Annual Report 1956
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
The American ;Bar Foundation AMERICAN BAR CENTER 1155 E. 60th Street Chicago 37, Illinois BOARD OF DIRECTORS E. SMYTHE GAMBRELL, President, Citizens & Southern N at'l Bank Bldg., Atlanta 3, Georgia JOHN D. RANDALL, Vice-President, American Bldg., Cedar Rapids, Iowa JOSEPH D. STECHER, Secretary, Toledo Trust Bldg., Toledo 4, Ohio HAROLD H. BREDELL, Treasurer, Consolidated Bldg., Indianapolis 4, Ind. THOMAS M. BURGESS, Mining Exchange Bldg., Colorado Springs, Colo. HERBERT G. NILLES, Black Bldg., Fargo, N. D. LoYD WRIGHT, 111 W. Seventh St., Los Angeles 14, Calif. ADMINISTRATION JoHN C. CooPER, Administrator F. B. MACKINNON, Assistant to Administrator JOHN c. LEARY, Librarian NOBLE STEPHENS, Controller STANDING COMMITTEES RESEARCH ALBERT J. HARNO, Chainnan, Law Bldg., Univ. of Illinois, Urbana, Ill. HERBERT w. CLARK, Crocker Bldg., San Francisco 4, Calif, Ross L. MALONE, Roswell Petroleum Bldg., Roswell, N. M. ARTHUR T. VANDERBILT, 744 Broad Street, Newark 2, N. J. EDWARD L. WRIGHT, Box 1260, Little Rock, Ark. LIBRARY SERVICES CARLB. Rix, Chairma~, Wells Bldg., Milwaukee 2, Wis. THOMAS A. HALLERAN, 15 Broad St., New York 5, N. Y. G. STANLEY JOSLIN, 1671 Houston Mill Road, N. E., Atlanta, Georgia DAVID F. MAXWELL, Packard Bldg., Philadelphia 2, Pa. JAs. L. SHEPHERD, JR., Esperson Bldg., Houston 2, Texas BUDGET & FINANCE ALBERT E. JENNER, JR., Chairman, 11 S. LaSalle St., Chicago 3, Illinois HAROLD H. BREDELL, Consolidated Bldg., Indianapolis 4, Ind. HAROLD J. GALLAGHER, 15 Broad St., New York 5, N. Y. HERBERT G. NILLES, Black Bldg., Fargo, N. D. LOYD WRIGHT, 111 W. Seventh St., Los Angeles 14, Calif. THE AMERICAN BAR FOUNDATION IT IS with great pleasure that I present this report covering the major activities of the American Bar Foundation for the period be tween the Annual Meetings of the American Bar Association in 1955 and 1956. During this period the Foundation has moved from a promotional and developmental stage into full scale, active olieration. It has come of age, and has proven itself equal to the responsi bilities placed upon it: to provide research and library facilities for the organized bar. E. SMYTHE GAMBRELL President August 31, 1956 GENERAL ACTIVITIES The manner in which the Foundation functions should be of interest to the bar. When proposals for new research projects or additional library services are received from a Section, Committee, or officers or members of the American Bar Associa tion, or from a state or local bar association, they are referred first to the Administrator of the Foundation. With the assist ance of his staff, he prepares a report on the following aspects of the proposal: 1. Whether or not the proposed activity appears to be within the scope and objectives of the Foundation; 2. To what extent it would be in the interest of the general public and a substantial percentage of the organized bar; 3. Whether or not it would duplicate similar activity known to be under way in other organizations; 4. An estimate of the time and cost for its completion; and a recommendation concerning the method of conducting, super vising and financing the proposed activity. The proposal and the Administrator's report are then con sidered by the Committee on Research or the Committee on Library Services, and forwarded with recommendations for action to the Board of Directors for approval or disapproval. During the past year a large part of the Foundation's work has been devoted to proposals which had been approved in prior years. However, several new projects were approved and undertaken during the year; others have been included in the planned activities of the coming year; and still others remain under consideration. 4 RE.SEARCH ACTIVITIES After approval of a research project by the Board of Directors, the actual work is carried forward either under the direction of a Special Committee of the Foundation, or under the super vision of the Administrator. The former projects are referred to as "Class A" activities, and the latter as "Class B." "CLASS A" RESEARCH ACTIVITIES The Board of Directors designate as Class A activities those projects which, because of their size or nature, require special handling outside of the normal staff organization of the Founda tion. For each of these Class A projects a Special Committee is named, which is given full authority to plan and carry out the project under the general supervision of the Board of Directors. The committee, with the approval of the Board of Directors, selects a Project Director, who becomes a member of the staff of the Foundation and is charged with the direct supervision of the work. The Foundation this year has carried forward the following Class A projects: Survey of the Administration of Criminal Justice This project is planned as a broad fact-finding study of the operation and the functions of the institutions of criminal justice in selected jurisdictions throughout the United States for the purpose of collecting representative data expected to