Notes on Judicial Organization and Procedure

Abstract

The Activities and Results of Crime Surveys. This article aims to describe the activities and ascertain the legislative results of approximately twenty crime surveys in American cities and states during the last ten years. To a lesser extent, attention is devoted to concrete changes in administrative practice accomplished for the most part without legislative aid. Owing to the great diversity in the nature of the activities of these various agencies, it may be desirable to classify them in some manner, however arbitrary. From the standpoint of research pursued by qualified experts, the Cleveland Crime Survey, the Missouri Crime Survey, the work of the Illinois Association for Criminal Justice, and the publications of the New York Crime Commission are in a class by themselves. If immediate legislative results are to be the criterion, honors must again go to New York, adding California, Michigan, Ohio, and to a lesser extent Louisiana, Minnesota, Indiana, Pennsylvania, and Rhode Island. In Missouri, Tennessee, and Connecticut no legislative enactments seem to have resulted. The Cleveland Association for Criminal Justice, the Baltimore Criminal Justice Commission, and the Chicago Crime Commission are voluntary associations in constant touch with the crime situation. The Ohio and Indiana movements were fostered by state bar associations. Public commissions authorized by law made the preliminary investigations in New York, Michigan, California, Louisiana, Pennsylvania, and Rhode Island. Voluntary associations organized for the purpose and financed from private funds were responsible for the work in Illinois and Missouri. The American Institute of Criminal Law and Criminology fostered the Connecticut and Memphis studies and gave valuable aid in Illinois. The Cleveland Crime Survey was conducted under the auspices of the Cleveland Foundation.