The Challenge of Crime in a Free Society: Looking Back Looking Forward
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Symposium on the 30th Anniversary of the President's Commission on Law Enforcement and Administration of Justice The Challenge of Crime in a Free Society: Looking Back Looking Forward June 1%21,1997 Washington, D.C. Office of Justice Programs National Institute of Justice Office for Victims of Crime Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Bureau of Justice Statistics Bureau of Justice Assistance Office of Community Oriented Policing Services U.S. Department of Justice Office of Justice Programs Laurie Robinson Assistant Attorney General May 1998 NCJ 170029 Opinions and points of view expressed in this document are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect 4 the official position or policies of the U.S. Department of Justice. Contents Foreword......................................................................................................................................iv Welcome and Opening Remarks .............................................................................................1 The Honorable Laurie Robinson, Assistant Attorney General, O#ce of Justice Programs, US. Department of Justice Panel I: Roundtable on Historical Perspectives ...................................................................... 4 Francis X Hartmann (Moderator), Elizabeth Bartholet, David Burnham, Thomas Cahill, Samuel G. Chapman, Roland Chilton, Floyd Feeney, Victor Gioscia, Sheldon Krantz, John McCausland, Thelma Stevens Mrazek, Sheila A. Mulvihill, Elmer "Kim" Nelson, Lloyd E. Ohlin, Nick Pappas, Charles H. Rogovin, Arthur Rosett, Henry Ruth, Susan Freeman Schapiro, Keith Stubblefield, Bruce Terris, G. Joseph Vining,James Vorenberg Commissioned Paper, Panel II ....................................................................................................16 Continuity and Change in American Crime: Lessons from Three Decades Jefley Fagan, Columbia University Discussion Summay, Panel II ................................................................................................. 48 Overview of Crime: Changing Nature of Crime, Criminals, and Crime Problems Candice Kane (Moderator) Lynne A. Battaglia, G. David Curry, Jefley Fagan, Lucy N. Friedman, Ronald Goldstock, Arthur Kellermann, Gil Kerlikowski, Dennis L. Murphy, David E. Ramirez, Albert J Reiss, Peter Reuter, Howard N Snyder, Andrew L. Sonner, Terence P. Thornberry, Reginald A. Wilkinson Commissioned Paper, Panel III .................................................................................................... 58 Changing Nature of Criminal JusticeSystem Responses and Its Professions Charles F. Wellford, University of Maryland Contents i Discussion Summary, Panel III ....................................................................................................74 Changing Nature of Criminal Justice System Responses and Its Professions Angela J. Davis (Moderator) Allen Breed, Michael E. Clark, J. Price Foster, Herman Goldstein, Eugene N. Hamilton,Edward J. Loughran, Barry Mahoney, Jerry Sanders, Charles F. Wellford, Marlene Young Keynote Address............................................................................................................................ 81 A Retrospective on the Thirty-Year War Against Crime The Honorable Patricia Wald,Judge, US. Court ofAppeals, District of Columbia Circuit Commissioned Paper, Panel IV ....................................................................................................93 Building Better Policies on Better Knowledge Michael Tonry, University of Minnesota Discussion Summay, Panel IV ....................................................................................................125 Research and Statisticsas Tools for Measuring and Responding to Other Changes Wesley G. Skogan (Moderator) Albert D. Biderman, Michael K. Block, Terence Dunworth, Kim English, George E. Hall, RolfLoeber, Michael A. Maltz, Joan McCord, Roger K. Przybylski, Dennis P. Rosenbaum, Jefley A. Roth, Michael Tonry, Cathy Spatz Widom, Marvin E. Wolfgang . Commzsszoned Paper, Panel V......................................................................................................131 Societal Responses to the President's Crime Commission: A Thirty-Year Retrospective Todd R. Clear, Florida State University Discussion SummayfPanel V......................................................................................................159 Changing Nature of Society's Responses to Crime and the Criminal Justice System Michael E. Smith (Moderator) Gordon Bazemore, Bennett H. Brummer, Todd R. Clear, Legrome Davis, Julius Debro, Ronald Earle, Tony Fabelo, John Feinblatt, Daniel J. Freed, Daniel Glaser, Don M Gottfiedson, Ada Pecos Melton, Anne Seymour, Mark Soler, Betsy Watson,Jesse E. Williams, Jr., William Woodward Synthesis of Symposium..............................................................................................................1.67 Mark Moore, John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University Contents ii Closing Remarks ...........................................................................................................................