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Chapter 5 The Dynamics of Courthouse Justice The Courthouse and the People Who Work There -

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The Courthouse o Early American courthouses were simple structures with “plain furnishing and finishes” o Today, them seem to present an image of solidity and unyielding strength The Courtroom

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Courtrooms are far different from that portrayed on TV What is happening inside is best viewed in terms of the actors who congregate in different locations Court begins by… “Al rise, the court for ___ County is now in session, the Honorable ____ presiding” The clerk of court= controls the scheduling of cases, makes and maintains exhibits, and keeps the judge apprised of the relevant details of the case.  A.k.a calendar clerk or courtroom deputy Court reporter = record and transcribe what is said in many types of legal proceedings  A.k.a court stenographer Judicial law clerk = typically a recent graduate who assists the judge with conducting legal research and drafting judicial opinions. Judicial secretary= does usual secretarial tasks and maintains the judges calendar and controls access to the judge when they aren’t presiding Bailiffs= roles vary. Announce courts is in session, escort the jury, operate courtroom equipment, maintain supplies Lawyers typically argue while sitting behind the table Jury box= where jurors sit, or if no trial by jury its typically the defendants waiting sitting in there Courtrooms are fast acting

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Behind the Scenes o Courts are paperwork bureaucracies o People who are behind the scenes handling the paperwork are almost invisible, but if they were to leave, their inaction can make headlines o One of the behind the scenes actors is managers  Three distinct sets of court managers…  Clerks of court: an elected or appointed court officer responsible for maintain the written records of the court and for supervising or performing the clerical tasks necessary to conduct judicial business o Responsible for docketing cases, collecting fees, overseeing jury selection, and maintaining court records o They have enormous power o Elected officials o Sometimes even compete with judges for control  Chief judges o responsible for court administration but seldom have the authority to implement systemic change in a courthouse  Court administrators o preparing annual reports, summarizing caseload data, preparing budgets, and troubleshooting  The problem of managing the courthouse is the tension between the rationality of bureaucracy and the anti-bureaucracy philosophies of judges

Courthouse Security and Changing Technologies -

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It used to be that you simply just walk through the doors of a courthouse and you’re in Now, there’s security and metal detectors because of safety and now cameras have been implemented and widely used Targeted Acts of Violence in Courts o Operating a court building today is very risky business  They are targets for terrorist groups  Every day court buildings are visited by a large volume of disgruntled and even lawbreaking citizens o Protecting older courthouses is difficult because they were built for ready access, not protection o Courthouse security meaning has changed not only to protecting the workers but also the citizens in the courthouse Security Beyond the Courthouse o Unfortunately, workers of the courthouse, like judges, prosecutors, etc., have to worry about their safety even when they aren’t working o Key court staff needs to take steps to mitigate their chances of victimization…  Installing a security system in their home  Locking all doors and windows  Not listing their home address on any public documents

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Only using the courthouse address and phone number as a mailing address and contact phone, bills, checks, etc. Applying for confidentially on driver’s licenses and vehicle registrations Making sure that telephone numbers and address are unlisted

Dynamics of Courthouse Justice -

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Dynamics of courthouse justice (law in action) Widely held cultural images (law in books) Differences on what people expect to see and reality… o People think they will see individual cases, instead its like a parade of defendants o People expect the law to provide guidance, instead decisions aren’t necessarily clear-cut and some leeway is available o People expect to observe the conflict projected by the adversarial model, instead there is cooperation among all players In exploring these differences, practitioners and scholars have used three concepts that are useful in understanding the dynamics of courthouse justice… o Assembly-line justice  Explains why few cases receive individual treatment o Discretion  Emphasizes that decisions, although guided by law, aren’t totally determined by rules found in statutes or court decisions o Courtroom work group  Stresses the importance of the patterned interactions of judges and lawyers

Assembly-Line Justice -

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The most commonly advanced reason that criminal courts don’t administer justice is assemblyline justice Assembly-line justice: the operation of any segment of the crj system with such speed and impersonality that defendants are treated as object to be processed rather than as individuals Strengths of the Explanation o The volume of cases is large  b/c of this lawyers are more interested in “moving it along” rather than individually focusing on each case o to cope with large cases, lawyers often apply several mass-production techniques Weaknesses of the Explanation o However, based on historical evidence, courts have been faced with high number of cases for more than a century o Routine administration: a matter that presents the court with no disputes over law or fact

