technical violation A violation of the probation or parole contract that does not involve commiting a new crime. Technical violations for persons on supervised release are like status offenses for juveniles; they are violations of rules of conduct imposed on people who are less than full-fledged adults. Examples include failure to report to probation officer on time, associating with others involved in crime, failing a random drug test. Depending on the jurisdiction, technical violations can account for up to 75% of all probation/parole violators admitted to prison.

Tennessee v Garner 471 US 1 (1985). In 1974 Edward Garner, a 15 year old black burglary suspect was shot and killed by Memphis police while fleeing the scene of the crime. At the time Tennessee followed the common law fleeing felon rule, which allowed police to use deadly as a last resort to prevent the escape of felony suspects. The Court held that the 4th Amendment limits use of deadly force to cases in which the officer has probable cause to believe fleeing felon "poses a significant threat of death or serious physical injury to the officer or others." Vote: 7-2

Terry v. Ohio392 U. S. 1 (1968) The Warren Court held 8-1 that a "reasonable search" under the 4th Amendment includes police stop and frisk when "reasonable suspicion" arises that the suspect is armed and dangerous. The stop must be brief and the frisk limited to patting down the outer clothing. If a weapon is detected during the frisk, the officer may extract the weapon and use it as evidence. A Terry frisk differs in important ways from a search incident to arrest, which is based on probable cause rather than reasonable suspicion. Searches incident to arrest may include the person and immediate area surrounding the suspect and may include not only weapons but any incriminating evidence possessed by the suspect.

TESTILYING The practice of police falsification in connection with such [drug] arrests is so common in certain precincts that it has spawned its own word: "testilying." . . . In their view regardless of the legality of the arrest, the defendant is in fact guilty and ought to be arrested. . . . [For example] to conceal an unlawful search of an individual who officers believe is carrying drugs or a gun they will falsely assert that they saw a bulge in the person's pocket or saw drugs and money change hands. - Mollen Commission Report (1994, pp. 36, 36 cited by Dershowitz 1992, pp.52-3)

TIME SERVED - Most common measure = time served by exiting cohorts, e.g., mean months served by inmates released during 1996. This measure of time served is biased downward because members of the entering cohort (say 1990) with longer sentences will not show up in our sample of inmates exiting in 1996.The problem is even worse if we consider sentences. One widely cited statistic is the "average sentences for convicted murderers" is 6.5 years. The U. S. Attorney General wrote that this statistic "shows how easy it is for hardened criminals to get back in the streets."

Note first of all that all murder and non-negligent homicide convictions are included in this category. The offenses encompassed in the category are very diverse. Are, for example, crimes of passion between friends or lovers committed by "hardened criminals"?

Most importantly, if you actually look at the table (Irwin and Austin, p. 25) you will find that (a) 25% of murder convictions result in life sentences and (b) the life sentences were omitted in calculating the "average"of 6.5 years.

TORT - The branch of civil law most closely associated with the law of crime, both conceptually and historically. The same act may be both a tort and a crime. When states are weak, personal injuries are often managed exclusively as torts, with compensation awarded for death and injury being the final remedy. A tort is a injury one person inflicts on another when the parties are not bound by any contract.

Major examples:

CRIME TORT

battery personal injury

murder wrongful death

sedition libel

burglary trespass

Crimes are defined as injuries to the community. Cases are defined as State vs. Defendant. Trials produce verdicts resulting in a criminal sanction that is distinct in its stigma that excludes the offender from the community.

Torts are defined as injuries to a particular person. Cases are defined as Plantiff vs. Respondant. Trials produce verdicts resulting in damages awarded to compensate the injured party. In some cases, additional, punitive damages are awarded to enhance the deterrent effect of the verdict. Apart from publicity about the case, no legal stigma attaches to the loser of a tort case.

Totality of Circumstances Test No single factor must be considered in making a decision. Instead, the decision maker must justify the decision by considering and weighing all the facts. For example Illinois v. Gates (1983) established a "totality of circumstances" test for defining probable cause required to issue a search warrant. The previous standard required that police provide evidence that their informants were reliable and knowledgable. The totality of cirumstances rule eliminates that criterion; judges now can weigh the unreliability of the informant against the strength of the evidence police developed from hearsay information.