bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Impartial Medical Testimony
Authors: Botein Bernard
Published: March 2007

An impartial medical testimony program provides in essence for the establishment of panels of outstanding, neu tral experts in each of the branches of traumatic medicine. Whenever the medical claims of the contending parties in per sonal injury lawsuits seem irreconcilable, the court may desig nate a physician from the appropriate panel, who will report his findings to the judge and the respective attorneys and pos sibly testify if the case goes to trial. The program, in concep tion and operation, has a two-fold purpose. It is an important factor in the never ending campaign to reduce court congestion and delays, although far from a cure-all for that problem. It is also a very effective instrument in the pre-trial arsenal of measures designed to make a trial a fair and knowledgeable search for the truth. The impartial medical testimony program serves directly and indirectly to discourage the "battle of ex perts" in the courtroom, which often confuses lay jurors and judges, degrades the judicial process, and stigmatizes two great professions.
Decongestion Through Calendar Controls
Authors: Kaufman Irving R.
Published: March 2007

A dedicated group of judges in one of the busiest United States district courts in the country, the Southern Dis trict of New York, has analyzed its own enormous backlog problem with a success that merits the study of other courts in similar straits. A thorough survey of the cases then pending on the trial court calendars startlingly revealed that only a few cases were prepared for immediate trial. In the course of screening the nonjury cases, meetings between the judge and the lawyers and litigants generally resulted in pre-trial settle ments. During the period in which these pre-trial conferences were held most of the calendar backlog was wiped out and docket currency restored. The results achieved, remarkable in themselves, point to several invaluable lessons about the na ture of calendar congestion and the weapons with which it can be combatted. The experience of this district court, located in the business hub of New York with not only one of the larg est dockets in the country but adjudicating some of the most complex and time-consuming cases, promises equivalent suc cess for other congested areas where similar techniques are instituted.—Ed.
Judicial Statistics
Authors: Thiel Orin S.
Published: March 2007

Judicial statistics are used by both the sociolo gist and the court administrator. What will satisfy one may be very unsatisfactory to the other. As this issue of THE ANNALS is devoted to the problems of the courts, the discus sion of statistics is centered around their use as a management tool for the court administrator. The history of federal ju dicial statistics is reviewed and a detailed description is given of the statistics that are now collected and published by the Administrative Office of the United States Courts. The prob lems that are faced by the statistician who prepares the sta tistics and their interpretation and use by court administrators conclude the article.
The Two Faces of Janus: Delay in Metropolitan Trial Courts
Authors: Virtue Maxine Boord
Published: March 2007

Recent studies show that metropolitan trial courts have far larger case-loads than other courts. These loads differ in substance from those of nonmetropolitan courts, being disproportionately weighted with special types of cases, such as criminal, mental, alcoholic, traffic, domestic relations cases, and litigation otherwise related to the special behavior of metropolitan populations. Metropolitan court systems usually are complex, overlapping, and not adjusted to the geo graphic area to be served. Because of the special structural patterns of metropolitan courts, and the special conditions under which they operate, delay in disposing of cases is espe cially and predominantly a metropolitan court problem. In these courts, ever increasing pressure to speed up the tempo of justice is balanced by the need to avoid perfunctory routine disposition, so as to defeat the very purpose of seeking justice. To overcome both aspects of this leering monster—delay and perfunctory routine—is the special problem of metropolitan courts.
The State Court Systems
Authors: Trumbull William M.
Published: March 2007

Largely by historical accident, each of our states has a veritable maze of separate courts, each with its particular powers directly or indirectly derived from the state constitu tion. This atomized hierarchy of courts prevents efficient ad ministration of justice, creates issues for litigation extraneous to the merits of the case, involves successive trials and suc cessive appeals before final decision, and contributes in other ways to congestion and delay. England modernized its court structure in 1875, but in the United States it was not till the close of the first half of this century that Missouri, New Jersey, and California led the way of constitutional reform. The movement has gained considerable momentum during the past five years. Simplification of the court structure, central ad ministrative authority, and procedural reform must be accom panied by measures designed to assure the quality and inde pendence of the judiciary. Adversary election of judges in thirty-six states is a major obstacle. Here, also, Missouri led the way with a plan combining the best features of the appointive and elective methods. A handful of states have adopted variations of the plan, and arduous campaigns for its adoption have been, and will again be, conducted elsewhere.
The Challenge of World-wide Social Conditions
Authors: Henderson Julia J.
Published: March 2007

