1. Criminology CRJS 250
Research Paper
Professor J. Caruso

2. I. Introduction
Laws, Punishments, Key Issues, Interesting
Cases

3. Introduction
 What makes you interested in this crime?
 Include definitions – example, what is
robbery?
◦ Use your textbook,
◦ Black’s Law Dictionary or
◦ as explained in class, Dr. Tom O’Connor’s site .
 Are there any interesting cases on this
crime that you can identify?

4. Cases
Using Westlaw

8. You can find Westlaw
either alphabetically or
by subject (criminal
justice).

10. You have many options here for
finding cases.
For example, let’s say you heard of
a Massachusetts case about a
robbery conviction and a fake gun.

11. If you are looking for a state case, select “All
Massachusetts State Cases.”

13. Here is your
Massachusetts case
about robbery with a
fake gun.

14. Cases
Using the Internet

15. You won’t get the
level of detail in
case law on the
Web, but it will
provide a good
overview of
interesting cases.
When in doubt if
you are on the right
track check with
Professor Caruso.

16. Introduction
 Summarize in your own words the laws
from two different states AND the U.S.
Code that relate to your topic.
◦ You can either use Westlaw or a Google search.
◦ Let’s take the crime of robbery and we’ll begin
with Westlaw.

17. To access state and federal statutes (laws made by
legislatures) click on Statutes and Court Rules.

19. All states have a
breakdown of their
statutory sections.

21. Many crimes will have
different degrees of
culpability.
You should include all of
the different degrees
(e.g., 1st, 2nd, 3rd).

22. Here you have you a
definition of robbery.

23. Click to access
the New York
robbery
statutes.

24. The actual statute will be
fairly short. When you hit
“Credits” you have reached
the end of the actual statute.
After “Credits” you find case
law interpreting the statute.

25. To get back to the
main Westlaw
screen click on
WestlawNext.

26. To find the U.S. Code (federal statutes)
select “Statutes & Court Rules.”

28. As with New York and other
state statutes, the federal
U.S. Code is broken down
into subject categories.

31. Using the Internet to
find statutory law
The Internet can also be used to find state and federal
statutes.

32. Cornell Legal Information
Institute and FindLaw
are excellent sources of
state and federal legal
materials, in this case,
federal statutes.
You can click on one of
these and compare your
results to what you
found in Westlaw. If
your results are the
same, chances are you
retrieved the right
statute(s)!

33. Discuss punishments
provided

34. Usually the
statute will state
the punishment.

35. Discuss punishments
provided
Sometimes, the statute may just state that the crime is a
type of felony, and you have to determine the sentence.
For example…

36. Here we are finding
punishment for robbery in
New York, using a Web
search.
(Remember you can also
find federal and state
statutes in Westlaw (see
previous Westlaw slides).
Professor Caruso will allow
either source.)

37. YPD Crime
is another
good
website for
New York’s
criminal
code.

38. What is the sentence?
Example: Robbery in the second degree is a class “C”
felony. But what does this mean?

39. You can find sentencing
guidelines on Westlaw
and on YPDcrime.com.

40. Using Westlaw
Make sure you are
in New York Statutes
& Court Rules.

42. Who does the best job of
criminalizing this
behavior?
The answer to this depends on the type of crime. For
example, assault is best handled by local authorities;
bank robbery the feds, for reasons explained in class.

43. Specific Deterrence
…and your crime

44. Specific Deterrence
 Option 1 – Find specific deterrence
materials on your crime on the Internet
◦ Dr. Tom O’Connor’s site
◦ Google or Google Scholar

45. Specific Deterrence
 Option 2 – Find a journal article(s) using the library
materials.

46. Using
OneSearch

48. II. Data Profile

49. Create a one-page fact sheet summarizing data found on your crime from the
Sourcebook, BJS and/or other websites such as the FBI Uniform Crime Reports.

