NCJ Number
90644
Date Published
1983
Length
158 pages
Annotation
Significant problems of law facing the contemporary criminal justice system include plea bargaining, legal insanity, victimless crime (the lottery), the writ of habeas corpus, prisoners' rights, and the exclusionary rule.
Abstract
The opening chapter analyzes the role of the defense attorney, discussing professional responsibilities within the framework of the American Bar Association's Code of Professional Responsibility. A consideration of plea bargaining notes the general pattern of plea bargaining, possible abuses that may threaten the implementation of justice, and proposals to regulate plea bargaining so as to reduce the chance of such abuse. The principal problems associated with the concept of legal insanity are indicated to be the determining of a precise definition of legal insanity or mental incapacity, to whom it applies, and why. An examination of State lotteries identifies the criticisms of the lottery, but concludes that it is a successful, harmless, and enjoyable means of creating State revenue, as long as it is regulated to prevent corruption and abuse. Following an analysis of the proper use of the writ of habeas corpus, the specific prisoners' rights issues considered are inmate medical care and mail censorship. The discussion of the exclusionary rule focuses particularly upon its application to evidence introduced at the sentencing hearing. Other topics are civil liberties as interpreted by the Warren and Vinson Supreme Courts, legal ethics, the juvenile justice system, pretrial publicity, and a comparison of criminal courts in Great Britain and the United States. A subject index and 117 annotated bibliographic entries are provided.