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See Cosa Nostra.
major crimes
See Part I offenses.
mala in se
Acts that are regarded, by tradition and convention, as wrong in themselves.
mala prohibita
Acts that are considered wrong only because there is a law against them.
malware
Malicious computer programs like viruses, worms, and Trojan horses.
mandatory sentence
A statutorily required penalty that must be set and carried out in all cases upon conviction for a specified offense or series of offenses.
mandatory sentencing
A structured sentencing scheme that allows no leeway in the nature of the sentence required and under which clearly enumerated punishments are mandated for specific offenses or for habitual offenders convicted of a series of crimes.
maximum sentence
In legal usage, the maximum penalty provided by law for a given criminal offense, usually stated as a maximum term of imprisonment or a maximum fine. Also, in corrections usage in relation to a given offender, any of several quantities (expressed in days, months, or years) which vary according to whether calculated at the point of sentencing or at a later point in the correctional process and according to whether the time period referred to is the term of confinement or the total period under correctional jurisdiction.
mediation committee
One of the civilian dispute-resolution groups found throughout China. Mediation committees successfully divert many minor offenders from the more formal mechanisms of justice.
medical model
A therapeutic perspective on correctional treatment that applies the diagnostic perspective of medical science to the handling of criminal offenders.
mens rea
The state of mind that accompanies a criminal act. Also, a guilty mind.
Miranda rights
The set of rights that a person accused or suspected of having committed a specific offense has during interrogation and of which he or she must be informed prior to questioning, as stated by the U.S. Supreme Court in deciding Miranda v. Arizona (1966) and related cases.
Miranda triggers
The dual principles of custody and interrogation, both of which are necessary before an advisement of rights is required.
Miranda warnings
The advisement of rights due criminal suspects by the police before questioning begins. Miranda warnings were first set forth by the U.S. Supreme Court in the 1966 case of Miranda v. Arizona.
misdemeanor
An offense punishable by incarceration, usually in a local confinement facility, for a period whose upper limit is prescribed by statute in a given jurisdiction, typically one year or less.
mistrial
A trial that has been terminated and declared invalid by the court because of some circumstance which created a substantial and uncorrectable prejudice to the conduct of a fair trial or which made it impossible to continue the trial in accordance with prescribed procedures.
mitigating circumstances
Circumstances relating to the commission of a crime that may be considered to reduce the blameworthiness of the defendant. See also aggravating circumstances.
mixed sentence
A sentence that requires that a convicted offender serve weekends (or other specified periods of time) in a confinement facility (usually a jail) while undergoing probationary supervision in the community.
M'Naghten rule
A rule for determining insanity, which asks whether the defendant knew what he or she was doing or whether the defendant knew that what he or she was doing was wrong.
Model Penal Code (MPC)
A generalized modern codification considered basic to criminal law, published by the American Law Institute in 1962.
money laundering
The process by which criminals or criminal organizations seek to disguise the illicit nature of their proceeds by introducing them into the stream of legitimate commerce and finance.31
moral enterprise
The process undertaken by an advocacy group to have its values legitimated and embodied in law.
motion
An oral or written request made to a court at any time before, during, or after court proceedings, asking the court to make a specified finding, decision, or order.
motive
A person's reason for committing a crime.
motor vehicle theft (UCR)
The theft or attempted theft of a motor vehicle. Motor vehicle is defined as a self-propelled road vehicle that runs on land surface and not on rails. The stealing of trains, planes, boats, construction equipment, and most farm machinery is classified as larceny under the UCR Program, not as motor vehicle theft.
multiculturalism
The existence within one society of diverse groups that maintain unique cultural identities while frequently accepting and participating in the larger society's legal and political systems.32 Multiculturalism is often used in conjunction with the term diversity to identify many distinctions of social significance.
municipal police department
A city- or town-based law enforcement agency; also known as local police.
murder
The unlawful killing of a human being. Murder is a generic term that in common usage may include first- and second-degree murder, manslaughter, involuntary manslaughter, and other similar offenses.
murder and nonnegligent manslaughter (UCR)
Intentionally causing the death of another without legal justification or excuse. Also, causing the death of another while committing or attempting to commit another crime.
31. U.S. Department of Treasury, 2000Ð2005 Strategic Plan (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, 2000), p. 1.
32. Adapted from Robert M. Shusta et al., Multicultural Law Enforcement, 2d ed. (Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2002), p. 443.
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