VIOLENCE AND POOR READING

Poor reading achievement, long linked to delinquency. also proved related to a history of violent offenses among male and female. Anglo and non-Anglo, juvenile offenders. Reading was measured by the Wide Range Achievement Test. adjusted for Wechsler Verbal IQ; the Violence Scale specified the degree of violence of each child's most serious offense.     

PLEA BARGAINING Bargain Justice?

An historical overview of the plea bargaining process through the past few centuries is presented. The advantages and disadvantages of the use of the legal mechanism are given. A research project conducted in Pima County, Arizona, covering 500 convicted persons who had been involved in plea bargaining is described, and the findings indicate that the majority of individuals included in the study willingly accepted the concept and felt that the practice should not be discontinued. A recommendation for modification of the misuse of the process is that cases should be reviewed for plea bargaining by an independent agency apart from the court and prosecutor. This would insure that the individual was aware that he was abrogating his rights of appeal, thereby eliminating any further investigation of his case.