Glossary: F

Facsimile.  A copy of an original document or object.

Fact.  An actual event or a true statement.

Fact-finders.  A term that refers to juries; based on the legal principle that juries are the final arbiters of the factual circumstances in a case.

Factual Impossibility.  In the law of attempt, the defense that some extraneous factor makes it impossible for the crime to be completed. 

Factual Question.  A question intended to generate an objective response.

Failure to Appear.  When a defendant fails to show up for court at the appointed time.

Federal District Court.  The trial level of court in the Federal system.

Federal Misdemeanor.  Any federal crime with a maximum penalty of less than one year incarceration.

Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure.  All rules and regulations that must be followed during offender processing on the federal level.  (found in Title 18 of the U.S.C.).

Federal Rules of Evidence.  Official rules concerning the introduction of evidence in federal trial courts.

Felicitic Calculus. The pleasure-pain principle by which individuals decide whether or not to commit a crime in classical criminology. 

Felony.  Generally, a crime punishable by one year or more of incarceration. 

Felony Murder.  Deaths that occur during the commission of or the flight from the commission of a felony. 

Feminist Criminology.  A branch of criminology that holds gender inequality as the root of crimes in which women are the victims or perpetrators. 

Fetal Death Statutes.  Laws defining when life begins for purposes of the law of homicide. 

Fiber. [Forensics].  A strand of either natural or synthetic material used in the making of textiles and fabrics.

Field Training Program.  A probationary period where new law enforcement officers train in the community under the direct supervision of an experienced officer. 

Fifth Amendment.  An amendment to the Constitution of the United States that protects the rights of persons.  The text is as follows:

No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of War or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offence to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.

See FindLaw's Fifth Amendment Annotations

Finding.  A ruling by the court.

Finding of Fact.  The court's determination of which side's version of the facts of a case are correct.

Fine.  A momentary penalty imposed on convicted offenders.

Fingerprint. [Forensics].  Physical evidence consisting of an impression made by the friction ridges of human skin, most commonly the fingers.

Firearm Evidence.  Physical evidence consisting of firearms, ammunition components, and chemical residues resulting from the discharge of a firearm.

First Amendment.  An amendment to the Constitution of the United States that protects Americans' rights of free speech and freedom of religion.  The text is as follows:

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

See FindLaw's extensive First Amendment Annotations 

First Appearance.  A hearing in which a judge reviews the charges, advises defendants of their rights, and sets bail.

First Degree Murder.  The crime of premeditated, deliberate killing. 

First Responder.  The first law enforcement officer (or other official) arriving at a crime or accident scene.

Fleeing Felon Rule. (also Doctrine).  Police practice of using deadly force against a fleeing suspect; made illegal in Tennessee v. Garner (1985), except when there is a clear and present danger to the public.

Florida v. Riley. [488 U.S. 445 (1989)]. Established a lower limit of 400 feet for conducting surveillance from navigable airspace. 

Formal Sanctions.  Social norms as enforced through laws and the criminal justice system. 

Fourteenth Amendment.  An amendment to the Constitution of the United States that, by interpretation of the courts, has bound state governments to extend the Bill of Rights to their citizens.  The text is as follows:

Section. 1. All persons born or naturalized in the United States and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.

Section. 2. Representatives shall be apportioned among the several States according to their respective numbers, counting the whole number of persons in each State, excluding Indians not taxed. But when the right to vote at any election for the choice of electors for President and Vice President of the United States, Representatives in Congress, the Executive and Judicial officers of a State, or the members of the Legislature thereof, is denied to any of the male inhabitants of such State, being twenty-one years of age, and citizens of the United States, or in any way abridged, except for participation in rebellion, or other crime, the basis of representation therein shall be reduced in the proportion which the number of such male citizens shall bear to the whole number of male citizens twenty-one years of age in such State.

Section. 3. No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any State, who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any State legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any State, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof. But Congress may by a vote of two-thirds of each House, remove such disability.

Section. 4. The validity of the public debt of the United States, authorized by law, including debts incurred for payment of pensions and bounties for services in suppressing insurrection or rebellion, shall not be questioned. But neither the United States nor any State shall assume or pay any debt or obligation incurred in aid of insurrection or rebellion against the United States, or any claim for the loss or emancipation of any slave; but all such debts, obligations and claims shall be held illegal and void.

Section. 5. The Congress shall have power to enforce, by appropriate legislation, the provisions of this article.
 

See FindLaw's Fourteenth Amendment Annotations

Fourth Amendment.  An amendment to the Constitution of the United States that protects the rights of Americans from unreasonable searches and seizures.  The text is as follows:

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

See FindLaw's Fourth Amendment Annotations

Frankpledge.  A policing system used in medieval England whereby kinship groups policed their members.

Freedom of Information Laws. See full article titled Freedom of Information Laws.

Friction Ridges. [Forensics].  The ridges of skin that form fingerprints which are located in the grasping surfaces of human skin such as fingers, palms, and the soles of feet.

Frisbie v. Collins. [342 U.S. 519 (1952)].  A court still has jurisdiction to try a case if the suspect is unlawfully arrested. 

Frivolous Lawsuits.  Groundless legal action with little or no hope of success.

Fruits of the Poisonous Tree Doctrine.  A determination by the Supreme Court in Wong Sun v. United States (1963) that evidence that followed from illegally obtained evidence was tainted and could not be used in court.

Fundamental Fairness.  The idea of Due Process; usually used in the context of judicial procedure. 

Furlough.  A program whereby offenders are allowed to live in the community for a short period of time in an effort to promote successful reintegration into society. 

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