Controlling the Dangerous Classes A Critical Introduction to the History of Criminal Justice Randall G. Shelden University ofnevada-las Vegas Allyn and Bacon Boston. London. Toronto Sydney «Tokyo. Singapore
Contents Foreword by Richard Quinney v Preface vii INTRODUCTION The History of Critninal Justice front a Critical Perspective 1 Perspectives on Critninal Law 6 Consensus/ Pluralist Model 8 Interest Group / Conflict Model 9 A Critical / Marxist Model 11 The "Dangerous Classes" 16 Outline for the Book 19 1 Perpetuating the Class System: The Development of Criminal Law 22 Introduction: Nature and Function of Criminal Law 23 Criminal Law in Ancient Times 24 The Emergence of Criminal Law in Athens 25 Criminal Law in Rome 26 Acephelous or "Non-State" Societies and Law 26 Criminal Law in Medieval Times 27 Emergence of Criminal Law in England 29 Criminal Law as an Ideological System of "Legitimate" Control 31 Emergence of the Concept of "Crime" 32 Two Case Studies: The Law of Theft and the Law of Vagrancy 34 iii
iv Contents Emergence of Criminal Law in America 38 Racism and the Law 41 An Illustrative Case: The Tramp Acts 45 Controlling the Dangerous Classes: Drug Laws 47 Recent Developments: Crack versus Powder Cocaine 54 Whose Interest Does the Law Serve? 62 2 The Development of the Police Institution: Controlling the Dangerous Classes 69 Early Police Systems 70 The Emergence of the Police Institution in England 72 The Metropolitan Police of London 73 The Development of the Police Institution in the United States 77 An Illustrative Case: Buffalo, New York 79 The Rise and Growth of Private Policing 83 The Growth of the Police Institution in the Twentieth Century 85 The Progressive Era 86 New Developments in Private Policing 91 Policing the Ghetto in the 1960's 93 Police Corruption: A Continuing Problem 94 Still Controlling the "Dangerous Classes": the War on Gangs and the War on Drugs 102 The War on Gangs 102 The War on Drugs 108 3 Processing the Dangerous Classes: The American Court System 112 Introduction 113 The Development of the Modern Court System: The Colonial System 116 Elite Dominance of the Legal Profession in Colonial America 117
V Processing Criminal Cases: The Justice ofthe Peace in Colonial America 118 Upholding Morality 119 Hunting Witches and Religious Dissidents: Colonial Court Processes 120 After the Revolution: The Establishment of the Federal System and the Supreme Court 122 Post-Civil War Changes in the Court System 126 The Jaü: A Clear Case of "Rabble Management" 128 The 1960's: The Warren Court and the Reaffirmation of the Right to Counsel 131 Traditional versus Radical-Criminal Trial 135 The Traditional Criminal Trial 135 Challenging the System: Radical-Criminal Trials 135 The Modern Era: The War on Drugs and African Americans 140 The Ultimate Sanction for the Dangerous Classes: The Death Penalty 147 4 Housing the Dangerous Classes: The Emergence and Growth of the Prison System 152 PART I: EARLY DEVELOPMENTS OF IMPRISONMENT, 1600-1900 153 Early Capitalism and the Emergence of the Workhouse 154 Lote Eighteenth Century Reforms and the Birth of the Prison System 156 The Development of the American Prison System 161 The Walnut Street Jail 161 The Pennsylvania and Auburn Systems of Penal Discipline 163 The Rise of the Reformatory 166 Convict Labor 168 Convict Leasing 170 PART II: TWENTIETH CENTURY DEVELOPMENTS IN THE AMERICAN PRISON SYSTEM 173
vi Contents Inmate Self-Government 173 Classification, Diagnosis, and Treatment: The New Prison Routine 174 The Decline in Prison Industries 177 The "Big House" 178 The Emergence of the Federal Prison System and the System of Corrections 179 The Federal Prison System 179 The System of Corrections 181 The Modern Era, 1980 to the Present: Warehousing and The New American Apartheid 184 The American Gulag 188 Some Concluding Thoughts 191 5 Controlling the Young: The Emergence and Growth of the Juvenile Justice System 195 Pre-Nineteenth-Century Developments 196 The House of Refuge Movement 201 Conceptions of Delinquency: 1820-1860 204 The Fate of the Refuge Movement 205 Ex Parte Crouse 206 Mid-Nineteenth-Century Reforms 208 The Fate of Mid-Nineteenth-Century Reforms 213 The Child-Saving Movement and the Juvenile System 214 Conceptions of Delinquency: 1860-1920 216 The Fate of the Child-Saving Movement 218 Twentieth-Century Developments in Juvenile Justice 220 Still Controlling Minorities and the Poor: Current Juvenile Justice Practices 222 Giving up on Delinquent Youth: Transfer to Adult Court 227 O Perpetuating Patriarchy: Keeping Women in Their Place 233 Women and the Law 234 Patriachy and Images of Women 234
Vll Punishing and Controlling Women 236 The Ultimate Punishment: AHistory of Women's Prisons 238 The Emergence of Women's Reformatories 242 The Role of Racism 243 Controlling Women's Bodies and Sexuality 244 Young Women and the Juvenile Justice System 246 Keeping Girls in Their Place: The Development of Institutions for Girls 246 The Child-Saving Movement and the Juvenile Court 247 "The Best Place to Conquer Girls" 251 The Juvenile Court and the Double Standard of Juvenile Justice 253 Women and Criminal Justice Today 257 Sentencing Patterns, the War on Drugs, and Women 261 Women in Today's Prisons 262 A Profile of Women in Prison 262 Some Concluding Thoughts 266 A Look Ahead in the New Millennium: The Crime- Control Industry Still Controlling the Dangerous Classes 267 The Crime-Control Industry 269 The Correctional-Industrial Complex: Cashing in on Crime 272 Privatization of Prisons: More Profits for Private Industry 275 Private Security: Crime Is Good for Business 280 Other Components of the Crime-Control Industry 283 The Social Context: Growing Inequality 283 Where Do We Go From Here? 288 References 293 Name Index 314 Subject Index 318