JUSTICE ON OFFER? An Ethnographic Study of Plea-Bargaining, Emotion and Interaction in a United States Criminal Court

Description

Building on ethnographic material, Cecilia researches how prosecutors’ plea offers are formed and legitimatised in plea bargaining interaction in a United States criminal state court. Her investigation stretches from the preparatory stages of decision-making to the front-line interaction where prosecutors and defence lawyers negotiate to reach an agreement and a guilty plea, in which the defendant relinquishes their constitutional rights to trial. Tending to plea bargaining practices in the United States is important as prosecutors are vested with wide discretionary power, which can impact greatly those experiencing criminal law. Although the majority of criminal cases are disposed of through plea bargaining in U.S. courts, this practice is often seen as taking place in a “black box” with limited insight to the public and scholars alike. As such, Cecilia’s research aims further our understanding on what goes into these discretionary and plea-bargaining practices by tending to the institutional, interactional and emotional expectations placed on and held by the participating prosecutors.

The project is a part of the ERC project JUSTEMOTIONS.