50. Sourcebook of Criminal Justice
Statistiscs
Let’s say the
crime we are
researching is
arson.

51. Arson data
tables in
the
Sourcebook

52. Another source of data is the
Bureau of Justice Statistics.

53. Let’s look for data on
burglary.

56. FBI Uniform Crime Reports
Another site for
crime data and
definitions is the
FBI Uniform
Crime Reports.
For example, see
recent definitions
of rape, hate
crime statistical
publications and
recent crime
data for the
previous year.

57. Dr. O’Connor’s site
also has crime data.

58. Arrest rates and
clearance rates
Click here for the FBI’s definition of clearance.
Usually when a crime is “cleared” it means police are done
with it: an arrest has been made and the case has been
turned over to the District Attorney. Ideally, students
should be looking for number of reported crimes
compared to number of arrests.

59. Note:
There are no clearance rates in the "victimless" crime
area. No one reports these things to police. The arrest
numbers are the clearance rate.

60. Arrest rates, clearance rates

61. The BJS also provides
arrest rates.

62. The FBI is another source
for clearance rates.

63. NCVS
National Crime Victimization Survey

64. Source: Bureau of Justice
Statistics (BJS)
 “NCVS is the nation's primary source of information on
criminal victimization. Each year, data are obtained from a
nationally representative sample of about 90,000
households, comprising nearly 160,000 persons, on the
frequency, characteristics, and consequences of criminal
victimization in the United States. Each household is
interviewed twice during the year. The survey enables BJS
to estimate the likelihood of victimization by rape or sexual
assault, robbery, aggravated and simple assault, theft,
household burglary, and motor vehicle theft for the
population as a whole as well as for segments of the
population such as women, the elderly, members of various
racial or ethnic groups, city dwellers, and other groups.
The NCVS provides the largest national forum for victims to
describe the impact of crime and characteristics of violent
offenders.”

65. The NCVS does not cover
victimless crimes.
Example: cocaine sales. No one reports these things to police (the arrest numbers
are the clearance rate). Students with drug or related topics are encouraged to
use the Sourcebook to come up with creative measures to measure success, such
as drug seizures by weight or dose, compared to the prior year.

66. Types of crime covered by
the NCVS
(National Crime Victimization
Survey):

67. Accessing the NCVS

70. III. Offenders

71. Offenders
Summarize the best biological and psychological study
you found that relates to offenders who commit your
crime.

72. Finding offender
biological/psychological
studies on the Internet

73. One option: Dr. O’Connor’s site
Use
the
site
search
box.

74. Another option: crimetimes.org

75. If you use the Internet
to find a study, be
careful to pick a
reputable source.
Your job is to locate “the
best biological and
psychological study” you
found that relates to
offenders who commit
your crime.
Don’t just accept
anything!

76. Finding offender
biological/psychological
studies using library
databases

80. To find “psychological”
studies

81. IV. Victim Issues and
Criminal Justice
Responses
Use media reports or cases to describe how the CRJ
system responds to victims of your crime.

82. Using library news
databases to find media
reports or cases

87. Excellent news
databases
When searching
consider keywords
such as “arson” and
“arrest” and
“conviction”.

88. This is just one example of
the many ways you can
search for media reports on
your crime using library news
databases.

89. Using the Internet to find
media reports or cases

91. Searching
Google
news

92. Google’s news
search

93. Another way to find
cases…
Westlaw

96. You can search all
state and federal
cases at once or
pick a specific
state or court.
Either way, keep
your search terms
simple.

97. IV. Victim Issues &
Criminal Justice
Responses
Discuss 3 issues from the Victimization chapter (textbook)
and/or NYS Victim’s Rights Guide that apply to your crime.
Helpful: New York State Office of Victim Services.

98. …and any other article on
victim information you
found that was
interesting.”
Use Google Scholar or the HVCC Library materials.

101. V. My Proposal for
Planned Change
An exercise in class will help you with this section.

102. When in doubt…