Questions and Answers of Criminal Justice In Action

Using your own words, define white-collar crime.
In 2015, Virginia’s attorney general announced that the state would no longer recognize concealed handgun permits issued by other states, meaning that citizens of those states would no longer be
Consider the following proposed state law: It is unlawful for any person, with intent to terrify, intimidate, threaten, harass, annoy, or offend, to use ANY ELECTRONIC OR DIGITAL DEVICE and use any
Should the federal government make it a crime to publish bomb-making instructions online? Why or why not?
Suppose a member of al Qaeda posts a video on YouTube that shows how to make an IED (improvised explosive device) out of common household cleaning detergents and a piece of pipe. Before YouTube can
Forty-four states have enacted parental responsibility statutes, which make parents accountable for the offenses of their children. Seventeen of these states hold parents criminally liable for their
Eight Florida teenagers ranging in age from fourteen to eighteen beat a classmate so badly that she suffered a concussion. According to law enforcement officials, the teenagers recorded the assault
Do you think that bullying should be punishable as a felony along the same lines as assault? (For the definition of assault, go back to Chapter 2.) Why or why not?
Do you agree with Supreme Court justice Anthony Kennedy that all juveniles who commit murder “must be given the opportunity to show their crime did not reflect irreparable corruption; and, if it
What is the difference between a status offense and a crime? What punishments do you think should be imposed on juveniles who commit status offenses?
What is the main justification for legislation that prohibits convicted sex offenders from accessing social media sites such as Facebook, Instagram, and online video games? What is your opinion of
How does the process of prisonization differ between male and female inmates?
Do you agree with prison policies that prohibit male correctional officers from patting down and strip-searching female inmates? Why or why not? Under what circumstances might such policies be
Several years ago, an inmate sued the Florida Department of Corrections, claiming that his soy-based diet was cruel and unusual punishment. Under what circumstances, if any, do you think that
Can prison treatment and rehabilitation programs be justified for reasons that have nothing to do with their potential cost and safety benefits for society? In other words, does the American criminal
Experience shows that building new jails does little or nothing to alleviate jail overcrowding. Why might this be the case?
Why have pretrial detainees been called “walking legal contradictions”? What are the practical reasons why pretrial detainees will continue to be housed in jails prior to trial, regardless of
Do you agree with the argument that private prisons are inherently unjust, no matter what costs they may save taxpayers? Why or why not?
Following the implementation of Proposition 47(described earlier in the chapter), California experienced a small increase in the occurrence of auto theft. Why might this be the case? Does this
By most measures, the United States imprisons more of its citizens than any other country in the world. Economic considerations aside, what is your opinion of our dramatically high incarceration
In your own words, explain what the phrase “widening the net” means. What might be some of the unintended consequences of increasing the number of offenders who are supervised by corrections
A number of courts have held that GPS monitoring, described in this chapter’s CJ & Technology feature, is a form of regulation rather than punishment, and therefore is not subject to constitutional
Review our discussion of Hawaii’s Opportunity Probation with Enforcement (HOPE) from earlier in the chapter.What might be some of the reasons participants in the program are less likely to fail a
Why might probationers and parolees want to limit their social media activity? Give an example of a circumstance in which a Facebook posting could cause probation or parole to be revoked.
In 2013, an eighty-six-year-old man was found guilty of fatally shooting his eighty-one-year-old wife. The victim was suffering from a painful health condition and had begged her husband to end her
Supporters of the death penalty often use the principles of retribution and deterrence to argue in favor of the practice. How are these arguments affected by the long period of time (an average of
Defense attorneys are increasingly likely to submit expensive biographical videos of their clients during sentencing in hopes of gaining a more lenient punishment.Lawyers say that such videos give
After a trial in Boston, Massachusetts, Harold is convicted of unarmed burglary. He has no prior convictions.According to the grid in Figure 9.4, what punishment do the state guidelines require? What
Why are truth-in-sentencing laws generally popular among victims’ rights advocates? Why might these laws not be so popular with prison administrators or government officials charged with balancing
Suppose that the U.S. Congress passed a new law that punished shoplifting with a mandatory eighty-five-year prison term. What would be the impact of the new law on shoplifting nationwide? Would such
Texas has a law called the Timothy Cole Compensation Act, under which people who are wrongfully convicted of crimes may collect $80,000 from the state for each year of unwarranted imprisonment. Do
Police find a critically wounded man lying in the parking lot of a gas station. When they ask him what happened, he indicates that Mr. X shot him. Then, the man dies.Should the dead man’s
Why is it important for the judge to tell jurors that a defendant’s decision to remain silent during the trial cannot be taken as a sign of guilt?
