NCJ Number
13196
Date Published
1973
Length
269 pages
Annotation
EXAMINATION OF THE USE OF DISCRETION IN VARIOUS STAGES OF THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEMS IN ENGLAND AND THE UNITED STATES.
Abstract
THE PENAL PROCESS IN ANY COUNTRY CAN BEST BE UNDERSTOOD NOT ONLY BY LOOKING AT ITS FORMAL STRUCTURE AND LEGAL BASIS, BUT BY CLOSELY EXAMINING THE VARIOUS PRESSURES AND CONSTRAINTS WHICH INFLUENCE THE ACTUAL OPERATION OF THE PROCESS. IN AN ATTEMPT TO PROVIDE A FRAMEWORK FOR UNDERSTANDING THE PENAL PROCESS, THIS BOOK FOCUSES ATTENTION ON THE DECISIONS WHICH ARE TAKEN AT DIFFERENT STAGES OF THE PROCESS. CONSIDERABLE ATTENTION IS GIVEN TO THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN CRIMINAL STATISTICS AND SOCIAL ATTITUDES, WITH COMMENTS ON THE IMPACT THAT DISCRETION IN REPORTING AND RECORDING CRIMES HAVE ON THE MEANING AND VALIDITY OF STATISTICS. POLICE DECISION-MAKING IN LAW ENFORCEMENT IS DISCUSSED, FOCUSING ON THE NEED FOR POLICE DISCRETION IN MAKING ARRESTS AND THE EXTENT AND VARIATIONS IN THE TYPE OF DISPOSITIONS MADE BY POLICE AT THIS STAGE OF THE PENAL PROCESS. HIGHLIGHTS ARE GIVEN OF THE DECISION-MAKING PROCESS IN THE COURT AND CORRECTIONAL SYSTEM, BEGINNING WITH THE GRANTING OF BAIL, THROUGH SENTENCING AN OFFENDER TO PRISON OR PROBATION, TO DETERMINING THE DATE OF A MAN'S RELEASE FROM PRISON ON PAROLE. THE FUNDAMENTAL THEMES OF THIS WORK, WHICH INCORPORATES DATA FROM THE AMERICAN AND ENGLISH CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEMS, INCLUDE THE NATURE AND EXTENT OF THE EXERCISE OF DISCRETION IN CRIMINAL JUSTICE, THE AMBIQUITY OF PENAL OBJECTIVES, AND THE AVAILABILITY OF INFORMATION WHICH INFLUENCES DECISION-MAKING. (SNI ABSTRACT)