How do people justify entering an occupation that conflicts with their morals, and what consequen... more How do people justify entering an occupation that conflicts with their morals, and what consequences do their justifications have for occupational inequality and change? Scholars have considered how morals shape identities and careers among workers, but we know less about how morals shape—and complicate—the choice to enter an occupation. We examine the case of liberal young adults considering entrance into the legal profession. Drawing on interviews with a racially diverse sample of 74 prospective law school students, we find that they exhibit moral conflict at the prospect of entering the profession. They articulate three occupational justification narratives for attending law school despite their criticisms: lifting up (exceptional lawyering); leveraging out (legal education for non-lawyer aspirations); and leaning in (conscientious class mobility/maintenance). These justifications differentiate between morally “good” and “bad” jobs, roles, tasks, and ways of being in the occupati...
This report examines racial/ethnic disparities in arrests in Santa Clara County, California, from... more This report examines racial/ethnic disparities in arrests in Santa Clara County, California, from 1980 to 2019. Over the past forty years, felony and misdemeanor arrest rates have declined for all racial groups, but racial disparities have persisted and, in some cases, increased. Black residents, though a small percentage of the population, are disproportionately susceptible to being arrested. In the 2010s, the Black arrest rate was 5.4 times the White arrest rate—the highest Black-White ratio in arrest rates observed over the four decades. Nevertheless, as overall arrest rates declined over this period, the absolute difference between Black and White arrest rates substantially narrowed. Hispanic residents are also disproportionately arrested, but to a lesser degree than Black residents. Racial/ethnic disparities are most pronounced with respect to felony arrests; the Black-White ratio in felony arrest rates peaked at 7.2 in the 1980s and declined to 6.6 in the 2010s. Racial/ethnic ...
This report examines racial/ethnic disparities in arrests in Santa Clara County, California, from... more This report examines racial/ethnic disparities in arrests in Santa Clara County, California, from 1980 to 2019. Over the past forty years, felony and misdemeanor arrest rates have declined for all racial groups, but racial disparities have persisted and, in some cases, increased. Black residents, though a small percentage of the population, are disproportionately susceptible to being arrested. In the 2010s, the Black arrest rate was 5.4 times the White arrest rate-the highest Black-White ratio in arrest rates observed over the four decades. Nevertheless, as overall arrest rates declined over this period, the absolute difference between Black and White arrest rates substantially narrowed. Hispanic residents are also disproportionately arrested, but to a lesser degree than Black residents. Racial/ethnic disparities are most pronounced with respect to felony arrests; the Black-White ratio in felony arrest rates peaked at 7.2 in the 1980s and declined to 6.6 in the 2010s. Racial/ethnic disparities also exist, to a lesser degree, with respect to misdemeanor arrests. We find small racial differences in arrest dispositions (or, what law enforcement does with a person following arrest). However, it is noteworthy that, across all four decades, Black and Hispanic felony arrests are slightly more likely than White felony arrests to result in release due to "insufficient grounds to file a complaint." This pattern could suggest that law enforcement officers are more likely to arrest Black and Hispanic residents for reasons that law enforcement entities later determine do not rise to the level sufficient for filing a complaint with the District Attorney's Office.
In 1973, on the heels of the hard-fought gains of the Civil Rights Movement, sociologist and civi... more In 1973, on the heels of the hard-fought gains of the Civil Rights Movement, sociologist and civil rights activist Joyce A. Ladner edited a collection titled The Death of White Sociology: Essays on Race and Culture. Bringing together an impressive set of Black writers and academics, the essays sought to make “an early statement on the development of Black sociology […and] to examine some of the historical forces which have acted upon Black sociologists, and to explicate some of the issues which are central to this new discipline” (Ladner [1973] 1998, p. xxvii). For Ladner, as she wrote in her introduction, Black sociology must be distinct from mainstream (White) sociology in its expressly normative commitment to using social science to “eliminat[e] racism and systematic class oppression from the society [and…to] promot[e] the interests of the Black masses” (Ladner [1973] 1998, p. xxvii). Whereas mainstream sociological theories had long been used to justify the subordination of Blac...
