Problems in American Democracy Part 35

Last among the causes of crime we may consider defects in government.

The laws of a community may be so numerous, or so unwisely worded, that even responsible individuals violate them without understanding the nature of their act. After children have committed petty offenses through carelessness or a sense of mischief, the harshness of the police may so embitter or antagonize the culprits that their criminal tendencies are intensified. An important cause of crime is the custom, still common in many states, of imprisoning young and first offenders in county jails, where they are allowed to mingle with, and learn about crime from, hardened and depraved criminals.

230. THE REMEDIES FOR CRIME.--The causes of crime suggest the nature of its remedies. Wherever bad economic conditions either directly or indirectly encourage crime, the remedy is, of course, the relief or abolition of poverty. This problem has already been discussed.

Since bad social conditions are often the result of poverty, any measures which will lessen poverty will also remove many of the so- called social causes of crime. Education, the safeguarding of the home, constructive charity, and similar measures will also help to remove the social causes of crime. These questions are discussed elsewhere in this text, and need not be gone into here.

The improvement of economic and social conditions will ultimately help to eliminate bad heredity, vice, and other of the personal causes of crime.

With the understanding, then, that the eradication of the economic, social and personal causes of crime is discussed elsewhere, we may here confine ourselves to the question of preventing crime by remedying the defects of government.

231. JUSTICE AS AN IDEAL.--Justice has const.i.tuted one of the basic ideals of the English-speaking peoples since the days of Magna Charta.

"To no one will we sell, and to no one will we refuse or delay, right or justice," declared that great doc.u.ment. This conception was later glorified into an ideal which, after having persisted for four centuries in England, was brought to the New World by the English colonists. The first ten amendments to the Federal Const.i.tution and the Bill of Rights contained in the const.i.tutions of the several states have been called by Lord Bryce "the legitimate children of Magna Charta." Since the beginning of our history, thus, a great cornerstone of American democracy has been the concept of sound and equitable law, impartially and effectively administered.

232. THE DENIAL OF JUSTICE.--Within the last decade we have come to realize that in many of the criminal courts of this country justice is an ideal rather than a fact. "The administration of criminal law in all the states of this Union," said Chief Justice Taft a few years ago, "is a disgrace to civilization."

Our criminal law is administered unjustly in two ways.

First, it sometimes allows the rich, the cunning, and the powerful offenders to escape the penalty for their crimes. In many states the court dockets are so crowded that influential offenders are not convicted for years, if at all. Rich prisoners may be released on bail, and consideration of their case so delayed that the evidence disappears. Public interest is diverted to new cases, and eventually the case may be quietly dismissed. Mr. Taft points out that we lead the world in the number of serious crimes which go unpunished. Appeals are allowed almost as a matter of course, so that in many serious criminal trials the original verdict is only the beginning of the case.

Second, the law which often allows the powerful and crafty to avoid punishment may operate to deny justice to the poor. Ignorant prisoners are in many cases so bewildered by c.u.mbersome and technical court procedure that they allow their cases to be disposed of without adequate protection of their rights. Often they have no one to advise them as to their const.i.tutional rights and privileges. If they are not only ignorant but poor, they find themselves unable to employ proper counsel. The Const.i.tution indeed recognizes the right of an accused person to have counsel, but in many states if a man is too poor or too ignorant to secure a lawyer, he is obliged to stand trial without anyone to represent or advise him. In some states, the court appoints a lawyer to represent such defendants. Sometimes the a.s.signed counsel is dishonest, and too often his primary object is to get a fee rather than to secure justice for his client. Generally the counsel so appointed is inexperienced, and consequently no match for an able and experienced prosecuting attorney, whose reputation may depend upon the number of convictions that he secures.

