Administration of Justice I (5847.70)

AJ 21 Criminal Justice in Society

Syllabus

Instructors : Virgil Monroe, Shad Canestrino, Leo Ramirez

Text : Criminal Justice in Action : The Core 10th Edition

by Larry K. Gaines and Roger L. Miller

Location : Lincoln Technical Academy

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Course Description:

AJ 21--This course introduces students to the characteristics of the criminal

justice system in the United States. Focus is placed on examining crime

measurement, theoretical explanations of crime, responses to crime, components of the system, and current challenges to the system. The course examines the evolution of the principles and approaches utilized by the justice system and the evolving forces which have shaped those principals and approaches. Although justice structure and process is examined in a cross cultural context, emphasis is placed on the US justice system, particularly the structure and function of US police, courts, and corrections. Students are introduced to the origins and development of criminal law, legal process, and sentencing and incarceration policies. 

Learning Objectives:

Chapter 1

1. Describe the two most common models of how society determines which acts are criminal.

2. Define crime.

3. Explain two main purposes of the criminal justice system.

4. Outline the three levels of law enforcement.

5. List the essential elements of the corrections system.

6. Explain the difference between the formal and informal criminal justice processes.

7. Define ethics, and describe the role that it plays in discretionary decision-making.

8. Contrast the crime control and due process models.

9. Explain how background checks, in theory, protect the public from firearm related violence.

10. Describe the defining aspects of a terrorist act, and identify one common

misperception concerning domestic terrorism.

Chapter 2

1. Discuss the difference between a hypothesis and a theory in the context of

criminology.

2. Summarize rational choice theory.

3. Explain how brain-scanning technology is able to help scientists determine if an individual is at risk for criminal offending.

4. List and describe the three theories of social structure that help explain crime.

5. Describe the social conflict theory known as the social reality of crime.

6. List and briefly explain the three branches of social process theory.

7. Describe the importance of early childhood behavior for those who subscribe to self-control theory.

8. Contrast the medical model of addiction with the criminal model of addiction.

9. Explain the theory of the chronic offender and its importance for the criminal justice system.

Chapter 3

1. Discuss the primary goals of civil law and criminal law, and explain how these goals are realized.

2. Explain the difference between crimes mala in se and mala prohibita

3. Identify the publication in which the FBI reports crime data and list the two main ways in which the data are reported.

4. Distinguish between the National Crime Victim Survey (NCVS) and self-reported surveys.

5. Describe the three ways that victims’ rights legislation increases the ability of crime victims to participate in the criminal justice system.

6. Explain the routine activities theory of victimization.

7. Identify the three factors most often used by criminologists to explain changes in the nation’s crime rate.

8. Explain why the income level appears to be more important than race or ethnicity when it comes to crime trends.

9. Discuss the prevailing explanation for the rising number of women incarcerated in the United States.

Chapter 4

1. List the four written sources of American criminal law.

2. Explain the precedent and the importance of the doctrine of stare decisis.

3. Explain the two basic functions of criminal law.

4. Delineate the elements required to establish mens rea.

5. Explain how the doctrine of strict liability applies to criminal law.

6. List and briefly define the most important excuse defenses for crimes.

7. Discuss a common misperception concerning the insanity defense in the United States.

8. Describe the four most important justification defenses.

9. Distinguish between substantive and procedural criminal law.

10. Explain the importance of the due process clause in the criminal justice system.

Chapter 5

1. List the four basic responsibilities of the police.

2. Tell how the patronage system affected policing.

3. Explain how intelligence led policing works and how it benefits modern police departments.

4. Identify the differences between the police academy and field training as learning tools for recruits.

5. Describe some of the benefits that female officers bring to law enforcement.

6. Identify the main advantage of a racially and ethnically diverse police force.

7. Indicate some of the most important law enforcement agencies under the control of the Department of Homeland Security.

