Law III
Chapter One
Crime and Criminal
Justice
Learning Objectives
1. Discuss the importance of crime
and Violence in the United States.
 2. Discuss the concept of Criminal
Justice and how it has evolved since
the 18th Century.
 3. Describe the role of history and
the federal governments
involvement in criminal justice.
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Learning Objectives
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4. Describe the three main types of
agencies of the criminal justice system.
5. Describe the formal criminal justice
process. Identify each of the 15 steps in
the process and the actions taken in each
step.
6. Comprehend the role that the major
criminal justice agencies play in each of
the 15 steps of the formal criminal justice
process.
Learning Objectives
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7. Describe the operation of the informal
criminal justice process.
8. Describe the four layers of the criminal
justice wedding cake model and
connections to the informal criminal
justice process.
9. Describe the various perspectives of
contemporary criminal justice.
10. Analyze how the various perspectives
of criminal justice shape the policies of
the war on drugs.
Key Terms – 55 in Chapter
One
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Criminal Justice System
London Metropolitan Police
Wickersham Commission
The Crime Commission
Law Enforcement Assistance
Administration (LEAA)
Social Control
Legislature
Judiciary
More Key Terms
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Executive Branch
Formal Criminal Justice Process
Initial Contact
Arrest
Arrest Warrant
Probable Cause
In Presence Requirement
Custody
Even More Key Terms
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Charging
Nolle Prosequi
Preliminary Hearing (Probable Cause
Hearing)
Information
Grand Jury
Bill of Indictment
Arraignment
Bail
Still Going
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Plea Bargaining
Trial/Adjudication
Sentence/Disposition
Appeal/Postconviction Remedies
Appellate Courts
Correctional Treatment
Release
Postrelease
And going
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Criminal Justice Assembly Line
Criminal Justice Funnel
Courtroom Workgroup
Wedding Cake Model of Justice
Crime Control Perspective
Profiling
Rehabilitation Perspective
Due Process Perspective
Nonintervention Perspective
Were getting close
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Stigma
Decriminalization
Pretrial Diversion
Widening the Net
Justice Perspective
Truth in Sentencing Laws
Restorative Justice Perspective
Source Control
They finally end
Border Control
 Police Crackdowns
 Mandatory Minimum Sentence
 Drug Abuse Resistance Education
(DARE)
 Methadone Program
 Legalization
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Criminal Justice System
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The composite of the police, court,
and corrections agencies that seek
to prevent and respond to crime in
society.
London Metropolitan Police
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The first formal police agency,
developed in 1829 by Sir Robert Peel
to keep peace and identify criminals
on the streets of England’s capitol
city.
Wickersham Commission
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A national study group appointed by
President Hoover. The National
Commission of Law Observance and
Enforcement analyzed American justice
systems and uncovered the complex rules
and regulations that the govern the
system and exposed how difficult it was
for justice personnel to keep track of its
legal and administrative capability.
The Crime Commission

Refers to the President’s commission
on Law Enforcement and the
Administration of Justice, appointed
by President L. B. Johnson during
the tumultuous 1960’s. It created a
comprehensive view of the criminal
justice process and offered
recommendations for its reform.
Law Enforcement
Assistance Administration
LEAA
 Started with a provision in the Safe
Streets and Crime Control Act of
1968, this federal initiative provided
hundreds of millions of dollars in aid
to local and state justice agencies to
fund crime control efforts. The
program came to and in 1982.
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Social Control
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Functions of the Criminal justice
system that seek to control or
outlaw behaviors that are
considered dangerous to society.
Includes formalized efforts of
agencies and informal efforts to
private entities.
Legislature
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Branch of government that defines
the law by determining what
conduct is prohibited and establishes
criminal penalties for those who
violate the law.
Judiciary
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Branch of government that
interprets the existing law and
determines whether it meets
constitution requirements. Also
presides over the trial and appeals
process for accused criminals.
Executive Branch
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Branch of government that plans
programs, appoints personnel, and
exercises administrative
responsibility for criminal justice
agencies.
Formal Criminal Justice
Process

The Fifteen (15) step process that
takes an offender through a series
decision points beginning with initial
contact with law enforcement
officials and concluding reentry into
society.
Initial Contact

The first step in the formal criminal
justice process, occurs at the moment
that a suspected law violator comes to
the attention of law enforcement officials.
This can include an officer observing a
crime, receiving a report from a victim, or
being directed to the situation by a
private citizen or government official.
Arrest

The moment a person is taken into
custody and consequently believes
that he or she has lost his or her
liberty. An action used to restrain
the accused until he/she can be held
accountable via court proceedings.
Arrest Warrant
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A court order that empowers any
police officer to arrest a suspect and
bring that named individual before
the court.
Probable Cause

