What Could a New Crime Commission Accomplish?

Published date01 May 2018
DOIhttp://doi.org/10.1111/1745-9133.12371
Date01 May 2018
RESEARCH ARTICLE
PRESIDENT’S CRIME COMMISSION:
PAST AND FUTURE
What Could a New Crime Commission
Accomplish?
Ted G est
Criminal Justice Journalists
Abstract
Even though the crime rate in the United States has dropped since the U.S. Presi-
dent’sCommission on Law Enforcement and Administration of Justice under President
Johnson issued its report in 1967, the total number of serious crimes in the nation has
increased, and public concern about the subject remains high. The 1960s Commission
did not fully consider several major subjects that have emerged after it reported, includ-
ing mental illness, immigration, cybercrime and other white collar crimes, indigent
defense, crime victims, and evidence-based crime policy. Many observers believe that
the need to deal with these subjects in addition to those discussed by other researchers
in this volume warrants an examination of crime and justice by a new commission.
Congress has considered proposals for such a study for nearly a decade, but they are yet
to be acted on amid ideological disputes over other criminal justice issues. If Congress
fails to establish a new commission, it is still possible that one could be formed with the
support of state, county, and local governments, as well as with the support of private
foundations.
Keywords
mental illness, immigration cybercrime, indigent defense, crime victims
In 1967, in The Challenge of Crime in a FreeSociety, the U.S. President’sCommission on
Law Enforcement and Administration of Justice (commonly known as the President’s
Crime Commission or just “the Commission”) discussed in detail many aspects of
Direct correspondence to Ted Gest, Criminal Justice Journalists, 6221 Western Ave., NW, Washington, DC
20015 (e-mail: ted@thecrimereport.org).
DOI:10.1111/1745-9133.12371 C2018 American Society of Criminology 497
Criminology & Public Policy rVolume 17 rIssue 2

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