President’s Commission on Law Enforcement and Administration of Justice
The President's Commission on Law Enforcement and Administration of Justice was established by President Lyndon B. Johnson in 1965 to analyze the American criminal justice system. Its primary mission focused on evaluating the balance between crime reduction and the protection of constitutional rights, while investigating the nature of crime and juvenile delinquency in the United States. The commission produced a landmark report in 1967 titled "The Challenge of Crime in a Free Society," which included a comprehensive overview of the criminal justice process from prosecution to corrections.
Throughout its work, the commission collaborated with various federal and local agencies, including the FBI and the U.S. Bureau of Prisons, to gather insights and formulate recommendations. Its findings emphasized the need for an integrated approach to crime prevention that encompasses not only law enforcement but also social factors like family life, housing, education, and community engagement. The commission viewed crime as a societal issue that required participation from all sectors of American life, advocating for a coordinated crime prevention strategy across federal, state, and local levels.
In recent years, a new Presidential Commission on Law Enforcement was convened in 2019, reflecting ongoing concerns regarding policing and law enforcement practices in contemporary society. This highlights the continuing relevance of the commission's work and the evolving nature of justice-related challenges in the United States.
President’s Commission on Law Enforcement and Administration of Justice
IDENTIFICATION: Federal commission established to study sequences of events in the criminal justice system
SIGNIFICANCE: The president’s commission examined the apparatus of the American system of justice from the perspective of balancing crime reduction against protection of constitutional rights.
On July 23, 1965, President Lyndon B. Johnson established the Commission on Law Enforcement and Administration of Justice through Executive Order 11236. The body was charged with examining the nature of crime and juvenile delinquency in the United States. In 1967, the commission issued its official report, The Challenge of Crime in a Free Society. The report detailed the commission’s findings and offered a criminal justice system diagram tracing the sequence of events through the apparatus of the criminal justice system: from prosecution, and the courts, to corrections.
To understand the breadth and depth of the American system of justice, commission members worked closely with the Federal Bureau of Investigation ; the U.S. Bureau of Prisons; the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare; and state, local, and private entities involved in criminal justice.
While undertaking its work, the commission documented hundreds of recommendations. Among these were recommendations for organizing and expanding research of criminal justice agencies, advancing science and technology in the administration of justice, increasing the education and standards of criminal justice personnel, exploring community-based correctional alternatives for offenders, and developing a coordinated and cooperative crime prevention strategy on federal, state, and local levels. The commission’s recommendations also extended to family life quality, housing and economic conditions, alcohol and narcotic addictions treatment, school system standards, and neighborhood cohesiveness and efficacy.
In its summary conclusions, the commission regarded crime as a social problem, requiring more than specialists literate in the criminal justice process for its solution. The commission suggested that the foundation for effective crime control is the “business of every American” and every American institution—religious, community, professional, business, and collegiate.
In 2019, President Donald J. Trump called for a new Presidential Commission on Law Enforcement and the Administration and empowered the panel to issue a study of law enforcement and modern policing. The commission released its final report in December 2020, touching on fifteen issues such as social problems, juvenile justice and youth crime, business and community development, reduction of crime, homeland security, and others.
Bibliography
"FBI Releases 2022 Crime in the Nation Statistics." Federal Bureau of Investigation, 16 Oct. 2023, www.fbi.gov/news/press-releases/fbi-releases-2022-crime-in-the-nation-statistics. Accessed 9 July 2024.
"Presidential Commission on Law Enforcement and the Administration of Justice Releases Final Report." US Department of Justice, 22 Dec. 2020, www.justice.gov/opa/pr/presidential-commission-law-enforcement-and-administration-justice-releases-final-report. Accessed 9 July 2024.
U.S. Department of Justice. The Challenge of Crime in a Free Society: Looking Back Looking Forward. Washington, D.C.: Office of Justice Programs, 1998.