Transformation of Localism as an Organizing Principle for Lower Criminal Courts

• NCJ Number: 85831
• Author(s): M R Volpe
• Date Published: 1981
• Length: 279 pages
• Sale Source: UMI Dissertation Services
• Publication Type: Thesis/Dissertation
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: *This document is currently unavailable from NCJRS. New York University - doctoral dissertation

Annotation

This study examines the role played by social and political influences in the changes made in a New York State lower criminal court's organizational structure and explains the implications of these changes on case processing.

Abstract

Study methodology involved extended participant observations of the court as it experienced partial disappearance of localism, as well as interviews with key political and legal officials. The study assumed that the ideology of localism plays an important role in the creation and subsequent justification of many institutions, including the lower criminal courts. Localism, as an organizing principle, provides a virtually unexplored explanation for understanding the limited progress made by court reformers. Based on the experience of the court considered in this study, it is concluded that the fiscal crisis in the court system has provided society with contradictory processes. In one sense, the crisis has provided a major impetus for the erosion of localism as an organizing principle for lower criminal courts. In another respect, the crisis has provided the impetus for reaffirming localism as an organizing principle for resolving minor disputes. A legal rational orientation is most likely to be achieved in local lower criminal courts by staffing them with full-time prosecutors who can ensure uniformity in case processing. Approximately 140 references are provided. Data and methodological information are appended.