-179 The Honorable Laurie Robinson, Assistant Attorney General, Ofice of Justice Programs, US. Department of Justice; Joseph E. Brann, Director, Ofice of Community Oriented Policing Services, U. S. Department of Justice Appendices Post-Symposium Comments on the Corrections Report of the President's Crime Commission Excerpts@om apaper prepared by Elmer "Kim" Nelson, Allen Breed, Vincent 0'Leary,Keith Stubblefield, and Richard "Pete" Velde Commissioned Paper The Challenge of Crime in a Free Society: Looking Back. ..Looking Forward Joseph Foote, Consultant Agenda Attendee List Contents iii Foreword A little more than three decades ago, a landmark document was released that has helped substantially shape the world of criminal justice in this country over the intervening 30 years. "The Challenge of Crime in a Free Society," the product of President Lyndon Johnson's Crime Commission on Law Enforcement and the Administration of Justice, is in many ways as instructive and insightful a document addressing fundamental questions of crime and society as at the time of its 1967 issuance. In June of 1997, components of the U.S. Department of Justice held a Symposium to celebrate and commemorate the 30&Anniversary of the 1967 President's Crime Commission. Members and staff from the 1967Commission were invited to provide their insights and share their experiences with criminal justice professionals in the field today. The Symposium provided a unique opportunity for those of us in criminal justice to step back and reflect on the past, and to contemplate the lessons we can apply from that to the future. I am pleased to publish this summary of the Symposium. It includes the papers and speeches presented at the Symposium, summarizes the discussions of the participants, and provides commentaries from various perspectives. It documents the results of three substantively rich-and often poignant-days of conversation with representatives from the 1967 Commission, along with practitioners and thinkers in criminal justice spanning the last three decades. It was especially meaningful to have Attorney General Janet Reno join the discussion for a portion of the first day. The Symposium served as a reminder of the substantial progress that has been made in the field of criminal justice and toward a "system" of criminal justice. In reality, criminal.justice has become, over the last 30 years, a field, and has taken huge steps toward becoming the "system" we so often say it is. The prepared papers and discussion summaries published here reflect the fact, as well, that, while the debate over crime remains a heated, emotional, and frequently divided one, considerable movement has been made, and expertise developed, over the last three decades. We can be proud of that. Today, however, despite the good news of falling crime rates in so many of our cities, we face some of the same challenges of crime and criminal justice that we did three decades ago-the growth of gangs and youth violence (including in rural and suburban areas), and the persistent problem of family violence in our culture, as well as such new challenges as transnational crime, threats of terrorism, and the growth of cybercrime. Those entrusted with the responsibility for dealing with crimewhile preserving the rights of a free society-should be vigilantly introspective about the past in helping guide us toward the future. The 1997 Symposium represented a collaborative effort by the Justice Department's Office of Justice Programs-and its bureaus, including the National Institute of Justice, the Bureau of Justice Assistance, the Bureau of Justice Statistics, the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, and the Office for Victims of Grim-as well as the Ofice of Community Oriented Policing Services. These components all made significant contributions toward the success of this event. In particular, I want to acknowledge the work of the Symposium Planning Committee. Betty Chemers and Arnold Hopkins took on a tremendous challenge as co-chairs of the Committee, and did a spectacularjob; John Thomas deserves special mention for his extensive coordination work, including on this proceedings document, as do Marlene Beckman and Virginia Baldau for their involvement, particularly in the early planning efforts. Thanks also to Committee members Benjamin Renshaw, Linda McKay, Ellen Scrivner, Ed Zedlewski, and Tim