 | Term | Definition |
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Why do societies develope Laws? |
as conflict resolution mechanisms |
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Psychological approach to the law emphisizes? |
human determinates, individuals, behavior as a funtion of the person and enviroment |
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Due Process Model of Justice system |
primary value is on the protection of citizens, assumes innocence |
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Crime Control Model of Justice system |
seeks for punishment of lawbreakers assure criminal activity is contianed or reduced |
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Principle of Proportionality |
The punishment should be consistently related to the magnitude of the offense, used by supreme court |
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Discretion, who uses it |
used of judgement to lead to appropriate variations of how we respond to offenses, Police prosecutors juries etc |
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sentacing disparity |
the tendency for different judges to administer a variety of penalties for the same crime |
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Determinate Sentancing |
used to counteract sentacing disparity, the offense determines the sentancing leaving little discretion in the hands of Judges and parole commisions |
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Plea bargaining |
80%-95% of all cases, relies on effeciancy rather than correct outcomes, beneficial because it saves the government money |
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Settlement negotiation |
essentially plea bargianing in Civil court |
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amicus curiae |
"a friend of the court" is a brief that a Psychologist will prepare for the court for an appellant who is being considered |
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Case Law |
law made by judges ruling in individual cases used a reference |
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stare decisis |
"let the decision stand" essentially what case law is used for |
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Law deals with... Psychologists deal with... |
Absolutes, probabilites |
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Expert testimony used in |
mental state of defendant, degree of emotional/brain damage suffered by victim, employee discrimination, eye witness accuracy, convicts rehabilitation, false confessions, etc |
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Daubert v. Merrel Dow Pharmaceuticals, four factors on expert witness selection |
experts theory or technique has been tested (falsibility), whether it has been evaluated by a peer review, the reliability and error rate of the claims, extent to which the experts techniques and claims have been accepted by scientific community |
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Policy evaluation |
a Psychologist conducts a study to see if certian changes in law or policy have had an effect |
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Advocate |
most activist role for a psychologist in our courts, requires the psyc to identify with one side |
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Black letter law |
law that was set down by our founding fathers as written by legislators and interpreted by judges |
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Model Penal Code |
attempts should be punished the same way as completed crimes (state v. Damms) |
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Attribution theory: three dimenssions |
internality: weather we explain the cause ofsomethinginternaly or externaly, Stability: whether we see the cause of behavior as enduring or temporary, globalness: the cause is limited or applicable to all situations |
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Atrribution theory: view of an offeneder |
see an offeneder as more culpable and more deserving of punishment as opposed to an external view |
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Attribution theory: inferences |
we attribute the cause to stable factors that are internal to the person, we are inclined to belive that others are disposed to act the way they do |
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Attribution theory:own actions |
when our actions lead to negative outcomes we blame the external allowing an unstable characteristic that can be changed |
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Distributed Justice Models |
a person will be more accepting of decisions and more likely to belive that desputes have bene resolved if the outcomes seem just |
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Procedural Justice Models |
if an individual views that procedure of dispute resolution as fair they will view the outcome as just |
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commonsense justice |
ordinary citizens basic notions of what is just and fair |
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Four basic roles for a Psychologist in legal system |
basic scientist, applied scientist, policy evaluator, advocate |
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dilemas of psychological Law |
weather the goal is achiving personal freedom or ensuring common good, weather equality of discretion should be std for legal policies, purpose of legal inquiry: to discover truth or provide conflict resolution, whether applying law or science for making decissions |
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Basic Tenants of American Law |
Constitution is to be upheld, three branches of government are to remain seperate, federal and state governments are to remain seperate, individual rights are of the utmost importance, seperation of church and state is tantamount |
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Epistemology: Psychology |
Objectivity, Progressive approach to the ultimate truth, Bias will be overcome by the careful investigation of competing theories |
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Epistemology: Law |
Advocacy, Truth will be determined by rigourus advocay of stronger facts |
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Municipal courts |
violations within city limits, right to jury trial, fine short jail sentace comunity service project, cases appealed to county courts |
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County courts |
Limited juristiction for traffic and misdemeanor, appeals from municipal court, in every county, can result in fine or incarceration |
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Small Claims Court |
Division of county court, deals with civil cases of less than $5000, no jury, no attorneys (unless requested), 1 party 2 claims per month 18 per year |
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District Court |
Each county has one, judges serve more than one district, deals with all civil and criminal cases dissolution of marraige civil cases over $10000 juvenile and probate cases, appeals from county courts |
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Colorado Court of Appeals |
three judges in 1891, now 16 judges to address caseload, hears cases appealed from district courts denver probate courts, denver juvenile justice court, and many state agencies and boards. there are 13 federal court of appeals divided into geographical circuits |
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Colorado Supreme court |
highest court in the state, 7 justices, sits en banc: whole court hears oral argument in a case accepted for appeal |
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Writs of Habeas Corpus |
when new evidence turns up, is very limited in use |
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Persuasive Authority |
Authority of a decision rendered by a court in a diffrent court system, jurisdiction on a sam eor similar rule of law, that a court may opt to follow in a different jurisdiction |
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Six parts of System |
Law passed, someone commits an act, police action to determine if its a crime, prosecution, court decides innocence or guilt, punishment |
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Life of an Adult criminal Case |
Arrest, Bail Hearing, Arraignment Hearing, Motions Hearings, Trial, Sentancing |
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Tort Law |
Personal injury |
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Life of a Civil Trial |
Opening Statements, Presentation of plantiffs evidence, motion to dismiss, presentation of defense evidence, jury instructions, verdict (by court or Jury), motion for judgement notwithstanding the verdict |
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Who was the first Forensic Psychologist? |
Hugo Münsterberg, "On the Witness Stand" 1908 (no research) |
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Adversarial System |
Essentially American trial procedure (civil and criminal) is derived from English Common Law, allows participants and equal oppotunity to present thier own version of the facts to ensure fair treatment |
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Inquisitorial Approach |
is a contrast of the Adversarial System. It is used in Europe where the judge has more controll over proceedings |
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Writ of certiorari |
when a court decideds to review a case, this is the order |
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Therapeutic Jurisprudence |
is the idea behind "Problem Solving Courts", where the law is used as a vehicle to improve the lives of those enmaeshed in it |
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Federal Judge Selection |
appointed by the president and confirmed by the senate, they serve for life |
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ADR |
Alternative Dispute Resolution, how many cases are resolved. Most do not goto trial and it is belived that if a case does goto trial it is viewed as a fialure of the system |
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Binding Arbitration |
ADR, close resemblance to a trail where the parties agree to being bound to a decision by an arbitrator. Is good, however it mostly benefits merchants and employers |
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Nonbinding Arbitration |
no one is bound by the decision, and if one of the parties is dissatisfied with the decision they can bring it to trial. |
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SJT |
Summary Jury Trial. a variation of ADR that closely resembles a trial, however the verdict is not final. It educates lawyers and juries how a conventional jury would respond. |
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Mediation |
similar to Arbitration, however mediator has no authority and mearly acts as a facilitator |
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Evaluative Mediator |
use experiance to lead the parties to a settlement that approximates what the mediator thinks the case is worth |
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Nonevaluative Mediator |
primarily concerned with the process. Strives to open up communication |
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Lawyers and Risk Averse |
most lawyers are and prefer that controvercies be settled rather than decided |
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Ethic Code of Lawyers |
Set up by ABA's model rules for professional conduct |
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public criticism of lawyers |
assume lawyers get away with anything, and thier code does not provide any reliefe for those who are over charged of poorly represented |
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Contingency free system |
plantiff pays lawyer the fee only if they win the case |