In the fifteen years since World War II, the international community has seen marked progress in prolong ing life, providing education for children, and in increasing the world food supply. Progress in the struggle against pov erty and bad housing is much less notable, and the achieve ments in lessening social tensions, in increasing human dignity, and other qualitative aspects of the standard of living are not measurable by the rough indicators we have at our disposal. The attempt to reach a new synthesis in the economic and social aspects of the development of less-developed countries, the widespread approval of governmental planning for social as well as economic development, the growth of public respon sibility for welfare of the total population, and the attention given to rural as well as urban development are cited as impor tant postwar developments in the philosophy and methods of international co-operation. The concern about extending as sistance in ways which stimulate active participation of the people is a hopeful response to the world social situation. Fi nally, the importance of basing assistance on mutual respect— with every country acting both as donor and recipient—is stressed in this co-operation.
Mutual Aid in Low-cost Housing
Authors: Weissmann Ernest
Published: March 2007

The United Nations—long active in facilitating international co-operation in the housing field—will carry out, from 1961 to 1965, a world-wide program whose central theme is the mobilization of individual and group efforts for the im provement of housing for lower-income groups. According to estimates for the world made around 1950, as many as 150 million families in the industrially less-advanced areas required more adequate homes and better physical surroundings. In the industrially advanced countries, there was a housing deficit of roughly 30 million units. At the mid-point of this century, characterized by the greatest technological advances in man's history, there was indeed no country without a housing prob lem. While marked strides had been made in health, educa tion, and nutrition, no comparable advance could be reported in housing. With very few exceptions the supply of housing for most families is in fact deteriorating, especially in the less- developed countries. Practical experiences clearly indicate that self-help and mutual aid combined with economic co operation could contribute towards alleviating the extreme shortage of housing for many income groups and the utter lack of adequate community facilities in most parts of the world.
Developing Professional Leadership for Social Programs
Authors: Witte Ernest F.
Published: March 2007

The insistent demand in less-advanced areas of the world for improved living standards is dependent upon effecting social changes in the habits and living patterns of the people in these areas. Such changes can only be brought about in an orderly way through the development of competent, in formed, indigenous leaders. Among the personnel so urgently needed to initiate and carry on programs of social change are social workers to function at all levels of activity within these countries. As this need has become recognized, a growing world-wide effort to provide such leadership, carried on by many international and national, governmental and voluntary agencies, has emerged. These organizations have developed a great variety of methods to help less-developed countries acquire a nucleus of trained social workers to initiate and carry forward social welfare programs which will ultimately result in better, more secure, and more satisfying lives for the majority of their people. The need for social work personnel is great, and the time available for preparing them is limited. There is much to be learned from past and current experience on how to do this job most effectively.
Social Development and Foreign Policy
Authors: Kotschnig Walter M.
Published: March 2007

The contemporary realization of the importance of international progress in the economic and social fields, and particularly the development of the less-developed countries, has added a new dimension to foreign policy and resulted in vast foreign aid programs. Chief factors in this development are the unprecedented acceleration in population growth occur ring primarily in the less-developed countries least able to sus tain it, the "revolution of rising expectations," and Communist penetration. In addition to an increase in financial and tech nical assistance to the less-developed countries, the free world, building on strength, must emphasize that the purpose of eco nomic development is a social objective and that the methods used to promote development cannot be divorced from the overriding social objective without destroying the objective itself. Development planning should aim at balanced economic and social growth and stress economic programs with an early social impact in terms of improved levels of living, and social programs designed to further economic growth.
Our Role in the Quickening Pace Towards Independence in Africa
Authors: Satterthwaite Joseph C.
Published: March 2007

Our belief in the self-determination, self-govern ment, and independence of peoples has persisted throughout American history. The rapid political and social changes that are occurring in the countries of tropical Africa have drawn our sympathy and, in a more active way, have drawn our sup port through material and technical assistance granted to them directly or through the organization of the United Nations. It is of fairly recent date that the United States has officially co-operated in this area, an area that was previously a sphere in which European interests were predominant. While we have begun to offer assistance to the African states, we are hopeful, at the same time, that the long-established ties with the Euro pean countries can continue in another form, advantageous to both. The needs, we recognize, of the African states are of such magnitude that they cannot be fulfilled by any one country. We have, therefore, co-operated in efforts to promote economic development initiated by the United Nations and its specialized agencies. We are being called upon more and more to share our material benefits with the less-developed parts of the world. The African states form one of these areas, indeed a very im portant one, and we are ready to play our role in responding to their needs.—Ed.
A Hard Look at America's Unfavorable Balance of Payments
Authors: Stein Herbert
Published: March 2007

