Explain how responses to crime changed and were used to control the underclass in the later Middle Ages.

What will be an ideal response?


Because of increasing social turmoil, a brutal criminal law directed against the lower classes emerged. The more privileged wanted to make the system of criminal laws more effective in slowing the rise in crime. Fines and corporal punishment remained in force, but class distinctions in the administration of laws became more obvious. Upper-class offenders were generally treated more leniently and lower-class “villains” came to be viewed by the legal system as morally inferior. The urban bourgeoisie lobbied for tougher crime control measures. This period witnessed the rise of laws against vagrancy. Punishments became harsher and more brutal, especially physical punishments such as execution, whipping, and mutilation. These alterations emerged gradually over time. During this period, capital punishment became commonplace. Judges used the death penalty for offenders whom they declared to be “threats to society.” Courts paid little attention to the actual guilt or innocence of the accused. Torture was the norm to coerce confessions and to identify possible accomplices.

Criminal Justice

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The first officers responding to a crime scene are responsible for making sure that the scene is safe for other personnel to enter the area. This step in the coordination of a crime scene is known as:

a. initializing the scene b. neutralizing the scene c. crime scene security d. crime scene basics

Criminal Justice

Legally define a "hate crime," and explain why hate crime legislation has been so controversial in the United States

What will be an ideal response?

Criminal Justice

Which of the following is NOT a valid file extension for a video file

a. .avi b. .tif c. .mpg d. .mov e. .wmv

Criminal Justice

In Chinatowns, "paying protection" has contributed to a decrease in crime

a. True b. False

Criminal Justice