Jurisdiction: Authority of a court to hear and decide a particular case 
Kin policing: A tribe or clan police their own tribe 
Laws: Form of social control that outlines rules, habits, and customs a society uses to enforce conformity 
to its norms 
Legislative waiver: Identifies certain offenses which have been mandated by state law to be excluded from 
juvenile court jurisdiction, also known as statutory waiver 
Lex talionis
Lex talionis: The term for “law of talion” or law of retaliation. It prescribes that the punishments should fit 
the crime committed (proportional) 
Mala in se:
Mala in se: Crime is inherently evil or bad 
Mala prohibita: 
Mala prohibita: Act is criminal because it is prohibited, not necessarily evil 
Mandatory waiver: A juvenile judge must automatically transfer to adult court juvenile offenders who 
meet certain criteria, such as age and current offense 
Meat eaters: Police officers that expect some tangible item personally from those served in order to do 
their job 
Mens rea
Mens rea:  The knowledge or intent of wrongdoing 
Misdemeanor: Minor crimes for which the penalty is usually less than one year in jail or a fine. 
Mitigating factors: Circumstances or factors that tend to lessen culpability. 
Moral panic: A situation in which public fears and state interventions greatly exceed the objective threat 
posed to society by  a particular individual or group who is/are claimed to be responsible for creating the 
threat 
Moral wrong: Category of criminal conduct intended to protect the family and social institutions 
Mores: Norms of morality, or right and wrong 
Narratives: The story that is told 
New generation jails: Podular, Design of a jail or facility where the doors face an interior day use or 
common area, making the cells visible to a jail deputy from one location 
Noble-cause: The goal that most officers have to make the world a better and safer place to live 
Offense: Act committed or omitted in violation of law forbidding or commanding 
Official statistics: Represent the total number of crimes reported to the police or the number of arrests 
made by that agency 
Older generation jails: Linear,  Design of a jail or facility that is basically a long corridor 
with cell doors facing the hallway/corridor 
Parens patriae: 
Parens patriae: The king is responsible for and in charge of everything involving youth 
Petition: Term for “indictment” for juvenile proceedings 
Plain error: The rule applies to errors that are obvious, that affect substantial rights of the 
accused, and that, if uncorrected, will seriously affect the fairness, integrity, or public reputation of judicial 
proceedings 
Police power: Power of a government to legislate to protect public health, safety, welfare and morality 
Political era: First era of policing in the United States marked by the industrial revolution, the 
abolishment of slavery, and the formation of large cities 
Positivism: The use of empirical evidence through scientific inquiry to improve society 
Presumptive sentences: Sentencing structure under which a particular sentence is presumed to be typical 
for a particular offense 
ALISON S. BURKE, DAVID CARTER, BRIAN FEDOREK, TIFFANY MOREY, LORE RUTZ-BURRI, AND SHANELL
SANCHEZ
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