Silence of the Lambs (1)

The 1991 film Silence of the Lambs was an intriguing film. I enjoyed watching the movie. Anthony Hopkins does an excellent job in playing the mad psychiatrist, Hannibal Lector. In the movie, Hannibal Lector is an intelligent man who is both gracious and cruel at the same time. The psychological aspect of the movie was what I enjoyed most. Lector and Jodie Foster's character (Clarice Starling) share a unique bond in the film . Towards the end of the movie, when Lector escapes Starling is well assured that he will not come after her. She states that he would find it rude. Lector affirms this assumption when he calls to congradulate her after her graduation for the FBI academy. I am now eager to watch the remainding films.

Chapter Seven Vocabulary and Outline

Chapter Seven "The Criminal Justice System" Vocabulary

policing: enforcing the law by apprehending violators and thereby protecting citizens. Crime prevention and social services such as education of the public are more recent emphases in law enforcement.

limited jurisdiction: the jurisdiction of courts that have narrow legal authority over specific types of matter (e.g. surrogat court, tax court)

general jurisdiction: the jurisditcion of courts where most trials for felonies occur, as well as trials in major civil cases

appellate jurisdiction: the jurisdiction of courts that review specific legal issues raised in trial courts.

local jails: facilities used to detain adults awaiting trial and offenders serving sentences of one year or less.

probation: a system under which a person convicted of a crime serves a sentence in the community under the supervision of a probation officer

Bill of Rights: the first ten ammendments to the Constitution - details many of the requirements for adjudication such as arrests, warrants, searches, trials, lawyers, punishment, and other important aspects of criminal procedure

Fourth Amendment: Amendment to the Constitution that prohibits searches without probable cause.

probable cause: a reasonable link between a specific person and a particular crime; the legal threshold required before police can arrest or search an individual.

warrant: a sworn statement by police that attests to the existence of probable cause in a given case; it is signed by a judge who agrees with the officer's assessment of the facts

arrest: process of taking a suspect into custody for the purpose of prosecution

booking: a procedure in which an official record of the arrest is made

summons: a written notice to appear in court

bail: a form of pretrial release where the court holds money or property to ensure that the arrestee will appear for trial.

surety: bail posted by a bondsman on behelf of an arrestee

plea: a statement of innocence or guilt

arraignment: a hearing in where the defendant is informed of the charges and of his/her rights, enters a plea.

information: a formal accusation of a crime filed by a prosecutor based on the findings of a preliminary hearing.

grand jury: a group of citizens who hear the evidence presented by a prosecutor to determine whether probable cause exists to hold a person for trial.

indictment: a formal accusation of a crime based on the vote of a grand jury.

bench trial: a trial in which the judge determines guilt or innocence

jury trial: a trial in which the jury determines guilt or innocence

acquittal: a finding after trial of not guilty.

conviction: a finding of guilt beyond a reasonable doubt

sentencing: a judge's decision as to what is to be the most appropriate punishment, given the type of crime and offender, and within a specified range established by law.

presentence: an investigation by the probation department that seeks information regarding the offender's personal and social background, criminal record, and any other information that may help the judge match the sentence to the offender.

incarceration: segregation of offenders from the rest of the community in jails or prisons, to rehabilitate, incapacitate, or punish them and to deter others from committing similar crimes.

parole: a phase of the criminal justice system in which an offender completes the end of a prison sentence under supervision in the community.

appeal: a review of lower courts decisions by a higher court to look for errors of law or procedure.

justices: the title of the judges of an appellate court.

mistrial: a trial that has been declared invalid because of a substantial error in law or procedure.

Outline.

I. What are the Agencies of Criminal Justice?

A. Law Enforcement - exists at all levels of government ( federal, state, and local)
expected to perform four tasks: protect people and their rights, apprehend those who violate the law, prevent crimes, and provide social services.
Federal law enforcement officers are charged with enforcing federal laws, state officers enforce state laws, local police enforce both state & local laws.

B. Courts- in crimimal courts legal responsibility is determined through interpretation of the law in relation to the circumstances of the individual cases.
Courts can be grouped into the federal court system and the state court system.
Both systems have 3 basic types of jursidiction:
1. Courts of Limited Jurisdiction - narrow legal authority (tax courts)
2. Courts of General Jurisdiction - trial courts
3. Appellate Jurisdiction - highest level; review specific legal issues raised by cases in courts with general jurisdiction.

C. Corrections - exists at all three levels of government. There are more then 6,000 correctional facilities in the U.S.

It is important to think of the criminal justice system as a filter. The filter provides multiple opportunities for the system to correct itself as a case moves through it.

II. What is Procedural Law?
- A very important part of the process, because it specifies how people accused of crimes will be treated (Bill of Rights First Ten Amendments.)

A. Law, Investigation and Arrest
-First requirement: a suspected violation of law based on a specific criminal law.
First action to be taken by police. investigation.

B. The Fourth Amendment and Probable Cause
The Fourth Amendment protects individuals against searches and seizures conducted without a warrant specifying "probable cause".

C. Arrest
To carry out a valid arrest, a police officer must have probable cause to believe that a specific person committed a particular illegal act. This requires a reasonable link between person and crime. Following as arrest, the suspect is booked.

III. What is Involved in Criminal Court Procedure?
Provides the legal linkage among the agencies of the criminal justice system.

A. Initial Appearance and Preliminary Hearing
After an arrest and booking, the suspect must be brought before a judge within a reasonable period of time. The initial appearance the arrestees are given formal notice of the charge(s) for which they are being held. Also informed of legal rights. Bail is set.
Following the initial appearance is the preliminary hearing in which a judge determines whethere there is probable cause to hold the arrestee for trial.

