Outline of criminal justice
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to criminal justice:
Criminal justice – system of practices and institutions of governments directed at upholding social control, deterring and mitigating crime, or sanctioning those who violate laws with criminal penalties and rehabilitation efforts.
Parts of the criminal justice system
- Legislative system – network of legislatures that create laws.
- Judiciary system – network of courts that interpret the law in the name of the state, and carry out the administration of justice in civil, criminal, and administrative matters in accordance with the rule of law.[1]
- Corrections system – network of governmental agencies that administer a jurisdiction's prisons, probation, and parole systems.[2]
In the 17th Century, William Penn began to promote reform in the Criminal Justice system and helped to see these changes implemented. After the American Revolution, the U.S. Constitution was created which guaranteed freedoms and rights that were never in place in colonial days. This was the starting point to setting guidelines for crimes, punishment and procedures that need to be followed to protect the rights of the innocent. Our modern system of criminal justice is the result of several evolutionary changes that society has undergone since the inception of the United States. Over the years, Americans have developed mechanisms that institute and enforce the rules of society as well as assign responsibility and punish offenders. Today, those functions are carried out by the police, the courts, and corrections. The early beginnings of the criminal justice system in the United States lacked this structure.
In fact, before formal rules, laws, and institutions were established in the United States, Americans relied on religion and sin as a means of shaping society and its behaviors. Many colonial crime codes were defined in biblical terms, making offenses such as profanity, blasphemy, and sacrileges of the Sabbath highly punishable. Punishments such as dunking, stoning, and whipping were designed to humiliate the offender and ultimately lead towards their repentance. Ironically, we still see this desire to make offenders remorseful for their criminal acts but more so for the victims of crime than to a higher power.
Crime
Crime –
Organized Crime-Ongoing conspiratorial enterprise engaged in illicit activities as a means of generating income (as black money). Structured like a business into a pyramid shaped hierarchy, it freely employs violence and bribery to maintain its operations, threats of grievous retribution (including murder) to maintain internal and external control, and thuggery and contribution to election campaigns to buy political patronage for immunity from exposure and prosecution. Its activities include credit card fraud, gun running, illegal gambling, insurance fraud, kidnapping for ransom, narcotics trade, pornography, prostitution, racketeering, smuggling, vehicle theft, etc. "What Is Organized Crime? Definition and Meaning." BusinessDictionary.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Feb. 2016. <Read more: http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/organized-crime.html#ixzz40qF1CoAt>
- Mafia –
a hierarchically structured secret organization allegedly engaged in smuggling, racketeering, trafficking in narcotics, and other criminal activities in the U.S., Italy, and elsewhere.
- Violence –
the use of physical force to harm someone, to damage property, etc.
- great destructive force or energy
Crimes
- Larceny –
the wrongful taking and carrying away of the personal goods of another from his or her possession with intent to convert them to the taker's own use. larceny. (n.d.). Dictionary.com Unabridged. Retrieved February 14, 2016 from Dictionary.com website http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/larceny
- Trespass –
an unlawful act causing injury to the person, property, or rights of another, committed with force or violence, actual or implied. a wrongful entry upon the lands of another. the action to recover damages for such an injury. trespass. (n.d.). Dictionary.com Unabridged. Retrieved February 13, 2016 from Dictionary.com website http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/trespass
Misdemeanors
Misdemeanor – a criminal offense defined as less serious than a felony. an instance of misbehavior; misdeed. misdemeanor. (n.d.). Dictionary.com Unabridged. Retrieved February 13, 2016 from Dictionary.com website http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/misdemeanor
Felonies
an offense, as murder or burglary, of graver character than those called misdemeanors, especially those commonly punished in the U.S. by imprisonment for more than a year. Early English Law. any crime punishable by death or mutilation and forfeiture of lands and goods. felony. (n.d.). Dictionary.com Unabridged. Retrieved February 15, 2016 from Dictionary.com website http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/felony
- Arson –
the malicious burning of another's house or property, or in some statutes, the burning of one's own house or property, as to collect insurance.
