The first paper traces the political process of reforming criminal procedure by legislatures and points out how the legal profession is almost exclusively involved in this process in contrast with the general public. Another paper reviews sentencing structures in the United States, particularly the discretionary powers of judicial and paroling authorities. A third paper concludes that the power held by probation officers probably exceeds that of any other criminal justice professional and asks whether controls or limits should be imposed on those who hold such vast amounts of power. Additional papers examine factors associated with the decisionmaking of prosecutors, review the state of rehabilitation in corrections and its relation to public policy, and discusses the plight of female prisoners as the 'forgotten offender.' Some of the problems associated with employing females in the correctional institutional setting are addressed, and a possible approach to improving criminal justice interagency relationships, linkages and exchanges, and information sharing is examined. In addition, a reviewer of alternate models of victim compensation states that restitution programs hold the promise of providing important sentencing alternatives for juveniles. A final paper asserts that the black perspective on crime is essential since blacks constitute such a large number of arrestees and offenders and that more blacks are needed in criminal justice and employment and educational programs. Tabular data and a brief description of each author are included. References follow each paper. For individual articles, see NCJ 76037-46.