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February 24, 2012

ULM criminal justice professors publish chapters in new book

Dr. Robert Hanser, associate professor and head of the University of Louisiana at Monroe Department of Criminal Justice, along with Dr. Michael Gomila, part-time faculty member in the same, recently published three chapters in a text titled "Flawed Criminal Justice Policies," published by the Carolina Academic Press.

One chapter, "The War on Drugs: A Review of U.S. Drug Policy," demonstrates how drug enforcement policies in the 1990s proved to be ineffectual in curbing drug use in the United States and also shows how many prison systems are overfilled with non-violent drug offenders.

Another chapter, "The Enforcement of Immigration Law by Police," discusses many of the problems faced by Southwestern states related to illegal immigration and the involvement of local police in immigration enforcement.

Various legal concepts related to constitutionality and liability issues are addressed, as are matters related to police-community relations.

The last chapter, titled "The Consequences of Three Strikes Laws," shows how three-strikes sentencing schemes have led to unexpected and undesired consequences for many states prison systems.

"It was interesting to examine policies that addressed enforcement, judicial and correctional aspects of the criminal justice system," Hanser said.

"I enjoyed the opportunity to co-author work with a colleague in our department. It makes the contribution to our field of study all the more valuable."

The text has a total of 12 chapters that address a variety of policy issues.

Contributions by Hanser and Gomila amounted to nearly a quarter of the text.

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