The theory, so widely held by economists in the postwar era, of the "dollar gap" or dollar shortage has been invalidated. The evidence is clear. The dollar is not always subject to scarcity but to excess supply as well. There is need for no better verification than the deficit in the United States balance of payments. The immediate reaction to this deficit was twofold: there were those fearful lest the deficit continue, and those afraid that the measures taken to counteract the deficit would be harmful to our international economic policy. The fury has abated. The deficit has declined, inflationary movements have been quelled, and the anti-deficit measures taken in the international economic sphere have not been wide spread. But it is too early to be complaisant. The deficit, though somewhat reduced, continues; moreover the problem of how to eliminate or reduce the deficit to a reasonable size re mains. What measures should be taken to ensure the least cost to our economic posture, both domestic and international? More aware of the close interrelationship between our economy and others, we must now seriously consider a balance of payments mechanism. We must be prepared with a flexible mechanism should the contingency of an imbalance in our bal ance of payments occur.—Ed.
Estimating National Power and Intentions
Authors: Dyer Charlotte and George
Published: March 2007

The rational formulation of American foreign policy is rendered extremely difficult by the great number of factors which must be taken into account by the decision- makers. These are beyond the capacity of any human brain, or even team of brains, to assimilate, evaluate, and reduce to forms upon which sound policy can be based. A weighted framework or model is needed, and some mechanical support for human thinking which would rationalize initial foreign policy estimation electrically. Such a device will also permit gaming. As a preliminary blueprint for this proposed device, The World Analyst classification system is used to divide na tional power into ten "factors": geographic, demographic, po litical, foreign affairs, economic, industry, transportation and communication, scientific, armed forces and biographic. To evaluate individual elements of national strength and weak ness, these are cross-categorized on game boards in five panels: immediate national power, potentials for national power, de struction of such elements, aggressions between nations other than the United States, and acts of aggression towards the United States. Using a model of this sort a trial balance can be obtained between nations, and policy can be tested in advance.
A Sound Trade Policy and Its Implications for Agriculture
Authors: Johnson D. Gale
Published: March 2007

A move toward freer trade, involving reducing tariffs and export subsidies and eliminating import quotas, sim plification of customs, and consistent maintenance of these changes, is in the national interest. Our role as a major world leader would be enhanced, and we would be making an impor tant contribution to the development of poorer nations. Such a program would require adjustments in agriculture—major adjustments, in fact—but with appropriate policies American agriculture is capable of making these adjustments.
Public Law 480 and Related Programs
Authors: Cochrane Willard W.
Published: March 2007

Surplus agricultural commodities have been moved abroad during the late 1950's under several programs: Public Law 480, The Mutual Security Act, and foreign dollar loans and credits. Shipments under these programs have bulked large in recent years—running close to 40 per cent of total agricultural exports and amounting to about $1.5 billion. The emphasis in these programs has been on surplus disposal, rather than on the development needs of the recipient countries. Hence, it is not surprising that the potential for using the sur plus food and fiber bounty of the United States to support and induce economic development has scarcely been touched. But policy actions are within our grasp for making more effective use of surplus food and fiber products from the United States in the recipient "underdeveloped" countries; food and fiber can be used as capital to finance economic development.
Scientific Manpower for the Less-developed Countries
Authors: Hill F.F.
Published: March 2007

To stimulate agricultural growth through the application of science is a key problem of economic develop ment. Numberless cultivators must be reached by—and must accept—integrated programs which include a range of services and commitments from technical advice to market assurances. Properly to aid cultivators requires enormous numbers of trained men and women who must essentially be local citizens rooted in their country's culture and problems. Even so, the United States can and should make an increased but more selective effort to help. The scope and complexity of the task together with the need to reach cultivators with all essential services recommend concentration in selected areas with long- term programs. The necessary emphasis upon the application of science makes educational institutions obvious instruments of this national policy, but they require long-term commit ments with adequate financial help and a large amount of responsible freedom.
Contributions of Colleges of Agriculture in Making Human Capital Available in Foreign Economic Development
Authors: Smith Mervin G. , Ackerman Joseph
Published: March 2007

The United States agricultural colleges and ex tension services need to take a key role in our foreign policy. The need is great for trained people in foreign agricultural development. Agricultural colleges are conducting special as sistance projects, training foreign students, and furnishing technical personnel. This has been valuable, but it is not enough if we are to be successful in the economic cold war and the world ideological conflict.

