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| Conduct in violation of the criminal laws of a state, the federal government, or a local jurisdiction or excuse. |
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| The process by which procedures that feel fair to those involved are made. |
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| The rights guaranteed to all members of American society by the U.S. Constitution (especially those found in the first ten amendments to the Constitution, known as the Bill of Rights). These rights are particularly important to criminal defendants facing formal processing by the criminal justice system. |
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| A condition said to exist when a group is faced with social change, uneven development of culture, maladaptiveness, disharmony, conflict, and lack of consensus. |
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| Individual-rights advocate |
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| One who seeks to protect personal freedoms within the process of criminal justice. |
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| The condition of a society characterized by social integration, consensus, smooth functioning, and lack of interpersonal and institutional conflict. Also, a lack of social disorganization. |
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| One who believes that under certain circumstances involving a criminal threat to public safety, the interests of society should take precedence over individual rights. |
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| The principle of fairness, the ideal of moral equity. |
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| An ideal that embraces all aspects of civilized life and that is linked to fundamental notions of fairness and to cultural beliefs about right and wrong. |
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| The civil law, the law of civil procedure, and the array of procedures and activities having to do with private rights and remedies sought by civil action. Civil justice cannot be separated from social justice enacted in our nation's civil courts reflects basic American understandings of right and wrong. |
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| In the strictest sense, the criminal (penal) law, the law of criminal procedure, and the array of procedures and activities having to do with the enforcement of this body of law. Criminal justice cannot be separated from social justice because the justice enacted in our nation's criminal courts reflects basic American understandings of right and wrong. |
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| Administration of justice |
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| The performance of any of the following activities: detection, apprehension, detention, pretrial, release, post-trial release, prosecution, abjudication, correctional supervision, or rehabilitation of accused persons or criminal offenders. |
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| A criminal justice perspective that emphasizes the efficient arrest and conviction of criminal offenders. |
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| The aggregate of all operating and administrative or technical support agencies that perform criminal justice functions. The basic divisions of the operational aspects of criminal justice are law enforcement, courts, and corrections. |
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| A criminal justice perspective that assumes that the system's components work together harmoniously to achieve the social product we call justice. |
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| A criminal justice perspective that assumes that the system's components function primarily to serve their own interests. According to this theoretical framework, justice is more a product of conflicts among agencies within the system than it is the result of cooperation among competent agencies. |
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| In criminal proceedings, a writ issued by a judicial officer directing a law enforcement officer to perform a specified act and affording the officer protection from damages if he or she performs it. |
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| A law enforcement or correctional administrative process officially recording an entry into detention after arrest and identifying the person, the place, the time, the reason for the arrest, and the arresting authority. |
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| The money or property pledged to the court or actually deposited with the court to effect the release of a person from legal custody. |
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| A proceeding before a judicial officer in which three matters must be decided (1) whether a crime was committed, (2) whether the crime occurred within the territorial jurisdiction of the court, and (3) whether there are reasonable grounds to believe that the defendant committed the crime. |
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| A set of facts and circumstances that would induce a reasonably intelligent and prudent person to believe that a specified person has committed a specified crime. Also, reasonable grounds to make or believe an accusation. Probable cause refers to the necessary level of belief that would allow for police seizures (arrests) of individuals and full searches of dwellings, vehicles, and possessions. |
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| A data-driven approach to criminal justice reform that examines and addresses justice system expenditures and population drivers in order to generate cost-saving that are then reinvested in high-performing public safety strategies. |
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| Crime-fighting strategies that have been scientifically tested and are based on social science research. |
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| Criminal laws and criminal justice institutions, policies, and practices that achieve justice in the present without compromising the ability of future generations to have the benefits of a just society. |
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| A criminal justice perspective that emphasizes individual rights at all stages of justice system processing. |
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| The use of sanctions and rewards within a group to influence and shape the behavior of individual members of that group. Social control is a primary concern of social groups and communities and it is their interest in the exercise of social control that leads to the creation of both criminal and civil statutes. |
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| The existence within one society of diverse groups that maintain unique cultural identities while frequently accepting and participating in the larger society's legal political systems. Multiculturalism is often used in conjunction with the diversity to identify many distinctions of social significance. Also called cultural pluralism. |
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| The scientific study of the causes and prevention of crime and the rehabilitation and punishment of offenders. |
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| Differences between individuals and groups in the same society, including differences based on culture, race, religion, ethnicity, age, gender identity, and disabilities. |
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| The ability to interact effectively with people of different cultures. |
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| Strictly, the hearing before a court having jurisdiction in a criminal case in which the identity of the defendant is established, the defendant is informed of the charge and of his or her rights, and the defendant is required to enter a plea. Also, in some usages, any appearance in criminal court before trial. |
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| One of two or more sentences imposed at the same time after conviction for more than one offense, and served at the same time. Also, a new sentence for a new conviction, imposed upon a person already under sentence for a previous offense, served at the same time as the previous sentence. |
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| One of two or more sentences imposed at the same time, after conviction for more than one offense, and served in sequence with the other sentence. Also, a new sentence for a new conviction, impsed upon a person already under sentence for a previous offense, which is added to the previous sentence, thus increasing the maximum time the offender may be confined or under supervision. |
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| A right guaranteed by the 4th, 5th, 6th, and 14th Amendments of the U.S. Constitution and generally understood, in legal contexts to mean the due course of legal proceedings according to the rules and forms established for the protection of individual rights. In criminal proceedings, due process of law is generally understood to include the following basic elements: a law creating and defining the offense, an impartial tribunal having jurisdictional authority over the case, accusation in proper form, notice and opportunity to defend, trial according to established procedure, and discharge from all restraints or obligations unless convicted. |
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| A group of jurors who have been selected according to law and have been sworn to hear the evidence and to determine whether there is sufficient evidence to bring the accused person to trial, to investigate criminal activity generally, or to investigate the conduct of a public agency or official. |
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| A formal, written accusation submitted to the court by a grand jury, alleging that a specified person has committed a specified offense, usually a felony. |
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| A formal, written accusation submitted to the court by a prosecutor, alleging that a specified person has committed a specific offense. |
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| In criminal proceedings, the examination in court of the issues of fact and relevant law in a case for the purpose of convicting or acquitting the defendant. |
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