The Need for a New Federalism in Criminal Justice

Arlen Specter and Paul R. Michel

The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 1982, vol. 462, issue 1, 59-71

Abstract: In this article, certain deficiencies of the criminal justice system are analyzed, drawing in part on Senator Specter's experience as Philadelphia District Attorney. It is argued that the traditional view of the role of state courts and criminal justice agencies is an unnecessary barrier to greater use of federal judicial and prosecutorial resources, unjustified either by principles of federalism or sound policy. How and why conditions in some urban state courts often frustrate prompt prosecution and sufficient sentencing of career criminals—a limited number of frequent offenders who commit a disproportionate amount of violent crime—are discussed and new laws and policies for increased federal prosecutions to supplement local prosecutions of felons using firearms, consistent with a “new federalism,†are suggested.

Date: 1982
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:anname:v:462:y:1982:i:1:p:59-71

DOI: 10.1177/0002716282462001006

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