In our foreign assistance program much more emphasis is needed on the development process, the problem-solving method, broad planning, and longer-term programs. Consid eration should be given to the cultural, psychological, institu tional, social, and economic changes which must accompany rapid progress and economic growth. Our agricultural colleges need to strengthen their research and educational programs on managing and facilitating changes or adjustments to the rapid adoption of new technology. This is important: (1) if we are to make headway on our major domestic farm problem, and (2) if we are to develop an outstanding technical assistance program with underdeveloped countries.
Sugar and Wool
Authors: Renshaw Edward F.
Published: March 2007

The production of sugar and wool in this country is encouraged by protective devices which illustrate the peculiar vulnerability of the democratic process to a well-organized, dis persed interest. In pursuing their own narrow interest both groups have unintentionally fostered competition from substi tutes which could destroy large segments of their respective industries. Spectacular growth in the consumption of synthetic fibers and the development of a variety of artificial sweeteners suggest that even the most cleverly organized monopolies are threatened by technological progress. The consumer who has been taxed by the sugar and wool interests may gain more in the long run than the producers who must adjust to a kind of competition for which the best protection is no protection.
Farm Organizations and the National Interest
Authors: Talbot Ross B.
Published: March 2007

A world-wide contest for power between the na tions of the free world and those within the Communist orbit is the dominant phenomenon within international politics today. This situation is certainly not new, but the pace is accelerating. Within the next decade or so the loyalties of the underdeveloped and uncommitted nations will be molded. Food can be a sig nificant weapon for the United States, both in terms of national interest and national morality. One major difficulty, however, is the inability of American farm organizations to see the central issue of our times and to concentrate their unified efforts upon this objective. They tend to confuse rhetoric with reality and thereby dissipate our national strength through their misunder standing of the crucial goal. A White House Conference on Farm Policy is proposed as a means for beginning the redirec tion of American farm policy. The genius of American politics seems to call for a new accommodation in view of the threatened national security and the mounting dissatisfaction with present farm policies.
A Union Viewpoint
Authors: Henle Peter
Published: March 2007

Free collective bargaining has become a symbol of the American way of life at the same time that the nation has been legislating measures restricting the freedom of workers and employers in collective bargaining. Despite this tendency towards increasing government intervention, the collective bargaining process has remained essentially free and has proved its value for both workers and employers. The case for fur ther government intervention in the bargaining process is not persuasive. There is no need, for example, for government measures to reduce "excessive union power," because union membership, financial resources, and bargaining strength are not disproportionate to that of employers. Union organization and control are fundamentally democratic, and unions are no less anxious than Congress to insure ethical practices and sound leadership. Nor is there need to regulate the terms of col lective bargaining agreements; instead, many existing restric tions should be lifted. Improvements can be made in the manner in which government services are available for the settlement of labor-management disputes, particularly for so- called national emergency cases. The years ahead will gen erate new pressures for increased government intervention. However, it is likely those who now welcome or predict such intervention will be surprised by the loyalty that the free bargaining process can command and by its continuing effec tiveness as an instrument for solving industrial relations problems.
A Management Viewpoint
Authors: Caples William G.
Published: March 2007

Widespread collective bargaining in the United States originated with the National War Labor Board of 1918. Later legislation made participation mandatory for employers. Since 1935 government intervention in collective bargaining has been continued by each administration to carry out its na tional purposes. The real choice appears to be among alter nate degrees and forms of government regulation, not between laissez faire and regulation. Measured by the criterion of in dustrial peace alone, comparatively unregulated collective bar gaining has functioned effectively. Strike activity has declined over the past three decades both in time lost and in workers involved. The contribution of government intervention to such industrial peace is not clear. Intervention experiences have been varied and somewhat contradictory. It may be necessary, however, to be able to invoke government interven tion in certain emergency disputes. It appears desirable to change the labor disputes section of the Taft-Hartley Labor- Management Relations Act of 1947 from the current rigidity of action to an elastic choice-of-procedures approach. Un regulated collective bargaining has not functioned effectively in safeguarding internal democracy within unions, in checking excessive and illegal use of power, and in the promotion of full employment. Legislative change is necessary to meet some of the specific problems in each of these three areas.
The Impact of Landrum-Griffin on Union Government
Authors: Taft Philip
Published: March 2007

