Crisis in the Criminal Justice System - Reality or Myth? A Special Symposium

• NCJ Number: 86552
• Journal: Vanderbilt Law Review Volume: 35 Issue: 3 Dated: (April 1982) Pages: 483-655
• Author(s): Anonymous
• Date Published: 1982
• Length: 164 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

The six papers presented at this symposium address problems in the criminal justice system that may contribute to increasing crime rates in the United States. Deterrence is a primary concern, but papers also discuss crime reporting systems, the exclusionary rule, and sentencing reform.

Abstract

The keynote address argues that any responsible approach to crime problems must focus on violent street offenders, who usually come from the lowest socioeconomic levels. It examines the comparative costs of two long-term solutions -- massive incarceration and an attack on the root causes of crime. A discussion of Supreme Court decisions on acquiring evidence considers the trend toward a 'good faith' exception to the exclusionary rule and suggests that greater judicial supervision of the preaccusatory acquisition of evidence is necessary. A survey of law enforcement approaches to reducing crime concludes that increasing arrests and imposing harsher sentences are insufficient. Only a dual emphasis on law enforcement and crime prevention programs directed toward ghetto youths can solve the crime problem. Another paper concludes that crime information systems such as the Uniform Crime Reports give the public and policymakers a distorted view of the crime situation by paying insufficient attention to juvenile offenders and crimes of violence against property. In contrast to presentations emphasizing crime prevention through social and economic reform, an examination of deterrence by a director of a victim advocacy organization supports capital punishment and third-party victims' rights litigation. The final paper analyzes the problems in indeterminate sentencing and sentencing reforms, concluding that the new laws have failed to integrate substantive criminal law into the sentencing process. All papers contain footnotes. The transcript of a panel discussion follows. For individual papers, see NCJ-86553-8.