NCJ Number
73310
Date Published
1980
Length
482 pages
Annotation
Based on the theme that criminal justice involves a relationship between law and politics operating in an administrative system, essays are presented on politics and the administration of justice, police, prosecution, defense attorneys, courts, corrections, and policy and reform.
Abstract
Articles on politics and the administration of justice treat values supporting the 'due process' and 'crime control' models of the criminal justice process; the links between criminals, the police, and political leaders in one city and what it is like to be arrested and charged with a crime in America based on one person's experience. Essays on the police examine the use of police discretion, a sketch of the policeman's 'working personality,' and politics and the police. The chapters focusing on prosecution consider prosecutorial discretion and the nature and effects of plea bargaining, and essays dealing with defense attorneys discuss how the common interests of the defense and prosecution regarding trial avoidance ignore defendants' rights, the inadequacies of the public defender system, and social control in the adversary system. In the section on courts, essays deal with a description of one morning in the Boston Municipal Court, sentences and other sanctions, the effect of one judge's values on his sentencing, and urban politics and policy and their effect on criminal courts. Corrections articles examine the nature and defects of imprisonment, the quasi-judicial role of the probation officer, and the dilemma of parole decisionmaking. Essays on policy and reform discuss perceptions of crime, judicial reform, and correctional policy. Notes are provided for each essay, with suggested readings provided for some. Where research is involved, tabular data are provided.