233. THE REFORM OF CRIMINAL PROCEDURE.--The reform of criminal procedure is a.s.suming great importance as a problem of American democracy. In many states there is a demand for a wider and more energetic use of the Bertillon and finger print systems for the identification of criminals. Because of the fact that in our large cities a heavy percentage of crimes are committed without the subsequent arrest of the culprit, there is a growing demand for the improvement of our police systems. Our criminal law needs to be simplified, so that justice may not be delayed by technicalities, long arguments on the admissibility of evidence, and the abuse of the right of appeal. Probably a good many of the delays and technicalities of legal procedure could be avoided if at the trial the judge were to exercise a greater amount of control over the proceedings.

The reform of criminal procedure has a double aim. First, it aims to reorganize and perfect criminal procedure so that persons who have committed an offense will be apprehended and always made to pay the penalty for their crimes. Toward the achievement of this ideal we have as yet done very little. We are still woefully behind such a country as England, where justice is administered with relative rapidity and sureness. Second, the reform of criminal procedure aims to prevent the law from bearing with undue weight upon the poor and ignorant. Here we are making greater progress. Let us notice what is being done to guarantee justice to persons who are unable adequately to safeguard their own legal rights.

234. THE LEGAL AID SOCIETY.--A valuable inst.i.tution is the legal aid society, which originated in New York City in 1876, and which has since spread to other parts of the country. Of the forty legal aid societies now in existence in this country, some of the better known are located in New York City, Los Angeles, Kansas City, Boston, and Chicago. The legal aid society is generally a private organization, created and maintained by public-spirited citizens who believe that the poor and ignorant ought to be given legal advice free of charge, or upon the payment of a nominal fee. These societies extend advice on both civil and criminal matters. The legal aid society helps materially to secure justice by acquainting the individual with his legal rights, and by acting as his counsel in court. Such organizations are especially valuable in safeguarding the rights and privileges of immigrants in large cities. The total number of persons helped annually by legal aid societies in the United States is over 100,000.

235. THE PUBLIC DEFENDER.--The Public Defender movement is an outgrowth of the feeling that it is unfair for the court to a.s.sign an inexperienced and sometimes unreliable lawyer to defend a penniless prisoner, while the case is prosecuted by a skilful district attorney.

In spite of the presumption that the prisoner is innocent until he is proved guilty, such practices as this have operated as though the prisoner were presumed to be guilty.

In 1912 Oklahoma attempted to remedy this evil by appointing a Public Defender whose duty it should be to aid in the defense of persons unable to employ counsel. The next year the city of Los Angeles appointed a Public Defender who, as a sworn public counsel of experience and integrity, makes it his business to defend poor prisoners without charge. A few years later, Portland, Oregon, and Omaha, Nebraska, appointed similar officers. Since 1916 many other cities, and a few states, have provided for a Public Defender of some kind, although in many cases the provision is as yet inadequate. In all cities in which the plan has been given a trial, the Public Defender has been instrumental in securing justice for the poor, and in raising the moral tone of the criminal trial. By eliminating much unnecessary delay from the criminal trial, the Public Defender has also helped to reduce court expenses.

236. CHANGING IDEALS IN PENOLOGY.--In the early stages of society the spirit of revenge seems to have been a chief motive in the punishment of criminals, although the desire to prevent crime must also have been a factor. With the progress of civilization revenge declined in importance, and the punishment of the criminal seems to have been undertaken chiefly for the purpose of preventing future crimes. Long periods of imprisonment, inhuman punishments, and the frequent use of the death penalty were characteristic of this att.i.tude toward crime.

Curiously enough, punishments were imposed according to the seriousness of the crime committed, without regard to the character and needs of the criminal.

Of recent years the theory of punishment has been still further modified. In the first place, we have begun to doubt if punishment always serves a useful purpose. Punishment does not always deter criminals, and for this reason it is likely that the death penalty and other cruel and inhuman methods of punishment may be dispensed with, without a resultant increase in the amount of crime. In the second place, punishment has taken on a new aim. More and more we are coming to believe that it should be imposed, not according to the seriousness of the crime committed, but according as the individual criminal needs to be punished in order to effect his reformation. This new att.i.tude is based upon the a.s.sumption that the criminal is a person who is not adapted to the conditions of modern life, and that the chief aim of the authorities should be so to reform him that he will become a useful member of society. In case reform seems impossible, the criminal should be segregated in an inst.i.tution.

