NCJ Number
170790
Journal
New England Journal on Criminal and Civil Confinement Volume: 23 Issue: 2 Dated: (Summer 1997) Pages: 333-346
Date Published
1997
Length
14 pages
Annotation
This article examines the limitations to using the criminal justice system for social control.
Abstract
At one time in America's history, there were only three Federal crimes: treason, piracy, and counterfeiting. Today, there are more than 3,000 Federal criminal laws on the books, subjecting a remarkable range of human activities to criminal penalties. Legislatures continually resort to penal laws to solve complex social problems rather than reduce criminal violence. The article claims that, whenever penal sanctions are used to deal with complex socioeconomic problems, two things are almost certain to appear and a third result may often occur. First, the underlying problem will not be eliminated. Second, the diversion of personnel, resources, and energy required by the effort will adversely affect the ability of a criminal justice system to fulfill those functions that it can perform effectively. Finally, the effort may sometimes result in the erosion of public confidence in the agencies of criminal justice. Society should domesticate scientific knack and technique so that they operate compatibly with the values and assumptions of a legal order and, at the same time, contribute to the public's needs. Restraint of aberrant behavior by accretion of penal law does not guarantee a just society. Notes