| A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z |
Mentally ill individuals who suffer from disjointed thinking and, possibly, delusions and hallucinations.
scientific police management
The application of social scientific techniques to the study of police administration for the purpose of increasing effectiveness, reducing the frequency of citizen complaints, and enhancing the efficient use of available resources.
search warrant
A document issued by a judicial officer which directs a law enforcement officer to conduct a search at a specific location, for specified property or persons relating to a crime(s), to seize the property or persons if found, and to account for the results of the search to the issuing judicial officer.
searches incident to an arrest
Those warrantless searches of arrested individuals which are conducted in order to insure the safety of the arresting officer(s). Because individuals placed under arrest may be in the possession of weapons, courts have recognized the need for arresting officers to protect themselves by conducting an immediate and warrantless search of arrested individuals without the need for a warrant.
security
The restriction of inmate movement within a correctional facility, usually divided into maximum, medium, and minimum levels.
self-defense
The protection of oneself or one's property from unlawful injury or the immediate risk of unlawful injury; the justification for an act which would otherwise constitute an offense, that the person who committed it reasonably believed that the act was necessary to protect self or property from immediate danger.
sentence
The penalty imposed by a court upon a person convicted of a crime. The court judgment specifying the penalty imposed upon a person convicted of a crime. Any disposition of a defendant resulting from a conviction, including the court decision to suspend execution of a sentence.
sentencing
The imposition of a criminal sanction by a sentencing authority.
sentencing dispositions
Court dispositions of defendants after a judgment of conviction, expressed as penalties, such as imprisonment or payment of fines; or any of a number of alternatives to actually executed penalties, such as suspended sentences, grants of probation, or orders to perform restitution; or various combinations of the foregoing.
sentencing hearing
In criminal proceedings, a hearing during which the court or jury considers relevant information, such as evidence concerning aggravating or mitigating circumstances, for the purpose of determining a sentencing disposition for a person convicted of an offense(s).
sequestered jury
A jury that is isolated from the public during the course of a trial and throughout the deliberation process.
service style
A style of policing that is marked by a concern with helping rather than strict enforcement. Service-oriented agencies are more likely to take advantage of community resources, such as drug treatment programs, than are other types of departments.
sex offenses
In current statistical usage, the name of a broad category of varying content, usually consisting of all offenses having a sexual element except forcible rape and commercial sex offenses. All unlawful sexual intercourse, unlawful sexual contact, and other unlawful behavior intended to result in sexual gratification or profit from sexual activity.
sex offenses (UCR)
The name of the UCR category used to record and report arrests made for "offenses against chastity, common decency, morals, and the like," except forcible rape, prostitution, and commercialized vice.
sexual battery
Intentional and wrongful physical contact with a person without his or her consent that entails a sexual component or purpose.
sheriff
The elected chief officer of a county law enforcement agency, usually responsible for law enforcement in unincorporated areas and for the operation of the county jail.
sheriff's department
A local law enforcement agency organized at the county level, directed by a sheriff, which exercises its law enforcement functions at the county level, usually within unincorporated areas, and operates the county jail in most jurisdictions.
shock incarceration
A sentencing option that makes use of "boot camp"-type prisons in order to impress upon convicted offenders the realities of prison life.
shock probation
The practice of sentencing offenders to prison, allowing them to apply for probationary release, and enacting such release in surprise fashion. Offenders who receive shock probation may not be aware of the fact that they will be released on probation and may expect to spend a much longer time behind bars.
simple assault (UCR)
Unlawful threatening, attempted inflicting, or inflicting of less than serious bodily injury, in the absence of a deadly weapon.
smuggling
Unlawful movement of goods across a national frontier or state boundary or into or out of a correctional facility.
social control
The use of sanctions and rewards available through 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 the interest that human groups hold in the exercise of social control that leads to the creation of both criminal and civil statutes.
social disorganization
A condition said to exist when a group is faced with social change, uneven development of culture, maladaptiveness, disharmony, conflict, and lack of consensus.
social debt
A sentencing principle which objectively counts an offender's criminal history in sentencing decisions.
social ecology
An approach which focused on the misbehavior of lower-class youth and saw delinquency primarily as the result of social disorganization.
social justice
An ideal which embraces all aspects of civilized life and which is linked to fundamental notions of fairness and to cultural beliefs about right and wrong.
social order
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.
social order advocate
One who suggests that, under certain circumstances involving criminal threats to public safety, the interests of society should take precedence over individual rights.
Social-Psychological School
A perspective on criminological thought which highlights the role played in crime causation by weakened self-esteem and meaningless social roles. Social-psychological thinkers stress the relationship of the individual to the social group as the underlying cause of behavior.
sociopath
See psychopath.
software piracy
The unauthorized duplication of software or the illegal transfer of data from one storage media to another. Software piracy is one of the most prevalent computer crimes in the world.
specific deterrence
A goal of criminal sentencing which seeks to prevent a particular offender from engaging in repeat criminality.
speedy trial
A trial which is held in a timely manner. The right of a defendant to have a prompt trial is guaranteed by the Sixth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution which reads, "In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial.."
