Deck 6: Lying and Deception in Criminal Justice

Question 1

According to Bok, a deceptive person is one who is:

A) wrong or mistaken
B) intentionally deceitful
C) willfully ignorant
D) habitually malicious

Answer 1

B

Question 2

According to the text, the origins of lying can be found in two viewpoints-the religionist view and the:

A) pragmatic view
B) scientific view
C) sociological view
D) academic view

Answer 2

C

Question 3

According to the sociological view, lying is a behavior that thrives more or less in proportion to one's:

A) sin
B) socialization
C) age
D) mental illness

Answer 3

B

Question 4

The philosopher who condemned all aspects of lying without exception was:

A) Saint Augustine
B) Saint Thomas Aquinas
C) Confucius
D) Wilberforce

Question 5

According to the text, Saint Augustine's theory on lying should be classified as a(n):

A) ultraconservative view
B) liberal sociological view
C) religionist view
D) both a and c

Question 6

Which of the following is not one of Thomas Aquinas's three categories of lies?

A) officious lies
B) jocose lies (lies told in jest)
C) blue lies
D) mischievous lies

Question 7

According to the text, which of the following rules should be taken into consideration when deciding whether to lie?

A) A morally justified lie should be considered "a matter of last resort"
B) A morally justified lie must be conducive to a "higher moral good"
C) A morally justified lie should be believable
D) both a and b but not c

Question 8

Which of the following actions can be classified as institutional lying?

A) a son lying to his mother about the price of textbooks
B) a prison spokesperson lying about the abuse of force when questioned by the press
C) a businessman lying about his personal income in order to evade taxes
D) none of the above

Question 9

According to the text, which of the following doctrines is most commonly used to justify lying by police officers?

A) public interest doctrine
B) sovereign immunity doctrine
C) self-defense doctrine
D) the "ends justify the means" doctrine

Question 10

The practice of "collars for dollars" involved police officers:

A) getting bonuses for observing quotas about how many traffic tickets to issue every month
B) stopping suspected drug dealers on the highway to seize cash and other assets
C) illegally adding the names of fellow officers on their incident reports so they could receive court payments for testifying in court
D) none of the above

Question 11

What is a crucial aspect for establishing the veracity of a message?

A) a criminal record
B) an intent to mislead
C) an intent to victimize
D) level of socialization

Question 12

When society ceases to presume "mutual truthfulness," what becomes eroded?

A) constitutional protections
B) due process
C) the social order
D) financial security

Question 13

Which view provides no room for consideration of lying, even in extreme circumstances?

A) ultraliberal
B) sociological view
C) ultraconservative view
D) pseudologia view

Question 14

Which of the following is not a basic rule on lying?

A) one must first seek truthful alternatives
B) if lies and truthful statements achieve the same objectives, lying should be ruled out
C) the justification of a higher moral good must be publicly recognized
D) lying in an official capacity, such as in pursuit of criminal justice, is always a higher moral good

Question 15

Which recent technology has prompted field officers to curb their reliance on deception in the field?

A) body-worn camera
B) personal radio
C) officer-issued smartphone
D) TASER.

Question 16

In which criminal justice agency does the use of lying not exist?

A) probation
B) parole
C) policing
D) lying exists in all of the above

Question 17

During which process does lying often occur by both prosecutors and defense attorneys?

A) pre-trial sentencing
B) jury trial
C) deposition
D) plea bargain negotiation

Question 18

Which of the following are not reasons probation officers lie?

A) to paint offenders a certain way in court reports
B) by offering promises to probationers they are legally unable to uphold
C) to conduct personal business on duty
D) to get a raise

Question 19

According to Bok, which circumstances justify telling a lie?

A) when innocent lives are at stake
B) when a lie can help achieve a higher moral value
C) when loyalty to fellow officers is involved
D) a and b but not c

Question 20

Which of the following is typically not a reason that instructors lie?

A) cancelling classes because of "sickness"
B) showing a video because they were unprepared
C) to purposefully misinform students
D) requiring students to read material because the professor wrote the material

Question 21

A deceptive person is not one who is merely wrong or mistaken, but one who is intentionally deceitful or treacherous.

Question 22

The religionist view is based on the fall from grace doctrine.

Question 23

The religionist view supports the assertion that children will be more likely to cheat and lie if their parents cheat or lie.

Question 24

Bok asserts that Judaism, Christianity, and Buddhism all allow no exceptions to their rules against lying.

Question 25

Lying is reserved only for the lower class.

Question 26

The type of officer with the highest propensity to engage in illicit or illegal behavior is a detective.

Question 27

The Supreme Court has struck down officers' ability to use deception during an interrogation.

Question 28

To cope with excessive workload, some parole officers may use deception in the construction of risk-needs assessments for some parolees.

Question 29

The relationship between criminal justice practitioners and the public is essentially characterized by trust.

Question 30

The Washington Post Magazine indicated that a large proportion of society relies on lying for functional purposes.

Question 31

A portion of this chapter focused on various components of the criminal justice system (e.g., policing, parole, probation) in regard to types of lying present within the respective occupations. Discuss the major types of dishonesty engaged in by individuals in the various aspects addressed. In addition to this, is there a sector that should be more concerned with lying than others? For example, since police are in contact with individuals not yet justice-involved, can/does lying by police do more damage than a parole officer, probation officer, or prosecutor, etc.? Why?

Question 32

Do you believe that body-worn cameras and the proliferation of cellular devices with cameras have prompted police to alter their demeanor in the field? Or, put differently, do you think police use less deception and other potentially unethical tactics since their every move is potentially being recorded?

Question 33

Compare and contrast the religionist and sociological views on the origins of lying. Which do you believe has more merit? Is lying related to one's level of socialization, or does everyone have an equal propensity to engage in deception when it is serviceable to them?

Question 34

Address each of the four individuals who provided justifications for lying. In doing this, identify which viewpoint you believe is most accurate in modern society. Although not limited to this, explain, for example, why Grotius may have been correct in asserting that a false statement is only a lie when the intended recipient was due the truth (e.g., if a police officer has reasonable suspicion to stop and question you, yet you lie about your intentions).