NCJ Number
199461
Journal
Howard Journal of Criminal Justice Volume: 42 Issue: 1 Dated: February 2003 Pages: 1-31
Date Published
February 2003
Length
31 pages
Annotation
This article discusses the representation of electronic monitoring (EM) in the criminal justice system in the news media.
Abstract
Electronic monitoring or tagging is still one of the least known community penalties. The English press has contributed to the public awareness of EM. Some reporting of EM has been openly hostile. Most of the hostile press comment on EM has come from left-leaning individuals and newspapers. Human interest and issue-based stories about tagging in tabloids and broadsheets have contributed to the public knowledge of tagging’s strengths and weaknesses. Electronic monitoring has been shown in at least three American movies, which have been released in Britain. All three portray the tagging of ethnic minority men. The various types of television programs, such as drama, documentaries, and news bulletins, are potential sources of information about EM, the meaning of which may vary according to the type of program it appears in and the type of story being told. There is some literary representation of tagging as an actual development in criminal justice. Science fiction shows tracking tags as inflicting pain and intended to be lethal. Representations of EM in the press have neither consistently proclaimed its potential nor consistently warned of its dangers in any way. There is very little discussion of the efficacy of EM as a form of crime control and its alleged threat to civil liberties. There is no prevailing sense in the press or popular culture that EM constitutes a threat to offenders’ civil liberties. This may be because the ability to locate a person is seen as a useful convenience rather than an unwarranted invasion of privacy. 18 notes, 74 references