Thompson- Chapter 4
Terms
undefined, object
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- criminal law
- behavioral code between individual and state
- civil law
- behavioral code between individuals
- penal code
- the criminal law of a political jurisdiction
- tort
- a violation of the civil law
- substanive law
- the body of law that defnes criminal offenses and their penalties
- procedural law
- the body of law the governs the ways in which substantive laws are to be administered (how we need to do things)
- due process of law
- the rights of people suspected of or charged with crimes
- politically, specificity, regularity, uniformity, penal sanction
- ideal characteristics of the criminal law
- politically
- an ideal characteristic of criminal law, referring to its legitimate source; only violations of the rules made by the state , the political jursidiction that enacted the laws, are crimes
- specificity
- an ideal characteristic of criminal law, referring to its scope; although civil law may be general in scope, criminal law should provide strict definitions of specific acts
- regularity
- an ideal characteristic of criminal law: the applicability of the law to all persons, regardless of social status
- uniformity
- an ideal characteristic of criminal law: the enforcement of tha laws against anyone who violates them, regardless of social status
- penal sanction
- an ideal characteristic of criminal law: the principle that violators will be punished or at least threatened with punishment by the state
- precedent
- a case that forms a potential basis for deciding the outcomes of similar cases in the future; a by-product of decisions made by trial and appellate court judges, who produce case law whenever they render a decision in a particular case
- stare decisis
- the principle of using precendents to guide future decisions in court cases
- searches
- exploraions or inspections, by law enforcement officers, of homes, premises, vehicles, or persons, for the purpse of discovering evidence of crimes or perons who are accused of crimes
- seizures
- the taking of persons or property into custody in response to violations of the criminal law
- warrant
- a written order from a court directing law enforcement officers to conduct a search or to arrest a person
- arrest
- the seizure of a person or the taking of a person into custody, either actual physical custody, as when a suspect is handcuffed by a police officer, or constructive custody, as when a person is peacefully submits to a police officer's control
- contraband
- an illegal substance or object
- mere suspicion
- the standard of proof with the least certainty; a "gut feeling"; a mere suspicion, a law enforcement officer cannot legally even stop a suspect
- resonable suspicion
- a standard of proof that is more that a gut feeling; it includes the ability to articulate reasons for the suspicion; with reasonable suspicion, a law enforcement officer is legally permitted to stop and frisk a suspect
- frisking
- conducting a search for weapons by lightly patting the outside of a suspect's clothing, efeling for hard objects that might be a weapon
- probable cause
- the amount of proof necessary for a reasonably intelligent person to suspect that a crime has been committed or that items connected with criminal activity can be found in a particular place; it is the standard of proof needed to conduct a search or to make an arrest
- preponderance of evidence
- evidence that outweighs the opposing evidence, or sufficient evidence to overcome doubt or speculation
- clear and convincing evidence
- the standard of proof required in some civil cases and, in federal cases, the standard of proof necessary for a defendant to make a successful claim of insanity
- beyond a reasonable doubt
- the standard of proof neccessary to find a defendant guilty in a criminal trial
- exclusionary rule
- the rule that illegally seized evidence must be excluded from trials in federal courts
- double jeopardy
- the trying of a defendant a second time for the same offence when jeopardy attached in the first trial and a mistrial was not declared
- self-incrimination
- being a witness against oneself; if forced, it is a violation of the Fifth Amendment
- confession
- an admission by a person accused of a crime that he or she committed the offense charged
- doctrine of fundamental fairness
- the rule that makes confessions inadmissible in criminal trials if they were obtained by means of either psychological manipulation or "third-degree" methods
- venue
- the place of the trial; must be geographically appropriate
- subpoena
- a written order issued by a court that requires a person to appear at a certain time and place to give a testimony; it can also require that documents and objects be made available for examination by the court