Unit 3: Constitutional &

Criminal Law

Analyze the structure of the government and the court system.

Constitutional & Criminal Law

Identify criminal laws used frequently in the criminal justice system

Essential Questions

Can I get into trouble for that?

Can the police really do that?

Criminal Law • formal means of social control that uses rules• interpreted and enforced by the courts• to set limits to the conduct of the citizens• to guide the officials• to define unacceptable behavior”.

Penal Code

The criminal law of a political jurisdiction.

Civil Law

a means of resolving conflicts between individuals

Tort

A violation of the civil law.

Substantive Law The body of law that defines criminal offenses and their penalties.

Procedural Law

The body of law that governs the ways substantive laws are administered

Due Process of Law

The rights of people suspected of or charged with crimes.

1. Politicality

Rules made by the state

(only these are crimes)

2. Specificity

Strict definitions of specific acts

3. Regularity

Applied to all persons, regardless of social status

4. Uniformity Enforcement of the laws against anyone who violates them, regardless of social status

5. Penal Sanction

Violators will be punished by the state

(or at least threatened with punishment)

Precedent A decision of a court that forms a potential basis for deciding the outcomes of similar cases in the future.

Searches Explorations or inspections by law enforcement officersof homes, property, vehicles, or personsto discover evidence of crimes or persons who are accused of crimes.

Seizures

Take persons or property into custody in response to violations of the criminal law.

Warrant

A written order from a court directing LEO to conduct a search or to arrest a person.

Arrest The seizure of a person or the taking of a person into custodyActual physical custody: suspect is handcuffed by a police officerConstructive custody: person peacefully submits to a police officer’s control

Contraband

An illegal substance or object.

There are 7

Standards of Proof

1. Mere suspicion

Very little certainty, “gut feeling”

Cannot legally stop a suspect

2. Reasonable Suspicion

Can put reasons for suspicion into words

Needed to stop and frisk

3. Probable Cause

Reasonably intelligent person could believe

Crime committed orEvidence can be found

3. Probable CauseWhat you need to conduct a search or make an arrest

4. Preponderance of evidence

Sufficient evidence to overcome doubt or speculation

Needed to find defendant liable in civil suit (think OJ)

4. Preponderance of evidence also needed for:

Inevitable discovery rule: we would have found it anyway

Waiver of right to counsel was done knowingly

5. Clear and convincing evidence

Needed to make a successful claim of insanity in a federal case

6. Beyond a Reasonable Doubt

Needed to find a defendant guilty in a criminal trial

7. CertaintyYou don’t need to write this one. It is rarely achieved in criminal justice.

Frisking Conducting a search for weapons by patting the outside of a suspect’s clothing, feeling for objects that might be weapons.

Exclusionary Rule

The rule that illegally seized evidence must be excluded from trials in federal courts.

Double Jeopardy

The trying of a defendant a second time for the same offense.

Self-incrimination

Being a witness against oneself. If forced, it is a violation of the Fifth Amendment.

Confession

An admission by a person accused of a crime that he or she committed the offense charged.

Venue

The place of the trial. It must be geographically appropriate.

Subpoena

Written order that requires a person to appear to give testimony. Or records/objects be made available for examination.