Criminal Justice in the United States, 1789-1939
This comprehensive academic text chronicles the development of criminal law in America across 150 years of constitutional history. Spanning from the beginning of the constitutional era in 1789 through the rise of the New Deal order in 1939, this book provides detailed analysis of the transformative changes that shaped America's criminal justice system.
Coverage and Scope
Elizabeth Dale examines the fundamental shifts in criminal law during this critical period in American history. The book traces the evolution of four key areas: policing practices, legal frameworks, court systems, and punishment methods. Beyond institutional analysis, Dale provides unique insight into the role of popular justice movements, including lynch mobs, vigilance committees, law-and-order societies, and community shunning practices, demonstrating how these extralegal forces influenced the development of formal criminal justice institutions.
Historical Framework
The text explores the relationship between changes in America's criminal justice system and its constitutional order. This approach provides law students, historians, and criminology researchers with a framework for understanding how legal institutions evolved alongside broader constitutional developments. The book covers both the Constitutional Era's foundational principles and the New Deal Era's transformative reforms.
Academic Applications
Published by Cambridge University Press as part of the New Histories of American Law series, this paperback serves as a university textbook for courses in legal history, criminal law, American history, and criminology. The scholarly approach makes it suitable for graduate and undergraduate programs in law, history, and social sciences.