B. Grand Jury, Indictment, Arraignment
In the U.S. grand juries consists of 16-23 people who are usually selected from voter registration rolls in the same way as trial juries. Evidence is presented by the prosecutor and members of the grand jury can question witnesses. Defendant is not allowed to attend grand jury proceedings. The secrecy of grand jury proceedings and the absense of defense counsel can lead to abuse.
If majority of the members of a grand jury believe there is probable cause to hold the accused for trial, they issue a "true bill" or indictment, in which the accused is formally charged with the crime. After grand jury votes to indict, the defendant is arraigned.
-Defendants generally have four alternatives in making a plea. They can plead
guilty, nolo contendere, no plea, or not guilty.

C. Trial and Conviction
After the arraignment a trial takes place in one of two formats, bench trial or jury trial.
A finding of not guilty is an aquittal. A finding of guilty is a conviction.

D. Sentencing and Appeals
In sentencing the judge decides what is to be the most appropriate punishment, given the type of crime and type of offender. The judge's discretion is guded only by the minimun and maximun sentence for a certain crime.

IV. What are Some Concerns abouth the Criminal Justice System?
Cost & the effect of the rules of criminal procedure on efforts to obtain truth, and justice in the criminal justice process.

A. The Cost of Justice
Each yeaer federal, state, and local governments spend $147 billion on civil and criminal justice system agencies. Largest share ($65 billion) goes to police, then corrections ($49 billion). Nearly 2.2. million people are employed in the justice system. The primary reason the cost of justice is so high is because the public actively encourages the legislatures to "do something" about crime, spending on prisons/police is a popular way to "do something" about crime.

B. Fairness in Adjudication
Racial discrimination, erroneous convictions in court, and disparity among judges in sentencing similar offenders for similar crimes.

Chapter 6 Vocabulary & Outline

Chapter Six "Criminal Law" Vocabulary

civil law: formal rules that regulate disputes between private parties

criminal law: formal rules designed to maintain social control

substantive criminal law: laws defining the specific behaviors prohibited under the criminal law

procedural law: the rules for adjudication of individuals suspected of violating the law

constitutions: the fundamental principles of a society that guide the enactment of specific laws and the applications of those laws by courts

statutes: specific laws passed by legislatures that prohibit or mandate certain acts

ordinances: laws that apply to a specific country, city or town

criminal (penal) code: a compilation of all the criminal laws of a jurisdiction

case law: judicial application and interpretation of law as it applies in a given case

precedents: previous court decisions that are followed in current cases to ensure consistency in the application of the law

administrative regulations: rules applied to organizations that are designed to protect public health, safety and welfare in the marketplace

consensus view: the view that law reflects societys consensus regarding behavior that is harmful enough to warrant government intervention

conflict view: the view that an act becomes a crime only when it serves the interests of those in positions of power

jurisdiction: the authority of a state, county, or city to apply its own laws within its own territory

common law: the body of unrecorded decisions made by English judges in the Middle Ages, reflecting the values, customs, and beliefs of the period.

criminal justice system: more than 50,000 government agencies in the United States that deal with aspects of crime, including criminal law enforcement, the courts, and corrections.

due process (constitutional): a legal protection included in the U.S. Constitution that guarentess all citizens the right to be adjudicated under established law & legal procedures.

mens rea: the 'guilty mind' or conscious decision to commit a criminal act

actus rea: the behaviors that must be committed to meet the definition of a crime.

criminal liability: establishing the presence of the elements of a crime in a given case, thereby subjecting the accused person to criminal penalties

constructive possession: a condition in which a person has the opportunity to exercise control over an object

actual possession: a condition in which a person has exclusive control over an object

reasonableness standard: a standard under which persons are cupable for their actions if they understand the consequences of those actions. Young children and the mentally ill are generally not held culpable owing to their inability to reason effectively.

intention: conscious purposiveness in conduct; a factor in the determination of criminal responsibility

insanity defense: a claim that the defendant was not sane under law at the time of the act

battered woman syndrome: an ongoing pattern of sever physical abuse that constitutes a continual threat of harm

duress: a defense in which a person claims to have engaged in criminal conduct because of a threat of immediate and serious bodily harm by another person.

necessity: a defense in which a person claims to have engaged in otherwise criminal behavior because of the forces of nature

mistake of fact: a defense in which a person claims that honest ignorance rules out the presesnce of a 'guilty mind'

ignorance of law: a defense in lwhich a defendant claims that law is not widely known and that the person couls not have been expected to be aware of it.

entrapment: a defense designed to prevent the government from manufacturing crime by setting traps for unwary citizens.

Outline
I. What is Criminal Law?
- The law can be divided into two basic categories:
Civil & Criminal Law
Civil laws are concerned primarily with issues of personal injury and compensation.
Most law is civil law.
Violations of criminal law are considered crimes against society.
The difference betweern the two would be in their objectives:
punishment in one case and compensation in another.

Criminal Law can be divided into two categories:
Substantive Criminal Law defines behaviors that
are prohibited
Procedural Law provides the rules for adjudication of cases
involving those behaviors

A. Four Sources of American Law
1. Constitutions, which are the fundamental principles that guide the enactment of
specific lawas and the interpretations of courts.
2. Statutues, which are the specific laws passed by state legislatures or the U.S Congress that
prohibit or mandate certain acts.
3. Case Las involves the judges' interpreting laws passed by legislature to determine their applicability
in a given case or to clarify meaning.
4. Administrative Regulations are the fourth source of criminal law. Theses regulations have
the force of criminal law to the extent that they can provide criminal penalties.

II. How did the American System of Law and Justice develop?
-derived from British common law.
reflect the social values, customs, and beliefs of the period.
Criminal Justice system - a string of 55,000 independent government agencies
that have been set up to deal with different aspects of crime and the treatment of offenders, including law enforcement, the courts, and corrections.