This report describes—and offers recommendations for improving—the quality of attorney-client rel... more This report describes—and offers recommendations for improving—the quality of attorney-client relationships in a criminal courthouse in Santa Clara County, California. We draw on in-depth interviews and ethnographic observations collected between July 2021 and June 2022 from the Hall of Justice, one of four state courthouses in Santa Clara County that deals with adult criminal cases. Interviews with a diverse sample of 37 defendants suggest that they hold mostly positive views of their relationships with defense attorneys, though such perceptions vary by type of counsel and income. Moreover, among those who hold positive perceptions of their current defense lawyers, some defendants expressed negative attitudes toward, and recounted negative experiences with, current and previous lawyers. Ethnographic observations of public court proceedings further reveal recurring negative attorney-client relationship attributes, including silencing and sidelining, miscommunication, brevity of inte...
This report describes-and offers recommendations for improving-the quality of attorneyclient rela... more This report describes-and offers recommendations for improving-the quality of attorneyclient relationships in a criminal courthouse in Santa Clara County, California. We draw on in-depth interviews and ethnographic observations collected between July 2021 and June 2022 from the Hall of Justice, one of four state courthouses in Santa Clara County that deals with adult criminal cases. Interviews with a diverse sample of 37 defendants suggest that they hold mostly positive views of their relationships with defense attorneys, though such perceptions vary by type of counsel and income. Moreover, among those who hold positive perceptions of their current defense lawyers, some defendants expressed negative attitudes toward, and recounted negative experiences with, current and previous lawyers. Ethnographic observations of public court proceedings further reveal recurring negative attorney-client relationship attributes, including silencing and sidelining, miscommunication, brevity of interaction, and cooperation with the state (or, coercion). We conclude with several immediate and long-range suggestions for improving the quality of defense provision in the county.
This report summarizes perceptions of policing among a racially and socio-economically diverse sa... more This report summarizes perceptions of policing among a racially and socio-economically diverse sample of 37 people who faced criminal charges in the Hall of Justice, a courthouse in San Jose, California, between August 2021 and March 2022. A majority of criminal defendants we interviewed reported negative perceptions of personal police treatment, but a considerable minority reported positive perceptions. Among those who reported negative perceptions, two criticisms were common: (1) individual police officers’ violence, abuse, and fabrication of evidence; and (2) systemic policing practices that are overly intrusive and estrange certain disfavored groups in the Bay Area, such as the unhoused. Among those who reported positive perceptions, some believe that, despite their personal experiences of positive treatment, police do not treat everyone fairly and policing quality varies by context and the race of the policed person. Alongside these perceptions, a handful of defendants in the s...
This report summarizes perceptions of policing among a racially and socioeconomically diverse sam... more This report summarizes perceptions of policing among a racially and socioeconomically diverse sample of 37 people who faced criminal charges in the Hall of Justice, a courthouse in San Jose, California, between August 2021 and March 2022. A majority of criminal defendants we interviewed reported negative perceptions of personal police treatment, but a considerable minority reported positive perceptions. Among those who reported negative perceptions, two criticisms were common: (1) individual police officers' violence, abuse, and fabrication of evidence; and (2) systemic policing practices that are overly intrusive and estrange certain disfavored groups in the Bay Area, such as the unhoused. Among those who reported positive perceptions, some believe that, despite their personal experiences of positive treatment, police do not treat everyone fairly and policing quality varies by context and the race of the policed person. Alongside these perceptions, a handful of defendants in the sample offered visions for changing policing. Two notable visions were: (1) reallocating resources from police departments toward other city services or under-resourced groups; and (2) reforming police departments in ways that reduce discrimination and abuse. While we discuss variation along demographic characteristics in our sample, we foreground how the range of experiences and visions of policing in San Jose have implications for policymakers and future research.
