CJCENTRAL: Criminal Justice Today, 8E: Glossary

warden
The official in charge of the operation of a prison, the chief administrator of a prison, or the prison superintendent.

warehousing
An imprisonment strategy that is based on the desire to prevent recurrent crime and that has abandoned all hope of rehabilitation.

warrant
In criminal proceedings, a writ issued by a judicial officer directing a law enforcement officer to perform a specified act and affording the officer protection from damages if he or she performs it.

watchman style
A style of policing marked by a concern for order maintenance. Watchman policing is characteristic of lower-class communities where police intervene informally into the lives of residents to keep the peace.

weapon of mass destruction (WMD)
A chemical, biological, and nuclear weapon that has the potential to cause mass casualties.

weapons offense
The unlawful sale, distribution, manufacture, alteration, transportation, possession, or use, or the attempted unlawful sale, distribution, manufacture, alteration, transportation, possession, or use, of a deadly or dangerous weapon or accessory.

white-collar crime
Violations of the criminal law committed by a person of respectability and high social status in the course of his or her occupation. Also, nonviolent crime for financial gain utilizing deception and committed by anyone who has special technical and professional knowledge of business and government, irrespective of the person's occupation.

Wickersham Commission
The National Commission on Law Observance and Enforcement. In 1931, the commission issued a report stating that Prohibition was unenforceable and carried a great potential for police corruption.

witness
Generally, a person who has knowledge of the circumstances of a case. Also, in court usage, one who testifies as to what he or she has seen, heard, or otherwise observed or who has expert knowledge.

workhouse
An early form of imprisonment whose purpose it was to instill habits of industry in the idle. Also called bridewell.

work release
A prison program through which inmates are temporarily released into the community to meet job responsibilities.

writ
A document issued by a judicial officer ordering or forbidding the performance of a specified act.

writ of certiorari
A writ issued from an appellate court for the purpose of obtaining from a lower court the record of its proceedings in a particular case. In some states, this writ is the mechanism for discretionary review. A request for review is made by petitioning for a writ of certiorari, and the granting of review is indicated by the issuance of the writ.

writ of habeas corpus
A writ that directs the person detaining a prisoner to bring him or her before a judicial officer to determine the lawfulness of the imprisonment.

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