A. A system of justice evolves in a society in order to enforce rules, resolve disputes and administer punishment. In the U.S. this oocured in the colonial period as small, religiously and culturally similar communities evolved into larger towns and cities with mor diverse population.

B. The criminal justice process has two fundamental goals: Fairness and Accuracy

C. Colonial, revolutionary and frontier justice was less formal than it is today because of the more sparse and homogenous population in early America.

III. How Does The Law Define The Elements of a Crime?

A. No crime can exist without 3 elements:
mens rea (guilty mind), actus reus (a specific behavior) and attendant circumstances ( a specific relationship between the act and the harm that results).

1. Five characteristics of acts can invoke criminal sanctions:
sufficiency, posssession, status, voluntariness, and omission.

B. Punishments for violations of criminal behavior are based on assessment of the offenders state of mind, including degree of recklessness (conscious disregard for a substantial and unjustifiable risk) and intention (whether the act was carried out knowingly or purposely).

-For an act to be considered a crime, the harm suffered must have occured because of the act, and the act must be the proximate or direct cause of the harm.

IV. What Defenses Against Criminal Charges Does The Law Recognize?

- A defense is based on the claim that the defendant was not sane at the time of the act is referred to as the insanity defense. Although the Model Penal Code proposes a specific test for legal insanity, in practice the determination of insanity is highly subjective. Some states have adopted a finding pf "guilty but mentally ill".

-Defenses involving force are of three types:
Self Defense, Defense of Others, and Defense of Property

- Defenses involving justification or excuse include duress, necessity, mistake of fact, ignorance of law, and entrapment.

-The subjective formulation of the entrapment defense focuses on the defendant's state of mind; the objective formulation focuses on the conduct of police and its potential to cause innocent people to engage in criminal conduct

Harrison Bergeron

Harrison Bergeron Write-up

This short story was comical yet in another aspect frightening to think about. Vonnegut writes a fictional story that dramatizes the concept of over criminalization. The story takes place in the year 2018. The fictional government over analyzes what is meant by “all men are created equal” and they literally make every person in the United States equal. Its quite hilarious how Vonnegut writes of the laws the government makes up like requiring those who have above average intelligence to wear mental handicap radios in their ears to prevent them from being smarter than anyone else. I think that the government today should not take advantage of their power and start making laws that are unnecessary. Laws are meant to prevent crime. The people of the United States should retain the ability to take advantage of their positive qualities or talents. I believe what is meant by “all men are created equal” is that we are all human. We are all equal under the law. We all bleed and we will all die one day. However, we do not necessarily have to hold back the knowledge or talent we possess so that no one else will think less of themselves. Kurt Vonnegut has a incredible way of expressing over criminalization. The story was enjoyable.

Chapter 1-5 Vocabulary and Outlines

Chapter One “Perspectives on Criminal Justice” Outline

Vocabulary:
1. media portrayals: public perceptions of crime and its victims are based largely on media images which focus on atypical sensational incidents.

2. Gallup poll on crime: survey of a representative sample of the American Public which found that crime surpassed education and economic issues as the most pressing local problem

3. Criminologists: those who study the causes of crime and the treatment of offenders.

4. Vigilantism: seeking justice through lawless violence

5. Scape goating: unfairly blaming and punishing a person or group for crime.

6. Universality of Crime: there is no society that has not reported problems with offenders, but there is considerable variation among crime rates in different sources.

7. Crimes: forms of conduct that society prohibits in order to maintain order

8. Criminal Law: a code that categorizes all crimes and punishments by types.

9. Felonies: serious crimes that are punishable by incarceration for more than a year.

10. Misdemeanors: less serious crimes that are punishable by imprisonment of one year or less.

11. Criminalization: the legislative decision to make a behavior a crime.

12. Decriminalization: the legislative decision to change a crime into a non-criminal act.

13. Victimless Crime: offenses in which the “offender” and the “victim” are the same individual or in which the behavior is consensual.

14. Criminal Justice: the management of police, courts, and corrections, and the study of the causes of and treatment of crime.

15. Due process: the use of accuracy, fairness and reliability in criminal procedure to protect individual rights.


I. Perspective on Crime
A. Media Perspectives
1. Most knowledge of crime are based on media portrayals.
2. Result: over-sensitized public preoccupied with crime and fear of crime
B. Political Perspectives
1. Politicians often shape crime news to match their political ideology
­- usually a quick fix
2. Presidential candidates continue to seize on crime and criminal justice
issues to propose policy and to attack opponents.
C. Crime and Other Life Events
1. When one compares the actual risk of being victimized by crime to the risk of experiencing other negative events, crime does not appear so rampant.
D. Effects of Fear
1. A high level of fear can produce undesirable changes in behavior
2. Fear can also turn other-wise law abiding citizens into outlaws.
E. The Universality of Crime
1. Crime and Punishment are universal components of all societies of all types.
2. The nature and extent of crime differ widely from one time to another, and it is not unrealistic to search for ways to reduce current levels of crime and fear.
II. What is Crime?
1. A natural phenomenon, because people have different levels of attachment, motivation and virtue
- Rules that prohibit certain forms of conduct so as to maintain social order identify a set of behaviors termed crimes, which form the basis of criminal law.
2. Serious crimes that are punishable by incarceration for more that one year are called felonies. Less serious crimes that are punishable by incarceration for one year or less are called misdemeanors.

A. Historical and Political Contexts of Crime
1. The history of U.S. Criminal Law is a history of change
2. The criminalization and decriminalization of certain behaviors and the public’s reaction to them, continue to make the application of the law controversial.
- Definitions of crime can therefore be viewed as evidence of development in social and political history.