A legal standard that exist when a
police officer believes there is
sufficient evidence that a crime is
being or has been committed and
that that suspect is the person who
committed it.
In-Presence Requirement
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The requirement that a police officer
must have witnessed a
misdemeanor crime personally in
order to make an arrest.
Custody
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The moment after an arrest is made.
Once in custody, the police may wish
to perform a lawful search,
interrogate or gather personal
information from the accused.
Charging
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A step in the formal criminal justice
process in which the accused is
turned over to the prosecutor who
then formally alleges violation of
specific criminal statutes.
Nolle Prosequi
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A decision on the part of the
prosecutor to dismiss a case and
take no further action against the
accused.
Preliminary Hearing
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AKA – Probable Cause Hearing
Alternative to the grand jury. The
defendant and the defense attorney
appear before a judge to dispute the
prosecutor’s charges.
Suspect will stand trial if the judge
accepts the prosecutor’s evidence as
factual. T must be held within 48 hours of
arrest.
Information
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A charging document filed before a
lower trial court at the preliminary
hearing that details the merits of the
state’s case against the accused.
Grand Jury
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A group of private citizens brought
together to consider the merits of a
case as presented by the prosecutor
in order to determine if there is
probable cause that the accused
committed the crime with which he
or she is charged.
Bill of Indictment
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A document issued by the grand
jury that specifies the charges on
which the accused will stand trial if it
considers evidence as sufficient to
warrant a trial.
Arraignment
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The court hearing in which the
formal charges are read, the
defendant is advised of his or her
constitutional rights, the initial plea
is entered, a trial date is set, and
bail is considered.
Bail
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A money bond levied to insure the
return of a criminal defendant for
trial while allowing the person
pretrial freedom to prepare a
defense to the charges.
Plea Bargaining
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The exchange for a guilty plea for a
reduction or dropping of some of the
charges or for a more lenient
sentence. Determined in
consultation between the prosecutor
and the defense and approved by a
judge or a magistrate.
Trial/Adjudication
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A court proceeding held before a
judge or jury to decide whether the
prosecution evidence against the
defendant is sufficient beyond a
reasonable doubt to prove guilt.
Sentence/Disposition
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Formal sanctions handed down by
the court against a person convicted
of a crime.
Appeal/Postconviction
Remedies
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Formal actions taken by a defendant
who seeks to challenge some aspect
of his or her guilty verdict.
Appellate Courts
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Those courts in which defendants
appeal when they believe that they
did not receive fair treatment or that
their constitutional rights were
violated.
Correctional Treatment
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Postconviction programs or actions
taken on the part of justice
authorities to aid in the successful
readjustment to society.
Release
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Point in the formal criminal justice
process when the convicted
individual is determined to have paid
his or her debt to society and is now
free o resume their life in the
community.
Postrelease
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Period in which a person who has
been recently released from a
correctional facility is subject to
programs that seek to reintegrate
him or her back into free society.
Criminal Justice Assembly
Line

Term used to describe the endless
stream of cases hat are subject to
sequential decision points of the
formal criminal justice process.
Criminal Justice Funnel
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Term used to describe the screening
out effect that occurs as cases are
processed through the formal
criminal justice process.
Courtroom Workgroup
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Group made up of the prosecutor,
defense attorney, judge, and other
court personnel that cooperate to
enhance the efficiency of the
adjudication process through the
use plea bargains and other
alternatives.
Wedding Cake Model of
Justice

Samuel Walker’s dramatic way of
describing the informal justice
process by comparing it to a four
layer Wedding Cake.
Crime Control Perspective
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A model of criminal justice that
maintains that the proper role of the
criminal justice system is to prevent
crime through the judicious use of
criminal sanctions.
Profiling

Practice on the part of law
enforcement officers that seeks use
of behavior or demographic markers
to more efficiently identify persons
who are thought to engage in
improper behavior.
Rehabilitation Perspective
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A model of criminal justice that sees
crime as an expression of frustration
against social inequality and seeks
to use treatment approaches to help
people who cannot manage for
themselves.
Due Process Perspective
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A model of justice that emphasizes
individual rights and safeguards
aimed at making the system run in
an efficient and fair manner against
those accused of crime.
Nonintervention Perspective
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A model of justice that favors limited
involvement on the part of formal
agencies against crime defendants.
Stigma

Enduring label that taints a person’s
identity or changes him or her in the
eyes of others.
Decriminalization
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The reduction of penalties and/or
the legalization of specific criminal
offenses.
Pretrial Diversion

Informal, community based
treatment programs used to
minimize formal contact with the
criminal justice system, specifically
incarceration.
Widening the Net
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Assertion that new laws and justice
programs serve to unnecessarily
stigmatize individuals and broaden
the scope of justice involvement in
citizens lives.
Justice Perspective
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A model of criminal justice
maintaining that all people should
not receive the same treatment
under the law.
Truth in sentencing Law
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Legislative mandates that specify
the portion of an incarceration
sentence that must be satisfied
before an individual is eligible for
early release.
Restorative Justice
Perspective
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A model of Justice asserting that the
true purpose of the criminal justice
should be to promote a peaceful and
just society through mutual aid and
mediation, not punishment.
Source Control
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Crime control policy initiative that
seeks to cut off supplies of drugs by
destroying crops and arresting
members of drug cartels in drugproducing countries.
Border Control
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Crime control policy that uses
border patrols and military
personnel to interdict drug supplies
as they enter the country.
Police Crackdowns
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Crime control policy initiative that
utilizes local, state and federal law
enforcement agencies to combat
large-scale drug rings or the streetlevel drug deals.
Mandatory Minimum
Sentence

Legislative mandate that restricts
judicial discretion by specifying a
minimum sentence that a judge
must hand down to anyone
convicted of a specific criminal
charge.
Drug Abuse Resistance
Education (DARE)

Elementary school course designed
to give students the skills for
resisting peer pressure to
experiment with tobacco, drugs and
alcohol.
Methadone Program
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Drug treatment program in which
controlled dispensing of a synthetic
narcotic is substituted for heroine as
a way of accomplishing abstinence.
Legalization

Noninterventionist perspective
calling for the removal of all criminal
penalties from a previously outlawed
act.
End of Key
Terms for
Chapter One !