问答题

Practice 6　　Before arrest. Some communities are using mediation and arbitration centers for resolving family and neighborhood disputes. For instance, the Citizens Dispute Settlement Project in Columbus, Ohio, uses law students to do this. The project is credited with lowering the number of minor arrests and assaults by 22 percent. San Francisco's Delancey Street Foundation has a residential center where drug addicts are sent for counseling. Erie, Pa., offers similar help to inebriates.　　Before trial. Citations and summonses, similar to traffic tickets, are given for certain misdemeanors, such as disorderly conduct. The offender is allowed to pay a fine, rather than go to jail. Some courts are using non-bail release which relies on a third party or a court-appointed supervisor to ensure an accused's appearance at trial.　　During a trial. Some cities are using weekend and night courts to handle the large number of arrests that occur over weekends. Without such off-hour court sessions, jails are frequently filled to capacity over weekends. In place of prison, some communities require Violators to pay compensation to victims in larceny, burglary, and auto theft cases. Some judges sentence minor offenders to perform some kind of community service. Georgia, which handles 85 percent of its misdemeanors and 15 percent of its felony convictions in this manner, has lowered its county jail population by a daily average of 66 percent.