Researchers have documented the power of legal officials to administer sanctions, from arrest to ... more Researchers have documented the power of legal officials to administer sanctions, from arrest to court surveillance and incarceration. How do those subject to punishment interact with officials and attempt to subvert their power? Drawing on interviews and ethnographic observations among 63 criminal defendants and 42 legal officials in the Boston-area court system, this article considers how socioeconomically and racially disadvantaged defendants interact with their defense attorneys, and with what consequences. Given racialized and classed constraints, many disadvantaged defendants mistrust their court-appointed lawyers. Their mistrust often results in withdrawal from their lawyers and active efforts to cultivate their own legal knowledge and skills. Defendants use their lay legal expertise to work around and resist the authority of their lawyers. Defense attorneys and judges respond with silencing and coercion, given the unwritten norms and rules of the court. These findings compli...
This paper considers how criminal defendants make consequential decisions during court processing... more This paper considers how criminal defendants make consequential decisions during court processing. Drawing on interviews and ethnographic observations among a racially and socio-economically diverse sample of Boston-area defendants and among legal officials, the author describes defendants’ differential styles of engagement with lawyers and the court. Whereas defendants who have reason to trust their lawyers often delegate legal authority to them in consequential moments and experience relative ease of court navigation as a result, defendants who have reason to mistrust their lawyers often withdraw from lawyers and seek to acquire their own legal expertise, such as knowledge about criminal law and procedure learned in their communities, in jail, and through observation. Defendants’ assertive use of self-acquired expertise, however, is discouraged by the court system, often drawing punitive responses from legal officials and constraining defendants’ legal choices. Thus, the cultural ...
Research on jury deliberations has largely focused on the implications of deliberations for crimi... more Research on jury deliberations has largely focused on the implications of deliberations for criminal defendants' outcomes. In contrast, this article considers jurors' outcomes by integrating subjective experience into the study of deliberations. We examine whether jurors' feelings that they had enough time to express themselves vary by jurors' gender, race, or education. Drawing on status characteristics theory and a survey of more than 3,000 real-world jurors, we find that the majority of jurors feel that they had enough time to express themselves. However, blacks and Hispanics, and especially blacks and Hispanics with less education, are less likely to feel so. Jurors' verdict preferences do not account for these findings. Our findings have implications for status characteristics theory and for legal cynicism among members of lower-status social groups.
Researchers have theorized how judges’ decision-making may result in the disproportionate presenc... more Researchers have theorized how judges’ decision-making may result in the disproportionate presence of Blacks and Latinos in the criminal justice system. Yet, we have little evidence about how judges make sense of these disparities and what, if anything, they do to address them. By drawing on 59 interviews with state judges in a Northeastern state, we describe, and trace the implications of, judges’ understandings of racial disparities at arraignment, plea hearings, jury selection, and sentencing. Most judges in our sample attribute disparities, in part, to differential treatment by themselves and/or other criminal justice officials, whereas some judges attribute disparities only to the disparate impact of poverty and differences in offending rates. To address disparities, judges report employing two categories of strategies: noninterventionist and interventionist. Noninterventionist strategies concern only a judge’s own differential treatment, whereas interventionist strategies conc...
How do people justify entering an occupation that conflicts with their morals, and what consequen... more How do people justify entering an occupation that conflicts with their morals, and what consequences do their justifications have for occupational inequality and change? Scholars have considered how morals shape identities and careers among workers, but we know less about how morals shape—and complicate—the choice to enter an occupation. We examine the case of liberal young adults considering entrance into the legal profession. Drawing on interviews with a racially diverse sample of 74 prospective law school students, we find that they exhibit moral conflict at the prospect of entering the profession. They articulate three occupational justification narratives for attending law school despite their criticisms: lifting up (exceptional lawyering); leveraging out (legal education for non-lawyer aspirations); and leaning in (conscientious class mobility/maintenance). These justifications differentiate between morally “good” and “bad” jobs, roles, tasks, and ways of being in the occupati...
This report examines racial/ethnic disparities in arrests in Santa Clara County, California, from... more This report examines racial/ethnic disparities in arrests in Santa Clara County, California, from 1980 to 2019. Over the past forty years, felony and misdemeanor arrest rates have declined for all racial groups, but racial disparities have persisted and, in some cases, increased. Black residents, though a small percentage of the population, are disproportionately susceptible to being arrested. In the 2010s, the Black arrest rate was 5.4 times the White arrest rate—the highest Black-White ratio in arrest rates observed over the four decades. Nevertheless, as overall arrest rates declined over this period, the absolute difference between Black and White arrest rates substantially narrowed. Hispanic residents are also disproportionately arrested, but to a lesser degree than Black residents. Racial/ethnic disparities are most pronounced with respect to felony arrests; the Black-White ratio in felony arrest rates peaked at 7.2 in the 1980s and declined to 6.6 in the 2010s. Racial/ethnic ...
