Acquit: Absolve a person legally from an accusation of criminal guilt 
Actus reus: 
Actus reus: Criminal act 
Adjudication: Term for “trial” in juvenile proceedings 
Agenda setting: The way the media draw the public’s eye to a specific topic 
Aggravating factors: Circumstance accompanying the commission of the crime that increases its 
seriousness 
Amicus curiae brief: This brief is filed by interested persons or organizations who are not parties to the 
suit in order to educate or persuade the court 
August Vollmer: Pioneer for police professionalism 
Banishment: The sending away, by court order, of an individual from a community 
Bills of attainder: Laws that are directed at named individual or group of individuals and has the effect of 
declaring them guilty without a trial 
Bridewell: An early form of a jail. Bridewells and workhouses were synonymous with work output from 
the inhabitants, during a stent of servitude. 
Capital offenses: Crimes punishable by the death penalty 
Case law: Body of law made up of judicial rulings that are potentially binding on the current controversy 
Celerity: Swiftness, how quickly is someone to be punished if they commit a crime 
Certainty: The likelihood that an outcome will occur (how certain is someone to be caught if they 
commit a crime) 
Child-saving movement: Emerged in an effort to change the way the state was dealing with dependent, 
neglected, and delinquent children 
Civil forfeiture: Taking of property used in or obtained through unlawful activities through a civil 
lawsuit 
Civil wrong: Private lawsuit brought to enforce private rights and to remedy violations of private rights 
Civilian law enforcement employees: An employee who has not been through police training and does 
not have arresting powers 
Collective incapacitation: Incarceration of large groups of individuals to remove their ability to commit 
crimes (in society) for a set amount of time in the future 
Commissioned law enforcement employees: An employee that has been through police training is 
certified as a police officer and has arresting powers in the state 
Community era: Police and communities began to work together 
Concurrence: Requirement that the actus reus (criminal act) joins with the mens rea (criminal intent) to 
produce criminal conduct. 
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