DRUNK COURT - THE ADULT PARALLEL TO JUVENILE COURT (FROM CRIMINAL JUSTICE PROCESS - A READER, 1976 BY WILLIAM B SANDERS AND HOWARD C DAUDISTEL - SEE NCJ-34969)

• NCJ Number: 34978
• Author(s): J P WISEMAN
• Date Published: 1976
• Length: 30 pages
• Corporate Author: Praeger Publishers
• Publication Format: Document
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

THE SENTENCING PROCESS IN DRUNK COURT IN AN UNNAMED PACIFIC CITY IS CHARACTERIZED AS ARBITRARY, UNFAIR, CORRUPT, AND INEFFECTIVE.

Abstract

THE PRACTICE OF 'PLATOON SENTENCING' IS PARTICULARLY CRITICIZED. A COMPARISON IS MADE TO JUVENILE COURT, WHICH, LIKE DRUNK COURT, BASES ITS JUDGMENTS PARTIALLY ON CHARACTER REFERENCES AND PRIOR RECORDS. THE AUTHOR MAINTANS THAT THE ELEMENT OF JUDICIAL COMPASSION IS LACKING WHEN DRUNK OFFENDERS ARE SENTENCED BY THE LENGTH OF THEIR WHISKERS, THE STEADINESS OF THEIR HANDS, THEIR ADDRESSES, THE ADVICE GIVEN TO A JUDGE BY A 'RAPPER', WHO MIGHT HAVE KNOWN THEM ONLY MARGINALLY, OR BY THE PRESENT CAPACITY IN THE COUNTY JAIL.