CJCENTRAL: Criminal Justice Brief, 5E: Glossary

M'Naghten Rule
A rule for determining insanity which asks whether the defendant knew what he was doing, or whether he knew that what he was doing was wrong.

mala in se
Acts that are regarded, by tradition and convention, as wrong in themselves.

mala prohibita
Acts that are considered "wrongs" only because there is a law against them.

mandatory sentence
A statutory requirement that a certain penalty shall be set and carried out in all cases upon conviction for a specified offense or series of offenses.

mandatory sentencing
A structured sentencing scheme which 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
I. 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. II. In correctional 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 committees
Chinese civilian dispute resolution groups found throughout the country. Mediation committees successfully divert many minor offenders from handling by 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. Rehabilitation is seen as a cure, and offenders are treated through a variety of programs in order to reduce their antisocial tendencies.

mens rea
The state of mind that accompanies a criminal act. Also, 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 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 prior to the beginning of questioning. Miranda warnings were first set forth by the Court in the 1966 case of Miranda v. Arizona.

misdemeanor
An offense punishable by incarceration, usually in a local confinement facility, for a period of which the upper limit is prescribed by statute in a given jurisdiction, typically limited to a year or less.

mistrial
A trial that has been terminated and declared invalid by the court because of some circumstances which create a substantial and uncorrectable prejudice to the conduct of a fair trial, or which makes it impossible to continue the trial in accordance with prescribed procedures.

mitigating circumstances
The opposite of aggravating circumstances: Circumstances surrounding the commission of a crime which do not in law justify or excuse the act, but which in fairness may be considered as reducing the blameworthiness of the defendant.

mixed sentence
One which requires that a convicted offender serve weekends (or other specified periods of time) in a confinement facility (usually a jail), while undergoing probation supervision in the community.

Model Penal Code
A generalized modern codification of that which is considered basic to criminal law, published by the American Law Institute in 1962.

money laundering
The process of converting illegally earned assets, originating as cash, to one or more alternative forms to conceal such incriminating factors as illegal origin and true ownership.

moral enterprise
The process undertaken by an advocacy group in order 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)
Unlawful taking or attempted taking, of a self-propelled road vehicle owned by another, with the intent to deprive him or her of it permanently or temporarily.

murder and nonnegligent manslaughter (UCR)
Intentionally causing the death of another without legal justification or excuse, or causing the death of another while committing or attempting to commit another crime.

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