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| Conduct in violation of the criminal laws of a state, the federal government, or a local jurisdiction, for which there is no legally acceptable justification or excuse. |
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| The rights guaranteed to all members of America society by the U.S. Constitution (Especially those found in the first ten amendments to the Consitution, known as the Bill of Rights). These rights are particularly important to criminal defendants facing formal processing by the criminal justice system. |
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| A federal law enacted to response to terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon on September 11, 2001. The law, officially titled the Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act, substantially broadened the investigative authority of law enforcement agencies throughout America and is applicable to many crimes other than terrorism. |
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| Individual-rights Advocate |
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| One who seeks to protect personal freedoms within the process of criminal justice. |
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| One who believes that under certain circumstances involving a criminal threat to public safety, the interests of society should take precedence over individual rights. |
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| The principle of fairness; the ideal of moral equity. |
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| An ideal that embraces all aspects of civilized life and that is linked to fundamental notions of fairness and to cultural beliefs about right and wrong. |
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| The civil law, the law of civil procedure, and the array of procedures and activities having to do with private rights and remedies sought by civil action. Civil justice cannot be separated from social justice because the justice enacted in our nation's civil courts reflects basic American understandings of right and wrong. |
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| In the strictest sense, the criminal (penal) law, the law of criminal procedure, and the array of procedures and activities having to do with the enforcement of this body of law. Criminal Justice cannot be separated from social justice because the justice enacted in our nations criminal courts reflects basic American understandings of right and wrong. |
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| The preformance of any of the following activities: detection, apprehension, detention, pretrial release, post-trial release, prosecution, adjudication, correctional supervision, or rehabilitation of accused persons of criminal offenders. |
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| A law enforcement or correctional administrative process officially recording an entry into detention after arrest and identifying the person, the place, the time, the reason for the arrest, and the arresting authority. |
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| The money or property pledged to the court or actually deposited with the court to effect the release of a person from legal custody. |
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| The aggregate of all operating and adminstrative or technical support agencies that perform criminal justice functions. The basic divisions of the operational aspects of criminal justice are law enforcement, courts, and corrections. |
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| A criminal justice perspective that assumes that the system's components work together harmoniously to achieve the social product we call justice. |
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| A criminal justice perspective that assumes that the system's components function primarily to serve thier own interests. According to this theoretical framework, justice is more a product of conflicts among agencies withing the system than it is the result of cooperation among component agencies. |
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| In criminal proceedings, a writ issued by a judicial officer to perform a specified act and affording the officer protection from damages if he or she preforms it. |
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| A proceeding before a judicial officer in which three matters must be decided: (1) whether a crime was comitted, (2) whether the crime occurred within the territorial jurisdiction of the court, and (3) whether there are reasonable grounds to believe that the defendant committed the crime. |
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| A set of facts and circumstances that would induce a reasonably intelligent and prudent person to believe that a specified person has comitted a specified crime. Also, reasonable grounds to make or believe an accusation. Probable cause refers to the necessary level of belief that would allow for police seizures of individuals and full searches of dwellings, vehicles, and possesions. |
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| A formal written accusation submitted to the court by a prosecutor, alleging that a specified person has committed a specified offense. |
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| A formal written accusation submitted to the court by a grand jury, alleging that a specified person has committed a specified offense, usually a felony. |
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| A group of jurors who have been selected according to law and have been sworn to hear the evidence and to determine whether there is sufficient evidence to bring the accused person to trial; to investigate criminal activity generally, or to investigate the conduct of a public agency or official. |
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| Strictly, the hearing before a court having jurisdiction in a criminal case in which the identity of the defendant is established, the defendant is informed of the charge and of his or her rights, and the defendant is required to enter a plea. Also, in some usages, any appearance in criminal court before trial. |
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| In criminal proceedings, the examination in court of the issues of fact and relevant law in a case for the purpose of convicting or acquiting the defendant. |
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| One of two or more sentences imposed at the same time, after conviction for more than one offense, and served in sequence with the other sentence. Also, a new sentence for a new conviction, imposed upon a person already under sentence for a previous offense, which is added to the previous sentence, thus increasing the maximum time the offender may be confined or under supervision. |
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| One of two or more sentences imposed at the same time, after conviction for more than one offense, and served at the same time. Also, a new sentence for a new conviction, impoesd upon a person already under sentence for a previous offense, which is served at the same time as the previous sentence. |
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| Guaranteed under the fifth amendment. A law creating and defining the offense, an impartial tribunal having jurisdictional authority over the case, accusation in proper form, notice and opportunity to defend, trial according to established procedure, and discharge from all restraints or obligations unless convicted. |
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| A criminal justice perspective that emphasizes the efficient arrest and conviction of criminal offenders. |
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| A criminal justice perspective that emphasizes individual rights at all stages of justice system processing. |
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| The use of sanctions and rewards within a group to influence and shape the behavior of individual members of that group. Social control is a primary concern of social controls and communities, and it is thier interest in the exercise of social control that leads to the creation of both criminal and civil statutes. |
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| The scientific study of the causes and prevention of crime and the rehabilitation and punishment of offenders. |
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| Crime-fighting strategies, that have been scientifically tested and are based on social science research. |
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| The existence whitin one society of diverse groups that maintain unique cultural identities while frequently accepting and participating in the larger society's legal and political systems. |
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