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Criminal justice system
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The agencies of government-- police, courts, and corrections-- that are responsible for apprehending, adjudicating, sanctioning, and treating criminal offenders
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Community policing (COP) (problem-oriented policing)
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A practive form of policing; Rather than merely responding to crime after it occurs, polive departments are shaping their forces into community change agents in order to prevent crimes before they occur.
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Discretion
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The use of personal decision making by those carrying out police, judicial, and sanctioning functions within the criminal justice system
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Landmark decision
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A ruling by the US Supreme Court that serves as a a precedent for similar legal issues; it often influences the everyday operating procedures of police agencies, trial courts, and correntional institutions
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Adversary system
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The US method of criminal adjudiction, in whcih prosecution (the state) and defense (the accused) each try to bring forward evidence and arguments, with guilt or innocence ultimately decided by an impartial judge or jury
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Prosecutor
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Public official who represents the government in criminal proceedings, presenting the case against the accused
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Defendant
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In criminal proceedings, the person accused of violating the law
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Convictability
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Existence of conditions surrounding a criminal case that indicate it has a good chance of resulting in a conviction
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Defense attorney
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Person repsonsible for protecting the constitutional rights of the accused and presenting the best possible eglal defense; represents a defendant from intial arrest through trail, sentencing, and any appeal
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Right to counsel
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The right of a person accused of crime to the assistance of a defense attorney in all criminal prosecutions
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Public defender
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Attorney employed by the state whose job is to provde free legal cousel to indignent defendants
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Pro bono
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literally, done without compensation, "for the public good"; free legal cousel provided to indignent defendants by private attorneys as a service to the profession and the community
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Probation
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Conditional release of a convicted offender into the community under the supervision fo a probation officer and subject to certain conditions
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Incarceration
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Confinement in jail or prison
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Jail
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Institution, usually run by the county, for short-term detention of those convicted of misdemeanors and those awaiting trial or other judicial proceedings
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