237. INDIVIDUALIZED TREATMENT OF OFFENDERS.--The emphasis now placed upon reformation has made necessary a new point of view on the part of the public. We are beginning to make use of a ma.s.s of data furnished by physiology, psychology, and sociology, and on the basis of these data to subject prisoners to individualized treatment. Instead of herding all offenders into a single inst.i.tution such as the county jail or the penitentiary, we are beginning to inquire, first of all, whether the prisoner might not be treated most effectively outside prison walls. For those offenders who seem to require inst.i.tutional treatment, we are developing a whole series of inst.i.tutions, designed to care for special types of abnormality. Industrial and farm colonies for petty offenders and occasional criminals, hospitals and colonies for the mentally defective, industrial schools and reformatories for certain types of juvenile offenders, and penitentiaries for hardened offenders, all these are included in the correctional system of the more progressive states.

238. SUBSt.i.tUTES FOR IMPRISONMENT.--The belief is growing that young offenders, first offenders, and those committing petty crimes, may often be corrected without actual imprisonment. Increasingly common is the probation system, the essence of which is to suspend the sentence of the court upon certain conditions. The offender is placed in charge of a court officer who will stand in the relation of friend and guardian to him, in order to supervise his conduct and to attempt his reformation. The success of the probation system depends largely upon the care and judgment with which probation officers control their charges.

The use of the fine deserves mention. Generally the sentence for a petty offense is a fine, with imprisonment as an alternative in case the prisoner is unable to pay the fine. Realizing the corrupting influence of the jail sentence for first or slight offenders, court officials in many cities are making the payment of the fine less difficult. In Buffalo, Indianapolis, Chicago, and other cities it is customary in some cases to allow the payment of a fine in instalments.

This ultimately secures the fine; it has a disciplinary effect upon the offender; and it keeps him out of jail.

239. MENTAL DEFECTIVES.--Recent progress in medicine and psychology has demonstrated that many criminals are mentally defective. Such persons are not fully responsible for their acts, and nothing is to be gained by committing them to prison. They need special treatment in inst.i.tutions for the insane, the feeble-minded, and the otherwise defective. In recognition of this fact, the criminal courts of our larger cities now make extensive use of psychopathic experts. It is the duty of these experts to determine the mental status of the prisoner, and, in case he is found to be mentally defective, to recommend the type of treatment needed.

This is an admirable development, provided care is taken to prevent the abuse of the insanity plea by influential criminals who, though normal mentally, seek to evade responsibility for their deliberate crimes.

240. THE JUVENILE OFFENDER.--It has been proved that a large percentage of hardened criminals begin their careers by some careless or mischievous act for which they were severely or unwisely punished.

Formerly, juvenile offenders were treated much as were adult criminals; more recently we are coming to believe that children ought not to be committed to penal inst.i.tutions, but rather should be put on probation, or sent to correctional inst.i.tutions of a special type.

Wherever possible, inst.i.tutional treatment of every kind ought to be avoided, for the crimes of children are clearly in a different cla.s.s from those of the adult. In New York City a few years ago, for example, half the children brought into court were there because of the lack of recreation facilities. Petty theft and malicious mischief are often traceable to bad home influences and the unnatural surroundings of the city. These circ.u.mstances, coupled with the fact that immature children are often unaware of the seriousness of their lawless acts, justify the special treatment of the juvenile offender.

241. THE JUVENILE COURT.--The juvenile court has been created to meet the special needs of the youthful offender. An early inst.i.tution of this kind was established in Chicago in 1889. Shortly afterward Denver established a juvenile court, and since then many other cities have taken up the idea. In some states county judges are authorized to suspend the ordinary rules of procedure where the defendant is under eighteen years of age.

