RT Article
T1 The courts in a fragmented criminal justice system
JF Criminology & public policy
VO 17
IS 2
SP 309
OP 320
A1 Gest, Ted
LA English
YR 2018
UL https://krimdok.uni-tuebingen.de/Record/1584581778
AB The U.S. President's Commission on Law Enforcement and Administration of Justice under President Johnson in 1967 outlined a central role for courts in the criminal justice system. That role, however, has been somewhat diminished by the dominance of plea bargaining and the legislative enactment of mandatory minimum sentences that limit judges’ discretion. At the same time, judges have become more involved in specialized courts dealing in cases involving drugs and mental illness. A major topic of concern is the lower courts, which in many areas have changed little since the 1960s Commission. In those places, the traditional adversary process is not operating well, with many defendants pleading guilty unnecessarily in a system that may be designed primarily to collect fees. In violent crime cases, the imposition of capital punishment remains a controversial issue for states that is not likely to be resolved by a new national commission. The central court functions of sentencing and overseeing plea bargains are discussed elsewhere in this volume.
K1 Capital punishment
K1 Lower courts
K1 Misdemeanors
K1 Caseloads
K1 Todesstrafe
K1 Vergehen
K1 Niedergerichtsbarkeit
K1 U.S. President’s Commission on Law Enforcement and Administration of Justice
K1 Johnson, Lyndon B.
K1 Präsident
DO 10.1111/1745-9133.12373