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Victimology Final (80 Cards)

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Ways in which victims regain their monetary losses

1) Civil Litigation
2) Insurance
3) Victim Compensation Programs

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Conciliation

the first in the continuum of ADR
simply requires a go-between to facilitate the flow of information from one disputant to another

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Arbitration

the end of the continuum of ADR
a neutral individual is called in to break a deadlock
the arbitrator plays an active role as fact finder and then, after hearing presentations from both sides, imposes a fair, final, and legally binding decision
very formal and usually binding

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Multidoor Courthouses/Neighborhood Justice Center

a place that offers conciliation, mediation, and arbitration as ways of settling disputes that might otherwise be sent to civil or criminal court

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Conflict Resolution

a informal method that seeks compromise settlements through negotiations and avoids notions of guilt and innocence

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Four Types of Vigilantism

1) victims unleashing more force than the law permits under the doctrine of self-defense
2) retaliatory actions carried out on behalf of victims by family members or close friends
3) victims avenging an earlier incident
4) spontaneous mob actions in which a crowd responds to a victim's plea for help and gets carried away, beating or killing suspects, represents vigilantism by bystanders

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Punitive Rationale

a view of self-defense
using force against an attacker is permissible because any injuries the aggressor suffers are deserved

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Rationale of Necessity

view of self-defense
the use of violence is excused when a victim fearing great harm has no choice but to resort to force as a means of self-protection

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Individualist Rationale

view of self-defense
a citizen does not have to yield or concede any territory to those who would encroach on his or her autonomy

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Social Rationale

view of self-defense
resistance to attack is justified as a way of preserving law and order

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Five Requirements of Self-Defense

1) the threat posed by an aggressor must be imminent
2) if the assailant retreats, removing a victim from imminent danger, force may no longer be used
3) the target's belief that harm is imminent must be reasonable
4) the degree of force the target uses to repel the attack must be proportion to the threat of injury or death posed by the aggressor
5) the timing of the target's action must be appropriate

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Equalizers

the way gun-enthusiasts view guns when it comes to self-defense
that they can save innocent lives and works for policies that provide ready access to firearms for responsible, law-abiding adults

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Facilitators

the disarmament side of guns when it comes to self-defense
the cause minor conflicts to escalate into deadly confrontations

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Restorative Justice

embraces themes important to the victim's rights movement, especially empowerment, notification, direct involvement, offender accountability, and receiving restitution

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Retributive Justice

a process that is state-centered, offender-focused, and punishment-oriented, rather that injury-centered, victim-focused, and reparation-oriented

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Mediation

lies at the center of continuum of ADR
it requires direct negotiations between disputants with a neutral person, a mediator, who helps the feuding parties arrive a t a mutually acceptable compromise by promoting discussion, soliciting viewpoints, and discovering areas of common interest

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Torts

the corresponding wrongful acts of crimes that harmed a specific person
these are taken up in civil court

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Funneling or Shrinkage

case attrition
the "leaky net"
at the end of the criminal justice process, though most cases are appropriate for restitution, only a relative handful of injured parties receive even partial restitution

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Plaintiffs

under tort law, is the victims

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Punitive Damages

money extracted to punish wrongdoers and deter others
it is usually seen as paying the victim back for their pain and suffering

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Compensatory Damages

under tort law, these are the expenses the offender has to repay the victim for, usually medical bills or damage to property

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Wrongful Death Suits

enable survivors to collect compensation for the loss of a loved one without justification or legitimate excuse and for assault, which covers acts sufficiently threatening to cause fear of immediate bodily harm

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Suits for Battery

involve intentional, harmful, physical contact that is painful, injurious, or offensive

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Suits Charging Trespass

center upon the intentional invasion of another person's land

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Pecuniary Damages

these damages are to cover the lost income of the victim in torts

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Conversion of Chattel Suits

accuse defendants of knowingly stealing or destroying the plaintiffs' possessions or property through theft or embezzlement

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Suits Alleging False Imprisonment

contend that he offender held the plaintiff against his or her will, even for a brief period of time, such as during a hostage-taking or rape

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The Second Party

another name for the plaintiff in civil actions

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Pleading

another terms for when the plaintiff files a formal complaint in civil actions

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Causes of Action

a summary of the relevant facts of the civil case that show how the harm to the victim was a "direct and proximate result" of the alleged wrongdoer's behavior

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First Part

another name for the defendant in a civil case

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Process Server

someone who must physically hand the written document for the civil case to the defendant (aka first party)

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Discovery

a pretrial process in which the plaintiff and defendant exchange written replies to questions, documents, and sworn statements of eyewitnesses

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Interrogatories

lists of questions of the other side to answer

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Depositions

answers to the opposing lawyer's questions

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Statute of Limitations

time allowed for the plaintiff to file a complaint against the defendant after a criminal act occurred

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Attached

confiscated- referring to the defendants' assets after a civil case

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Preponderance of the Evidence

the winning side is the one that presents the more convincing arguments, translated as "more likely than not" or "51%")
this is how, in lawsuits , conflicting claims are decided

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Default Judgment

another term for when the defendant loses automatically after the he has ignored a lawsuit for more than 30 days

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Pain and Suffering

the intangible and subsumed loss of the victim in a civil suit

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Contingency Fees

Fees awarded to attorney after winning a civil cases; part of the earnings of their client

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Deep Pockets

assets like homes, cars, jewelry, bank accounts, investments in stocks and bonds, or business interests

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Judgment-Proof

when a criminal is broke and with no prospects of coming into money from work or inheritances

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Third Parties

individuals or entities such as businesses, institutions, or government agencies in civil suits

