MIDTERM EXAM
CJ 110
(Chapters 1-3 and a pinch of 4)
EXAM INSTRUCTIONS:
Using ONLY “Course Mail” located on our class blackboard site, please send me
answers to each of the questions below (if you don’t yet know where the Backboard
“Course Mail” feature is, please ask before acting; do not send your answers to my regular
MC email address). As I’ve sent you this exam via “Course Mail,” the easiest approach is
obviously to simply reply to my “Course Mail.” Failure to send me your answers via “Course
Mail” will result in a point deduction. For certain. Really. No kidding.
Your “Course Mail” reply to me should look like this:
1. T
2. F
3. T
4. F
5. T
6. T ...
...
48. B
49. C
50. D
EXAM SCORING:
Each question is worth 2 points. There are a total of 100 available points. If 90% or better
of your answers are correct, you’ll have scored an “A.” Be happy, be proud, call your
parents and/or a significant other and consider law school. If between 80 and 89% of your
answers are correct, you’ll have scored a “B.” Be largely happy, call your parents and/or a
significant other and consider law school. If between 70 and 79% are correct, you'll have
scored a “C.” Be a little disappointed, gear up for a better outing on the final and consider
law school. If you score lower than 70%, you may want to better keep up with the reading,
pay greater attention in class and contact me so that we might figure out a way to right the
ship while that’s still within reach. And, consider law school. Of course, I’m always available
to chat with any of you about anything, anytime.
YOUR EXAM:
PART 1: TRUE/FALSE
1) The “Conflict Model,” used to explain how society determines which acts are criminal
an which acts are not, assumes that as people gather together to form a society, its
members will naturally come to a basic agreement with regard to shared norms and values,
thereby making the writing of society's laws a reasoned and collaborative process. True or
false?
2) For a criminal defendant to be convicted at trial, the prosecution must establish that she
knowingly committed an illegal act, meaning that she was aware of the act’s illegality (or at
least suspected this to be the case). True or false?
3) “Deviance” is defined as an objective category of behavior that is deemed “criminal” and
therefore worthy of statutory punishments to include any penalty that doesn’t violate the
8th Amendment’s prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment. True or false?
4) One purpose of the criminal justice system, referred to in your textbook as
“Maintaining Justice,” prioritizes crime control through the arrest, prosecution and
punishment of wrongdoers, justifying harsh punishments as an effort to deter future
criminal behavior. True or false?
5) “Norepinephrine” is a highly effective nasal decongestant that’ll knock the snot out of a
head-cold (get it: knock the snot out of a head-cold?). True or false?
6) The Marxist critique of western capitalism and criminal justice has no relevance today,
as the fundamental components of that criticism have long since been abandoned in
modern American political discourse. True or false?
7) “Murder in The First Degree” comes in two flavors: it’s either an intentional killing
with premeditation, or it’s a foreseeable and intentional killing that occurs during the
commission of a felony. True or false?
8) Another purpose of our criminal justice system referred to in your textbook as
“Controlling and Preventing Crime,” prioritizes the complex idea that all individuals are
equal before the law and that everyone should be free from arbitrary arrest, seizure and
conviction. True or false?
9) The “Patriot Act” did each of the following: It expanded the definition of what it means
to engage in terrorist activity, it provided greater leeway for law enforcement to track
terrorism related internet usage and financial records, it provided for expanded wiretaps
re those who suspected of terrorist activity, and it made every February 15 “New England
Patriots Day.” True or false?
10) The “Maintaining Justice” purpose and the “Controlling and Preventing Crime”
purpose live largely in harmony, the priorities of each never conflicting with the other.
True or false?
11) “Positivism” and “Modern Rational Theories of Crime” hold that deterrence is the
single best asset available to law enforcement. True or false?
12) The “Crime Control Model” and the “Due Process Model” of American criminal justice
live largely in harmony, as the priorities of each never conflict with the other. True or false.
13) Though heavily researched, scientists have failed to establish any connection between
injury or damage to the brain's frontal lobe and sudden onset of impulsivity and violent
behavior. True or false?
14) Non-criminal, civil attorneys pursuing a big payday by way of a civil lawsuit against the
manufacturers of a dangerous and defective swimming pool filtration system serve no
purpose other than to make their clients and themselves a lot of cash. True or false?
