routine activities theory?
target hardening; environmental crime control; situational crime prevention
EX: instal lighting in parking lots and parks, hot spot policing,
85
what theories have external versus internal locus of control?
demonology = external
classical = internal
positivist = internal
86
three penal reform movemements
mandatory minimums, truth in sentencing, and three strikes
87
what does prefrontal cortex control? and what happens when damaged?
decision making and social control
when damaged: become more aggressive and irritable; struggle with impulse inhibition
88
limbic system and amygdala controls and damage
connects sensory information to emotional response and center for motivation; impaired decision making
89
what does differential assocation (sutherland) theorize?
juveniles learn motivations and rationalizations for criminal behavior through direct contact with intimate personal groups
90
what are a few of propositions from Sutherland's theory?
Criminal behavior is learned
Learned through communications and interaction
Includes techniques AND motives/attitudes
Definitions of law as favorable or unfavorable
More unfavorable definitions of law = crime
91
what is differential identification (Glaser)?
no need to have direct contact with an individual to teach you; known as reference groups; you can learn from people you do not know like TV, movies, games, social media, etc
92
what are reference groups?
groups whose values/attitudes/or behaviors you admire and wish to copy; can be groups you already belong to or ones you wish to join
93
what did Sykes and Matza come up with
techniques of neutralization
94
what are the 5 techniques of neutralization?
denial of responsibility; denial of injury; denial of victim; condemnation of the condemners; appear to higher loyalties
95
what is mala prohibita
wrong because of the law like prostitution
96
what is mala in se
just inherently wrong (sexual assault/murder)
97
what is actus reus
physical acts that make up elements of the crime (stabbing)
98
what is mens rea
mental elements of the case (negligence, knowledge, intentions, etc.)
99
nolo contender
if you accept guilt, you accept consequences
100
impact of SES
o Quality of counsel
o Tend to police and prosecute street crime more than white collar crime (lower socioeconomic crime more often) = emphasis on street crime
o Cannot make bail; more likely to be convicted
o Plea bargaining: people who cannot afford are more likely to accept because trials are expensive and time consuming
101
impact of race
Decision to charge = statistics of charges being dropped at first stage of prosecution (decision to charge is higher for people of color during first stage) 59% of white dropped but 37% of latinx
Victim/defendant dynamic (race of victim and offender)
* Double racism = not only basing on their race but comparing to the other suspect or victim (valuing certain lives over others)
* More likely to have successful prosecution when victim is white and suspect is black
Current prison population (Caucasian 36% and minority is 64%)
102
what are "waivers" in juvenile cases
when a judge tranfers a juvenile case to adult court (tried as an adult)
103
roger v Simmons
juveniles cannot be executed
104
atkins v VA
intellectually disabled cannot be executed
105
proposals to combat innocent people being executed
o Video tape interrogations
o Outlawing capital punishment if based on one eyewitness
o Effective counsel (qualified and well funded)
o Judge cannot overrule jury
o Mandate DNA evidence
106
what are 2 paradigms for criminology?
consensus and conflict
107
describe consensus paradigm
assumes that law is neutral and used to maintain social order
108
what is conflict paradigm
law is a tool of oppression, represent the views of the just and powerful
109
what is the hedonic calculus
theory that pleasure rules your decision; most pleasure and least pain
110
crime control versus due process
Crime control = stresses the need to capture and process criminals in the most efficient manner possible
Due process = protect suspects from honest mistakes
111
describe the CJS process
refer to sheet