8. Summarize the duties of the FBI.

9. Analyze the importance of private security today.

Chapter 6

1. Explain why police officers are allowed discretionary powers.

2. List the three primary purposes of police patrol

3. Describe how forensic experts use DNA fingerprinting to solve crimes.

4. Explain why differential response strategies enable police departments to respond more efficiently to 911 calls.

5. Explain community policing and its contribution to the concept of problem-oriented policing.

6. Describe the process of socialization in police subculture.

7. Clarify the concepts of nondeadly force, deadly force, and reasonable force in the context of police use of force.

8. Determine when police officers are justified in using deadly force.

9. Explain what an ethical dilemma is and name four categories of ethical dilemmas that a police officer may typically face.

Chapter 7

1. Outline the four major sources that may provide probable cause.

2. Explain the exclusionary rule and the exceptions to it.

3. List the four categories of items that can be seized by use of a search warrant.

4. Explain when searches can be made without a warrant.

5. Describe the plain view doctrine and indicate one of its limitations.

6. Distinguish between a stop and a frisk, and indicate the importance of the case of Terry v. Ohio.

7. List the four elements that must be present for an arrest to take place.

8. Explain why the U.S. Supreme Court established the Miranda Advisement.

9. Indicate situations in which a Miranda Advisement is not necessary.

10. List the three basic types of police identification.

Chapter 8

1. Define and contrast the four functions of the courts.

2. Define jurisdiction and contrast geographic and subject matter jurisdiction.

3. Explain the difference between trial and appellate courts.

4. Outline the levels of a typical state court system.

5. Outline the federal court system.

6. Explain briefly how a case is brought to the United States Supreme Court.

7. Explain the difference between the selection of judges at the state level and at the federal level.

8. Describe one alternative, practiced in other countries, to the American method of choosing judges.

9. List and describe the members of the courtroom work group.

10. List the three basic features of an adversarial system of justice.

Chapter 9

1. Contrast the prosecutor’s roles as an elected official and as a crime fighter.

2. Delineate the responsibilities of defense attorneys.

3. Explain why defense attorneys must often defend clients they know to be guilty.

4. Identify the steps involved in the pretrial criminal process.

5. Indicate the three main influences on a judge’s decision to set bail.

6. Identify the main difference between an indictment and an information.

7. Explain how a prosecutor screens potential cases.

8. Indicate why prosecutors, defense attorneys, and defendants often agree to plea bargains.

9. Describe some common criticisms of plea-bargaining as an integral part of the American criminal justice system.

Chapter 10

1. Identify the basic protections enjoyed by criminal defendants in the United States.

2. Explain what “taking the Fifth” really means.

3. List the requirements normally imposed on potential jurors.

4. Contrast challenges for cause and preemptory challenges during voir dire.

5. List the standard steps in a criminal jury trial.

6. Describe the difference between direct and circumstantial evidence, and explain why evidence of a defendant’s “evil character” is often excluded from trial.

7. Identify the primary method that defense attorneys use in most trials to weaken the prosecution’s case against their client.

8. Delineate circumstances in which a criminal defendant may be tried a second time for the same act.

9. List the five basic steps of an appeal.

Chapter 11

1. List and contrast the four basic philosophical reasons for sentencing criminals.

2. Contrast indeterminate with determinate sentencing.

3. Explain why there is a difference between the sentence imposed by a judge and the actual sentence served by the prisoner.

4. State who has input into the sentencing decision and list the factors that determine a sentence.

5. Explain some of the reasons why sentencing reform has occurred.

6. Describe the goal of mandatory minimum sentencing guidelines and explain why these laws have become unpopular in recent years.

7. Identify the two stages that make up the bifurcated process of death penalty sentencing.

8. Explain why the U.S. Supreme Court abolished the death penalty for juvenile offenders.

9. Describe the main issues of the death penalty debate.

Chapter 12

1. Explain the justifications for community-based corrections programs.

2. Explain several alternative sentencing arrangements that combine probation with incarceration.

3. Specify the conditions under which and offender is most likely to be denied

probation.

