Alaska Justice Forum ; Vol. 13, No. 1 (Spring 1996)

Abstract

The Spring 1996 issue of the Alaska Justice Forum presents an account based on historical research of the trial and execution for murder of a Native fisherman, Nelson Charles, in Juneau in 1939 — one of the last executions in Alaska, which abolished the death penalty in 1957. The Bureau of Justice Statistics reports on capital punishment in the U.S. in 1994, during which 13 states executed 31 prisoners. The second of two articles on the village component of a statewide public safety project conducted in 1994 by the Justice Center for the Alaska Department of Public Safety focuses on the information derived from on-site interviews conducted in twenty-eight rural communities with predominately Alaska Native populations; specific, localized arrangements for public safety are described. Research in Germany on the effect of alternative sanctions on juvenile offenders indicates that youthful offenders sent to prison have higher rates of recidivism than those given alternative sanctions.