LAWRENCEVILLE, NJ -- Steven R. Donziger, editor of The Real War on Crime, will receive the third annual Rider University law and justice award and will discuss his book on Thursday, March 25 at 11:30 a.m. in the Sweigart Hall auditorium.

Free and open to the public, the program is sponsored by the law and justice program at Rider.

The Real War on Crime, the report of the National Criminal Justice Commission, addresses many critical issues such as: how fear of crime, rather than crime itself, shapes criminal justice policies; why prison populations have tripled since 1980, but crime rates have essentially remained stable; how savvy politicians of both parties and at every level have capitalized on fears, campaigned on get-tough platforms, and won; the rise of a new prison-industrial complex alongside the old military-industrial complex; and the racial biases of the criminal justice system. The book also contains a report card that ranks each of the 50 states on the effectiveness of its crime policies.

Donziger, a resident of New York City, is a graduate of Harvard Law School and a former trial attorney for the Public Defender Service of the District of Columbia.

The National Criminal Justice Commission was formed in 1994. Its members include criminal justice experts, community leaders, national and international scholars, professors, and authors.

The previous two winners of the award are: Linda Fineberg, a New Jersey Superior Court judge and a 1971 Rider graduate; and Maryann Bielamowicz, also a State Superior Court judge, a former Mercer County prosecutor, and a 1970 Rider graduate.

For more information, contact Dr. Ava Baron, professor of sociology and director of the law and justice program, at (609) 895-5462.

Rider University's Lawrenceville campus is located five miles south of Princeton and three miles north of Trenton on Route 206 in Lawrence Township, NJ. The campus is one-half mile south of exit 7A of Interstate 95.