These national commissions were created in the 1960s and early 1970s to examine minority roles in the criminal justice system. In which decades did this occur?

• A. 1950s and 1960s
• B. 1960s and early 1970s
• C. 1980s
• D. 1990s

Answer: (B)

The question tests awareness that a set of national commissions focusing on minority roles in the criminal justice system were established during the 1960s and continued into the early 1970s. This era saw the civil rights movement push for federal study and reform, leading to bodies like the Kerner Commission (formed in 1967) and the President’s Commission on Law Enforcement and the Administration of Justice (1967–68), with additional commissions continuing into the early 1970s. So the correct time frame is the 1960s and early 1970s. This isn’t limited to the 1950s, nor does it pertain to the 1980s or 1990s.