Congressional Briefing - Criminal Justice in the U.S.: Lessons from the Past, Prospects for a New Crime Commission

Fifty years ago, President Lyndon B. Johnson's Commission on Law Enforcement and Administration of Justice issued its final report, considered to be a criminal justice landmark in the United States. The Commission's report laid out recommendations that have provided a frame-work for policy development in American criminal justice for over a half-century. Since the Commission's work, criminal justice research findings and methodologies have grown, and also developments in society have challenged aspects of the original crime commission report.

Because of these developments, several members of Congress and other groups have recommended that a new commission be named to assess the current state of criminal justice in the United States and to suggest improvements.

Topics covered in this briefing include: Science and Technology; Juvenile Justice; Prosecution and the Courts; Policing; Corrections and Sentencing; Race, Crime and Criminal Justice; Narcotics and Drug Abuse; Domestic Violence; Criminal Justice Statistics; Prospects for a New Crime Commission.