NCJ Number
80578
Date Published
1978
Length
159 pages
Annotation
This 'antiestablishment' book describes selected practices of British police, courts, and prisons in order to advise citizens, particularly youth, about how to respond in encounters with these criminal justice components so as to avoid arrest and prosecution, if possible.
Abstract
The opening chapter discusses encounters with police in the streets, including being stopped and questioned, being taken to the police station, political marching, open-air public meetings, approaching citizens with information or for solicitation of money, and picketing. The authority for the police to intervene in such circumstances is explained, and the rights of citizens in these contexts are discussed. Police authority to confront persons on various premises is then considered, including entry and search of premises and police action in cases of sitins and building occupations. Responses to police actions in such situations are examined. Another chapter covers what can generally be expected to happen at a police station when a person is taken in, and advice is given on how to respond. This chapter also provides suggestions on how to deal with special situations involving identification, juveniles at the police station, mentally ill people, serious crime and antiterrorist investigations, and habeas corpus. Another chapter describes each step of criminal court proceedings and gives advice for defendants at each stage. Next, a chapter discusses the functions of lawyers, solicitors and their clerks, and barristers in criminal cases. The organization of the prison system and how it works in practice and theory are considered, and the concluding discussion considers appealing a conviction or sentence, legal action against the police, fighting back outside the legal system, and prison groups. Chapter references, tables, diagrams, humorous drawings, a bibliography of about 70 listings, and a subject index are supplied.