This report examines racial/ethnic disparities in arrests in Santa Clara County, California, from... more This report examines racial/ethnic disparities in arrests in Santa Clara County, California, from 1980 to 2019. Over the past forty years, felony and misdemeanor arrest rates have declined for all racial groups, but racial disparities have persisted and, in some cases, increased. Black residents, though a small percentage of the population, are disproportionately susceptible to being arrested. In the 2010s, the Black arrest rate was 5.4 times the White arrest rate-the highest Black-White ratio in arrest rates observed over the four decades. Nevertheless, as overall arrest rates declined over this period, the absolute difference between Black and White arrest rates substantially narrowed. Hispanic residents are also disproportionately arrested, but to a lesser degree than Black residents. Racial/ethnic disparities are most pronounced with respect to felony arrests; the Black-White ratio in felony arrest rates peaked at 7.2 in the 1980s and declined to 6.6 in the 2010s. Racial/ethnic disparities also exist, to a lesser degree, with respect to misdemeanor arrests. We find small racial differences in arrest dispositions (or, what law enforcement does with a person following arrest). However, it is noteworthy that, across all four decades, Black and Hispanic felony arrests are slightly more likely than White felony arrests to result in release due to "insufficient grounds to file a complaint." This pattern could suggest that law enforcement officers are more likely to arrest Black and Hispanic residents for reasons that law enforcement entities later determine do not rise to the level sufficient for filing a complaint with the District Attorney's Office.
In 1973, on the heels of the hard-fought gains of the Civil Rights Movement, sociologist and civi... more In 1973, on the heels of the hard-fought gains of the Civil Rights Movement, sociologist and civil rights activist Joyce A. Ladner edited a collection titled The Death of White Sociology: Essays on Race and Culture. Bringing together an impressive set of Black writers and academics, the essays sought to make “an early statement on the development of Black sociology […and] to examine some of the historical forces which have acted upon Black sociologists, and to explicate some of the issues which are central to this new discipline” (Ladner [1973] 1998, p. xxvii). For Ladner, as she wrote in her introduction, Black sociology must be distinct from mainstream (White) sociology in its expressly normative commitment to using social science to “eliminat[e] racism and systematic class oppression from the society [and…to] promot[e] the interests of the Black masses” (Ladner [1973] 1998, p. xxvii). Whereas mainstream sociological theories had long been used to justify the subordination of Blac...
This report describes—and offers recommendations for improving—the quality of attorney-client rel... more This report describes—and offers recommendations for improving—the quality of attorney-client relationships in a criminal courthouse in Santa Clara County, California. We draw on in-depth interviews and ethnographic observations collected between July 2021 and June 2022 from the Hall of Justice, one of four state courthouses in Santa Clara County that deals with adult criminal cases. Interviews with a diverse sample of 37 defendants suggest that they hold mostly positive views of their relationships with defense attorneys, though such perceptions vary by type of counsel and income. Moreover, among those who hold positive perceptions of their current defense lawyers, some defendants expressed negative attitudes toward, and recounted negative experiences with, current and previous lawyers. Ethnographic observations of public court proceedings further reveal recurring negative attorney-client relationship attributes, including silencing and sidelining, miscommunication, brevity of inte...
This report describes-and offers recommendations for improving-the quality of attorneyclient rela... more This report describes-and offers recommendations for improving-the quality of attorneyclient relationships in a criminal courthouse in Santa Clara County, California. We draw on in-depth interviews and ethnographic observations collected between July 2021 and June 2022 from the Hall of Justice, one of four state courthouses in Santa Clara County that deals with adult criminal cases. Interviews with a diverse sample of 37 defendants suggest that they hold mostly positive views of their relationships with defense attorneys, though such perceptions vary by type of counsel and income. Moreover, among those who hold positive perceptions of their current defense lawyers, some defendants expressed negative attitudes toward, and recounted negative experiences with, current and previous lawyers. Ethnographic observations of public court proceedings further reveal recurring negative attorney-client relationship attributes, including silencing and sidelining, miscommunication, brevity of interaction, and cooperation with the state (or, coercion). We conclude with several immediate and long-range suggestions for improving the quality of defense provision in the county.
