Remember back in elementary school when you would get the weekly vocabulary list to bring home and memorize the definitions and spellings? In our daily lives, we are constantly learning new words and phrases, and as a student studying or looking to study in the field of criminal justice, there are some need-to-know criminal justice vocabulary words. To assist you in learning more about the criminal justice system, we compiled a list of 20 criminal justice vocabulary words to know and understand before you graduate with a justice studies degree.
1. Actus Reus
Definition: Compare mens rea a criminal action regarded as a constituent element of a crime, as compared with the state of mind of the perpetrator.
[Latin, literally: guilty act]
2. Alibi
Definition: the defense by an accused person of having been elsewhere at the time an alleged offense was committed.
3. Arson
Definition: the malicious burning or exploding of the dwelling house of another, or the burning of a building within the cartilage, the immediate surrounding space, of the dwelling of another.
4. Barrister
Definition: a counsel admitted to plead at the bar and undertake the public trial of causes in an English superior court.
5. Crime Control Model
Definition: a model of the criminal justice system that assumes freedom is so important that every effort must be made to repress crime, it emphasize efficiency, speed, finality, and dispose of a high proportion of offenders.
6. Dark Figure of Crime
Definition: a metaphor referring to the dangerous dimension of crime that is never reported to police.
7. Due Diligence
Definition: as a defense to a strict liability offense. Due diligence involves demonstrating that one has undertaken to do everything possible to avoid committing an offense.
8. Evidentiary
Definition: serving as or based on evidence.
9. Miranda Rights
Definition: the requirement set by the U. S. Supreme Court in Miranda v. Alabama (1966) that prior to the time of arrest and any interrogation of a person suspected of a crime, he/she must be told that he/she has: "the right to remain silent, the right to legal counsel, and the right to be told that anything he/she says can be used in court against" him/her. Further, if the accused person confesses to the authorities, the prosecution must prove to the judge that the defendant was informed of them and knowingly waived those rights, before the confession can be introduced in the defendant's criminal trial. The warnings are known as "Miranda Rights" or just "rights."
10. Misdemeanors
Definition: a criminal offense defined as less serious than a felony.
11. Nolo Contendere
Definition: an answer of ‘no contest’ by a defendant who does not admit guilt, but that subjects him to conviction.
12. Parole
Definition: a conditional release from imprisonment that entitles the person to serve the remainder of the sentence outside the prison as long as the terms of release are complied with.
13. Plea Bargaining
Definition: a negotiation in which the defendant agrees to enter a plea of guilty to a lesser charge and the prosecutor agrees to drop a more serious charge.
14. Prosecution
Definition: the institution and carrying on of legal proceedings against a person.
15. Public Policy
Definition: the principle that injury to the public good order constitutes a basis for setting aside, or denying effect to acts or transactions.
16. Remand Home
Definition: a detention home for juvenile offenders aged 8-16 years.
17. Recidivism
Definition: the relapse into crime after the sentence of a convicted offender has been completed, and the subsequent return to the criminal justice system.
18. Summons
Definition: a document that may be served upon a person accused of a crime, requiring the accused individual to appear in court at a certain time and date to answer the charges.
19. Vigilante
Definition: any person who takes the law into his or her own hands, as by avenging a crime.
20. Visible Crime
Definition: offenses against persons and property committed primarily by members of the lower class. These crimes are most upsetting to the public.
With this list of 20 criminal justice vocabulary words to know, which ones came up that you didn’t know or maybe haven’t heard of before? Let us know in the comments below or on our Facebook page.