The Landrum-Griffin Act passed in 1959 treats of the practices of labor unions in the various areas of union government and practice, particularly elections, financial mat ters, and trusteeships. The legislation is of too recent origin for its full impact to have become clear. Some possible effects on labor organizations include factionalism within locals and amalgamation of small locals into larger units. On one hand, the act encourages individual members of locals to participate in local union elections and campaigns. At the same time, the requirements of the law for record-keeping and reporting make office-holding burdensome for members of locals. On the other hand, the act requires costly election and accounting procedures which force small locals to merge. Thus, individual members are deprived of opportunities for participation. On balance, it appears that the Landrum-Griffin Act affects small unions about whose practices ethical questions had not been raised more than it affects the large unions whose practices had been investigated and questioned, because the large unions can re tain lawyers to manage their affairs. It is also possible that future subversive infiltrations of the unions will be more diffi cult to check than past attempts, because fewer restraints are countenanced on campaigning within the unions.
Labor and Inter-American Relations
Authors: Alexander Robert J.
Published: March 2007

Despite growing Latin-American discontent with United States policy, the inter-American labor organizations continue to provide liaison with a most important element of Latin-American public opinion. Friendly relations between labor organizations in the Americas were fostered by United States labor leaders who encouraged the growth of responsible, democratic labor organizations in Latin America. Of United States labor unions, the American Federation of Labor worked importantly, especially since World War II, to encourage pro- West, anti-Communist labor organizations on a hemispheric basis. The Congress of Industrial Organizations joined the Inter-American Regional Organization of Workers, the domi nant international labor group during the 1950's. During the early 1950's, the Argentine Peronistas competed to organize Latin-American labor, particularly through vilification of the United States and its labor unions. The fall of Perón ended that campaign, but the rise of Castro presented a new challenge for influence in inter-American labor organization. The Cuban menace to democratic, pro-Western labor organizations has been partly relieved by efforts of the International Trade Secre tariats, which became interested in Latin America in the late 1950's. The future of the inter-American labor movement hangs in balance between the success of the Fidelistas in generating and consolidating support and the ability of the United States to counteract trends of anti-Yankeeism and neutralism.—Ed.
Bolivia: The Restrained Revolution
Authors: Patch Richard W.
Published: March 2007

A true revolution occurred in Bolivia in 1952, and its consequences continue to be strongly felt. The revo lution triggered such extreme measures as nationalization of the tin mines, agrarian reform, neutralization of the army, and universal franchise, but the leaders of the revolutionary Na tionalistic Revolutionary Movement are essentially moderates. The economic consequences of the revolution have been a seri ous inflation and declining productivity. The major accom plishment has been social—the integration of the majority of the population speaking indigenous languages into the social and political life of the nation. This resulted more from the self-assertion of that mass than from the actions of the revo lutionary government. The Nationalistic Revolutionary Move ment was early sympathetic to national socialism, but it was rejected by a popular revolt in 1946. Succeeding governments were unable to preserve order and the second accession of the Nationalistic Revolutionary Movement to power in 1952 was the alternative to anarchy. The Indian population organized syndicates independent of the government and forced enact ment of an agrarian reform. The government now has the allegiance of the Indians and miners, but its maintenance is made difficult by an economic stabilization plan. After eight years, Bolivia is still a democracy, but it requires assistance to continue to reject the apparent advantages of totalitarianism.
Is Cleavage Between Russia and China Inevitable?
Authors: Lindsay Lord
Published: March 2007

Although there are many issues about which China and the Soviet Union could quarrel and although there is strong evidence of some disagreements, the two regimes have an overwhelming common motive for maintaining soli darity against the outside world so long as both remain com mitted to Communist orthodoxy. Many of the predictions of future Sino-Soviet conflict erroneously assume that the Communist leaders, no matter what they say, play the tradi tional game of power politics. In fact, considerations of boundary, population, and so on are less important to the Communists than differences over the strategy which they should follow in their struggle against the non-Communist world. The Chinese position might be described as Marxist fundamentalism. There are two basic issues in the disagree ment : the actual balance of power between Communist and non-Communist sections of the world, and the ability of non- Communist leaders, especially in the United States, to act in terms of rational self-interest. Since the controversy is en tirely over strategy and timing, it does not necessarily involve any disruption of basic Communist solidarity. It may well become less heated if Chinese leaders come to realize that the balance of power in their favor is less decisive than they have claimed and if Soviet policy toward non-Communist powers becomes somewhat more intransigent to meet Chinese criticism. Soviet leadership by Khrushchev or in his spirit makes other developments less likely.—Ed.
Why Uncommitted Countries Hold that They Are Not "Neutral"
Authors: Nikezic Marko
Published: March 2007

