“Preventive Detention”—Nixon’s Baby

A drive in Congress to pass some form of “preventive detention” law is the Nixon Administration’s first installment payment on its “crime in the streets” campaign slogan.

Proposals currently before Congress range all over the map. Senator Byrd of Virginia would allow almost unlimited discretion to a judge who is persuaded that a defendant charged with a crime of violence might commit a similar act. He could order him held in jail indefinitely pending trial, or restrict him as to movement, associations, etc. He could be compelled to report to jail at sundown and sleep there every night. Other proposals are much more limited. Under one version, preventive detention could be employed for no more than...