This report summarizes perceptions of policing among a racially and socio-economically diverse sa... more This report summarizes perceptions of policing among a racially and socio-economically diverse sample of 37 people who faced criminal charges in the Hall of Justice, a courthouse in San Jose, California, between August 2021 and March 2022. A majority of criminal defendants we interviewed reported negative perceptions of personal police treatment, but a considerable minority reported positive perceptions. Among those who reported negative perceptions, two criticisms were common: (1) individual police officers’ violence, abuse, and fabrication of evidence; and (2) systemic policing practices that are overly intrusive and estrange certain disfavored groups in the Bay Area, such as the unhoused. Among those who reported positive perceptions, some believe that, despite their personal experiences of positive treatment, police do not treat everyone fairly and policing quality varies by context and the race of the policed person. Alongside these perceptions, a handful of defendants in the s...
This report summarizes perceptions of policing among a racially and socioeconomically diverse sam... more This report summarizes perceptions of policing among a racially and socioeconomically diverse sample of 37 people who faced criminal charges in the Hall of Justice, a courthouse in San Jose, California, between August 2021 and March 2022. A majority of criminal defendants we interviewed reported negative perceptions of personal police treatment, but a considerable minority reported positive perceptions. Among those who reported negative perceptions, two criticisms were common: (1) individual police officers' violence, abuse, and fabrication of evidence; and (2) systemic policing practices that are overly intrusive and estrange certain disfavored groups in the Bay Area, such as the unhoused. Among those who reported positive perceptions, some believe that, despite their personal experiences of positive treatment, police do not treat everyone fairly and policing quality varies by context and the race of the policed person. Alongside these perceptions, a handful of defendants in the sample offered visions for changing policing. Two notable visions were: (1) reallocating resources from police departments toward other city services or under-resourced groups; and (2) reforming police departments in ways that reduce discrimination and abuse. While we discuss variation along demographic characteristics in our sample, we foreground how the range of experiences and visions of policing in San Jose have implications for policymakers and future research.
Researchers have documented the power of legal officials to administer sanctions, from arrest to ... more Researchers have documented the power of legal officials to administer sanctions, from arrest to court surveillance and incarceration. How do those subject to punishment interact with officials and attempt to subvert their power? Drawing on interviews and ethnographic observations among 63 criminal defendants and 42 legal officials in the Boston-area court system, this article considers how socioeconomically and racially disadvantaged defendants interact with their defense attorneys, and with what consequences. Given racialized and classed constraints, many disadvantaged defendants mistrust their court-appointed lawyers. Their mistrust often results in withdrawal from their lawyers and active efforts to cultivate their own legal knowledge and skills. Defendants use their lay legal expertise to work around and resist the authority of their lawyers. Defense attorneys and judges respond with silencing and coercion, given the unwritten norms and rules of the court. These findings compli...
This paper considers how criminal defendants make consequential decisions during court processing... more This paper considers how criminal defendants make consequential decisions during court processing. Drawing on interviews and ethnographic observations among a racially and socio-economically diverse sample of Boston-area defendants and among legal officials, the author describes defendants’ differential styles of engagement with lawyers and the court. Whereas defendants who have reason to trust their lawyers often delegate legal authority to them in consequential moments and experience relative ease of court navigation as a result, defendants who have reason to mistrust their lawyers often withdraw from lawyers and seek to acquire their own legal expertise, such as knowledge about criminal law and procedure learned in their communities, in jail, and through observation. Defendants’ assertive use of self-acquired expertise, however, is discouraged by the court system, often drawing punitive responses from legal officials and constraining defendants’ legal choices. Thus, the cultural ...
