Deck 9: The Ethics of Criminal Justice Policy Making the Ethics of Policy Making

Question 1

Which of the following is not one of Reamer's (1986) three grounds for policy making?

A) Ideological
B) Contingent
C) Ethical
D) Empirical

Answer 1

B

Question 2

Aviram (2015) traces concern about correctional costs to the financial crisis of , when the country went into recession.

A) 2002
B) 2004
C) 2006
D) 2008

Answer 2

D

Question 3

The rush to incarcerate has increase the rate of imprisonment from per 100,000 in 1979 to per 100,000 for U.S. residents of all ages in 2014.

A) 220; 612
B) 230; 612
C) 230; 478
D) 220; 478

Answer 3

C

Question 4

Tong (1986) explains that cost-benefit analysis comprises all of the following stages except:

A) Social movements
B) Defining goals
C) Philosophical analysis
D) None of the above

Question 5

Cohen (1972) described in terms of the emergence of a condition, event, or group of persons that becomes defined as a threat to the values and interests of society.

A) Defining goals
B) Social movements
C) Moral panics
D) Ideological grounds

Question 6

Which of Reamer's (1986) grounds relate to science and research and to what is known from that research about the likely outcome of a particular policy?

A) Ideological
B) Contingent
C) Ethical
D) Empirical

Question 7

States have tended to follow the U.S. Sentencing Commission guidelines, which are currently and which, until recently, set very lengthy sentences.

A) Mandatory
B) Under appeal
C) Only advisory
D) None of the above

Question 8

In formulating criminal justice policy on issues of morality policy making, policy makers should:

A) Act ethically
B) Undertake formal policy analysis
C) Avoid promoting ad hoc, arbitrary and irrational policy solutions
D) All of the above

Question 9

The association between crime, minorities, and criminal justice policy making is underpinned by a substantial body of research that reveals that:

A) Negative racial stereotypes and collective racial resentment are positively correlated with polices favoring punitiveness
B) Negative racial stereotypes and collective racial resentment are negatively correlated with policies favoring punitiveness
C) Racial and ethnic minorities are responsible for a substantial amount of violent crime therefore creating policies favoring punitiveness
D) Racial and ethnic minorities are responsible for a substantial amount of property and drug crime therefore creating policies favoring punitiveness

Question 10

Policy making on ethical grounds requires a calculated, philosophical analysis of the morality upon which the policy is based. This is not true for public policy making on:

A) Due process grounds
B) Cost-benefit grounds
C) Political grounds
D) Ideological grounds

Question 11

Researchers have identified the ideology of as fostering punitive punishment policies.

A) Punishment
B) Neoliberalism
C) Neolithical
D) Fear

Question 12

Which of Reamer's (1986) grounds relies on conclusions drawn from an analysis of what is "right and wrong" or "good and bad" in a moral sense?

A) Ideological
B) Contingent
C) Ethical
D) Empirical

Question 13

Morality policies share which of the following common features?

A) Are driven by public opinion
B) Are driven by political concerns of prosecutors
C) Are sometimes driven by inmates
D) None of the above

Question 14

According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, between 1999 and 2008 the number of incarcerated persons aged 55 and older increased by % compared to an increase of 18% in the entire prison population over that period.

A) 76
B) 79
C) 82
D) 95

Question 15

Unethical legislation and policies can sometimes be the result of a moral panic. A "moral panic" is:

A) An irrational and exaggerated response by the public to a perceived problem
B) A public over-reaction caused by outdated public morals
C) When a small group of legislators panic and force through unethical legislation
D) When an individual legislator or policy maker over-reacts to a problem

Question 16

Goode and Ben-Yehuda (1994) stressed the level of popular participation in moral panics and believed they are founded on genuine public concern, which is picked up and promoted by the media. This is known as the:

A) Policy implication model
B) Justice model
C) Elite-engineered model
D) Grassroots model

Question 17

According to Alexander (2010), mass imprisonment policies have functioned to create a black undercaste through:

A) A network of laws
B) A network of policies
C) A network of customs
D) All of the above

Question 18

Examples of moral panics include:

A) Condemnation of pedophiles
B) Enactment of mandatory minimum legislation
C) Research on coercion of inmates
D) Both a and b

Question 19

What did Tonry (2011) identify as a major precipitator of the severity of modern criminal justice policies and the unfair burdens they place on black Americans?

A) Jim Crow Laws
B) Southern Policy laws
C) Southern Strategy
D) Black Laws

Question 20

Since the mid-1970s public opinion and public policy on punishment have reflected increasing support for:

A) Rehabilitation
B) Treatment
C) Punitiveness
D) Community-oriented corrections

Question 21

To be eligible for federal funding, states under truth-in-sentencing laws must require those convicted of violent crimes to serve at least % of their court imposed sentence.