Speedy Trial Act
A 1974 federal law requiring that proceedings in a criminal case against a defendant begin before passage of a specified period of time, such as 70 working days after indictment. Some states also have speedy trial requirements.
split sentence
A sentence explicitly requiring the convicted person to serve a period of confinement in a local, state, or federal facility followed by a period of probation.
stare decisis
The legal principle which requires that courts be bound by their own earlier decisions and by those of higher courts having jurisdiction over them regarding subsequent cases on similar issues of law and fact. The term literally means "standing by decided matters."
state action doctrine
The traditional legal principle that only government officials or their representatives in the criminal justice process could be held accountable for the violation of an individual's constitutional civil rights.
state court administrators
Coordinating personnel who assist with case flow management, budgeting of operating funds, and court docket administration.
state court systems
State judicial structures. Most states have at least three court levels, generally referred to as trial courts, appellate courts, and a state supreme court.
state highway patrol
A state law enforcement agency of which the principal functions consist of prevention, detection, and investigation of motor vehicle offenses, and the apprehension of traffic offenders.
state police
A state law enforcement agency whose principal functions usually include maintaining statewide police communications, aiding local police in criminal investigation, police training, and guarding state property; may also include highway patrol.
state-use system
A form of inmate labor in which items produced by inmates are salable only by or to state offices. Items that only the state can sell include such things as license plates and hunting licenses, while items sold only to state offices include furniture and cleaning supplies.
status offender
A child who commits an act that is contrary to the law by virtue of the juvenile's status as a child. Purchasing cigarettes, buying alcohol, and truancy are examples of such behavior.
status offense
An act or conduct which is declared by statute to be an offense, but only when committed by or engaged in by a juvenile, and which can be adjudicated only by a juvenile court.
statutory law
Written or codified law. The "law on the books," as enacted by a governmental body or agency having the power to make laws.
stay of execution
The stopping by a court of the carrying out or implementation of a judgment, that is, of a court order previously issued.
stolen property offenses
The unlawful receiving, buying, distributing, selling, transporting, concealing, or possessing of the property of another by a person who knows that the property has been unlawfully obtained from the owner or other lawful possessor.
stop and frisk
The detaining of a person by a law enforcement officer for the purpose of investigation, accompanied by a superficial examination by the officer of the person's body surface or clothing to discover weapons, contraband, or other objects relating to criminal activity.
strategic policing
A style of policing which retains the traditional police goal of professional crime fighting, but enlarges the enforcement target to include nontraditional kinds of criminals such as serial offenders, gangs and criminal associations, drug distribution networks, and sophisticated white-collar and computer criminals. Strategic policing generally makes use of innovative enforcement techniques, including intelligence operations, undercover stings, electronic surveillance, and sophisticated forensic methods.
street crime
A class of offenses, sometimes defined with some degree of formality as those which occur in public locations, are visible and assaultive, and thus constitute a group of crimes which are a special risk to the public and a special target of law enforcement preventive efforts and prosecutorial attention.
strict liability
Liability without fault or intention. Strict liability offenses do not require mens rea.
structured sentencing
A model of criminal punishment that includes determinate and commission-created presumptive sentencing schemes, as well as voluntary/advisory sentencing guidelines.
subculture of violence
A cultural setting in which violence is a traditional method of dispute resolution.
subpoena
A written order issued by a judicial officer, prosecutor, defense attorney or grand jury, requiring a specific person to appear in a designated court at a specified time in order to testify in a case under the jurisdiction of that court or to bring material to be used as evidence to that court.
substantive criminal law
That part of the law that defines crimes and specifies punishments.
superpredators
members of a new generation of juveniles "who are coming of age in actual and ‘moral poverty' without the benefits of parents, teachers, coaches and clergy to teach them right from wrong and show them 'unconditional love.'" The term is often applied to those inner-city youths who meet the criteria it sets forth.
supervised probation
Guidance, treatment, or regulation by a probation agency of the behavior of the person who is subject to adjudication or who has been convicted of an offense, resulting from a formal court order or a probation agency decision.
suspect
An adult or juvenile considered by a criminal justice agency to be one who may have committed a specific criminal offense, but who has not been arrested or charged.
suspended sentence
The court decision to delay imposing or executing a penalty for a specified or unspecified period, also called "sentence withheld." A court disposition of a convicted person pronouncing a penalty of a fine or commitment to confinement, but unconditionally discharging the defendant or holding execution of the penalty in abeyance upon good behavior.
suspicionless searches
Those searches conducted by law enforcement personnel without a warrant and without suspicion. Suspicionless searches are permissible only if based upon an overriding concern for public safety.
Prentice Hall Pearson Education Legal Notice Privacy Policy Permissions |