Criminal Justice Review

By utilizing the professional career of one individual, Jean de Lanessan, this paper discusses some aspects of positivism and criminal legislation in France between 1880 and World War I. Lanessan was a biologist by training who possessed a long-standing interest in social issues that led to a second career as a politician. Lanessan, the biologist, influenced the practice of French criminology, whereas Lanessan, the politician, was instrumental in shaping legislation on crime.

This research examines differences in sentencing severity for 4,848 elderly felons in selected counties in Florida, Georgia, and Tennessee, and from a sample of counties in Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin, for the period from 1970 to 1984. An examination of sentencing trends for elderly offenders disclosed increasing leniency during the period of the investigation in all jurisdictions. Northern jurisdictions, however, were more severe on elderly offenders than were the southern jurisdictions. The proportion of elderly felony offenders in the southern jurisdictions was significantly higher than for northern jurisdictions, and an examination of the possible interaction effects of sentencing severity and social and regional variables yielded significant results.

The purpose of the study was to examine public knowledge about the criminal justice system and the relationship between knowledge and support for the police, courts, and the correctional system. A questionnaire was given to samples of the public (N = 1149) and of professionals within the criminal justice system (N = 292) in the state of Washington. Contrary to expectation, the data indicated that the public had the most knowledge about the corectional system followed by the courts and police. The same was true for the sample of criminal justice professionls. The public was significantly less knowledgeable than the professionals concerning the courts and corrections, but not on items concerning the police. With few exceptions, the data displayed little association between socioemographic and experience variables and knowledge about the criminal justice system. In terms of support, the public rated the police much higher than either the courts or corrections. Finally, a relatively weak relationship existed between knowledge and support, with increased knowledge generally reducing support.

As has become customary in the Fall issue of the Review, the Recent Legal Developments feature presents brief summaries of Supreme Court decisions which affect criminal justice. The cases were researched and summaries prepared by Melanie Norveil Locklear, a student in the Master's degree program in Criminal Justice at Georgia State University.