A typical juvenile court provides separate judges and separate hearings for youthful prisoners. It avoids publicity, investigates the home life of the youthful offender, and attempts by kindly treatment to guide him back into a wholesome, honest life. In some cases delinquent children are sent back to school, in other cases they are placed on probation, in still other cases special inst.i.tutional treatment is provided. Every effort is made to keep juvenile offenders from a.s.sociating with habitual criminals. The aim of the court is not to punish the offender for a particular offense, but to weigh all the circ.u.mstances which have influenced his life, and to correct his wrong tendencies. Work of this type is preventive in the fullest sense of the word.

242. THE INDETERMINATE SENTENCE.--The realization that punishment ought to fit the criminal rather than the crime has led to the indeterminate sentence. Though not yet widely applied, this reform is attracting more and more attention. A logical application of the indeterminate sentence would require prisoners to be committed to prison, not for a specific term, but for an indefinite period. The actual length of the prison term would depend upon the prison record of the individual, and upon the promise that he showed of becoming a useful and normal citizen if released. According to this plan, occasional criminals, and persons enticed or forced into wrong-doing, would be ent.i.tled to release (regardless of the character of the crime) as soon as it became apparent that they would not repeat the offense. Hardened criminals, on the other hand, might remain in prison permanently, even though committed for a trifling offense. Certainly we ought not to continue to commit and to re-commit hardened criminals for short terms, when their past conduct proves that they have neither the intention nor the ability to make proper use of their freedom.

243. THE FUNCTION OF THE MODERN PRISON.--In addition to the principle of the indeterminate sentence, modern penology has approved a whole series of supplementary measures. The ideal prison of to-day is not a gloomy dungeon, but a great plant which attempts to turn criminals into useful citizens through the use of the school, the chapel, the workshop, the gymnasium, the library, and even the theatre.

Discipline, the fundamental weakness of offenders against the law, is a cornerstone of prison life. More and more prisons are adopting the merit system, according to which prisoners are graded and promoted to additional privileges on the basis of behavior. In many prisons these privileges may include an "honor system" and "inmate self-government."

The prison attempts to supply the deficiencies in the convict's early training. Prisoners are taught to take care of their bodies. They are taught useful trades, according to their abilities. If illiterate they may go to the prison school. Religious exercises and moral instruction are employed to develop a sense of moral values.

When consistent good behavior and earnest endeavor in prison duties indicate that the prisoner is ent.i.tled to another chance in the outside world, he may be paroled, that is to say, he may be released on certain conditions. Generally prisoners are not paroled until some person is found who will guarantee them employment. In many states the work of the parole board is ably supplemented by unofficial prisoners'

aid societies which help the released man to readjust himself to a free life. After a certain period of satisfactory conduct on parole the prisoner is ent.i.tled to a full and unconditional discharge. The whole aim of the parole system is to supervise the actions of the prisoner, without adding to his irritation or humiliation, but with sufficient strictness to guard him against temptation and to replace him in prison if he proves unworthy of the trust bestowed upon him.

QUESTIONS ON THE TEXT

1. What is a crime?

2. In what way may bad economic conditions be connected with crime?

3. What are the social causes of crime? What are the personal causes?

4. In what way are defects of government related to crime?

5. Summarize the remedies for crime.

6. Trace the influence of Magna Charta upon our ideal of justice.

7. How does the administration of our criminal law often result in injustice?

8. Why is it necessary to reform our criminal procedure?

9. What is the nature and function of the legal aid society?

10. What is a Public Defender? How does he help secure justice?

11. Trace the development of the theory of punishment.

12. What is the purpose of the "individualized treatment of offenders"?

13. What is the function of a probation system?

14. How should mentally defective criminals be treated?

15. Describe the work of the Juvenile Court.