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Criminal Justice in Crisis

NCJ Number
115248
Date Published
1988
Length
80 pages
Annotation
Testimony from hearings and a telephone survey of over 800 defense lawyers, prosecutors, judges, and high ranking police administrators examined perceived problems within the criminal justice system.
Abstract
Results indicate that constitutional protections, such as the exclusionary rule and the Miranda warnings, do not seriously hinder arrests, prosecution, or convictions for most serious crimes. Rather, the major problem is a lack of sufficient resources and funding. An equally important problem identified by all participants was the inability to impact the importation, sale, and use of illegal drugs, despite the allocation of significant resources to drug offenses. The criminal justice system was seen as playing a very important part in the lives of victims, witnesses, and jurors who participate in the process. Better public understanding of the causes of crime and the important but limited role the system plays in its control was seen as essential to meaningful change in the approach to the crime problem. All lawyers were seen to be responsible for ensuring that the system is of the highest quality, yet much of the trial bar shuns criminal practice, thus, depriving the system of a powerful voice for reform. The defense lawyer was seen as providing a necessary challenge to the prosecution and not as an obstacle to crime control or effective prosecution. However, problems were seen with the provision of counsel to indigent defendants. 5 tables and 121 notes.