III. Origins of the Criminal Justice System
1. In reality, the CJ system is a string of more than 55,000 independent government agencies set up to deal with different aspects of crime and the treatment of offenders
- The agencies have no legal obligation to work with one another one and they often do not. This lack of “system wide thinking” has hurt both the efficiency and effectiveness of CJ in the U.S. through out the nations history

A. Justice in the Colonial Period
1. CJ system evolved as American society has developed mechanisms for establishing rules, enforcing them, determining responsibility for violations and deciding on appropriate remedies. (First Police Force established in 1845)
B. The Evolution of Due Process
1. The Criminal Justice System has two goals
Fairness and Accurary

Chapter Two “The Nature and Causes of Crime” Outline

Vocabulary:
1. Norms: social expectations about what constitutes appropriate behavior under different circumstances

2. Deviance: violation of a social norm

3. mala in se: acts considered evil in themselves (e.g. assault and theft)

4. mala prohibit: acts considered undesirable although not inherently evil ( e.g. drug abuse)

5. Offenses against morality: acts considered undesirable, such as adultery and fornication, prostitution and gambling.

6. Political crimes: acts viewed as a threat to the government

7. Regularity offenses: activities of a business or corporation that are viewed ad a threat to public health, safety, or welfare.

8. Over-criminalization: blurring the distinction between crime and merely inappropriate or offensive behaviors.

9. Legalization: legislative decision to remove a prohibited behavior from the criminal law.

10. Classical school: a perspective in criminology that sees crime as resulting from the conscious exercise of an individuals free will.

11. Positivism: the perspective in criminology that sees human behavior as determined by internal and external influences, such as biological, psychological, and/or social factors.

12. Ethical view: the perspective that sees crime as a moral failure in decision making.

13. Structural/Conflict view: the perspective that sees the criminal law as reflecting the will of those in power, and behaviors that threaten the interests of powerful are punished most severely.

14. Biological determinism: positivists who see the roots or criminal behavior in biological attributes

15. Psychoanalytic theory: Freudian theory that sees behavior as resulting from the interaction of the three components of the personality: id, ego, and super ego.

16. Cognitive theory: view that behavior results from habits of thought and interpretations of reality.

17. Differential association: theory that a person becomes criminal or delinquent when he or she associated more with people who condone violation of the law that with people who do not.

18. Blocked opportunity: theory that crime results from lack of access to legitimate means of achieving goals.

19. Criminal subcultures: different forms of deviance that result when youths cease to adhere to middle-class standards and become part of the adult criminal, conflict, or retreatist subculture.

20. Labeling theory: view that adjudicating a juvenile as a delinquent encourages future delinquency through a negative public identity or changed self-image.

21. Social bond: individual’s attachment to society, including attachment to others, commitment to conventional activities, and belief in widely shared moral values.

22. Rational choice theories: theories that examine how circumstances affect criminal thinking to explain why offenders commit crimes in some situations but not in others.

23. Routine activities theory: the theory that sees criminal events as the result of a combination of a motivated offender, a suitable target, and the absence of a capable guardian to intervene.

24. Gun control: regulation of gun manufacturers, buyers, and sellers in an effort to minimize gun-related crime.

25.Drug use forecasting: program in many major U.S. cities in which police take urine specimens from a sample of arrestees to determine what proportion of those arrested have already used drugs.

I. Defining Deviance
A. Norms reflect a society’s values about what is considered desirable and proper.
1. Norms against stealing and assault are well established in society.

B. Deviance is a violation of a social norm
1. Examples include rudeness, disobedience, gossiping.
2. Deviance becomes crime when laws are passed or courts apply existing
laws that make a social norm into a legal norm, allowing the government to sanction the
behavior.
- Sanctions are penalties designed to express disapproval and punish violation of norms.
3. Crime results when the deviance is seen as serious enough to warrant the attention of the
government for sanctioning

II. Thinking Versus Acting
A. Crime prohibits only acts or omissions of acts.
1. It is a crime to strike or steal from someone without a compelling justification.
2. Omissions that constitute crimes are rare. They include forms of inaction such as
failure to stop at a stop sign or failure to file your income tax return.

III. Mala in Se, Mala Prohibita, and Criminal Harm
A. The primary source of U.S. Criminal Law is England’s common law
1. Crimes were seen as being of two types. Mala in Se (evil as themselves) or Mala
Prohibita (simply prohibited by law). Mala in Se offenses include serious crimes of
assault and theft, such as murder, rape, robbery, larceny, and burglary. Mala Prohibita
offenses are the result of legislative decisions to prohibit certain undesirable behaviors
such as alcohol use, drunkenness,drug use, and gambling.
2. Mala in Se offenses has remained constant over the centuries.
- A strong moral force exists independently of the law. The law
against murder merely reinforces a strongly held community
sentiment.
3. The number of Mala Prohibita offenses has grown dramatically in the U.S.
-Grouped into three categories: crimes without victims, political offenses, and
regulatory offenses. Crimes without victims’ a.k.a. offenses against morality
include adultery, fornication,prostitution, gambling, the use and selling of drugs.
Political offenses- treason, sedition, sabotage, and bribery.
Regulatory offenses – violation of laws regulating pollution levels, workplace
safety...etc.
4. Over-criminalization may dilute the moral force of the law if the law comes to be
regarded as petty and intrusive rather than as a necessary means of social control.
B. Mala in Se offenses are common to all societies. Mala Prohibita offenses vary widely over
time among societies
1. Are distinct both in substance and in the nature of the harm they cause.
- Mala Prohibita causes harm that violates moral, business, or political principles. Mala in Se harm is more personal and direct.

