Berkeley, California, July 1976. We are pleased to announce that the journal Issues in Criminology has merged with Crime and Social Justice. Founded in 1965, Issues was initially published, edited, and controlled by graduate students in the School of Criminology at Berkeley. With the closing of the School this year, however, the continued publication of Issues under its original auspices became impossible. The present Issues staff has decided that it would be in the best interests of both the journal and the progressive movement in criminology were it to merge its resources with another journal. Numerous offers were extended by individuals and departments interested in taking over Issues. It was the shared judgment of both the Issues staff and this collective that the spirit and politics of Issues could best be continued by Crime and Social Justice.

An outgrowth of the Free Speech Movement in Berkeley, Issues was created and operated by students in an effort to gain some control over the means of their education. In an overwhelmingly repressive and technocratic field, the overall political character of Issues was critical and progressive, albeit in an eclectic fashion. Its editors sought to provide a forum for the expression of alternatives to the dominant criminological orthodoxy. Issues was not a Marxist journal; nevertheless, it supported radical ideas and in this respect distinguished itself from its more conservative rivals. Throughout its eleven years of existence, Issues has maintained high standards of scholarship and was the first to offer radicals a place to publish when other journals were closed to progressive ideas.

Historically, there have been close ties between the two journals. For many of us, Issues provided our initial training and experience in journalism, and we learned a great deal -- both politically and technically. Several members of the current Crime and Social Justice collective at one time worked with Issues. While there were some important political differences between the two journals, this did not degenerate into a competition for subscribers. Furthermore, in recent years Issues has become increasingly progressive, particularly with respect to the contributions made in its special issues on "racism" and "sexism."

The transfer of Issues to Crime and Social Justice is the result of several months of discussion and negotiation.

* We would like to thank the Issues staff for their decision to entrust their journal to our care. But more importantly, we would like to thank all the staffs who published Issues in Criminology for playing an important role in opening the field of criminology to progressive theories of crime and justice. We will make every effort to continue and deepen that commitment.

* The administrative aspects of this transfer are complex and will take a little time to complete. It is our intention to assume the responsibility of meeting the outstanding subscription obligations of Issues. Present subscribers to Issues will be offered a refund or, preferably, a subscription to Crime and Social Justice. Those who subscribe to both journals will be offered either a refund or an equivalent extension of their Crime and Social Justice subscription. All subscribers who are affected by this decision will be contacted by mail.