Most of the uncommitted countries became inde pendent after World War II with the disintegration of Euro pean colonial empires. The members of the two great political and military alliances today consider them neutral because they do not want to participate in those alliances. The un committed countries do not regard themselves as neutral; they refuse to take sides because they wish to take active part in the shaping of their own future and to influence world affairs in general. Within one of the alliances, they would be weak and submerged. They do not believe the present partition of the world settles their national problems or the problem of pre serving peace. They are more interested in social and eco nomic development than in the East-West antagonism. They are, most of all, interested in national independence. They recognize that such independence does not settle all problems, that the present era is one of increasing unity of the world. They are firm in their belief, however, that unity with peace, unity not foreshadowed with future wars, can be achieved only on the basis of freedom for all nations and not on the basis of dominance by the few who are more developed, as was the case in the past.—Ed.
Will the Political Scientist Fill the Void?
Authors: Walter Paul W.
Published: March 2007

Political science has not demonstrated the abil ity to develop new concepts and to receive new ideas that the physical sciences have. The moment in history has arrived at which it is necessary for the survival of human civilization for political scientists to seek and to find a new and relevant approach to the situations which have taken the nations of the world to the brink of internecine war. The principal threat to world peace and to the development of world law and gov ernment necessary to obtain and maintain peace is the massive armament by the nations totally disproportionate to their re spective needs for insuring internal order. The United Na tions, as a means for controlling world affairs peacefully, has disappointed early expectations. It has demonstrated, how ever, a capacity for constitutional development not unlike that of the United States. If it can meet the current crises con fronting it, it could yet rise to the challenge of providing the shield of world order behind which nations may disarm. Be fore the mistake in judgment occurs which will bring world holocaust, political scientists and leaders can become the found ing fathers of a world order by developing methods to enable mankind to convert his physical assets to peaceful uses and to obtain for future generations of the world the legacy of free dom, stability, and peace similar to that which our Founding Fathers established for the United States of America.
Private and Public Action in Meeting Health Needs
Authors: Anderson Odin W.
Published: March 2007

The health field is a prime example of parallel and interrelated private and public action. Government pres ently has responsibility for public health programs, medical care for recipients of public assistance, programs for veterans with service-connected disabilities, and for patients with dis eases such as tuberculosis and mental conditions. Responsi bility is shared between various levels of government and pri vate efforts for costs of constructing new facilities and for training new health personnel. Government provides funds for more than half of all medical research. For direct per sonal health services, however, the private sector has been and is the overwhelming source of funds. The current major chal lenge to the private sector in providing for direct personal health service is the debated proposal to provide medical care for the aged through the Old Age, Survivors and Disability In surance Act. Such enactment would establish a precedent, because an entire age group would be included regardless of income, relative need for medical care, incidence of specific dis ease entities, or special obligations. And it could open the way for universal government health insurance. In the last analy sis, it would not be practical for government to provide the range of choice in health services currently available. Pre sumably, a plan of basic, minimum health care guaranteed to all would be devised with individuals purchasing added services directly or through private systems of health insurance with the likelihood of two grades of care.—Ed.
Voluntary Hospital Insurance as a Mechanism for Meeting Health Needs
Authors: Van Dyke Frank , Trussell Ray E.
Published: March 2007

Insurance for hospital care in the United States covers more than three-quarters of the population and pays more than half of hospital bills paid from private income. Benefits to many insured persons are minimal and some bene fits important to health are not regularly provided. Coinsur ance, deductibles, experience rating, and costs of nongroup commercial insurance limit the effectiveness of coverage. Hospital costs are rising. Hospital costs can be kept within bounds by insurance benefits and payments designed to encour age quality of care, community review and control through planning and licensure, review and control of unnecessary hos pital utilization and construction, and by recognition of the importance of organization of medical care as a method of promoting quality and curtailing costs.
Meeting the Health Needs of Low-Income Families
Authors: Bierman Pearl
Published: March 2007

Individuals and families with incomes insufficient to meet their medical expenses cannot necessarily in all states and communities count upon assistance from voluntary or public medical care programs. A number of states have not taken full advantage of federal matching funds in the federal- state public assistance programs to provide for the medical needs of recipients. Relatively few states meet all medical requirements of needy persons. Although there is consider able interest and some programs have been developing in the new category of Medical Assistance for the Aged, which was authorized by congressional action in 1961, the states in gen eral are not achieving the congressional intent of a program with liberal eligibility requirements and a broad scope of services.
Anticipating the Health Needs of Americans: Some Demographic Projections
Authors: Kirk Dudley
Published: March 2007