- Assault –
1. a sudden, violent attack; onslaught: an assault on tradition. 2.Law. an unlawful physical attack upon another; an attempt or offer to do violence to another, with or without battery, as by holding a stone or club in a threatening manner. 3.Military. the stage of close combat in an attack. assault. (n.d.). Dictionary.com Unabridged. Retrieved February 15, 2016 from Dictionary.com website http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/assault
a crime, usually violent, motivated by prejudice or intolerance toward an individual’s national origin, ethnicity, color, religion, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, or disability. hate crime. (n.d.). Dictionary.com Unabridged. Retrieved February 15, 2016 from Dictionary.com website http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/hate-crime
- Burglary –
the felony of breaking into and entering the house of another at night with intent to steal, extended by statute to cover the breaking into and entering of any of various buildings, by night or day. burglary. (n.d.). Dictionary.com Unabridged. Retrieved February 15, 2016 from Dictionary.com website http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/burglary
Elder Abuse is the term used to describe the mistreatment and/or abuse of an elderly person. The National Center for Elder Abuse states that: "Elder abuse is a growing problem." Abuse of an elderly person can occur at home or in a nursing home.
to appropriate fraudulently to one's own use, as money or property entrusted to one's care. embezzlement. (n.d.). Dictionary.com Unabridged. Retrieved February 13, 2016 from Dictionary.com website http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/embezzlement
the luring by a law-enforcement agent of a person into committing a crime. entrapment. (n.d.). Dictionary.com Unabridged. Retrieved February 13, 2016 from Dictionary.com website http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/entrapment
1.the act or practice of spying. 2.the use of spies by a government to discover the military and political secrets of other nations. 3.the use of spies by a corporation or the like to acquire the plans, technical knowledge, etc., of a competitor: espionage. (n.d.). Dictionary.com Unabridged. Retrieved February 14, 2016 from Dictionary.com website http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/espionage
- Forgery –
1.the crime of falsely making or altering a writing by which the legal rights or obligations of another person are apparently affected; simulated signing of another person's name to any such writing whether or not it is also the forger's name. 2.the production of a spurious work that is claimed to be genuine, as a coin, a painting, or the like. 3.something, as a coin, a work of art, or a writing, produced by forgery. 4.an act of producing something forged. forgery. (n.d.). Dictionary.com Unabridged. Retrieved February 14, 2016 from Dictionary.com website http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/forgery
a crime, usually violent, motivated by prejudice or intolerance toward an individual’s national origin, ethnicity, color, religion, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, or disability. hate crime. (n.d.). Dictionary.com Unabridged. Retrieved February 15, 2016 from Dictionary.com website http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/hate-crime
1.to steal, carry off, or abduct by force or fraud, especially for use as a hostage or to extract ransom. kidnapping. (n.d.). Dictionary.com Unabridged. Retrieved February 15, 2016 from Dictionary.com website http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/kidnapping
- Murder –
the killing of another human being under conditions specifically covered in law. In the U.S., special statutory definitions include murder committed with malice aforethought, characterized by deliberation or premeditation or occurring during the commission of another serious crime, as robbery or arson (first-degree murder) and murder by intent but without deliberation or premeditation (second-degree murder)
murder. (n.d.). Dictionary.com Unabridged. Retrieved February 15, 2016 from Dictionary.com website http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/murder
- Perjury –
the willful giving of false testimony under oath or affirmation, before a competent tribunal, upon a point material to a legal inquiry. perjury. (n.d.). Dictionary.com Unabridged. Retrieved February 13, 2016 from Dictionary.com website http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/perjury
1.the act or practice of engaging in sexual intercourse for money. 2.base or unworthy use, as of talent or ability. prostitution. (n.d.). Dictionary.com Unabridged. Retrieved February 21, 2016 from Dictionary.com website http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/prostitution Chicago Manual Style (CMS):