A) 55
B) 65
C) 75
D) 85

Question 22

Between 1993 and 2000, convictions for sex offenses increased by %.

A) 50
B) 150
C) 300
D) 400

Question 23

When given the choice of the death sentence or life imprisonment without parole (LWOP), a majority of those polled between 1985 and 1999 preferred the death sentence, but by 2011, the position had reversed with % supporting the death penalty and % supporting LWOP.

A) 47; 51
B) 48; 50
C) 49; 50
D) 49; 51

Question 24

While a majority of Americans supported "get tough" sentencing policies in the 1990s, support for this policy declined from 85% in 1994 to % by 2012.

A) 59
B) 62
C) 65
D) 77

Question 25

In theory, three-strikes legislation is meant to target and dangerous offenders for selective incapacitation.

A) Drug
B) Violent
C) First time
D) Immoral

Question 26

Who initially declared the War on Drugs/Crime?

A) President Taft
B) President Nixon
C) President Reagan
D) President Bush

Question 27

In the latest federal iteration of sex registration laws _____classifies sex offenders into three Tiers - Tier 1 and II offenders must keep their registration up to date for 15 and 30 years respectively, and Tier III offenders must register for their lifetime.

A) The Amber Alert
B) The Adam Walsh Child Protection Act
C) Megan's Law
D) Jesse's Law

Question 28

The development what type of policies fixing minimum terms of imprisonment for certain offenses or types of offenders exemplify the expansion of punitive policies in the criminal justice system?

A) Death penalty
B) Drug
C) Mandatory minimum
D) Domestic violence

Question 29

As well as increasing the size of the inmate population generally, the war against drugs has had the effect of disproportionately incarcerating men and women.

A) White
B) African American
C) Asian
D) Hispanic

Question 30

The PROTECT Bill passed in 2003 by Congress is known as:

A) The Adam Walsh Protection Act
B) Amber Alert
C) Megan's Law
D) None of the above

Question 31

Which court case held that the imposition of the death penalty for cases of child rape was unconstitutional?

A) Kennedy v. Louisiana
B) Furman v. Georgia
C) United States v. Quinones
D) Kansas v. Hendricks

Question 32

Of the 89,000 women serving sentences in state prisons in 2013, % were serving sentences imposed for drug offenses.

A) 24.6
B) 29.5
C) 34.7
D) 42.1

Question 33

Truth in sentencing laws have:

A) Resulted in fairer sentences
B) Decreased sentencing disparity
C) Resulted in shorter sentences
D) Resulted in longer sentences

Question 34

Public opinion on the "new" penal sanctions, like "three-strikes" sentencing laws, indicates that:

A) There is widespread approval of them
B) There is widespread disapproval of them
C) While they approve of it, they don't believe it should be applied indiscriminately to specific offenders under specific circumstances
D) The public is evenly divided on them

Question 35

The War on Drugs is an example of morality policy making based on a moral panic which has led to:

A) Unethical and discriminatory results and mass imprisonment
B) A decrease in the illegal consumption of drugs
C) Growth of powerful drug lords in the U.S.
D) A drop in the supply of illegal drugs in the U.S.

Question 36

Mandatory minimum sentences are arguably unethical because they:

A) Do not reflect the will of the majority
B) Are not applied to all offenders convicted under such statutes
C) Have no incapacitate effect
D) Result in disproportionately severe sentences

Question 37

The ebb and flow of the social response to this category of crime continued until the 1980s, when the feminism movement brought increased attention to it, and greater legal restrictions resulted upon those found to have committed this type of crime:

A) Kidnappings
B) Homicides
C) Drug crimes
D) Sex offenses

Question 38

Ironically, in a departure from an era of policies of rehabilitation, the get-tough, sanctions of both the Nixon and Reagan Wars on Drugs resulted in such an increase in the national prison population (where there was a disproportionately high number of blacks, Hispanics, and women), that some states turned to:

A) Three-strikes laws
B) Sentencing guidelines
C) Treatment programs to reduce jail and prison populations
D) Work release programs to reduce jail and prison populations

Question 39

Which of the following is not one of the alternative positions provided by Roberts (2014) in summary of the arguments for public involvement in sentencing?

A) Allow the prosecutor to discuss sentencing options with the public
B) Allowing public views to determine sentencing policy and practice
C) Permit some public input into sentencing but keep control of policy within a professional system relying on judges
D) Do not permit any public participation in sentencing decisions

Question 40

A Time/CNN poll conducted in 1994 reported that % of adults favored mandatory life imprisonment for persons convicted of a third serious crime.

