NCJ Number
142845
Date Published
1991
Length
423 pages
Annotation
Based on an organizational theory of court operations, this study examines factors that impact felony case processing and dispositions in Baltimore, Chicago, and Detroit in 1972-73.
Abstract
Based in a theory of organizational dynamics, this study focuses on the interaction and decisionmaking processes of courtroom workgroups as the primary factor in the nature of case processing and outcomes. The courtroom workgroup includes judges, prosecutors, defense counsel, clerks, bailiffs, and to a limited extent, defendants. The study concludes that the interaction of these persons in common tasks determines the outcome of criminal cases. The researchers collected as much information about a sample of defendants in each city as they could find in unpublished court records. They also observed the activities of the courtroom workgroups for approximately 1 week in each courtroom. In addition to detailing the organizational model that underlies the study and the data collection procedures, chapters examine the work of preliminary-hearing courtroom workgroups, analyze trial workgroups as they choose between plea negotiations and trials, and examine the ways in which punishment results from invocation of the felony disposition process. The study found that the felony disposition process is essentially a political process, as it mirrors the distribution of political power in American society. The differences found in case processing and outcomes among the three cities was, in the judgment of the researchers, the result of complex interaction among participants in the courtroom workgroup as it operated in the context of a particular organizational environment governed by local and State ordinances, laws, rules, and traditions. The researchers identify certain areas where reform is needed and suggest which reform strategies are most likely to achieve the desired effects. Chapter notes and a subject index