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Criminal Justice, New Technologies, and the Constitution

NCJ Number
149011
Date Published
1989
Length
54 pages
Annotation
This report examines new technologies used for investigation, apprehension, and confinement of offenders and their effects on the constitutional protection of citizens' rights.
Abstract
The first chapter considers how the technological revolution in criminal justice has impacted the prohibition on unreasonable searches and seizures, the rights of the accused, the rights of those convicted of crimes, due process, and the right of privacy. Another chapter addresses the implications of new technology for investigation, identification, and apprehension. Technologies considered in this chapter are mobile communications, electronic surveillance, computerized data matching, DNA typing, automated fingerprint identification systems, biometric security systems, and "less-than-lethal" weapons. A chapter on new technology for decisionmaking focuses on the use of computers in the social sciences, with attention to predictive models, decisionmaking guidelines, and artificial intelligence. A discussion of new technologies for correctional supervision and treatment addresses alternatives to conventional or traditional prisons, electronic monitoring, and drug therapy and hormone manipulation. The discussion of technology for recordkeeping and information sharing considers reporting and data quality, dissemination of FBI criminal history records, and electronic records and due process.