Barring a major catastrophe, the health services will have to provide for massive population growth in the decades ahead. A reasonable forecast gives increases of 19 per cent for the present decade and 44 per cent for the period 1960-1980, with a corresponding increased need for medical services. This will be added to existing unfulfilled needs for the care of the aged and those suffering from chronic illness. The aged will continue to increase rapidly in number, but the largest absolute growth of population will be among children and, later, among young adults. Contrary to popular impres sions, the greatest percentage increase in future need for medical services may well be in the treatment of acute condi tions rather than chronic conditions more characteristic of the aged. Further, the general upward trend in social and eco nomic characteristics and expectations means an increased demand for all medical services over and above those arising from population change. There will be a much larger popu lation, better informed and better able to command improved medical services. Fortunately, demographic changes offer part of the solution as well as part of the problem. During the next decade, there will be a rapidly growing reservoir of young people from which to recruit nurses, doctors, and other health service personnel.
The American Penal System: Spirit and Technique
Authors: Schwartz Louis B.
Published: March 2007

One can speak only loosely of an American penal system. Fifty states each exercise virtually complete inde pendence in the criminal law field. The federal government is not specifically granted powers under the Constitution to en act criminal legislation, but a comprehensive body of criminal law has evolved through the exercise of other constitutional powers. Thus, at present, criminal laws and aims of the penal system are diverse. Certain influences, however, have affected the development of all the penal codes. These influences are the English common law, Puritan standards of the seventeenth century, and the American frontier. From the frontier comes the emphasis upon lay participation in the legal process. This is clearly represented in the institution of the jury and in its effect upon law, precedent, and court procedures. The gen eral American and English hostility to ideology, fully as much as the lay element, has served as a brake upon codification and radical reform. As a result, the American penal system tends to be anarchic, complicated, naively moralistic, and lay- determined, but it is, at the same time, experimental, creative, and progressively more merciful. With the passing of the frontier and the receding into history of Puritan theocracy, the forces which produced the current penal system are yield ing to new influences. The Model Penal Code, profoundly American in spirit and technique, would end the dependence of the penal code upon the common law and offers system and precision in place of frustration and bafflement.—Ed.
On Culpability and Crime: The Treatment of Mens Rea in the Model Penal Code
Authors: Wechsler Herbert
Published: March 2007

When conduct has the external attributes of a crime, should further mental elements be required for convic tion, and, if so, what should they be? Decisions have too frequently been imprecise in analysis and inconsistent in re sults, yielding a multitude of single instances which in the ag gregate dilute the moral force that should attach to condemna tion of behavior considered criminal. Criminal liability may justly be based only upon conduct which includes a voluntary act or the omission to perform an act which the actor was physically able to perform. Act or omission are essential pre requisites to liability, but they are not sufficient to establish culpability. The Model Penal Code proposes four concepts to describe the kinds of culpability which are sufficient to es tablish liability: purpose, knowledge, recklessness, or negli gence. The doctrine of strict liability, ignorance and mistake of fact, intoxication, and ignorance and mistake of law are pertinent to establishing liability. One of the most conten tious problems of the penal law concerns the criteria that should determine when individuals whose conduct would otherwise be criminal ought to be exculpated on the ground that they were suffering from mental disease or defect when they acted. The Model Penal Code would exculpate the person who, as a re sult of mental disease or defect, lacked substantial capacity either to appreciate the criminality of his conduct or to con form his behavior to the requirements of law.—Ed.
Offenses of Violence Against the Person
Authors: Collings Rex A.
Published: March 2007

Laws covering crimes of violence against the person, in statute and in decision, although they vary among jurisdictions, have been significantly influenced by the com mon law of England. The four categories of common law homicides, except for the occasional combination of justifiable and excusable homicides, are used in every jurisdiction. Malice aforethought and felony murder doctrines are retained. Assault, battery, and mayhem remain in the law, and the Model Penal Code proposes a complete revision based on bodily injury. Common law definition of rape prevails, and, for common law and for statutory rape, penalties, although varied, are severe. Mistake of fact as to age adds an inter esting dimension to the problem of statutory rape. False im prisonment, a misdemeanor at common law, is retained in only fourteen jurisdictions; in extreme cases, it falls under kidnap ping statutes. Kidnapping, a misdemeanor at common law, is treated with far greater severity in the United States than in Europe. The factor of brief detention or asportation makes it possible to prosecute other crimes, for which there are im prisonment penalties, as kidnapping, a crime for which there is a possible death penalty. American criminal law has some times retained archaic common law concepts that should have been discarded, and it tends to ad hoc change more in response to emotion than to reason. Recodifications, much needed, are rarely attempted. The Model Penal Code, however, does exist as a beacon and guide.—Ed.
The Sentence and Treatment of Offenders
Authors: Bennett James V.
Published: March 2007

