About | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline
LOG IN
LOG IN

5 J. Am. Inst. Crim. L. & Criminology 39 (May 1914 to March 1915)
Influence of Environment on Identification of Persons and Things

handle is hein.journals/jclc5 and id is 49 raw text is: THE INFLUENCE OF ENVIRONMENT ON IDENTIFICATION OF PERSONS AND THINGS. GUSTAVE A. FEINGOLD.' The symbolic representation of justice indicates that it is the con- summate desire of the judicial body to measure and to proportion the claims of contending parties with mathematical precision. To be sure, it is an ideal eminently becoming our civilization to presume the pris- oner at the bar innocent until he has been proved guilty. This is the protection that a maternal state properly throws about her erring chil- dren; and she does it willingly, preferring that ten guilty persons should escape punishment rather than a single innocent one should suffer unjustly at her hands. Nevertheless, the state must watch out for her own welfare, and to that end she must use the most efficient methods for the apprehension as well as for the conviction and pun- ishment of evil doers. The problem of identifying supposed culprits was a real stumbling block to the police before the present anthropological methods of identi- fication were discovered. These methods, however, *are only serviceable in the recognition of a person of whom there already exists a police record, i. e., anthropological measurements, finger prints, etc. But what about the first time offender, or even the professional criminal who is not apprehended in the act of crime, but who is observed therein by a lay person, and is subsequently arrested on the basis of a description of him-how is he to be recognized? An individual is seen lurldng in a building, let us say. Subsequently it is discovered that a robbery or a murder or what not, took place in that building. Some days or weeks later an arrest is made, and the persons who had seen this lurking in- dividual are summoned to the police court for the purpose of identifying the suspect. Assuming that the individual under arrest is the one who had been seen lurking in the building, what is the probability that he will be recognized in the new surroundings? : ' In January, 1914, a man named K. was arrested in Boston charged with the robbery of a local store. For a while the police believed they had the leader of a gang that had made many daring breaks. In order to form a chain of evidence against him, many people who reported seeing suspicious looking individuals near the scenes of crime were 'Assistant in Psychology in Harvard University. 39

What Is HeinOnline?

HeinOnline is a subscription-based resource containing thousands of academic and legal journals from inception; complete coverage of government documents such as U.S. Statutes at Large, U.S. Code, Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations, U.S. Reports, and much more. Documents are image-based, fully searchable PDFs with the authority of print combined with the accessibility of a user-friendly and powerful database. For more information, request a quote or trial for your organization below.



Short-term subscription options include 24 hours, 48 hours, or 1 week to HeinOnline.

Purchase Access

Contact us for annual subscription options:

Contact Us

Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?

Log In

profiles profiles most