4. Describe the three general categories of conditions placed on a probationer.

5. Identify the main differences between probation and parole.

6. Explain which factors influence the decision to grant parole.

7. Contrast day reporting centers with intensive supervision probation.

8. List the three levels of home monitoring.

9. Summarize the paradox of community corrections.

Chapter 13

1. Contrast the Pennsylvania and New York penitentiary theories of the 1800s.

2. Explain the three general models of prisons.

3. Describe the formal prison management system, and indicate the three most important aspects of prison governance.

4. List and briefly explain the four types of prisons.

5. Identify some factors that have caused the prison population to grow dramatically in the last several decades.

6. Indicate some of the consequences of our high rates of incarceration.

7. Describe the arguments for and against private prisons.

8. Summarize the distinction between jails and prisons, and indicate the importance of jails in the American corrections system.

9. Identify three conditions common among jail inmates that make the management of jails difficult for sheriff’s departments.

Chapter 14

1. Explain the concept of prison as a total institution.

2. Describe a risk run by corrections officials who fail to provide adequate medical care to the inmates under their control.

3. Indicate some of the reasons for violent behavior in prisons.

4. List the circumstances in which courts have found that the “legitimate security interests” of a jail or prison justify the use of force by correctional officers.

5. Describe the hands-off doctrine of prisoner law and indicate two standards used to determine if prisoner’s rights have been violated.

6. Explain the aspects of imprisonment that prove challenging for incarcerated mothers and their children.

7. Contrast parole, expiration release, pardon, and furlough.

8. Explain the goal of prison reentry programs.

9. Indicated typical conditions for release for a paroled sex offender.

Chapter 15

1. Describe the child-saving movement and its relationship to the doctrine of parens patriae.

2. List the four major differences between juvenile courts and adult courts.

3. Identify and briefly describe the single most important U.S. Supreme Court case with respect to juvenile justice.

4. Describe the reasoning behind recent U.S. Supreme Court decisions that have lessened the harshness of sentencing outcomes for violent juvenile offenders.

5. Define bullying and list the four components that are often present in this sort of behavior.

6. Describe the one variable that always correlates highly with juvenile crime rates.

7. List the factors that normally determine what police do with juvenile offenders.

8. Describe the four primary components of pretrial juvenile justice procedure.

9. Explain the distinction between an adjudicatory hearing and a disposition hearing.

Chapter 16

1. Outline the three major reasons why the Internet is conducive to the dissemination

of child pornography.

2. Define malware, and identify the main way in which worms differ from viruses and Trojans.

3. Explain how the Internet has contributed to piracy of intellectual property.

4. Distinguish verbal threats that are protected by the Constitution from verbal threats

that can be prosecuted as “true threats.”

5. Summarize the three federal laws that have been particularly influential on our nation’s counterterrorism strategies.

6. Explain why privacy expectations are so important to the federal governments

metadata surveillance operations.

7. Describe two factors that make it difficult for counterterrorism agents to predict and prevent acts of domestic terrorism.

8. Indicate some of the ways that white-collar crime is different from violent or property crime.

9. Explain the concept of corporate violence.

Class Schedule: This class is two periods long. It will either be 1/2, 3/4 or 5/6

periods and will last all 4 quarters; approximately 36 weeks / 360 instructional hours.

Evaluation: Students will be evaluated on his/her participation in the classroom discussions as well as his/her participation in group projects. Additionally, the student's knowledge will be tested in several ways including quizzes, written tests, homework assignments and group discussions.

Grading: Students will be graded on the completeness and accuracy of all

written work, including quizzes, chapter tests, a mid-term test, and a final.

Students will also be graded on numerous written homework assignments and at least one written research paper.

Additionally all students will be expected to pass standard POST physical fitness testing and all students will be expected to complete at least 10 hours of community service per quarter.

Grading Scale:

100% - 90% = A

89%- 80% = B

79%-70% = C

69%-60% = D

59% or less = F

Articulation: This class is articulated with San Joaquin Delta College. Students earning a passing grade will earn high school credit for this class. Students earning a grade of “C” or better, will also be eligible to apply for credit at San Joaquin Delta College

Absences:

Make up exams and make up assignments will only be allowed if an absence is excused (per district policy). It must be made-up when the student returns to class following the absence, and it is the student's responsibility to remind the instructor that he/she needs to make up work missed.

Academic Honesty:

The Lodi Unified School District rules regarding cheating and plagiarism will be strictly enforced.