GUILTY PLEA COURTS - A SOCIAL DISCIPLINARY MODEL OF CRIMINAL-JUSTICE

Authors
MCCONVILLE M MIRSKY C
Citation
M. Mcconville et C. Mirsky, GUILTY PLEA COURTS - A SOCIAL DISCIPLINARY MODEL OF CRIMINAL-JUSTICE, Social problems, 42(2), 1995, pp. 216-234
Citations number
69
Categorie Soggetti
Sociology
Journal title
Social problems → ACNP
ISSN journal
00377791
Volume
42
Issue
2
Year of publication
1995
Pages
216 - 234
Database
ISI
SICI code
0037-7791(1995)42:2<216:GPC-AS>2.0.ZU;2-8
Abstract
This article presents an analysis of the social construction of guilty plea cases in New York City's stale courts. Using ethnographic accoun ts of courtroom experience, we show how proactive policing and guilty pleas enable the justice system to operate as a mechanism of social di scipline that teaches subordination, while it creates an architecture of legitimacy over decision making that essentially lacks legal ration ality.