NCJ Number
93026
Date Published
1982
Length
0 pages
Annotation
This filmstrip examines several reforms of the criminal justice system that have been tried or proposed.
Abstract
The concept of community service and restitution is introduced using an example of two young men convicted of setting fire to a school and required by the court to pay fines and to perform a specified number of hours of community service work. Past reforms discussed include the arming of police forces and the creation of separate juvenile courts and juvenile correctional facilities. Current reform programs and prosposals are then considered, with emphasis on bail reform, speedy trial laws, plea bargaining rules, redefinitions of the limits of the exclusionary rule, and fixed-time sentencing. Correctional reforms described include efforts to make prisons more humane so that rehabilitation can occur, the use of alternatives to prison such as work release programs and victim compensation, and the building of more prisons and incarceration of prisoners for their full terms. The film concludes with the warning that failure to deal efficiently with the problems of the criminal justice system will result in a growing crime rate and a further drop in public safety. Comments from a staff member of the Fortune Society, a New York organization that helps ex-convicts and teenagers who have been in trouble with the law, are included. For related filmstrips, see NCJ 93024-25.