IV. Criminalization of Behavior
A. The 1980’s began an anti-drunk Era
1. States increased penalties for drunk driving, establishing mandatory prison
sentences and suspending the licenses of violators.
- 1984 federal government forced every state to raise drinking age from eighteen
to twenty-one
V. How Can Crime Be Explained?
A. At present there are four general types of explanations of crime
1. Classical School: sees crime as resulting from the conscious exercise of an individual’s free
will. Classicists see people as hedonists: They believe that all people pursue pleasure while
attempting to minimize pain.
- Dissatisfaction with the classical school first appeared toward the end of the nineteenth century.
2. Positivism: the scientific approach to explanations. Individual human behavior is
determined by internal and external influences.
-See crime as largely determined by a variety of internal and external influences on a person. See reform or rehabilitation of the offender as the best way to prevent future crimes.
3. Ethical View: sees crime as a moral failure in decision making. Crime occurs when person
fails to choose the proper course of conduct.
- Labels positivist and classical views inadequate, because external factors may play a role in influencing some to engage in crime but they don’t cause crime. Crime results when criminal acts bring pleasure rather than guilt.
4. Structural/Conflict View: focuses less on individual behavior and more on the behavior
of the law. Social, political, and economic conditions cause certain behaviors to be defined
by the law as criminal.
- Sees the criminal law as reflecting the will of those in power, and notes that behaviors that threaten the interests of the powerful are punished most severely.
B. Biological Determinism and Psychological Explanations
1. Biological Determinism: positivists who see the roots of criminalbehavior in biological
attributes.
2. Psychoanalytic Theory: sees behavior as resulting from the interaction
of three components of personality: id, ego, and super-ego.
- Id: the primitive, instinctual drives of aggression and sex that everyone is born with.
The super-ego acts as a person conscience, reflecting the values one develops in the
early years of life through interactions with family members. The ego mediates
between the self-centered desires of the id and the learned values of the super-ego.
See crime as a result from faulty ego or super-ego structuresthat fail to control the id
adequately.
3. Cognitive Theory: career criminals are irresponsible, self-indulgent, and rule breaking
in most every area of their lives.
C. Sociological Explanations
1. More common than any other type. Looks at environmental influences that affect the way people behave.
- Theories Based On Learning: delinquent behavior is learned through observation, role modeling etc. Differential Association means that a person becomes more criminal if they are around people who condone criminal behavior.
- Theories Based On Blocked Opportunity: crime/delinquency results from lack of access to legitimate means for achieving goals a.k.a. Blocked Opportunity.
- Strength of The Social Bond: an individuals bond to society.
2. Rational Choice Explanations attempt to explain why offenders commit crimes in some situations and not in others.
- Routine Activities Theory: three things must exist simultaneously for a criminal event to occur. A motivated offender, a suitable target, and the absence of a capable guardian to intervene.
3. Gender Based Explanations seeks to bring attention to both the reasons for the behavior of women and also to the behavior of the criminal justice system and society at large in its treatment of women.

VI. Guns, Drugs and Crime

A. Guns – The incidence of crimes involving guns is extremely high but it is not clear whether the absence of guns would reduce the rates of violent crimes. The presence of a gun may give a potential offender the courage to proceed with a crime he/she might not otherwise commit.
B. Drugs and Alcohol. Drugs play a role in the lifestyle of arrestees. Alcohol also plays a role in crime especially violent crime.

Chapter Three “Defining and Measuring Crime” Outline

Vocabulary
Crimes against persons: violent crimes involving the use of physical force

Crimes against property: crimes in which property is taken unlawfully and misused

Crimes against public order: acts that disrupt the peace in a civil society.

Criminal homicide: murder or manslaughter

Murder: all intentional killing, as well as deaths that occur in the course of dangerous felonies

Manslaughter: a mitigated murder: causing a death recklessly, or intentionally under extenuating circumstances

Recklessness: conscious disregard of a substantial and unjustifiable risk

Negligence: failure to be aware of a substantial and unjustifiable risk

Gross negligence: failure to perceive a substantial and unjustifiable risk when such failure is a gross deviation from the standard of care a reasonable person would observe

Rape: sexual intercourse without effective consent

Sexual assault: forced sex, whether vaginal, anal, or oral

Statutory rape: non-forcible sexual intercourse with a minor

Simple assault: a thrust against another person with the intention of injuring that person

Aggravated assault: a thrust against another person with the intention to cause serious bodily harm or death

Robbery: theft from a person using threats or force

Burglary: unlawful entry into a building in order to commit a crime while inside

Larceny: taking property of another person with the intent of depriving the owner

Arson: burning property of another without the lawful consent of the owner

FBI’s Crime Index: tally of detailed reports of eight types of offenses: criminal homicide, forcible rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, larceny, motor vehicle theft, and arson

Index crimes: the eight offenses tracked by the FBI’s Crime Index

Uniform Crime Reports (UCR): an annual compilation by the FBI of all crimes reported to the police in the United States

Crime rates: the number of crimes committed divided by the population at risk. This provides an indication of the risk of victimization per capita

Personal risk: an individual’s risk of being a victim of crime; determined through calculation of crime rates in relation to population

National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS): a representative sample of the U.S. population is surveyed annually to determine the extent of victimization and the extent to which these incidents were reported to police

National Incident-Based Reporting System: data collection program designed to gather information on victims, perpetrators, and circumstances of crime

National Longitudinal Survey of Youth: self-report study investigating the extent of delinquency among young people

I. What are the Types of Crime?
A. Three General Types:
1. Crimes against persons – violent crimes, involves the use of physical force (ex: criminal homicide, rape)
2. Crimes against property – crimes in which property is taken unlawfully (ex: burglary, larceny, arson, vandalism)
3. Crimes against public order: acts that disrupt the peace in a civil society (ex: drug, liquor, and gambling law violations, disorderly conduct)

B. These three crimes compromise the vast majority of the more than 15 million
arrests made by police each year

II. How Are Violent Crimes and Property Crimes Classified?
A. Homicide
1. Criminal Homicide includes both murder and manslaughter.