- Rape –
.unlawful sexual intercourse or any other sexual penetration of the vagina, anus, or mouth of another person, with or without force, by a sex organ, other body part, or foreign object, without the consent of the victim. rape. (n.d.). Dictionary.com Unabridged. Retrieved February 15, 2016 from Dictionary.com website http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/rape
- Robbery –
1.the act, the practice, or an instance of robbing. 2.Law. the felonious taking of the property of another from his or her person or in his or her immediate presence, against his or her will, by violence or intimidation. robbery. (n.d.). Dictionary.com Unabridged. Retrieved February 15, 2016 from Dictionary.com website http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/robbery
to steal (merchandise) as a shoplifter. shoplift. (n.d.). Dictionary.com Unabridged. Retrieved February 21, 2016 from Dictionary.com website http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/shoplift
1.the use of violence and threats to intimidate or coerce, especially for political purposes. 2.the state of fear and submission produced by terrorism or terrorization. 3.a terroristic method of governing or of resisting a government. terrorism. (n.d.). Dictionary.com Unabridged. Retrieved February 13, 2016 from Dictionary.com website http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/terrorism
- Theft –
1.the act of stealing; the wrongful taking and carrying away of the personal goods or property of another; larceny. 2.an instance of this. 3.Archaic. something stolen theft. (n.d.). Dictionary.com Unabridged. Retrieved February 21, 2016 from Dictionary.com website http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/theft
- Treason –
1.the offense of acting to overthrow one's government or to harm or kill its sovereign. 2.a violation of allegiance to one's sovereign or to one's state. 3.the betrayal of a trust or confidence; breach of faith; treachery. treason. (n.d.). Dictionary.com Unabridged. Retrieved February 15, 2016 from Dictionary.com website http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/treason
1.Usually, war crimes. crimes committed against an enemy, prisoners of war, or subjects in wartime that violate international agreements or, as in the case of genocide, are offenses against humanity. war crime. (n.d.). Dictionary.com Unabridged. Retrieved February 13, 2016 from Dictionary.com website http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/war-crime
General concepts in criminal justice
- Abuse defense –
- Actus reus –
- Administrative law –
- Affray –
- Arraignment –
- Arrest warrant –
- Attendant circumstances –
- Bail –
- Booking –
- Case law –
- Causation –
- Chain of custody –
- Citizen's arrest –
- civil law –
- Clearance rate –
- Common law –
- Concurrence –
- Concurrent sentence –
- Conflict model –
- Consecutive sentence –
- Command responsibility –
- Consensus model –
- Corpus delicti –
- Corrections –
- Creative lawyering –
- Crime –
- Crime control –
- Crime index –
- Criminal justice –
- Criminology –
- Death penalty –
- Defense (legal) –
- Defense of property –
- Denial of a speedy trial –
- Deterrence –
- Diminished responsibility –
- Diminished responsibility in English law –
- Double jeopardy –
- Due process –
- Evidentiary hearing –
- Excuse –
- Execution warrant –
- Grand jury –
- Ignorance of the law –
- Inchoate offense –
- Indictable offence –
- Indictment –
- Individual rights –
- Infraction –
- Innovative defense –
- Insanity defense –
- Islamic law –
- Jurisprudence –
- Jury instructions –
- Jury nullification –
- Jury trial –
- Justice –
- Justification –
- Kangaroo court –
- Law –
- Liability –
- Manslaughter –
- Manslaughter in English law –
- M'Naghten Rules –
- * Mens rea –
- Miranda Warning –
- Mistake –
- Motive –
- Motor vehicle theft –
- Murder in English law –
- Negligence –
- Obscenity –
- Offense –
- Pardon –
- Penal law –
- Peremptory pleas –
- Plea bargain –
- Precedent –
- Predator –
- Preliminary hearing –
- Prescription –
- Probable cause –
- Probation –
- Procedural defense –
- Prosecutorial misconduct –
- Provocation –
- Provocation in English law –
- Public order –
- Resisting unlawful arrest –
- Restorative justice –
- Selective prosecution –
- Self defense and defense of others –
- Sentence –
- Sharia –
- Social control –
- * Stare decisis –
- Star Chamber –
- Statutory law –
- Suicide –
- Summary offence –
- Trial –
- Trial by jury –
- Trial de novo –
- Warrant –
- Writ –
- Writ of Habeas Corpus –
Leaders in criminal justice
See also
References
- ^ Walker, David (1980). The Oxford companion to law. Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 301. ISBN 0-19-866110-X.
- ^ Black's Law Dictionary