Bureau of Justice Statistics National Update, Volume II, Number 3, January 1993

• NCJ Number: 140809
• Author(s): Y Boston; M Marbrook; J R Pugh; T Hester; T L Dorsey; M Zawitz; B A Reaves; R Bachman; L D Bastian; A J Beck
• Date Published: 1993
• Length: 12 pages
• Corporate Author: Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS)
• Publication Format: Document
• Publication Type: Statistics
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: *This document is currently unavailable from NCJRS.

Annotation

This publication highlights some contemporary data and information on a variety of significant criminal justice topics: goals and performance measures for the criminal justice system; pretrial release; victimization of the elderly; drugs, crime, and the justice system; prison and jail populations; prisoners executed or under sentence of death; and State felony court statistics.

Abstract

The first report describes the efforts of a joint Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) and Princeton University project that involved a series of working group meetings of national experts to re-examine the goals and objectives of the criminal justice system and the traditional measures used to assess performance. The second report profiles a New Orleans national conference in September 1992 at which the BJS and the States launched an information-sharing and infrastructure project. This is followed by a report on findings drawn from a sample of felony cases filed in State courts during May 1990, which show that approximately 1 in 4 of defendants released had a bench warrant issued for arrest because they did not appear in court as scheduled. A report on the findings of the BJS study of elderly victims indicates that although persons 65 years old and older are the least likely of all age groups to be criminally victimized, they are more likely than younger people to suffer harmful consequences. Another report indicates that BJS will release a wide-ranging report on drugs, crime, and justice in the spring of 1993; it will address the nature and extent of drug use, responses to the drug problem, and drugs and the justice system. Information on death row inmates indicates that eight States executed 14 in 1991, and 2,482 inmates were on death row in 35 jurisdictions at the end of 1992. A report on jail and prison inmate populations indicates that a midyear count showed 4 percent more inmates in the first half of 1992 than in the previous year. The concluding report presents the latest data and information on criminal victimization, 1993 BJS programs, and the National Judicial Reporting Program. 5 figures and 1 table