-Murder includes all intentional killings as well as deaths that occur during dangerous felonies. Manslaughter is a mitigated murder. It involves causing deaths recklessly or intentionally under extenuating circumstances. (Ex: killing a pedestrian with you car while drunk)

2. Recklessness is a conscious disregard of a substantial or unjustifiable risk. (Ex: reckless vs. intentional). Negligence is failure to be aware of a substantial and unjustifiable risk.

-Middle ground between recklessness and negligence is gross negligence which is the failure to perceive a substantial and unjustifiable risk when such a failure is a “gross deviation” from the standard of care a reasonable person would observe. It is the borderland of the criminal stare of mind and is the least severely punished form of criminal homicide.

3. There are two very limited circumstances that intentional killings may be punished as manslaughter rather than murder

“Heat of passion” killings and “imperfect self-defense”

- “Heat of passion killings” are treated as manslaughter only when the offender responds to an unlawful act in the sudden heat of passion without time to cool off. “Imperfect self-defense” occurs when a person kills another while responding to an unlawful act with excessive force or unnecessary force. “Heat of Passion” cases often occur in trouble marital or co-habitual situation.

B. Sexual Assault
1. Rape is sexual intercourse without effective consent. Sexual assault includes both rape (forced vaginal intercourse) and sodomy (forced oral or anal).

- Effective consent is not present if the victim is a minor, mentally ill, mentally retarded, or physically helpless.

2. Statutory Rape is non-forcible sexual intercourse with a minor.

C. Assault
1. Simple Assault is a physical thrust against another person intended to injure that person. Aggravated Assault involves the intention to cause seriously bodily harm or death it is also a felony.

D. Robbery: A combination of two crimes, larceny and theft
1. It consists of theft from a person involving threats or force

E. Burglary: an unlawful entry into a building for the purpose of committing a crime
while inside

1. Larceny is the most common serious crime in the U.S. It consists of taking the property of another person with the intent of depriving the owner. If force is used it becomes robbery. If deceit or trickery is used it becomes fraud, forgery or embezzlement.

F. Arson is the burning of property without the lawful consent of the owner.
1. Accidental fires do not constitute as arson.


III. How Are Crime Rates Determined?
A. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) tallies crimes reported to police and
arrests made each year for eight types of offenses; the FBI counts arrests only for
nineteen other offenses. These tallies are published in the FBI’s Uniform Crime Report
(UCR). The eight offenses are criminal homicide, forcible rape, robbery, aggravated
assault, burglary, larceny, motor vehicle theft, and arson.
- These constitute the FBI’s Crime Index and as known as Index Crimes.

B. The offenses for which only arrests are counted (known as Part 2 offenses) are simple
assault, forgery and counterfeiting, fraud, embezzlement, buying, redistributing or
possessing stolen property, vandalism, weapon offenses, prostitution and
commercialized vice, other sex offenses, drug law violations, gambling, offenses against
the family and children, D.U.I., liquor law violations, drunkenness, disorderly conduct,
vagrancy, violations of curfew and loitering laws, and runaway cases.

C. The F.B.I Uniform Crime Rates – Each year the F.B. I. compiles statistics from data
of crime reported that police send to the F.B.I. called Uniform Crime Reports. Covers
virtually all of the U.S. population. The UCR collects information only on offenses
known to police. Corporate price-fixing, illegal dumping, and the manufacture o
unsafe products are examples of crime that are overlooked by the UCR.
- Crime Rates are a more reliable way to measure crime. To calculate crime rates
take the number of crimes committed and divide it by the population at risk.
Personal Risk is an individual’s risk of being a victim of crime.

D. The National Crime Victimization Survey Established in 1973. A representative
sample of the U.S. population that is surveyed annually to determine the extent of
victimization and the extent to which these incidents were reported to the police. They
provide a great deal of information about criminal incidents that can serve as a basis
for crime prevention programs. They count crimes reported to the police as well as
those that are not reported. Surveys collect extensive information.

1. National Incident-based Reporting System is a data collection program designed to gather information on victims, perpetrators, and circumstances of crime.

E. What Offenders Say
1. National Longitudinal Survey of Youth is a self-report study investigating the extent of delinquency among young people.

F. The Future of Crime in the United States
1.Crime rates have shown a steady decline especially since the early nineties. The three best predictors of the perpetration of crime are age, opportunity, and motivation. Most serious crimes are committed by males between the ages sixteen and twenty-four.
2. Fear of violent crime remains high despite falling rates of violent crime nationwide.


Chapter Four “Perpetrators and Victims of Crime” Outline

Vocabulary:
1. National Violence Against Women (NVAW) Survey: Interviews a national sample of 16,000 men and women regarding the circumstances of crimes against women.

2. Intimate partner violence: Physical assaults between current or former spouses, boyfriends, or girlfriends.

3. Crime Profiling: Analysis of criminal incidents to isolate the precise characteristics of offenders, victims, and situations in order to better understand and prevent crime.

4. Offender politics: Examination of offender backgrounds (e.g., physical and social characteristic, prior history, and method of conduct) to look for common patterns.

5.Victim profiles: Examination of a large number of similar criminal incidents to find patterns in the types of persons who are victimized under certain circumstances

6. Crime scene profiles: Examination of the circumstances surrounding criminal incidents in a search for patterns associated with criminal offending.

