Exact citation of source wanted:

"The trouble with the Anglo-American criminal justice system is that
it was designed to be used by a bobby in an English village." 
(wording approximate)

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Request for Question Clarification by gnovos-ga on 22 May 2002 16:26 PDT

You don't happen to know what context this quote should be found in do
you?  I have been looking into your three quotes, and this one seems
to have the least amout of looking into, so I thought I would give it
a try.  I have many ways to look for quotes, but certian things can
help me narrow down where I should be looking.  If you can answer any
of these questions, or even just have a cloudy idea about the possible
answers, I think I might be able to zero in on the source:

1) Approx time period (1800's? 1900's? 1950's? Last week?)
2) Surrounding Context (e.g. spoken in a movie, a speech, a column in
a newspaper, a political debate, etc.)
3) Origin (coming from the U.S., England, Saudi Arabia, etc.)
4) Where *you* heard it (A friend told you, you remember it from "some
book" you read years ago, you have no idea why you know it, anything.)

Any kind of information similar to that, even if it seems unimportant
to you, may help me find what you're looking for.

Thanks!

I don't have the quote but I think I migh have found the person who
wrote it. His name is Martin J. Wiener,
Mary Gibbs Jones Professor of History at Rice University.
http://dacnet.rice.edu/Faculty/?FDSID=654

He has written many articles about Law and policy in England in the
time frame you quote seems to relate to and with the kind of writing
this person does.

"Publisher description for Reconstructing the criminal : culture, law,
and policy in England, 1830-1914 / Martin J. Wiener."

"This ambitious and imaginative work interprets criminal justice
history by relating it to intellectual and cultural history. Starting
from the assumption that policies and statutes originate in a
society's values and norms, the author skillfully and persuasively
demonstrates how changes in criminal law and penal practice were
related to the changing values of early, mid, and late Victorian and
Edwardian society. Wiener traces changes in the criminal justice
system by examining the treatment of offenders. During the Victorian
period the system became more punitive and then reformed to be more
welfarist. This work offers insight into the contemporary
Anglo-American penal system. In addition, Wiener's wide-ranging
discussion of issues, most notably of free will versus determinism,
sheds light on a broad range of Victorian history, beyond crime and
punishment. "

This is a quote from the Publisher description & description of one of
the books he has written on British Law from the Library of
Congrass.http://www.loc.gov/catdir/description/cam024/90001593.html

He has extensive writings about law and I would make an educated guess
this is one of his quotes.

As quoted from Rice University, his focus is on "British history of
criminal justice." http://dacnet.rice.edu/Faculty/?FDSID=654

I did not find any of his writings on the net but an email to him may
not hurt. His address is located in the Rice Universiy website.

Bob

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Request for Answer Clarification by trulyga-ga on 24 May 2002 07:10 PDT

To Gnovos and Remoran:

   1.  I have very little information about the quotation I'm seeking;
I came across it in reading several years ago, and foolishly failed to
copy it down.  I would assume from the style that it was written by a
Briton or an American, not earlier than the twentieth century, and
probably the second half of the century.  I have the impression that
the author was a historian, sociologist, or criminologist, but that
hardly narrows the field down much even if I'm right.

   2.  I have sent a message to Professor Wiener asking if he's the
author.  I'll let you know when I hear from him.

                                       --Truly

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Clarification of Answer by remoran-ga on 24 May 2002 15:24 PDT

I hope this works out for you. It took quite a bit to digging to find
out Professor's Wiener's name but it looks like he's heavy duty in
British and American Law and this quote just seems to fit the kind of
work he does. Good luck on this and please keep me updated on this.
This is a real stumper to be sure.

Bob

FYI: I have searched all Westlaw state caselaw and find no reference
to your quote, which by the way, seems totally sensible!  I also
searched all of the American Law Reports ("ALR's").

Curiosity will cause me to continue my search.

Great question!
Tom

The village bobby would have had to investigate the pilfering of half
a pound of sweets from the local sweet shop, but today it is a
different matter. Crimes and criminals have become much more
sophisticated, and criminals use computers in planning and executing
their crimes.

From http://www.parliament.the-stationery-office.co.uk/pa/cm198990/cmhansrd/1990-05-04/Debate-2.html

no cigar.