Criminal Justice System: Laws and Punishments

• Code of Hammurabi is the oldest legal code with an "eye for an eye" doctrine.
• Mosaic Law is a moralistic code focused on doing what is right.
• The Roman Twelve Tables were laws publicized for the people to understand.
• The consensus model assumes society shares values and beliefs guiding the criminal justice system. It opposes social revolutionism.
• The conflict model focuses on working against one another instead of collaborating.

Five Justifications for Punishment

• Incapacitation
• Rehabilitation
• Retribution
• Deterrence
• Restitution

Media Frames of the Criminal Justice System

• Faulty crime system
• Social breakdown
• Racist system
• Violent crime system
• Blocked opportunities

Elements of a Criminal Statute

• Act element: The act that constitutes the crime.
• Mental state: The thinking or behavior associated with the act.
• Attendant circumstance: Additional factors related to the crime.
• Not all crimes require a mental state; these are strict liability crimes.
• Statutory rape is an example of a strict liability crime.
• The FBI and BJS are federal agencies that measure crime within the United States.
• Punishment should be swift, certain, and proportional, according to Cesare Beccaria.
• Jeremy Bentham designed the panopticon and suggested tattoos for easier law enforcement identification.

Guiding Principles for the Rule of Law

• No one should be above the law.
• The law should be clear and publicized.

Civil vs. Criminal Cases

• Civil cases involve a plaintiff versus a defendant, and losing may result in paying a fine.
• Criminal cases can lead to jail time, and the prosecution must prove their case beyond a reasonable doubt.
• Federal law supersedes state law.
• Procedural law involves the methods of carrying out the law, like due process.
• Substantive law defines rights, obligations, and behaviors considered criminal or civil offenses.
• A person's failure to act can lead to criminal liability under certain conditions: legal duty to act, contractual duty, status relationship, or contributing to a person's peril.
• A status relationship involves a special relationship like parent/child or employer/employee.
• A person can be liable for the acts of a third party if they are an accomplice, help the person, or are involved in planning the crime as a co-conspirator.

Elements of Self-Defense

• Imminent danger
• Cannot be the first aggressor
• Force used must be proportional
• Reasonable belief that self-defense was necessary
• Use of deadly force depends on the jurisdiction: stand your ground or retreat.
• Battery is a general intent crime, while embezzlement can be a specific intent crime.
• A mistake can be used as an excuse for a specific intent crime.
• Factual impossibility is based on the facts.
• Legal impossibility is a defense when the defendant's actions do not meet the legal definition of a crime.

Insanity Defenses

• M'Naghten: The person does not understand the quality of their act or that it was wrong.
• Irresistible Impulse Test: The defendant has a mental illness preventing them from controlling their actions.
• New Hampshire Test: But for the mental illness, the crime would not have been committed.
• MPC (Model Penal Code): The person is unable to conform their behavior to the law, combining M'Naghten and irresistible impulse tests.
• The 8th Amendment prohibits cruel and unusual punishment.
• Individuals who are mentally disabled or juveniles cannot be sentenced to capital punishment.
• Inmates cannot be denied food or held in terrible prison conditions

Robert Peel's Contributions

• Community policing principles.
• Julius Boyd Loving helped reduce prison overcrowding using bunk beds, incentivizing work, and vocational programs.

August Vollmer's Contributions

• Established the first school of criminology at UC Berkeley.
• Stressed police officer education.
• Advocated for police radios and transportation.
• Developed alarm systems.

Modern Police Force Challenges

• Importance of diversity
• Social media presence expansion
• Use of body-worn cameras.

4th Amendment

• Protects your person, home, and property.
• Requires a reasonable expectation of privacy.
• Exceptions to the warrant requirement: consent, search incident to a lawful arrest, plain view, Terry Stops.
• The 5th Amendment protects against self-incrimination and applies to custodial interrogation.
• The 6th Amendment applies to post-charge lineups and provides the right to an attorney.
• The 4th, 5th, and 6th Amendments only apply to government action.