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.

Table of Contents:
<> 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