Lessons of Comparative Criminal Procedure: France and the United States

This Article argues that crime in the United States has reached socially unacceptable proportions and critiques the suggestions that the U.S. should look to the criminal justice models of other countries to help with the problem. The author analyzes a proposal inspired by the French system of criminal procedure, but finds it lacking in wisdom. The author provides suggestions capable of being implemented within the framework of Anglo-American law and which, if adopted, would demonstrate a determined national resolve to control crime and reduce the fear of it that currently permeates American society.