The Law Dictionary for Everyone
The term “asset forfeiture” refers to the property the state confiscates from a defendant after a criminal or civil conviction. For example, asset forfeiture occurs when the state confiscates an expensive car from a drug dealer. The state then puts these items up for auction and uses the proceeds to both repay the victims of the crime and to fund […]
Read moreThe term “prison” refers to the institution where individuals convicted of crimes spend a definite amount of time, having lost their freedom until their sentences are over. For example, prison is where people go who have committed crimes like murder or drug trafficking. While jail is more of a temporary holding cell until individuals post bail, or await trial, prison […]
Read moreThe term “capital punishment” refers to the death penalty, which is the punishment for a crime by death. For example, capital punishment methods can include lethal injection, the electric chair or hanging. There is a great deal of controversy surrounding the issue of putting people to death, such that each state has different laws regarding this ultimate penalty. To explore […]
Read moreThe term “recognizance” refers to an obligation the court enters that holds an individual to a particular condition. For example, recognizance refers to the court agreeing not to imprison a defendant, so long as he agrees to attend supervised probation in its place. Other ways of describing a recognizance include “a release on one’s own recognizance (ROR),” “own recognizance (OR)” […]
Read moreThe term “fugitive” describes a person who has escaped from a place like prison, or who is in hiding for fear of the police finding him and bringing him to jail. For example, a fugitive is a person who has committed a crime and flees to another state in an attempt to evade the police and criminal charges. The famous […]
Read moreThe term “deferred adjudication” goes by several other names, including probation before judgment (PBJ), deferred entry of judgment (DEJ), and, perhaps more commonly, adjournment in contemplation of dismissal (ACOD). A deferred adjudication is a type of plea bargain wherein a defendant pleads guilty or no contest to the charges against him. In exchange for this plea, and for the defendant […]
Read moreFollowing is the case brief for R.A.V. v. City of St. Paul, 505 U.S. 377 (1992) Case Summary of R.A.V. v. City of St. Paul: R.A.V. and other teenagers burned a cross on an African-American family’s lawn. R.A.V. was charged under St. Paul’s hate-crime ordinance, and he challenged the constitutionality of the ordinance. The trial court found the ordinance violative […]
Read moreThe term “capital offense” is used to describe a crime that is so serious that the death penalty may be considered an adequate punishment. One of the most common examples of a capital offense would be murder. Treason, or the betrayal of one’s country, is also considered a capital offense, and it is punishable by death. To explore this concept, […]
Read moreSpecific deterrence is a type of punishment that is meant to discourage future criminal behavior in a person being charged with a crime. For example, specific deterrence is used to prevent an offender from committing the same crime in the future. Punishments associated with specific deterrence may include fines, prison sentences, or both, and the severity of the punishment typically […]
Read moreThe term “general deterrence” refers to the practice of instilling fear in people in the hopes that such fear will prevent them from committing crimes in the future. This is done by making an example of offenders through their punishments. The focus is not on the offender individually; rather, the offender is punished publicly to prevent others who may have […]
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