Research Guides: Criminal Justice, Government & Law: Get Started ...

Introduction

"Justice in the life and conduct of the State is possible only as first it resides in the hearts and souls of the citizens." - Plato

This Research Guide will be a good starting point to a variety of resources related to criminal justice and law.

Overview: Government

"A political system through which a body of people is administered and regulated. The fundamental purpose of government is to maintain basic security and public order. Governments serve several functions. Most exercise executive, judicial, and legislative powers, as well as provide internal and external security. Many also provide welfare services, regulate the economy, and establish educational systems. Some governments control the religious affairs of their people.

"The form of government instituted in a state differs according to the power holders of that state. Power may be held by one individual as in a monarchy, dictatorship, or autocracy. Plutocracy and theocracy are examples of rule by a few individuals. Democracies exemplify rule by the majority.

Although governments may operate only on a national level, others consist of more than one level of government. Their systems contain local governments, which are smaller and have lesser powers than the national government. Their administration may also be partially or wholly subsidized by the national government.

Governments also differ according to the distribution of power at the local level. This distribution may be unitary, federated, or confederated. In unitary governments, smaller organizational units within a country are governed constitutionally as one single unit, and the national government has the right to recall delegated power. Federations comprise separate smaller units that have aseparate constitutional existence and are both partially self-governing and united by a central government. Confederations consist of governments of several political divisions, or states, in which each division retains considerable independence."

CREDO Reference

Government. (2009). In L. E. Sullivan (Ed.), The SAGE glossary of the social and behavioral sciences. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications. Retrieved from http://lscsproxy.lonestar.edu/login?url=https://search.credoreference.com/
content/topic/government?institutionId=5037

Topic Search

TOPICsearch
Current events database: over 100,000 articles from diverse sources & points of view, on important social/political/economic issues.
Credo Reference
Includes materials from over 650 reference books on a variety of topics in higher education, including art, business, history, languages, literature, science, criminal justice, and political science.

Remote Access

For off-campus access to the subscription-based databases, enter your 14-digit library barcode number located on the back of your college ID / library card.
No college ID or library card? Request a college ID or library card barcode number.

Overview: Criminal Justice System

"The criminal justice system is a combination of laws regulating behavior and the institutions that enforce these laws. It incorporates police, courts, jails, prosecutors, and defense attorneys. These separate elements have existed for centuries, and each has its own history, but American criminal justice emerged as an interconnected system in the late 19th century.

In the United States, criminal justice was built around state, county, and municipal laws and enforcement mechanisms; for most of American history, it was an overwhelmingly local process. Each state has its own penal code, as do local governments. Courts have traditionally been the central instruments. In colonial America, most cases reached courts when accusers—plaintiffs—swore out complaints. Only in major cases such as murders would coroners assemble juries to formally accuse suspects. These arrangements existed because communities had no real policing mechanisms. Boston created the first police department in the United States in 1838, and few cities followed that example until the 1850s. Instead, in 19th-century Philadelphia, most cases were initiated by private prosecutions. Plaintiffs would swear a complaint before a magistrate and pay a constable to bring defendants to court. This democratic arrangement allowed everyone who could afford court fees to seek justice. Statesponsored prosecutions, however, gradually replaced private prosecutions later in the 19th century. Philadelphia established a police department in 1845 and, after much controversy, consolidated its neighborhoods under one centralized municipal government in 1854. Establishing fulltime city services brought larger caseloads into courts and demanded more administrative organization..."

CREDO Reference
Wolcott. (2007). Criminal Justice System. In D. Goldfield (Ed.), Encyclopedia of American urban history. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications. Retrieved from:
http://lscsproxy.lonestar.edu/login?url=https://search.credoreference.com/content/topic/criminal_justice_system?institutionId=5037.

Overview: Law

" Rules of conduct of any organized society, however simple or small, that are enforced by threat of punishment if they are violated. Modern law has a wide sweep and regulates many branches of conduct.

Development of Early Law

Law does not develop systematically until a state with a centralized police authority has appeared. For this development a written language is not required, but necessarily the earliest known legal codes are those of literate societies. Examples of early law systems are to be found in the code of Hammurabi (Babylonia), the Laws of Manu (India), and the Mosaic code (Palestine). These codes show what would seem to be the universal tendency of the religious and ethical system of a society to produce a legal order to enforce its ethical and social mandates. In classical antiquity the first codes of law are those attributed to Solon and to Lycurgus..."

"... The work of Blackstone was the most important influence in U.S. law (except for Louisiana, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands, where Continental civil law prevailed). Among those who helped to develop the American concept of law were James Kent and Joseph Story; in constitutional law the most important figure was John Marshall. In the United States the distinctive feature is the coexistence of federal and state law, for the U.S. Constitution limits the sphere in which federal law is supreme."

CREDO Reference
law. (2018). In P. Lagasse, & Columbia University, The Columbia encyclopedia (8th ed.). New York, NY: Columbia University Press. Retrieved from http://lscsproxy.lonestar.edu/login?url=https://search.credoreference.com/content/topic/law?institutionId=5037

Online Catalog

Search the LSCS Libraries' Online Catalog:

Use the above search box to find books, videos and digital collections owned by Lone Star College, Harris County Public Library and Montgomery County Memorial Library Systems.

If the book you need is not available in our catalog / system, you can request it through LSCS Interlibrary Loan (ILL) Request Form.
Once the requested material has been received and placed on Hold at your local college library; you will be notified by either email, mail or phone that the material is ready for you to pick it up. Please allow up to 15 working days for processing, if you are sending an ILL request. (This LSCS ILL form / service is for LSCS card holders only)

WorldCat
WorldCat is a searchable catalog of books and other materials in over 45,000 libraries worldwide. No full text, but can help you locate books locally that aren't available in our system. You can use the Inter-library Loan form link mentioned above, to request the book from another library.

Library Hours