In the United States, as in most Western coun tries, the old doctrine is progressively falling into disuse that the purpose of the criminal law is to exact from the criminal a retributive suffering proportionate to the heinousness of the offense. Instead, the effort is being made to combine deter rence and public protection with restoration of the offender to a more self-sustaining role in the community. Probation pro vides the courts a constructive alternative to imprisonment; parole and the indeterminate sentence mitigate the inflexibility of statutory penalties. The current trend in the disposition of offenders is unmistakably toward individualized penal treat ment administered within the framework of a flexible criminal code. While individualization of treatment regarding offend ers is one goal, vast disparities between the laws and the prac tices of the many criminal jurisdictions of the United States make movement toward greater uniformity another desirable goal. Although a guide toward both these goals, the Model Penal Code is not intended to be adopted uniformly by all states; its objective is to examine and make more explicit the problems of criminal law, to bring under discussion alternative solutions, and to express conclusions in clear statutory lan guage. For the findings of the social sciences to be brought adequately to bear upon the treatment and disposition of of fenders, the sympathetic co-operation is required of the judges and the courts and the prisons and correctional institutions.— Ed.
Juvenile Delinquents and Their Treatment
Authors: Tappan Paul W. , Nicolle Ivan
Published: March 2007

The juvenile court as the major device for deal ing with young offenders has roots in the English common law, which distinguished between adult offenders and the young, who could not sufficiently distinguish between right and wrong to be held responsible for their illegal actions. Even today, however, the definition of juvenile delinquency is tautological: the delinquent is he who has been adjudicated as such by a court of proper jurisdiction, and juvenile delinquency is any act, course of conduct, or situation which might be brought before a court and adjudicated as such. Many juvenile cases are settled by the police without going to court, and others are handled by the court unofficially. Court procedures resemble regular criminal proceedings, but there are a number of im portant differences, some of which suggest constitutional ques tions. Guilt is not generally considered an issue; a greater effort is made to discover why the youth has come into the hands of the court, regardless of whether or not he is delin quent. In most juvenile court hearings, no counsel appears for the child, and case law holds that he is not entitled to counsel. In most states, the child cannot demand jury trial. Broadly, it can be said that due process is not strictly followed. Also, the validity of corrective measures can be questioned. The extent of juvenile delinquency and its recent growth sug gest the desirability of a thorough and objective reconsidera tion of the means and the methods hitherto employed in deal ing with young law violators.—Ed.
Detroit Automation
Authors: Ashburn Anderson
Published: March 2007

Automation as a word was first used to describe the linking together of machine tools into a continuous produc tion line by mechanical devices to load, unload, and transfer between machines or between stations in a single machine. As the meaning of automation has broadened, this original appli cation has increasingly been described as "Detroit automa tion." Many examples are found in the automotive industry, but the technique has been successful in manufacturing appli ances, motors, radio and television sets, and many other items produced in large volume. Some major problems have arisen that limit the economic size of a single automatic sequence of operations. Growth rate is limited by the balance between the degree of flexibility possible and the production volume that will probably be required. The rate at which automation is added in the metalworking industries has tapered off in the last few years but seems to be rising again, and continued increase, though at a less hectic pace, seems likely. The recent develop ment of numerically controlled machines will do for small-lot producers what the transfer machine is doing for mass pro ducers.
The Great Employment Controversy
Authors: Buckingham Walter
Published: March 2007

The fear of technological unemployment is a very real one in the minds of millions of American workers. Although the long-run record indicates that technology and employment have expanded simultaneously, the short-run rec ord contains plenty of evidence of temporary displacement, if not permanent unemployment, of a large sector of our labor force. Furthermore, there has been a tendency toward pro gressive economic decline in the last decade with the percent age of unemployment rising at the peak of prosperity of the last three business cycles, as well as rising at the trough, and with the length of the last three prosperity periods becoming shorter in duration. A retraining bill to alleviate these condi tion, in part, has been drawn up and has received wide biparti san support in both houses of Congress and by the President. In the last analysis, however, private business firms, unions, and government will have to work more closely together to prevent the disadvantages of automation from outweighing the more obvious and more highly publicized advantages.