An amicus curiae brief is a "friend of the court" brief filed in state and federal courts by a person or organization that is not a party to the litigation, but that has a strong view on the subject matter of the case

An applied scientist is a scientist who applies knowledge to solve practical problems of the modern world, rather than to acquire knowledge for knowledge's sake

A basic scientist is a scientist who pursues knowledge motivated by scientific curiosity or interest in a scientific question. They study phenomenon to expand understanding in order to contribute to scientific advances in the area, not to solve a problem

Case law is the body of previous legal decisions and legal principles developed from these earlier decisions, as contrasted with statutory laws (passed by the legislative branch and approved by the executive branch). Case law develops through the courts over time based upon precedent and tends to change slowly because of the elgal principle of stare decisis ("Let the decision stand")

The crime control model is the model which emphasizes the reduction of crime rates and vindicating victims' rights by the efficient detection of suspects and the effective prosecution of defendants to help ensure that criminal activity is being contained or reduced

Determinate sentencing is a sentence of confinement of probation for a fixed period of time specified by statute, as contrasted with an indeterminate sentence whose duration is determined by the offender's behavior

The due process model is a perspective that emphasizes due process or procejural justice (fairness) under the law. In contrast to the crime control model, this model places stronger emphasis on defendants' rights than victims' rights

The principle of equality says that all people commit the same crime or misdeed should receive the same consequences

An expert witness is a witness who has special knowledge beyond that of the ordinary lay person (juror) about a subject enabling them to give testimony regarding an issue that requires expertise to understand. Experts are permitted to give opinion testimony, while a non-expert witness must testify as to actual events that they witnessed first-hand

These psychologists and phychiatrists provide forensic mental health assessments and expert court testimony on a variety of topics related to legal questions involving mental and emotional disorder, intellectual functioning, substance abuse and other clinical disorders, as welll as capacities that are directly related to the legal question

This includes evaluations conducted by a variety of disciplines including psychiatrists, psychologists and social workers. The assessments address a wide range of questions in the civil, criminal and family law

These psychologists apply science and psychology to questions and issues related to the legal system. Their work may include conducting forensic mental health assessments for courts and attorneys, providing treatment to those under the supervision of the legal system, offering consultation to law enforcement, and other related tasks

A policy evaluator is a role in which psychologists who have methodological skills in assessing how well a policy has worked provide data regarding the effects of the policy (such as expected outcomes and data reports)

Precedents are rulings or opinions from previous cases that provide a framework in which to decide a current case. The exception that a court must follow is called stare decisis

The principle of proportionality says that the punishment of a criminal should be consistently related to the magnitude of the offense that was committed

Procedural justice is a sense that the methods for resolving a dispute have been fair

Racial bias occurs when police officers, prosecutors, jurors or judges use an individual's race as the primary determinant for discretionary decisions or judgements of his or her behavior

Sentencing disparity is the tendency for different judges to administer a variety of penalties for the same crime

Settlement negotiation is when in civil cases, the pretrial process by whereby plantiffs and defendants agree to an outcome that ends their legal disagreement

Social framework testimony is testimony from an expert witness that is based on the knowledge of scientific evidence on a particular for the purpose of helping a judge or jury better understand that issue

Stare decisis is the principle emphasizing the importance of decision-making that is consistent with precedent; literally "let the decision stand"

Three strikes laws are a category of statutes that require state courts to hand down mandatory and long periods of imprisonment for persons convicted of three or more felonies on separate accasions, no matter how minor the offenses

Trial consultants are social scientists who work as jury selection consultants, conduct community attitude surveys, prepare witnesses to testify, advise lawyers on their presentation strategies and conduct mock trials

Laws are human creations which act to resolve conflict. Laws change as society changes. A psychological approach says that humans are agents in the legal system and asks how their internal qualities and their environment (including the law) affect their behavior

Several basic choices must be made but not all can be acheived because of their "a or b but not both" approach. The choices are 1. whether law should uphold personal freedoms or the common good, 2: whether equality or discretion should be the basis of our legal decisions, 3: whether the purpose of law is conflict resolution or to find out the truth and 4: whether law or science should take priority in decision making

Recent laws like the three-strikes process reflect more of a crime control model to modern approach to law enforcement. Large increases in prison populations is largely attributed to this sort of revolution in the field of criminal justice

1. Basic scientist (solves issues just for knowledge's sake) 2. Applied scientist (applies research and techniques to solve individual problems) 3. Policy evaluator (creates and assesses various changes in the legal system 4. Forensic evaluator (performs psychological evaluations on people for the sake of legal decisions 5. A consultant (works on behalf of a party in litigation)