Several encyclopedias overview the contemporary system of criminal justice in America, but full understanding of current social problems and contemporary strategies to deal with them can come only with clear appreciation of the historical underpinnings of those problems. Thus, this five-volume work surveys the history and philosophy of crime, punishment, and criminal justice institutions in America from colonial times to the present. It covers the whole of the criminal justice system, from crimes, law enforcement and policing, to courts, corrections and human services. Among other things, this encyclopedia: explicates philosophical foundations underpinning our system of justice; charts changing patterns in criminal activity and subsequent effects on legal responses; identifies major periods in the development of our system of criminal justice; and explores in the first four volumes – supplemented by a fifth volume containing annotated primary documents – evolving debates and conflicts on how best to address issues of crime and punishment. Its signed entries in the first four volumes–supplemented by a fifth volume containing annotated primary documents–provide the historical context for students to better understand contemporary criminological debates and the contemporary shape of the U.S. system of law and justice.
About the author
Wilbur R. (Bill) Miller received his B.A. from the University of California at Berkeley in 1966 and his Ph.D. from Columbia University in 1973. His teaching is varied and includes such courses as Civil War & Reconstruction, Gilded Age & Progressive Era, Immigration & Family History, and History of Crime & Criminal Justice in the U.S. His research interests include comparative police history, state and federal policing, representations of crime and criminal justice in popular literatures, and the general theme of authority in America. His prior publications include Cops & Bobbies: Police Authority in New York City & London, 1830-1870 (University of Chicago Press, 1977; second edition, Ohio State University Press, 1995) and Revenuers & Moonshiners: Enforcing Federal Liquor Law in the Mountain South (University of North Carolina Press, 1991). Prior to coming to SUNY-Stony Brook in 1975, he was a lecturer and assistant professor at Princeton University.
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