15) An overabundance of “Dopamine” may indicate a predisposition for acting like a dope.
True or false?
16) An example of a “Mala Prohibita” offense is premeditated murder. True or false?
17) An example of a “Mala In Se” offense misdemeanor possession of marijuana as defined
in a majority of criminal jurisdictions in the United States today. True or false?
18) Before the development of the English “Common Law” and the principle of “Stare
Decisis,” criminal matters were resolved in a fair and consistent way because judges
honored both their own previous rulings and the prior decisions/reasoning of judges
who’d ruled previously on similar matters. True or False?
19) “Stare Decisis” is a common law doctrine that entails the following of “legal
precedent” that was critical to the period before the American Revolution, but which has
little meaning today. True or false?
20) “Positivism” theorizes that criminals are throwbacks to the savagery of early
humankind and can be identified by specific characteristics such as excessive plastic
surgery, over-accessorizing and a love of “The Housewives of Beverly Hills.” True or false?
21) The plastic surgeon who sent Michael Jackson home with a bottle of a powerful and
potentially dangerous anesthetic that his patient then misused and consequently died from
is guilty of “Justifiable Homicide.” True or false?
22) 18-22 year old men tend to commit well more than their share of bank fraud, illegal
and high-dollar wire transfers, and illegal acquisition/possession of Taylor Swift music.
True or false?
23) The “Consensus Model,” used to explain how society determines which acts are
criminal in which acts are not, assumes that as people gather together to form a society, its
members will naturally come to a basic agreement with regards to shared norms and
values, thereby making the writing of society’s laws a reasoned and collaborative process.
True or false?
24) The “Crime Control Model” of American criminal justice assumes that the police and
prosecution are in a better position than judges to determine guilt, that judges should
operate on a presumption of guilt on the theory that if police and prosecutors say
something is so, it is so, and that they (judges) should place as few restrictions as possible
on police investigative technique. True or false?
25) The “Due Process Model” of American criminal justice emphasizes fairness and due
process for the criminally accused over the absolute efficiency associated with the “Crime
Control Model.” True or false?
26) When crime rates are high, the “Crime Control Model” tends to exercise greater
control over the criminal justice system; when crime rates are low, the “Due Process
Model” is more likely to appear. True or false?
27) “Choice Theories of Crime” presume that the basis for all criminal conduct is a
cost/benefit analysis (“do the potential benefits associated with having committed this
crime outweigh the risk of going to jail”) conducted by an individual contemplating the
commission of a crime, all driven in turn by that individual's free will. True or false?
28) “Modern Rational Theories of Crime” assert that the motivation for criminal conduct
is determined by biological, psychological and physiological forces. True or false?
29) The “Seduction of Crime Theory” suggests that a rewarding “rush” associated with
committing a crime may be almost “sensual” in nature, and that it serves as a motivating
variable in the cost benefit analysis associated with the “Rational Choice Theory.” True or
false?
30) Sigmund Freud argued that our actions are impacted and driven by our unconscious
minds, that we are unaware of this process and that we have no control over the choices we
make. True or false?
31) Your professor thinks Sigmund Freud was largely insane and generally bat-shit crazy.
True or false?
32) “Social Disorganization Theories of Crime” emphasize the relationship between inner
city residents and their environment, arguing that crime is a result of a breakdown in
traditional institutions like the family and schools. True or false?
33) “Under Labeling Theory,” those identified by schools, family, friends and/or the
criminal justice system as specific sorts of criminals (“addict,” “prostitute,” “thief”) tend
over time to get comfortable with their labels and live up to their reputation by committing
more of the sorts of offenses that they've been associated with. True or false?
34) “Mala Prohibita Offenses” are criminal wrongs so defined because society has
decided, at a particular moment in history, to define in treat them in this way, and not
because they are inherently wrong. True or false?
35) “Mala In Se Offenses” are considered wrong because they violate natural, moral and
publicly acknowledged principles of society, and would likely be wrong even if there were
no law prohibiting them. True or false?
36) The Uniform Crime Report is a flawed measure of crime in America in part because it
relies so heavily both upon local law enforcement and upon individual crime victims, each
likely to sometimes provide distorted reflections of what may really be going on in their
communities and in their homes. True or false?
