This text covers the history of criminal justice from a critical perspective and explores the historical biases of the criminal justice system. The overall theme of this book is that both the making of laws and the interpretation and application of these laws throughout the history of the criminal justice system has, historically, been class, gender, and racially biased. Moreover, one of the major functions of the criminal justice system has been to control those from the most disadvantaged sectors of the population, that is, the "dangerous classes." This theme is explored using a historical model, tracing the development of criminal law through the development of the police institution, the juvenile justice system, and the prison system.

<> Foreword by Michael Hallett Preface to the First Edition Preface to the Second Edition Introduction THE HISTORY OF CRIMINAL JUSTICE FROM A CRITICAL PERSPECTIVE Perspectives on Criminal Law Consensus/Pluralist Model Interest Group/Conflict Model A Critical/Marxist Model The "Dangerous Classes" Outline for the Book Chapter 1 PERPETUATING THE CLASS SYSTEM: THE DEVELOPMENT OF CRIMINAL LAW Introduction: Nature and Functions of Criminal Law Criminal Law in Ancient Times The Emergence of Criminal Law in Athens Criminal Law in Rome Acephalous or "Non-State" Societies and Law Criminal Law in Medieval Times Emergence of Criminal Law in England Criminal Law as an Ideological System of "Legitimate" Control Emergence of the Concept of "Crime" Two Case Studies: The Law of Theft and the Law of Vagrancy Emergence of Criminal Law in America Racism and the Law An Illustrative Case: The Tramp Acts Controlling the Dangerous Classes: Drug Laws as an Example Crack versus Powder Cocaine The Impact of the Drug Laws Passed in the 1980s Whose Interest Does the Law Serve? Chapter 2 THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE MODERN POLICE INSTITUTION: CONTROLLING THE DANGEROUS CLASSES Early Police Systems The Emergence of the Police Institution in England The Metropolitan Police of London The Development of the Police Institution in the United States An Illustrative Case: Buffalo, New York The Rise and Growth of Private Policing The Growth of the Police Institution in the Twentieth Century The Progressive Era Police Reforms During the Progressive Era New Developments in Private Policing Policing the Ghetto in the 1960s Police Corruption: A Continuing Problem Still Controlling the Dangerous Classes: the War on Drugs Chapter 3 PROCESSING THE DANGEROUS CLASSES: THE AMERICAN COURT SYSTEM Introduction The Development of the Modern Court System: The Colonial System Processing Criminal Cases: The Justice of the Peace in Colonial America Upholding Morality Hunting Witches and Religious Dissidents After the Revolution: The Federal System and the Supreme Court Post-Civil War Changes in the Court System The Jail: A Clear Case of "Rabble Management" The 1960s: The Warren Court and the Reaffirmation of the Right to Counsel Traditional versus Radical-Criminal Trials The Traditional Trial Challenging the System: Radical-Criminal Trials The St. Patrick's Four The Modern Era: The War on Drugs and African Americans The Ultimate Sanction for the Dangerous Classes: The Death Penalty Chapter 4 HOUSING THE DANGEROUS CLASSES: THE EMERGENCE OF THE PRISON SYSTEM PART I: EARLY DEVELOPMENTS OF IMPRISONMENT, 1600-1900 The Trafficking of Offenders: Forerunners of the Modern Prison Industrial Complex Early Capitalism and the Emergence of the Workhouse Late Eighteenth Century Reforms and the Birth of the Prison System The Development of the American Prison System The Walnut Street Jail The Pennsylvania and Auburn Systems of Penal Discipline The Rise of the Reformatory Convict Labor Convict Leasing PART II: TWENTIETH CENTURY DEVELOPMENTS IN THE AMERICAN PRISON SYSTEM Prison Reform during the Progressive Era Inmate Self-Government Classification, Diagnosis, and Treatment: The New Prison Routine The Decline in Prison Industries The "Big House" The Emergence of the Federal Prison System and the System of Corrections The Federal Prison System The System of "Corrections" The Modern Era, 1980 to the Present: Warehousing and the New American Apartheid The American Gulag Some Concluding Thoughts Chapter 5 CONTROLLING THE YOUNG: THE EMERGENCE AND GROWTH OF THE JUVENILE JUSTICE SYSTEM Pre-Nineteenth-Century Developments: The Invention of Childhood A History of Childhood and Adolescence Enter Childhood in the 17th Century Parens Patriae and Stubborn Children Defining a Juvenile Delinquent The House of Refuge Movement Conceptions of Delinquency: 1820-1860 The Fate of the Refuge Movement Ex Parte Crouse:Court Decisions and Effects The O'Connell Case Mid-Nineteenth-Century Reforms The Fate of Mid-Nineteenth-Century Reforms The Child-Saving Movement and the Juvenile Court Conceptions of Delinquency: 1860-1920 The Fate of the Child-Saving Movement Twentieth-Century Developments in Juvenile Justice Still Controlling Minorities and the Poor: Current Juvenile Justice Practices Race, the "War on Drugs" and Referrals to Juvenile Court Racial Composition of Juvenile Institutions High Recidivism Rates and Scandals Persist Chapter 6 PERPETUATING PATRIARCHY: KEEPING WOMEN IN THEIR PLACE Women and the Law Patriarchy and Images of Women Punishing and Controlling Women A History of Women's Prisons The Emergence of Women's Reformatories The Role of Racism Controlling Women's Bodies and Sexuality Young Women and the Juvenile Justice System Keeping Girls in Their Place: The Development of Institutions for Girls The Child-Saving Movement and the Juvenile Court "The Best Place to Conquer Girls" The Juvenile Court and the Double Standard of Juvenile Justice Women and Criminal Justice Today Sentencing Patterns, the War on Drugs, and Women An Outrageous Example: the "Pregnancy Police" Women in Today's Prisons Background Characteristics of Women in Prison Chapter 7 CRIME CONTROL IN THE NEW MILLENNIUM INDUSTRY NEW MECHANISMS FOR CONTROLLING THE DANGEROUS CLASSES The Crime Control Industry Taking a Larger View: the Globalization of Crime Control Millions Under Control of the State The Prison Industrial Complex: Cashing in on Crime Prisons as a "Market" for Capitalism Corporate Interests: the Role of ALEC Reach Out and Touch Someone Brother Can you spare a Bed? The California Correctional Officer's Union Rural Prisons: Uplifting Rural Economies? Some Downsides to Prison Expansion Exploiting Prisoners to Enhance Rural Populations Prison Labor: Auburn Plan Revisited Privatization of Prisons: More Profits for Private Industry Some Serious Problems with Privatization Private Security: Crime is Good for Business Other Components of the Crime-Control Industry Chapter 8 WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE? The Importance of the Economy American-style Capitalism is the Real Culprit Downsizing and Outsourcing the "American Dream" and the Growing Surplus Population The Growth and Perpetuation of the Surplus Population (Dangerous Classes) So What Can I Do, You Ask? REFERENCES Name Index Subject Index