A) 46
B) 66
C) 72
D) 81

Question 41

In recent years, overall, correctional policies have strongly favored rehabilitation programs.

Question 42

The primary method of policy analysis in the U.S. is cost-benefit analysis which often overlooks ethical issues.

Question 43

What form of punishment is clearly the preeminent morality issue within the category of punishment?

A) Truth-in-sentencing
B) Mandatory minimums
C) Death penalty
D) Fixed sentences

Question 44

The issue of capital punishment is not a big moral issue within the category of punishment.

Question 45

Those who oppose the death penalty respond to the supporters' argument that it is justified by retribution by stating that ________ is sufficiently retributive.

A) The prosecution process
B) A life sentence
C) A criminal conviction
D) The court

Question 46

Elderly inmates do not pose a concern for corrections.

Question 47

What rhetoric was based on an increase in violence committed by and against youth during the late 1980s and early 1990s?

A) Juvenile sex offenders
B) Juvenile superpredators
C) Juvenile property offenders
D) None of the above

Question 48

Research suggests that religious fundamentalism and biblical literalism are positively related to:

A) Opposition to the death penalty
B) Support for life without parole over the death penalty
C) Light sentences for offenders who show remorse
D) Punitiveness in sentencing

Question 49

Habitual felony laws are also known as three-strikes- legislation.

Question 50

The U.S. Supreme Court has stated that retribution is not a proper motive for criminal punishment.

Question 51

The "superpredator" form of moral panic erroneously predicted the emergence of a dangerous class of:

A) Juvenile offenders
B) Sex offenders
C) Violent psychotics
D) Armed robbers

Question 52

Research suggests that punitive attitudes are associated with religious fundamentalism and biblical literalism.

Question 53

Between 1993 and 2000, convictions for sex offenses increased by 400%.

Question 54

Which of the following is not a moral or ethical argument in opposition to the death penalty?

A) Innocent people are executed
B) The death penalty is imposed in a racially discriminatory manner
C) Retribution
D) Capital punishment is degrading to human dignity

Question 55

Moral panics usually result in rational and empirically based policy-making.

Question 56

There has been concern about miscarriages of justice in capital cases since at least:

A) The 1820s
B) The 1860s
C) The 1920s
D) The 1960s

Question 57

In the case of Kansas v. Hendricks (1997), the United States Supreme Court upheld the use of laws that were nonpunitive.

A) Death penalty
B) Drug
C) Vice
D) Civil commitment

Question 58

Research reveals that community attitudes toward are more negative than attitudes towards offenders in general.

A) Drug offenders
B) Murderers
C) Sex offenders
D) Prostitutes

Question 59

Policy making based on ethical grounds focuses on what is right or wrong, or good or bad in a moral sense.

Question 60

The characterization that "strangers" were of more concern was made despite the fact that only about % of sexual abuse offenses against children and about % of child murders are committed by strangers.

A) 3; 6
B) 5; 10
C) 7; 14
D) 9; 18

Question 61

Describe what you believe our criminal justice and correctional systems would look like today if truth-in-sentencing laws had not been implemented. What would prison populations be? What would probation and parole caseloads be? How much more/less crime do you think there would be?

Question 62

Discuss and define "cost-benefit analysis." Provide an example and discuss possible ethical problems with this type of analysis.

Question 63

Present, discuss and evaluate four moral arguments against capital punishment. Explain your personal position on capital punishment.

Question 64

An irrational, public hysteria over a problem which frequently results in unethical polices is called a _________.

Question 65

Scholars have identified the as fostering punitive punishment policies.

Question 66

During the 1990s, which group emerged as a distinct and dangerous criminal class?

Question 67

What is the outcome of the US Supreme Court decision in Roper v. Simmons (2005)?

Question 68

Discuss, define, compare and contrast ideological, empirical and ethical grounds for policies. Give an example of each.

Question 69

Brutally remorseless, radically impulsive and extremely dangerous youngsters who continually commit violent crimes are referred to as _______.

Question 70

Briefly define "three-strikes" laws.

Question 71

Discuss and define "moral panic." Provide an example and discuss why these may lead to unethical policies.

Question 72

The consequences of truth _______ laws are often criticized on ethical grounds.

Question 73

Policy analysis that focuses on the plusses and minuses of the proposed policy (with little or no concern about ethical issues) is called _______ analysis.

Question 74

What common features do morality policies share?

Question 75

Research demonstrates among the public for locking up offenders.