yield a reliable picture of the criminal law in actiou, aud to provide a sound basis for possible futm·e formttlation of remedial measures. It is not intended to concentrate solely upon the weaknesses and defects in the administration of criminal justice, generally or in any particular locality. The survey seeks, also, to identify, study and report on those functions 5 which are serving well in the maintenance of the high standards of the administration of criminal justice contemplated by our laws and institutions. Four principal areas for research are under examination: the administration and operation of police agencies and organiza tions; the prosecution and defense of criminal actions; the administration and operation of the criminal courts; the func tions and applications of sentencing, probation, and parole procedures. Crime causation is not included, nor is the study of the substance of criminal law except insofar as it may bear directly upon the effectiveness of the legal and administrative procedures by which the system of criminal justice is governed. Research operations are conducted in jurisdictions selected after considering various questions, including geography, economy, population, and political organization. Given a repre sentative sampling, the survey should yield results fairly descriptive of the whole nation. The research methods depend primarily upon observation and study by teams of research specialists of the actual operation of the many institutions which administer criminal justice. These specialists are in turn trained and supervised by a staff whose members have achieved recognition for their competence in the Survey's four main fields of study. After a period of planning and training, field research was started in Wisconsin by one. group on February 1, 1956, and in Kansas by another group on April 16. Investigation in both states continued through the balance of the year under report. The studies in Wisconsin and Kansas are part of the first or "pilot" stage of the project. It is expected that this pilot stage will be completed in the next year, and a decision then will be taken as to further expansion of the project on a nationwide basis. This project was undertaken in 1954 at the suggestion of the American Bar Association and has been financed by grants from the Ford Foundation. 6 The Special Committee and staff conducting the project are: Special Committee on the Administration of Criminal Justice: WILLIAM J. DONOVAN, BoLITHA J. LAws Chairman w ARREN OLNEY, III ALBERT J. HARNO, FLOYD E. THOMPSON Vice Chairman G. AARON YoUNGQUIST WALTER P. ARMSTRONG, JR., EARL WARREN, Adviser Secretary Members of the Staff: ARTHUR H. SHERRY, Project Director JOHN A. PETTIS, JR., Assistant Project Director FRANK J. REMINGTON, Director of Field Research LLOYD E. ORLIN, Consultant on Field Research SANFORD BATES, Consultant on Sentencing, Probation, and Parole FREDE. INBAU, Consultant on Prosecution and Defense BENJAMIN A. MATTHEWS, Consultant on Courts 0. W. WILSON, Consultant on Police JAMES D. TuRNER, Research Analyst Field Research Team I Field Research Team II ROBERT w. CASSIDY FRANK J. HODGES HERMAN GOLDSTEIN DONALD M. McINTYRE, JR. WILLIAM L. HUNGATE BRUCE T. OLSON Lours P. TRENT MIRA OLSON ARTHUR w. SCHUMACHER Study of the Canons of Ethics During the year the primary objective of this project was the formulation of a plan for the study and reappraisal of the sufficiency of the present Canons of Professional and Judicial Ethics of the American Bar Association as standards for lawyers and judges under current conditions of practice in the legal profession. 7 In May, 1956 the Board of Directors approved the beginning of the actual work to be carried on during the corning year. The Special Committee in charge of the project has designated for initial study the professional standards related to such topics as custody of client's funds; contingent fees; the status of a lawyer employed full-time by a corporation, association or union; specialization; and publicity of court trials. The com mittee will also examine the effects of economic and social factors on lawyers' professional standards in these fields. This project was undertaken in 1955 at the suggestion of the American Bar Association, and it has been financed from the Foundation's funds. It is being conducted by the following Special Committee and staff: Special Committee on Canons of Ethics: PHILBRICK McCoY, EMORY H. NILES Chairman FRANK P. WEAVER 0. s. COLCLOUGH THOMAS J. BoonELL, SHELDON D. ELLIOTT Ex Officio JAMES D. FELLERS HENRY s. DRINKER, ARTHUR LITTLETON Ex Officio Staff: F. B. MAcKINNON, Project Director NEVILLE Ross, Research Assistant Korean Legal Center The Foundation had planned to assist in the creation of a legal center in Korea in cooperation with an agency of the United States government. However, on the advice of its Special Committee, named below, that developments in Korea had made it impracticable to go forward with the plan, the project was terminated by the Board of Directors on October 23, 1955.