I. Who Are the Victims and Perpetrators of Crime?
Information about the nature of criminal incidents comes from the reports of citizens to the National Crime Victimization Survey and from the FBI Uniform Crime Reports.
A. Age
1. In general, from age 16 onward the younger the person, the greater the likelihood of being victimized by a violent crime (rape, robbery, assault).One of the advantages of aging is a reduction in ones likelihood of being a crime victim. Highest risk during teenage years because young people expose themselves to risk more than older people.
2. According to UCR, 17% of all persons arrested nationally are under 18 and 46% are under 25.

B. Gender
1. Women make up 22% of those arrested in the U.S. Men makeup 83% of individuals arrested for violent crimes and71% of those arrested for property crimes. Women are most frequently arrested for larceny. Serious crimes are more likely to be committed by men. Female criminal activity is increasing.

2. Victimization rates for men and women show that property crimes affect women as often as men. The rate of personal theft between men and women are virtually the same.
- However, women are victimized by violent crimes at a rate of 21 per 1,000 whereas the rate for is 26 per 1,000.Except for the crime of rape women are significantly less likely than men to be victims of serious crime. This suggests that for virtually all serious crimes men victimize women in disproportionate numbers.

3.Intimate Partner Violence: (current or former spouses, boyfriends, girlfriends) is a growing problem that disproportionately victimizes women. The NCVS estimates that approximately one million violent crimes are committed annually by current or intimate partners, about 85% are against women. This represents 22% of all violent crimes against women whereas only 3% of all violence against men is committed by intimate partners.
- National Violence Against Women Survey was posted to obtain more information about the circumstances of offenses against women. “intimate partner violence is persuasive in U.S. Society. 25% of women surveyed & 8% of men reported that they were physically assaulted or raped by a current of former spouse/partner. Stalking is more prevalent that thought. More needs to be learned about the dynamics of how relationships deteriorate and result in criminal violence.

4. Characteristics of Female Offenders : Female to female violence occurs in about 75% of all cases of violent female offending (rape, assault, robbery). About half of female offenders committed their offense at or near the victims home or school. Females also use weapons in their crimes about half as often as males.

C. Race and Ethnicity
1. Whites account for 70% of all crimes, while blacks account for 28%.
- African Americans are victims of violent crimes at higher rates
than any other race. Their victimization is 42 per 1,000 as opposed
to 32 per 1,000 for whites.

2. Hispanics constitute about 8% of the U.S. population. Their rate of Victimization by violent crimes is 35 per 1,000 population. 9% higher than the rate for other whites but 20% lower than that for blacks.

3. Native Americans comprise 1.3 percent of al arrests in the U.S. Data shows that Native Americans experience the highest per capita rate of violence of any group. Victimization rates are about twice the rest of the U.S. population.

4. Asian Americans constitute about 1.2 percent of those arrested in the U.S. annually. Victimization Rate is the lowest of any racial group.


II. What is Crime Profiling?
Crime Profiling involves analysis of criminal incidents to isolate the precise characteristics of offenders, victims, and situations in order to better understand and prevent crime.

A. Offender profiles are developed by examining a large number of similar crimes to look for
common patterns.

B. Victim Profilesare analogous to offender profiles in looking at a large number of criminal
incident to find patterns of the types of persons who are victimized under certain
circumstances.
1. Primary source of data is the NCVS.

C. Crime Scene Profiles examine the circumstances that surround criminal incidents in a
search for patterns associated with criminal offending.

Chapter Five "Economic & Political Crime" Outline

Vocabulary

conspiracy: agreement between two or more persons ro commit a crime or to carry out a legal act in an illegal manner.

white collar crime: crimes of fraud, crimes against public administration, and regulatory offenses that are usually carried out during the course of a legitimate occupation

crimes of fraud: embezzlement, extortion, forgery and fraud.

crimes against public administration: attempts to impede government processes through bribery, obstruction of justice, official misconduct or prejury

regulatory offenses: attempts to circumvent regulations designed to ensure fairness and safety in the conduyct of business; includes: administrative, environmental, labor and manufacturing violations as well as unfair trade practices.

embezzlement: the purposeful misappropriation of property entrusted to ones care, custody or contrtol to which one is not entitled

extortion: purposely obtaining property from another person without consent through wrongful use of force or fear or under the guise of official authority

forgery: falsely making or altering an official document with the intent to defraud

fraud: purposely obtaining the property of another person through deception

bribery: voluntary giving or receiving anything of value with the intent of influencing the action of a public official

obstruction of justice: intentionally preventing a public servant from lawfully performing an official function

official misconduct: the unauthorized exercise of an official function by a public official with intent to benefit of injure another

perjury: making a false statement under oath in an official proceeding

corporate crimes: dangerous or unjust actions in the conduct of business prompted by the desire for profits (similar to reg. offenses)

computer crimes: crimes in which computers are used as the instrument of the offense, and crimes in which computers are the object of the offense

identity fraud: manufacture and use of false identification and credit cards based on personal information stolen without the victim’s knowledge

organized crime: a continuing criminal enterprise that rationally works to profit from illicit activities that are often in great public demand. It’s continuing existence is maintained through the use of force, threats, monopoly, control, and/or the corruption of public official

racketeering: an ongoing criminal enterprise that is maintained through a pattern of criminal activity

money laundering: a method of “washing” illegally obtained money (e.g. from drugs or gambling proceeds) by making it appear as if the money was earned legally as part of a legitimate business

crime syndicate: a system of loosely structured relationships among groups and individuals involved in organized crime

transitional crime: organized crime that takes place across two or more countries

terrorism: offenses designed to intimidate or coerce a government or civilians in furtherance of
political or social objectives

hate crimes: offenses motivated by prejudice, usually against a particular race, religion, or sexual orientation


I. What is meant by economic and political crimes?
Economic & Political Crimes include white-collar crimes, organized crime, computer crime, international and domestic terrorism, and some forms of hate crime

A. Conspiracy occurs when two or more persons agree to commit a crime
or to carry out a legal act in an illegal manner (preparation or planning).


