University of Virginia Library

Growing Number
Of Criminal Cases
Noted By White

Analyzing recent Supreme Court decisions, Byron R.
White, Associate Justice of the United States Supreme
Court commented on the recent trend in criminal law,
in a speech before the Student Legal Forum last night.

He noted that 30 to 35 per cent of the cases tried in
the Supreme Court today are in the criminal law area.
Twenty years ago only 15 per cent of the cases dealt with
criminal law.

"This shouldn't surprise anyone. I think for a long time
lawyers, and law schools have left thinking on criminal
justice to criminologists and sociologists," he commented.

Mr. Justice White noted that there is a consensus of
opinion today that the effectiveness of the law in dealing
with criminal cases isn't good enough. "You have to admit
that it just isn't getting the job done."

"In the long run the country
will try to prevent crime outside
the law." He noted that there is
dissatisfaction with basic premises
in criminal law. For example,
thought on the guilt of criminals
who undergo certain recurrent behaviors,
such as insanity, has
changed recently.

The causes of crime are being
investigated. An example of this
is the juvenile court system. This
is a major segment of society
not open to the regular criminal
law. This is but one example of
prevention.

Mr. Justice White went on to
mention two boundaries that have
been guidelines in criminal law,
the first in the concept of a fair
trial. This is a concept of Anglo-American
jurisprudence that many
recent Court decisions, such as
the Gideon case, have been based
on.

Secondly, there are other values,
such as those reflected in the fourth
and fifth amendments, which are
frequently preserved at the cost,
of a fair trial. Making peaceful
persons secure in their homes takes
precedence over the aims of a fair
trial.

On the tradition of judicial
review Mr. Justice White pointed
out that it is an unending source
of controversy but as long as the
community thinks it better for us
than it is bad it will remain.

"Many reasonable men can reasonably
differ in opinion over
Court decisions...it can mean one
thing in one era and another
era." The Supreme Court alone
has reversed itself some 120 times
in its history, with many constitutional
questions decided in the
lower courts.

In the early days of our country
laws were made as cases were
decided, Mr. Justice White commented.
Today courts and judges
are perhaps a minor source of legal
developments. Law students must
have wider horizons than the
courts.

Associate Supreme Court Justice Byron R. White

Analyzed Recent Cases In Student Legal Forum Talk