Question and Answer- Criminal Justice
Question and Answer- Criminal Justice
Q. 1
The main similarity between mens rea and actus reus regarding their roles is that both elements are ways through the criminal law ensures that only guilty actions or conduct and minds or intention can secure the safe legal conviction of accused persons. Moreover, they both play the role of making the role of the prosecution and defense easier when proving the commission of a crime. The difference is that while mens rea plays the role of helping the court know the accused’s intent at the material time, actus reus plays the role of affirming the actual commission of an offense. The concurrent occurrence of these elements is more beneficial to the prosecution than the defense because when both are proved beyond reasonable doubt, it is the prosecution that benefits by securing the prosecution of an accused.
Q. 2
The importance of having subject matter jurisdiction over a cause of action is that it enables a court to ensure that the defendant has something with which to satisfy the outcomes of a judgment or order of court such as costs to the plaintiff. An example of subject-matter jurisdiction where there is a dispute between two people over a particular property. In this case, it is important for the court to possess subject matter jurisdiction over the property to ensure that the defendant can settle the court orders or decree.
Q. 3
The most significant problem that prevents recruiters from obtaining a viable applicant and pool is the legal requirement of non-discrimination and equal opportunity under the employment or labor laws. In most cases, due to the strict requirement of an equal opportunity to all applicants, police recruiters fail to get the most qualified applicants or pool.
Q. 4
Scripted patrols may be favored over random patrols when there is a high prevalence of crime in a particular place and at certain times or periods. It is a place-oriented preventive patrol used when there is a need to identify, analyze, and systematically review hot spots. This is usually the case when crime statistics show that such regions need more patrols. The disadvantage of having scripted patrols over random patrols is that it focusses police department’s resources, energy, and time only on one particular area while ignoring other regions.
Q. 5
The major similarity between these two crime prevention programs is that both of them involve law enforcement strategies for reducing crime and have all have significant positive impact on the reduction of violent crimes or incidents.
One difference between the two programs is that whereas the Group Violence Reduction Strategy of New Orleans aims at reducing gang homicide and gang violence, the High Point Drug Market Intervention’s objective is the elimination of overt drug markets and related problems. The other difference is that the Group Violence Reduction Strategy is a focused deterrence policing strategy while the High Point Drug Market Intervention program is a problem-oriented policing (National Institute of Justice, n.d.).
Q. 6
Alphonse Bertillon, August Vollmer, and Edmond Locard all made significant contributions to the development of criminal investigation. Bertillon developed anthropometry as a criminal identification method; Locard improved lab dactylography for fingerprint identification and formulated the Locard’s Exchange Principle. However, it is Vollmer who contributed much to the development of criminal investigation due to his introduction of various concepts that led to the transformation of policing. For instance, he introduced the use of soil fiber and blood analysis for solving crimes as scientific investigation methods. He also became the first police chief to use fingerprint for suspect identification and lie detectors for investigations.
Q. 7
The similarity between the required elements of liability as an aider and abettor in the commission of a crime and those of criminal liability under the common design is that in both cases, the elements of knowledge and intention must be proved. Further, in both cases, the accused’s physical presence at the scene of the crime is not necessary. For example, where X, Y, and Z break into a shop and steal the owners’s peorperty, with each accomplice carrying out a different role towards aiding and abetting the enterprise, it has to be proved only that all o any of the parties formed an intention to permantently derpive the shop owner of his property, irrespective of their individual roles. However, the difference is that under the common design, the required elements include a common purpose, design o plan to commit a crime while in accomplice crime; no common purpose is needed for liability (Gardner & Anderson, 2016). In the above example, it would have to be shown that X, Y, and Z had formed a common purpose and intent of stealing from the shop such that where either party had no knowledge of the plot to steal from the shop, they will not be guilty of any crime.
Q. 8
The method of imposing criminal liability upon a child under the age of 7 is through a voir dire trial, and a child of fourteen is through a full court trial. An example of voir dire is when a seven-year-old child is accused of theft, and an example of a direct court trial is when the child is tried according to state federal laws.
References
Gardner, T., J., & Anderson, T.M. (2016). Criminal law. New York: Cengage Learning
National Institute of Justice. (n.d.). Crime & Crime Prevention: Community crime prevention strategies. Retrieved January 15, 2017, from https://www.crimesolutions.gov/TopicDetails.aspx?ID=10