Discretion -

This lies at the heart of the crj system Discretion is exercised from the moment a crime is committed and after a sentence is imposed Discretion: the lawful ability of an agent of govt to exercise choice in making a decision

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Discretion has three major subcomponents… o Legal judgments  Some judgements stem from a prediction about the likely outcome of a case at a later stage in the proceedings o Policy priorities  Through these, court officials try to devote more resources to prosecuting serious crimes o Personal philosophies  Personal values and attitudes The Downside of Discretion o Police may abuse it

The Courtroom Work Group -

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Courtroom work group: the regular participants in the day-to-day activities of a particular courtroom; judge, prosecutor, and defense attorney interacting on the basis of shared norms Mutual Interdependence o The courthouse is not a single organization but rather a collection of separate institutions o None of the actors can act independently they all must work together Shared Decision Making o The courthouse shares decision o The hallmark of work groups is regularity of behavior  This regularity is the product of shared norms about how each member should behave and what decisions are desirable o Newcomers learn these important informal norms of cooperation through a process referred to as “socialization” Socialization o Socialization: as used in the court setting, the process in which new members of the courtroom work group learn the norms, values, behaviors, and skills expected of them in a professional position o Process to break in the new comers o One of the most important things they learn is the importance of shared norms  These norms allow the members of the courtroom work group to routinely process what is known as “normal crimes” Normal crimes o Most of the matters before courts are routine o Normal crime: categorization of crime based on the typical manner in which it is committed, the type of defendant who typically commits it, and he typical penalty to be applied o In essence, normal crimes represent a group sense of justice Rewards and Sanctions o Those who follow the rules may get a variety of rewards (carrots) o Those who don’t, some sanctions (sticks) may be applied

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Variability in Courtroom Work Groups o The stability of the work group varies o The policy norms vary from community to community o the most visibile variation between work groups concerns delay

The Problem of Delay -

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a common problem of the courts is that too many cases take too long to reach disposition delay: abnormal or unacceptable time lapses in the processing of cases unnecessary delay consequences of delay o “justice delayed is justice denied” o It jeopardizes the defendants right to a speedy trial o It hampers society’s need for a speedy conviction  The state is also viewed as possessing the right to a speedy trial o Delay erodes public confidence in the judicial process o Delay in disposing of cases wastes the resources of the crj system Assessing the Costs of Delay

Law on the Books Approach to Court Delay -

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Focuses on resources and procedures A common response is to supplement resources – add judges, lawyers, clerks, etc. Traditional court reformers emphasize streamlining procedures o They view preliminary hearing, pretrial motions, etc as sources of delay The law on the books approach (of issuing more and more rules and regulations) is often ineffective in speeding up cases Speedy-trial laws o Speedy trial laws: are federal or state statutes that specify time limits for bringing a case to trial after arrest o Some specify precise time standards for periods from arrest to arraignment, trial, and or sentencing o These apply only when the delay has been “extensive” o Speedy trial is viewed as an important objective irrespective of whether the defendant’s interests are in jeopardy Limits of Speedy-Trial Laws o They lack specifics o The time limits specified are seldom a guide to actual practice o w/out adequate resources, they are doomed for failure o overall, law in action approaches to reducing delay are ultimately more effective

Law in Action Approach to Court Delay -

law on the books ignores the dynamics of courthouse justice some lawyers may like delay b/c it can increase their stakes of plea bargaining or to avoid harsh judges, etc

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improving case scheduling and trying to achieve better coordination among courtroom work group members are two approaches case scheduling o a busy courtroom can come to a halt if one player is missing. They must all be there efforts at coordination o because members are all independent organizations, they all have different schedules, so they all must work together to coordinate

Legal Ethics -

legal ethics: codes of conduct governing how lawyers practice law and how judges administer justice. A specific type of ethics ethics = refers to the study and analysis of what constitutes good or bad conduct it is of critical important of legal ethics is one way to ensure a fair fight...