White-Collar Crimes are crimes that are usually carried out during the course of a legitimate occupation.

1 Crimes of Fraud- have money as their object and include
embezzlement, extortion, forgery and fraud.

2. Crimes against Public Administration- an attempt to impede government processes including: bribery, obstruction of justice,official misconduct, and perjury.

3. Regulatory Offenses- violations that circumvent measures designed to protect public health, safety or welfare in business, industry and government

II. How can White-Collar Crimes be defined?
Street crimes are characterized by the use of force or stealth which is required for
(homicide, rape).
White-Collar Crimes can be defined as:
Planned illegal acts of deception committed by an individual or
organization, usually during the course of legitimate occupational activity by
persons of high or respectable social statues, for personal or organizational gain
that violates fiduciary (financial) responsibility or public trust.
- Destruction, Trickery, and Fraud are the heart of white-collar crime
- Emanate from otherwise legitimate occupational activity in which access to money or information males possible the misuse of one or both resources
- On the border between illegal and unethical behavior

A. Types of White-Collar Theft
1. Embezzlement is the purposeful misappropriation of property entrusted to ones care,
custody, or control to which one is not entitled

2. Extortion is purposely obtaining property from another person with that persons
consent, wrongful use of force of threat of force or under the guise of official authority

3. Forgery occurs when a person falsely makes or alters an official document with intent
to defraud

4. Fraud is the purposeful obtaining of a property of another person through deception.


B. Crimes Against Public Administration involves misconduct by government officials and
by individuals attempting to disrupt or corrupt government processes. Includes:
Bribery, obstruction of justice, official misconduct and perjury

1. Bribery involves the voluntary giving or receiving of anything of any value with the intent to influence the action of a public official.

2. Intentionally preventing a public servant from lawfully performing an official function is Obstruction of Justice.

3. Official Misconduct is a public official’s unauthorized exercise of an official function with intent to benefit or injure another.
Omission (failure to perform legal duties) Commission (exercising powers in an unauthorized manner)

4. Perjury occurs when someone makes a false statement under oath in an official proceeding. The punishment is usually based on the nature of the proceedings.


C. Corporate Crimes (also called Regulatory Offenses)
Can be grouped into five different categories

1. Administrative Offenses involve the failure to comply with court orders or
agency requirements.
2. Environmental Offenses include emissions or dumping in violation of legal standards.
3. Labor Violations can take several forms, including discriminatory hiring practices, exposure of employees to harm in the workplace environment, and unfair treatment of employees.
4. Manufacturing violations refers to the manufacture of unsafe products.
5. Unfair trade practices prevent fair competition in the marketplace.
Ex: monopolization, price discrimination, price-fixing, and bid rigging.
D. Trends in White-Collar Crime
Increase in white collar crimes because reflect employment trends. More access to
information and financial accounts.

III. Why is Computer Crime a Growing Threat?
A. Types of Computer Crimes
- Crimes in which computers are used as the instrument of the offense and crimes in which computers are the object of the offense.

B. Consequences of Computer Crime
All types of computer crime are increasing. Identity fraud is the manufacture and use of false identification and credit cards based on personal information stolen without the victim’s knowledge.

IV. How Does Organized Crime Operate?
White collar crimes generally occur as a deviation from legitimate business activity while Organized Crime takes place through a continuing criminal enterprise that exists to profit primarily from crime.

A. A Typology of Organized Crime
Three basic categories: provision of illicit services, provision of illicit goods and infiltration of legitimate business.

1. Provision of Illicit services involves attempts to satisfy the public’s demand for certain services that may not be offered by legitimate society.
(loan-sharking, prostitution, and certain forms of gambling)


2. Provision of Illicit goods involves offering particular products that a segment of the public desires but cannot obtain through legitimate channels. (sale & distribution of drugs, fencing and distribution of stolen property)

3. Infiltration of legitimate business is often characterized by racketeering, which involves an ongoing criminal enterprise that is maintained through a pattern of criminal activity. Money laundering.

B. Organized Crime Offenders
Presidents Commission described Organized Crime as being carried out by eleven
different groups.
-La Cosa Nostra (Italian)
- Outlaw motorcycle gangs
- Prison Gangs
- Triads and Tongs (Chinese)
- Vietnamese Gangs
-Yakuza (Japanese)
-Marielitos (Cuban)
- Colombian cocaine rings (drug cartels)
-Irish organized crime
-Soviet organized crime (the “Russian Mafia”)
- Canadian Organized Crime

C. National and International Aspects of Organized Crime
The true extent of organized crime is unknown.
Transitional Crime is organized crime that takes place across two or countries.
1. International Stolen Vehicle Trade- of 1.5 million vehicles stolen each year in the U.S. about 200,000 are shipped overseas for resale.
2. Drug Smuggling- begins at a source country where coca or opium is grown, usually inn Central or South America or Asia, Next, the raw plant must be processed. Once the substance has been transformed into a consumable product, it must be smuggled to the consumer drug market; North America and Europe are the largest markets. After the drug has been sold to the consumer, money must be laundered through a legitimate business and transferred overseas.
3. Illegal Immigration

V. What are the Impacts of Terrorism and Hate Crimes?

Terrorism: the unlawful use of force or violence against a persons or property to intimidate or coerce a government, the civilian population, or any segment thereof, in furtherance of political or social objectives.


Hate Crimes target a particular minority group.
A. Terrorism and Hate Crime Trends
B. How Terrorism and Hate Crimes Merge