Jack Greenberg. Judicial Process and Social Change: Constitutional Litiga tion Cases and Materials. Pp. xxxiv, 666. St. Paul, MN: West Publishing Company, 1976. $15.95

• Author: William C. Louthan
• Published date: 01 January 1979
• Date: 01 January 1979
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1177/000271627944100140
• Subject Matter: Articles

219
that local investigation and prosecu-
policy analysts commonly distinguish
tional apparatus is too fragmented, ill-
between &dquo;outputs&dquo; (the formal policy
trained and lacking in resources to be
statements of governing institutions like
effective in the complex field of &dquo;White-
courts) and &dquo;outcomes&dquo; (the impact
Collar&dquo; crime. Further, he shows that
of those policy statements on social
the federal apparatus is too antiquated
change, the final policy results in
and bureaucratically bound to effec-
society). This book clearly deals only
tively pursue violators of law, leading
with the former. And even there it
internal governmental agency prosecu-
largely accepts judicial decisions and
tions to be resolved by consent decrees
opinions at their face value, not really
to avoid further violations of law in 90
examining the politics of producing out-
percent of determinations.
puts. In other words, law is both effect
He further suggests that our entire
and cause. It is the response of law-
penal code, designed to deal with
makers to prior stimuli (effect), and it is
traditional criminals, correlated with
stimuli to the subsequent responses of
poverty or with the psychopathic and
law appliers and law recipients (cause).
sociopathic conditions associated with
Law as effect is dealt with here. As a re-
poverty, is meaningless when applied
sult, we are told something about how
to the white-collar criminal and needs to
some courts have responded to some
be reviewed. This is a valuable book
policy issues brought before them but
which deserves to become a force in the
nothing about how the judicial process
galvanization of efforts to turn back the
functions as a policymaking instrument.
tide of crime in the American and inter-
Of course, the book reviewer’s job is
national marketplace.
not to criticize an author because he
Perhaps the author says it best when
failed to study what the reviewer thinks
he concludes:
is important but to...