Researching Law Volume 31 Issue 1 - Flipbook - Page 11
VO L 31 | NO 1 | SP RING 2020
true complexity of the criminal
justice process.
AFTER THE SURVEY
Although the impact of the ABF
Survey was masked by delay and
the complexity of the rapidly
changing political environment,
it was nevertheless profound.
The Survey not only produced
considerable new knowledge, but
it also redefined the legal field.
As Professor Feeley states, the
ABF Survey “drew in a great
many scholars who otherwise
would not have been drawn
into criminal justice research
and teaching, (including) the
creation of the School of
Criminal Justice Administration
at SUNY-Albany.” The ABF
Survey participants went on to
make significant contributions.
Remington became a consultant
to the President’s Commission on
Law Enforcement under Lyndon
Johnson; Ohlin became a faculty
member at Harvard Law School
and served in various presidential
administrations, including
becoming a special consultant
on delinquency under John F.
Kennedy. Goldstein was not only a
law professor at the University of
Wisconsin but also helped reform
the police department in Chicago.
As a result of its success, the ABF
continues to make an impact as
it became what is now known as
a center for continuing empirical
research in the legal field.
“The ABF Survey demonstrates
how, from its origins, the ABF
has been dedicated to innovative
and influential empirical research
on the operation of law,” said
Ajay K. Mehrotra, ABF Executive
Director and Research Professor.
“This historic research on the
administrative system of criminal
justice was not only a landmark
study, it also set the standard
for all future empirical and
interdisciplinary research in the
area and at the ABF.”
The ABF Survey
demonstrates how,
from its origins,
the ABF has been
dedicated to innovative
and influential
empirical research on
the operation of law.
—Ajay K. Mehrotra ABF
Executive Director and
Research Professor
FRONT COVER: Detroit, Michigan,
circa 1955. A police officer patrols the
Northlands shopping complex, an area
that was administered as a precinct by
the local police force. Image courtesy of
Getty Images
FRONT COVER: N.Y, circa 1960s. State
Troopers arrest a man for breaking
Rochester’s curfew, a rule established
during three days of riots. Image
courtesy of Getty Images.
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