CJCENTRAL: Criminal Justice Brief, 5E: Glossary

danger laws
Those intended to prevent the pretrial release of criminal defendants judged to represent a danger to others in the community.

dangerousness
The likelihood that a given individual will later harm society or others. Dangerousness is often measured in terms of recidivism, or as the likelihood of additional crime commission within a five-year period following arrest or release from confinement.

data encryption
Methods used to encode computerized information.

date rape
Unlawful forced sexual intercourse with a female against her will which occurs within the context of a dating relationship.

deadly force
Force likely to cause death or great bodily harm.

deadly weapon
An instrument designed to inflict serious bodily injury or death, or capable of being used for such a purpose.

deconstructionist theories
Emerging approaches which challenge existing criminological perspectives to debunk them, and which work toward replacing them with concepts more applicable to the postmodern era.

decriminalization
The redefinition of certain previously criminal behaviors into regulated activities, which become "ticketable" rather than "arrestable."

defendant
In criminal justice usage, a person formally accused of an offense(s) by the filing in court of a charging document.

defense counsel (also defense attorney)
A licensed trial lawyer, hired or appointed to conduct the legal defense of an individual accused of a crime and to represent him or her before a court of law.

defenses (to a criminal charge)
Evidence and arguments offered by a defendant and his or her attorney(s) to show why that person should not be held liable for a criminal charge.

defensible space theory
The belief that an area's physical features may be modified and structured so as to reduce crime rates in that area, and to lower the fear of victimization which area residents experience.

delinquency
In the broadest usage, juvenile actions or conduct in violation of criminal law, juvenile status offenses, and other juvenile misbehavior.

delinquent
A juvenile who has been adjudged by a judicial officer of a juvenile court to have committed a delinquent act.

delinquent act
An act committed by a juvenile for which an adult could be prosecuted in a criminal court, but for which a juvenile can be adjudicated in a juvenile court, or prosecuted in a court having criminal jurisdiction if the juvenile court transfers jurisdiction; generally, a "felony" or "misdemeanor"-level offense in states employing those terms.

delinquent child
A child who has engaged in activity that would be considered a crime if the child were an adult. The term "delinquent" is applied to such a child in order to avoid the stigma that comes from application of the term "criminal."

dependent
A juvenile over whom a juvenile court has assumed jurisdiction and legal control because his or her care by parent, guardian, or custodian has not met a legal standard of proper care.

dependent child
A child who has no parents or whose parents are unable to care for him or her.

design capacity (or bed capacity)
The number of inmates which a correctional facility was originally designed to house, or currently has the capacity to house as a result of later, planned modifications, exclusive of extraordinary arrangements to accommodate overcrowded conditions.

detainee
Usually, a person held in local, very-short-term confinement while awaiting consideration for pretrial release or first appearance for arraignment.

detention
The legally authorized confinement of a person subject to criminal or juvenile court proceedings, until the point of commitment to a correctional facility or until release.

detention hearing
In juvenile justice usage, a hearing by a judicial officer of a juvenile court to determine whether a juvenile is to be detained, continue to be detained, or be released, while juvenile proceedings in the case are pending.

determinate sentencing
(also called fixed sentencing) A model of criminal punishment in which an offender is given a fixed term that may be reduced by good time or earned time. Under the model, for example, all offenders convicted of the same degree of burglary would be sentenced to the same length of time behind bars.

deterrence
A goal of criminal sentencing that seeks to prevent others from committing crimes similar to the one for which an offender is being sentenced.

deviance (also deviant behavior)
A violation of social norms defining appropriate or proper behavior under a particular set of circumstances. Deviance often includes acts which are criminal.

diminished capacity, also diminished responsibility
A defense based upon claims of a mental condition which may be insufficient to exonerate a defendant of guilt, but that may be relevant to specific mental elements of certain crimes or degrees of crime.

directed patrol
A police management strategy designed to increase the productivity of patrol officers through the application of scientific analysis and evaluation to patrol techniques.

direct evidence
Evidence that, if believed, directly proves a fact. Eyewitness testimony (and, more recently, videotaped documentation) account for the majority of all direct evidence heard in the criminal courtroom.

direct supervision jails
(also called podular/direct and new generation jails) Temporary confinement facilities that eliminate many of the traditional barriers between inmates and correctional staff. Physical barriers in direct supervision jails are far less common than in traditional jails, allowing staff members the opportunity for greater interaction with, and control over, residents.

discharge
In criminal justice usage, to release from confinement or supervision or to release from a legal status imposing an obligation upon the subject person.

discretion
The opportunity that individual law enforcement officers have for the exercise of choice in their daily activities. The decision whether to effect an arrest or release a suspect is a primary example of discretion in law enforcement activity.

disposition
In criminal justice usage, the action by a criminal or juvenile justice agency which signifies that a portion of the justice process is complete and jurisdiction is terminated or transferred to another agency, or which signifies that a decision has been reached on one aspect of a case and a different aspect comes under consideration, requiring a different kind of decision.

disposition hearing
A hearing in juvenile court, conducted after an adjudicatory hearing and subsequent receipt of the report of any predisposition investigation, to determine the most appropriate form of custody and/or treatment for a juvenile who has been adjudged a delinquent, a status offender, or a dependent.

dispute resolution centers
Informal hearing infrastructures designed to mediate interpersonal disputes without need for the more formal arrangements of criminal trial courts.

district attorney
See prosecutor.

diversion
The official suspension of criminal or juvenile proceedings against an alleged offender at any point after a recorded justice system intake but before the entering of a judgment and referral of that person to a treatment or care program administered by a nonjustice or private agency, or no referral.

DNA profiling
The use of biological residue found at the scene of a crime for genetic comparisons in aiding the identification of criminal suspects.

docket
See court calendar.

double jeopardy
A common law and constitutional prohibition against a second trial for the same offense.

drug
Any chemical substance defined by social convention as bio- or psychoactive.

drug abuse
Illicit drug use that results in social, economic, psychological, or legal problems for the user.

drug czar
The head of the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP). A federal cabinet-level position that was originally created during the years of the Reagan presidency to organize federal drug fighting efforts.

drug law violation
The unlawful sale, purchase, distribution, manufacture, cultivation, transport, possession, or use of a controlled or prohibited drug, or attempt to commit these acts.

due process of law
A right guaranteed by the Fifth, Sixth, and Fourteenth 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 which have been established for the protection of private rights.

due process model
A criminal justice perspective that emphasizes individual rights at all stages of justice system processing.

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