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Negligence

when the plaintiff argues that the third party, or the defendant, had a duty or obligation, that there was a breach of this duty, and that this breach proximately caused injury to the plaintiff

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Sovereign Immunity

English common law doctrine
where governmental bodies cannot be sued even when the negligence of officials clearly contributed to the commission of crimes

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Nonfeasance

that officers failed to act to protect individuals to whom they owed a special duty, such as witnesses for the prosecution

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Malfeasance

that officers acted carelessly or inattentively as victims were hurt

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Wrongful Escape

suits can allege this when prisoners are not supervised adequately or are released as a result of an administrative error and then inflict harm

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Failure to Warn

when dangerous convicts are released and they had previously publicly threatened, suits can claim this

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Wrongful Release

when, through gross negligence on the part of officials, a high-risk inmate is granted conditional release from a jail, prison, or mental institution and then commits a foreseeable act of lawlessness, suits can claim this

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Abuse of Discretionary Authority

when a person, acting in an official capacity, takes unfair advantage of an ability to make choices and thereby violates the rights of victims or offenders
underlying this charge is the assumption that danger can be predicted

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False Positive

when patients and inmates thought to be dangerous turn out to be well-behaved

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False Negative

when offenders out on probation or parole enjoying conditional liberty who were rated s posing low risk may suddenly act viciously

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Deductible Clause

an agreement in an insurance policy that the company will not reimburse victims for relatively minor losses and expenses

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Double Indemnity Clause

a provision in a life insurance policy that pledges a payment of twice the normal amount if the covered individual dies accidentally or is murdered

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Redlining

an illegal, discriminatory practice that results in denial of coverage, practiced by insurance companies

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Shared-Risk Rational

the belief that funds set aside for compensating victims should be accumulated in a similar way to the collection of insurance premiums

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Governmental-Liability Rationale

the belief that the state is responsible for the safety of its citizens because it monopolizes, or reserves for itself, the right to use force to suppress crime and to punish offenders

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Social-Welfare Approach

the belief that the state has a humanitarian responsibility to assist victims, just as it helps other needy and disadvantaged groups
according to this view, compensation is a privilege, not a right, so eligibility can be limited

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Social-Justice Rationale

the belief that the "system" generates crime by perpetuating intense competition, discrimination, unemployment, financial insecurity, and poverty, which in turn breed greed, desperation, stealing, and violence. Therefore, society owes compensation through its governmental agencies to people who are harmed through no fault of their own

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Problems with Restitution

1) Some offenders just can't pay
2) How do you put a price on pain and suffering
3) Administrative problems- getting the money in the victims hands

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Four Types of Restitution/Victim Compensation

1) Monetary-Victim
2) Monetary-Community
3) Service-Victim (we really don't do this anymore)
4) Service-Community

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Son of Sam Laws

New York- 1977
offender cannot make money from his crime
1991- the Supreme Court struck down these laws as a violation of first amendment rights
loop hole to this new ruling- you have to go for everything not just one single thing

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President Task force on Victims of Crime (1982)

offered 68 recommendations
generally looked at the sixth amendment
suggested to modify the sixth amendment to add rights to the victims and not just the offenders (like right to be present and heard at all critical precedings)
this did not pass

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Victims of Crime Act (1984)

established crime victim fund
this is the beginning of all the victim compensation programs

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National Organization of Victim Assistance (1986)

suggested to make a brand new amendment instead of adding onto the sixth amendment
same general ideas as President's Task Force on Victims of Crime
this also did not pass

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State Constitutional Reform (1987)

several advocacy groups (mainly VictimsCAN) fought for victims' rights
35 states now have laws about victim rights in the state constitution
these are not really enforced

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Oklahoma City Bomber Trial (1994)

the bomber was Timothy McFey
the trial judge prohibited victims, witnesses and their families in the courtroom

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Senate Joint Resolution #6 (1997)

stated that victims will have the right to be heard and to be present at trial, pretrial, and any other critical stage involving the offender

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Victim Rights Clarification Act (1997)

gave more support to the Senate Joint Resolution #6
made it a blanket law

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Marcy's Law

states that offender's sentence cannot me substantially cut due to a plea bargain (like in an extreme case 15 year to only 1)
victims need to informed at every step of the process
depending on how long your sentence is you cannot get parole in one year (again think of the extreme case)

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Requirements for Restitution in all 50 States

1) the victim has to report the crime to the police
2) can only receive restitution for serious violent crimes
3) the state will only give money that the victim would have to pay out of pocket otherwise
4) victim needs to be innocent and not have facilitated the crime

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Section 1983

for civil court
helped along by civil right act of 1971
gave right to those who felt that their civil right were violated by someone under state or federal authority to take civil action against them

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Burden of Proof in a Civil Trial

it is placed on the plaintiff
"preponderance of the evidence"- used only in civil trials,but it basically means that the evidence is seen to favor one side rather than the other, not a severe as beyond a reasonable doubt, just the probable account of events

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Derivation

witness to the criminal act
Ex: children who witness domestic violence

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Community Service

a type of restitution designed to make amends to society as a whole
usually it entails offenders working to "right some wrongs" by repairing the damage the are responsible for or laboring in order to benefit some worthy cause or group

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Symbolic Restitution

to substitute victims seems appropriate when the immediate casualties can't be identified or located, or when the injured parties don't want to accept the wrongdoer's aid

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Creative Restitution

an ideal solution, comes about when offenders, on their own initiative, go beyond what the law asks of them or their sentences require, exceed other people's expectations, and leave their victims better off than they were before the crimes took place

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Composition

lasting settlements between the parties that would head off further strife