Fundamentals of Criminal Justice MCQs

Fundamentals of Criminal Justice MCQs

Our team has conducted extensive research to compile a set of Fundamentals of Criminal Justice MCQs. We encourage you to test your Fundamentals of Criminal Justice knowledge by answering these 30+ multiple-choice questions provided below.
Simply scroll down to begin!

1: Which model asserts that the accused should be presumed innocent and that the court’s priority is in protecting the constitutional rights of the accused?

A.   Consensus

B.   Conflict

C.   Crime control

D.   Due process

2: Seriousness of the charge, political influences, and defendant status and resources are all factors relating to the way a criminal case will be viewed or handled by the police, the judiciary, and the public. This is a key assumption of the ______ model of criminal justice.

A.   Due process

B.   Crime control

C.   Conflict

D.   Wedding cake

3: We expect our criminal justice professionals to have exceptional character and treat everyone with dignity and respect. What concept best exemplifies this expectation?

A.   Honesty

B.   Fraternity

C.   Ethics

D.   Loyalty

4: What allows criminal justice professionals to balance the competing models of due process and crime control?

A.   Discretion

B.   Honesty

C.   Maximum efficiency

D.   Strict application of the rule of law

5: An offender who recidivates has done which of the following?

A.   Successfully completed probation or parole

B.   Committed a new crime

C.   Reimbursed the victim for financial losses

D.   Transported from one jurisdiction to another

6: At which layer would one find nonviolent crimes committed by persons with limited criminal records under the wedding cake model of crime?

A.   Celebrated cases

B.   Serious felonies

C.   Lesser felonies

D.   Misdemeanors

7: Who articulated the belief that all people are essentially irrational and selfish but have just enough rationality to come together to form governments for the purposes of self-protection?

A.   Jefferson

B.   Hobbes

C.   Locke

D.   Rousseau

8: An instructor explains that plagiarism is unacceptable because it is deceptive and unprincipled. Instead, they encourage students to always ensure that they give proper credit to any academic property they borrow. They are emphasizing ______ behavior.

A.   Ethical

B.   Immoral

C.   Conforming

D.   Loyal

9: What happens at the appellate process?

A.   The appellate court reviews all of the death penalty cases for the state and then forwards them up to the U.S. Supreme Court for review.

B.   The appellate court reviews the case and determines if there were any errors at trial, and if so, will hold a new trial before the appellate court.

C.   The appellate court reviews the case and determines if any errors at trial adversely affected the fairness of the process and/or the defendant’s constitutional rights.

D.   The appellate court handles all trial court matters not expressly handled by the district trial court in that jurisdiction.

10: What happens at an individual’s arraignment?

A.   The accused is informed of the charges, his/her rights, and is asked to enter a plea.

B.   The accused is informed of the charges and the judge determines if there is probable cause to detain the accused.

C.   The judge determines if there is probable cause to believe the accused committed the crime.

D.   The judge accepts the accused guilty plea and proceeds to sentencing.

11: The USA PATRIOT Act was passed in the weeks following the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Section 213 of the law legalized “Sneak and Peek” search warrants, which allowed law enforcement officers to search an individual’s home or business without alerting them first. The rationale was that authorities needed to expand their discretion in order to protect America from terrorism. To which criminal justice model would this approach to counterterrorism belong?

A.   Due process

B.   Conflict theory

C.   Crime control

D.   Deterrence

12: Which of the following describes the main difference between the consensus theory of justice and the conflict theory of justice?

A.   The consensus theory emphasizes reliability, whereas the conflict theory emphasizes efficiency.

B.   The consensus theory assumes that society is diverse in its values, whereas the conflict theory assumes that society has shared values.

C.   The consensus theory assumes that order is maintained through agreement, whereas the conflict theory assumes that order is maintained because powerful groups dominate weaker groups.

D.   The consensus theory believes that organized society alienated humankind, whereas the conflict theory believes that organized society was created to protect private property.

13: Which type of plea has an offender entered when he or she accepts the punishment without accepting responsibility for the crime?

A.   Guilty

B.   Not guilty

C.   Innocent

D.   Nolo contendere

14: Which criminal justice professional may exercise their discretion by denying bail?

