Substantive Law Study Support

REVIEW QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS, page 21

1. What is a law?

2. Why do governments enact laws?

3. What are the basic differences between criminal law and civil law?

4. What are the “crime control and “due process” models of the criminal justice system?

5. What governmental bodies are most responsible for the enactment of criminal laws?

6. Because victims of crime are not formal parties to a criminal action, how can they help bring their offender to justice?

7. Identify five types of law enforcement officials at each level of government.

8. What roles do defense attorneys and prosecutors play in the criminal justice system?

9. What rights does the U.S. Supreme Court case of Miranda v. Arizona afford to persons taken into custody by law enforcement officers?

10. What tasks do paralegals undertake in the field of criminal law?

11. What functions do judges carry out in criminal cases?

12. How does the juvenile justice system differ from the criminal justice system that serves adults?

ANSWERS

1. What is a law?
“A rule of conduct promulgated and enforced by the government.” Laws can apply to the behavior of individuals, businesses, and even governments themselves.

2. Why do governments enact laws?
Governments enact laws to establish the type of order and predictability that are essential to the functioning of our modern society.

3. What are the basic differences between criminal law and civil law?
Criminal law is designed to remedy wrongs committed against society, whereas civil law redresses harms to individual interests. Criminal actions are brought by the prosecutor, a government attorney; civil actions are initiated by the plaintiff. The standard of proof in criminal cases is “beyond a reasonable doubt” and the standard in civil cases is “beyond a preponderance of the evidence.” The outcome of a criminal case is guilty or not guilty, while in civil cases, the possibilities are liable or not liable. The sanctions available in criminal cases are fines, incarceration, and death. In civil cases, the remedies are damages and injunctions.

4. What are the “crime control and “due process” models of the criminal justice system?
Under the crime control model, the purpose of the criminal justice system is to repress criminal conduct in the most efficient way possible. In contrast, the due process model asserts that the criminal justice system should focus on protecting innocent people from being falsely convicted.

5. What governmental bodies are most responsible for the enactment of criminal laws?
Most criminal laws are made by state legislatures. The United States Congress and local governmental legislative bodies are other common sources of our criminal law.

6. Because victims of crime are not formal parties to a criminal action, how can they help bring their offender to justice?
Victims are most likely to participate in the criminal process by reporting the existence of the crime to law enforcement personnel and by serving as a witness for the prosecution. In some cases, victims also have a role in the sentencing process. Indeed, some state victims’ rights laws provide for “victim impact statements” in which the victim how the crime affected his or her life and those of family members.

7. Identify five types of law enforcement officials at each level of government.
State and local law enforcement officials include local police, sheriff’s officers, highway patrol, state police, game wardens, and park rangers. Federal law enforcement includes Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agents; Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents; Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) agents; Internal Revenue Service (IRS) agents; and U.S. Postal Inspection Service agents.

8. What roles do defense attorneys and prosecutors play in the criminal justice system?
Defense attorneys and prosecutors serve as advocates for either the defendant who is accused of violating the law or the governmental unit that is seeking to enforce it.

9. What rights does the U.S. Supreme Court case of Miranda v. Arizona afford to persons taken into custody by law enforcement officers?
Under the Miranda decision, law enforcement personnel are required to inform criminal suspects of their right to be represented by an attorney (and the right to have one appointed if they cannot afford one on their own) and to remain silent if they are in custody.

10. What tasks do paralegals undertake in the field of criminal law?
Paralegals are usually involved in reviewing police reports and statements of witnesses, drafting documents such as discovery requests and motions, interviewing potential witnesses, researching legal issues, arranging for expert witnesses, helping to evaluate potential jurors, organizing documents for trial, helping to prepare witnesses, keeping witnesses informed as to when they will be called to testify, and taking notes during the trial. When they work for attorneys doing appellate work, they are frequently called upon to digest the record and help draft appellate briefs.

11. What functions do judges carry out in criminal cases?
Judges issue search warrants, determine the terms of any pre-trial release (e.g. set bail or issue personal recognizance bond), arraign defendants on charges brought by the prosecutor’s office, rule on pre-trial motions, preside at criminal trials, empanel and instruct juries, and sentence convicted defendants. In bench trials, judges also serve as the sole finder of fact and determine whether or not a defendant is guilty or not guilty.

12. How does the juvenile justice system differ from the criminal justice system that serves adults?
Rather than convicting the juvenile of a crime and punishing the juvenile as they would an adult, juvenile courts adjudicate the individual to be a juvenile delinquent and to require him/her to take part in various types of treatment options such as counseling or incarceration.