37) Female representation amongst those who stand convicted and/or imprisoned for a
crime in the United States is on the rise both because of the changing life circumstances of
women and because the of the criminal justice system's evolving attitude towards women.
True or false?
38) The Marxist criticism of capitalist society generally (and of capitalist criminal justice in
particular) is that capitalism creates laws that are specifically designed to keep the rich
powerful and to keep the common man under their thumb. True or false?
39) A famous American jurist named Oliver Wendell Holmes attempted to define the law
as a “...set of rules that allows one to predict how a court will resolve a particular dispute.”
True or false?
40) Today at least, I'm going to say this is the best class that I've ever taken because if I do
it's a layup worth an easy two points. True or false?
41) Taking a risk that you’re not aware of but that reasonable people would recognize, and
that involves a gross deviation from the level of care that a reasonable person would
exercise, is an example of “Criminal Negligence.” True or false?
42) Consciously and intentionally disregarding a known danger that represents a
substantial and justifiable risk of severe bodily injury or death is an example of “Criminal
Recklessness.” True or false?
PART 2: MULTIPLE CHOICE (FYI: The Constitution appears in its entirety at the back
of your textbook)
43) The fundamental Constitutional right to free expression, including burning a flag, flows
from which of the following:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
The First Amendment to the US Constitution
The Second Amendment to the US Constitution
The Fourth Amendment to the US Constitution
The Fifth Amendment to the US Constitution
The Sixth Amendment to the US Constitution
Yo’ Mama
WTF?
44) The fundamental Constitutional right to practice whatever religious faith you see fit, or
to practice no religious faith at all, with neither governmental sanction nor interference,
flows from which of the following:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
The First Amendment to the US Constitution
The Second Amendment to the US Constitution
The Fourth Amendment to the US Constitution
The Fifth Amendment to the US Constitution
The Sixth Amendment to the US Constitution
Yo’ Mama
WTF?
45) The fundamental Constitutional right to own a firearm flows from which of the
following:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
The First Amendment to the US Constitution
The Second Amendment to the US Constitution
The Fourth Amendment to the US Constitution
The Fifth Amendment to the US Constitution
The Sixth Amendment to the US Constitution
Yo’ Mama
WTF?
46) The fundamental Constitutional right to object to an unreasonable search or seizure by
law enforcement flows from which of the following:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
The First Amendment to the US Constitution
The Second Amendment to the US Constitution
The Fourth Amendment to the US Constitution
The Fifth Amendment to the US Constitution
The Sixth Amendment to the US Constitution
Yo’ Mama
7. WTF?
47) The fundamental Constitutional right to refuse to offer testimony against yourself, in
court or during the course of a criminal investigation, flows from which of the following:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
The First Amendment to the US Constitution
The Second Amendment to the US Constitution
The Fourth Amendment to the US Constitution
The Fifth Amendment to the US Constitution
The Sixth Amendment to the US Constitution
Yo’ Mama
WTF?
48) The fundamental Constitutional right to confront witnesses brought to testify against
you in a criminal trial flows from which of the following:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
The First Amendment to the US Constitution
The Second Amendment to the US Constitution
The Fourth Amendment to the US Constitution
The Fifth Amendment to the US Constitution
The Sixth Amendment to the US Constitution
Yo’ Mama
WTF?
49) The commonly held requirement that you treat people with kindness and as you'd
hope to be treated, that you not get all potty-mouth at the dinner table, and that you wash
your hands before sitting down to eat, flows from which of the following (hey: the correct
answer is “6”):
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
The First Amendment to the US Constitution
The Second Amendment to the US Constitution
The Fourth Amendment to the US Constitution
The Fifth Amendment to the US Constitution
The Sixth Amendment to the US Constitution
Yo’ Mama
WTF?
50) The legal prohibition against entering a firehouse and yelling “Movie!” is attributable to
which of the following (hey: the correct answer is “7.”):
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
The First Amendment to the US Constitution
The Second Amendment to the US Constitution
The Fourth Amendment to the US Constitution
The Fifth Amendment to the US Constitution
The Sixth Amendment to the US Constitution
Yo’ Mama
7. WTF?