Research on jury deliberations has largely focused on the implications of deliberations for crimi... more Research on jury deliberations has largely focused on the implications of deliberations for criminal defendants' outcomes. In contrast, this article considers jurors' outcomes by integrating subjective experience into the study of deliberations. We examine whether jurors' feelings that they had enough time to express themselves vary by jurors' gender, race, or education. Drawing on status characteristics theory and a survey of more than 3,000 real-world jurors, we find that the majority of jurors feel that they had enough time to express themselves. However, blacks and Hispanics, and especially blacks and Hispanics with less education, are less likely to feel so. Jurors' verdict preferences do not account for these findings. Our findings have implications for status characteristics theory and for legal cynicism among members of lower-status social groups.
Researchers have theorized how judges’ decision-making may result in the disproportionate presenc... more Researchers have theorized how judges’ decision-making may result in the disproportionate presence of Blacks and Latinos in the criminal justice system. Yet, we have little evidence about how judges make sense of these disparities and what, if anything, they do to address them. By drawing on 59 interviews with state judges in a Northeastern state, we describe, and trace the implications of, judges’ understandings of racial disparities at arraignment, plea hearings, jury selection, and sentencing. Most judges in our sample attribute disparities, in part, to differential treatment by themselves and/or other criminal justice officials, whereas some judges attribute disparities only to the disparate impact of poverty and differences in offending rates. To address disparities, judges report employing two categories of strategies: noninterventionist and interventionist. Noninterventionist strategies concern only a judge’s own differential treatment, whereas interventionist strategies conc...
This paper considers how criminal defendants make consequential decisions during court processing... more This paper considers how criminal defendants make consequential decisions during court processing. Drawing on interviews and ethnographic observations among a racially and socio-economically diverse sample of Boston-area defendants and among legal officials, the author describes defendants’ differential styles of engagement with lawyers and the court. Whereas defendants who have reason to trust their lawyers often delegate legal authority to them in consequential moments and experience relative ease of court navigation as a result, defendants who have reason to mistrust their lawyers often withdraw from lawyers and seek to acquire their own legal expertise, such as knowledge about criminal law and procedure learned in their communities, in jail, and through observation. Defendants’ assertive use of self-acquired expertise, however, is discouraged by the court system, often drawing punitive responses from legal officials and constraining defendants’ legal choices. Thus, the cultural styles and resources that scholars have shown to benefit the privileged in mainstream institutions such as schools and workplaces have negative repercussions in the criminal courts, often to the detriment of less-advantaged defendants. The author discusses implications for research on criminal court disparities and sociological theory on culture, expertise, and navigation across a range of institutions.
This statement responds to the Massachusetts Sentencing Commission’s invitation to comment on iss... more This statement responds to the Massachusetts Sentencing Commission’s invitation to comment on issues relating to sentencing policies and practices for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. We provide the commission with a brief overview of sociological research on mass incarceration, sentencing practices, and racial/ethnic minorities’ disproportionate contact with criminal justice institutions. We focus on empirical research pertaining to potential sentencing practices, policies, and principles that may assist the commonwealth in reducing racial/ethnic sentencing disparities (G.L. c. 211 E, § 2 (4)), and in so doing, promote greater respect for the law (G.L. c. 211 E, § 2 (3) (B)), provide just punishment (G.L. c. 211 E, § 2 (1); G.L. c. 211 E, § 2 (3) (C)), and secure public safety (G.L. c. 211 E, § 2 (2); G.L. c. 211 E, § 2 (3) (E)). We then draw on this research to comment on the specific topics outlined by the commission at its October 19, 2016 public hearing.
This toolkit offers public defense attorneys--and their offices--insights and strategies to enhan... more This toolkit offers public defense attorneys--and their offices--insights and strategies to enhance trust, communication, and collaboration with their clients. Drawing from recent social science research and a brief tour of innovative practices in public defense organizations across the United States, the toolkit aims to foster a more just approach to criminal legal representation that aligns lawyers' legal expertise with clients' unique needs, hopes, and expertise. We offer additional reading for attorneys and other professionals interested in strengthening their commitment to representing indigent clients with dignity, respect, and competence.
Uploads