Review the United States Supreme Court’s ruling, discussed earlier in the chapter, that defendants have a constitutional right to effective representation during plea negotiations. Do you think the
Preventive detention laws raise the troubling issue of false positives, or erroneous predictions that defendants, if released before trial, would commit a crime when in fact they would not. Why do
Government agencies can charge fees for “free” legal counsel when the fees will not impose a “significant legal hardship” on the defendant. Why might this practice go against the Supreme
Prosecutors cannot face civil lawsuits for misconduct, even if they have deliberately sent an innocent person to prison. In practical terms, why do you think prosecutors are protected in this manner?
Do you think that politicians should make a concerted effort to appoint greater numbers of minorities and women as judges? Why or why not?
The United States Supreme Court does not allow its proceedings to be televised. Do you think that doing so would increase or diminish public confidence in the Court? Why?
In 2012, the United States Supreme Court “denied cert”in the case of Joel Tenenbaum, who had been ordered to pay a recording company $675,000 in fines for illegally downloading thirty-one songs
If, during questioning, a suspect says, “Maybe I should talk to a lawyer,” should police immediately stop the interrogation? Why or why not? (To see how the Supreme Court ruled on this matter,
In Belgium, law enforcement agents are prohibited from entering private homes without consent from 9 p.m. to 5 a.m. What do you think is the reasoning behind this ban on nighttime raids? What might
Suppose a suspect refuses to consent to a warrantless search of his home in connection with a robbery investigation. Police then arrest the suspect for abusing his domestic partner, who consents to a
The Washington State Court of Appeals compared text messages to voice mail messages that can be overheard by anybody in a room. Using this logic, the court upheld a conviction based on text messages
What are the two most significant legal concepts contained in the Fourth Amendment, and why are they important?
The International Association of Chiefs of Police’s Code of Conduct states that law enforcement agents should“never allow personal feelings, animosities, or friendships to influence official
Suppose a police officer is walking up a lightless stairway. Nervous, he points his gun into the darkness and puts his finger on the trigger, which goes against the training he received as a cadet.
In many large cities, “hot spots” of crime are located in low-income, minority neighborhoods. Given this reality, how might such data-driven policing contribute to tensions between the police and
Criminologists John and Emily Beck suggest that crime reduction strategies should treat crime as if it were a form of pollution. How does this comparison make sense in the context of predictive
Glenn voluntarily comes to the police station to answer questions about a rape case. When Glenn refuses to provide a DNA sample, police extract his DNA from a tissue he leaves behind on a chair. What
Twenty-nine states do not require any specific training for private security personnel. What are the arguments for and against requiring at least forty hours of training, as is the case in California
One of the major differences between a local police chief and a sheriff is that the sheriff is elected, while the police chief is appointed. What are some of the possible problems with having a law
Review the discussion of double marginality in this chapter. Why would members of a minority community think that police officers of the same race or ethnicity were“traitors”? What can police
Should law enforcement agencies have the same physical agility and fitness requirements for male and female applicants? Explain your answer.
Nationwide, a number of local police departments are offering “fight back” courses for citizens on how to best prepare for and respond to active-shooter attacks. Do you think such courses are
Suppose that Louisiana’s legislature passes a law allowing law enforcement officers to forcibly remove residents from their homes in the face of an imminent hurricane.Why might a court uphold this
Gerald, whose house has been burgled four times in previous weeks, sets a trap for future intruders by placing his wife’s purse in clear view of a window in his garage. Then he leaves the garage
Keith lends his car to Jermaine, who drives with two other friends to the home of a marijuana dealer. The three men break into the home, intending to steal a safe full of cash. The drug dealer is
Why is murder considered a mala in se crime? What argument can be made that murder is not a mala in se crime?
Give an example of a criminal law whose main purpose seems to be teaching societal boundaries rather than protecting citizens from harm. Do you think this behavior should be illegal? Explain your
Consider the following statement: “The government should protect the public from mentally ill persons who are potentially dangerous, even if that means hospitalizing those persons against their
Research shows that when levels of single-family mortgage foreclosures rise in a neighborhood, so do levels of violent crime. Explain the correlation between these two sets of statistics. Why is it
Why would someone who subscribes to rational choice theory believe that increasing the harshness of a penalty for a particular crime would necessarily lead to fewer such crimes being committed?
Assume that you are a criminologist who wants to determine the extent to which high school students engage in risky behaviors such as abusing alcohol and illegal drugs, carrying weapons, and
For nearly eight decades until 2013, the federal government defined rape as sex with “a female forcibly and against her will.” Compare this definition with the new definition in Figure 2.1. Which
As noted earlier in the chapter, corrections officials are reducing prison budgets by releasing nonviolent offenders before their sentences are finished. What is your opinion of this strategy? What
Using the Internet or the news media, find three recent examples of domestic terrorism. What factors do these examples have in common? How are the incidents different?
Relate the concept of federalism to the proliferation of different state laws regarding the possession, use, and sale of marijuana. Do the principles of federalism support each state’s ability to
What would be some of the drawbacks of having the victims of a crime, rather than the state (through its public officials), prosecute criminals?
How is it possible to have a consensus about what should or should not be illegal in a country with several hundred million adults from diverse races, religions, and walks of life?