A.   Prosecutor

B.   Police officer

C.   Defense attorney

D.   Judge

15: _____ is a court or jury’s judgment or verdict of not guilty of the offenses charged.

A.   Acquittal

B.   Apprehending the problem offenders in the community who commit the most crimes

C.   Identifying the underlying causes of recurring incidents of crime and disorder

D.   None of these

A.   Adjudication

B.   They paint a distorted picture of the justice process because they receive so much publicity

C.   All of these are reasons why layer one cases are different

D.   All of these

17: _____ is known as elements of a crime that enhance its seriousness, such as the infliction of torture, killing of a police or corrections officer, and so on.

A.   Aggravating Circumstances

B.   Neglected

C.   Delinquent

D.   None of these

18: Is arrest the taking into custody or detaining of one who is suspected of committing a crime?

A.   True

B.   False

19: _____ is explains how powerful groups create laws to protect their values and interests in diverse societies.

A.   Conflict Theory Of Justice

B.   Preventive patrols

C.   Calls-for-service

D.   None of these

20: _____ is defined as explains how a society creates laws as a result of common interests and values, which develop largely because people experience similar socialization.

A.   Consensus Theory Of Justice

B.   Military boot camps

C.   Summer camps

D.   All of these

A.   Conviction

B.   Stare decisis

C.   Lex talionis

D.   All of these

22: Is crime Control Model a model by Packer that emphasizes law and order and argues that every effort must be made to suppress crime and to try, convict, and incarcerate offenders?

A.   True

B.   False

23: _____ is the movement of defendants and cases through the criminal justice process, beginning with the commission of a crime, and including stages that involve actions of criminal justice actors working within police, courts, and correctional agencies.

A.   Criminal Justice Flow And Process

B.   The Bill of Rights

C.   Ernesto warnings

D.   None of these

24: _____ is defined as a specific, fixed-period sentence ordered by a court.

A.   Determinate Sentence

B.   Assisting community members

C.   All of these

D.   None of these

25: _____ is known as authority to make decisions in enforcing the law based on one’s observations and judgment (“spirit of the law”) rather than the letter of the law.

A.   Discretion

B.   White-collar offenses

C.   Violent offenses

D.   None of these

26: Is due Process Model a model by Packer that advocates defendants’ presumption of innocence, protection of suspects’ rights, and limitations placed on police powers to avoid convicting innocent persons?

A.   True

B.   False

27: _____ is a set of rules or values that spell out appropriate human conduct.

A.   Ethics

B.   Direct

C.   Detention

D.   None of these

28: _____ is defined as a scheme whereby one is sentenced for a flexible time period (e.g., 5–10 years) so as to be released when rehabilitated or when the opportunity for rehabilitation is presented.

A.   Indeterminate Sentence

B.   Fairness to all

C.   Voice

D.   None of these

29: _____ is known as circumstances that would tend to lessen the severity of the sentence, such as one’s youthfulness, mental instability, not having a prior criminal record, and so on.

A.   Mitigating Circumstances

B.   A man is stopped by police and found to be driving under the influence of alcohol.

C.   A person suspected of carrying out a bank robbery is spotted in a gas station and subsequently arrested.

D.   All of these

30: Is parole early release from prison, with conditions attached and under supervision of a parole agency?

A.   True

B.   False

31: _____ is the bringing of charges against an individual, based on probable cause, so as to bring the matter before a court.

A.   Prosecution

B.   Ashurst-Sumners Act

C.   New York Prison Association

D.   All of these

32: _____ is defined as a penalty or punishment.

A.   Sanction

B.   Thief Takers

C.   Thief Makers

D.   None of these

33: _____ is known as a crime control strategy whereby an offender who commits three or more violent offenses will be sentenced to a lengthy term in prison, usually 25 years to life.

A.   Three-Strikes Law

B.   Walnut Street jail

C.   Southern System

D.   All of these

34: Is wedding Cake Model Of Criminal Justice A model of the criminal justice process whereby a four-tiered hierarchy exists, with a few celebrated cases at the top, and lower tiers increasing in size as the seriousness of cases declines and informal processes (use of discretion) become more likely to occur ?

A.   True

B.   False