Crime Policy in America: Laws, Institutions, and Programs - Softcover

This is the first up-to-date book to provide an overview and discussions of the shaping of federal, state, and local criminal justice policies throughout American society . . . This excellent book increased my knowledge of the social, political, psychological, and economic context of criminal justice policies. I highly recommend this book to criminal justice students and practitioners, legislators, lobbyists, advocates, librarians, and educators. -- Albert R. Roberts, professor of criminal justice, School of Arts and Sciences, Rutgers Crime Policy in America is a detailed and insightful analysis of the America's criminal justice system. Dr. Shahidullah provides an exceptional historical review of the America's criminal justice system and moves the reader to contemporary issues within the appropriate cultural and social contexts. -- James F. Hodgson, vice-president, Virginia Association of Criminal Justice Educators Dr. Shahidullah provides a detailed and extensive review of the federalization of crime and justice policy in the United States . . . Carefully documenting a myriad of laws and legislation, as well as key Supreme Court decisions, Dr. Shahidullah illustrates the expansive growth of the federal and state crime legislation and the subsequent growth of affiliated agencies, institutions, and programs. Clearly organized, the comprehensive reference is adaptable for classroom instruction, and will also serve the interests of policy-makers, scholars and librarians. -- Judith A. Rider, professor of criminal justice, St. John's University, editor of Criminal Justice Abstract

The second edition of Crime Policy in America describes the process of policy-making and the substantive nature of policy directions in crime and justice in America, particularly from the beginning of the 1970s. This book examines the nature of presidential policy-making in crime and justice from Nixon to Obama, congressional policy-making since the birth of the Bill of Rights, and judicial policy-making since the promulgation of the Judicial Act of 1789. The perspective of this book is deeply historical, sociological, and legalistic. Historically, the book has explored the evolution of different policy strategies at different periods of American history; sociologically, it scrutinized the impact of the get-tough policy paradigm on crime and justice, and from a legal perspective it has examined the conflict and the consensus of Congress and the federal judiciary on different issues of crime and justice from drug crimes to sex crimes to counterterrorism. The second edition of the book has particularly illuminated the changing directions of US crime policy from the dominance of the get tough approach in the 1980s and 1990s to a more balanced approach to crime control and prevention in the beginning of the 21sr century."