NCJ Number
79079
Journal
Justice System Journal Volume: 6 Issue: 1 Dated: Special issue (Spring 1981) Pages: complete issue
Editor(s)
J J Alfini
Date Published
1981
Length
155 pages
Annotation
Articles examine and analyze various aspects of State misdemeanor courts and suggest some approaches to resolving problems in court operations.
Abstract
The diversity of the State misdemeanor courts is mirrored by policymakers' differing concerns over their operations. Reformers have advocated structural and administrative changes to process caseloads more efficiently; expansion of legal counseling to protect defendants' rights; and expansion of probation services, diversion programs, and other measures aimed at rehabilitating misdemeanor offenders. One article weaves these varying policy concerns into a theoretical perspective and argues that the State misdemeanor courts' availability, informality, flexibility, and diversity make them a major resource for community-based dispute resolution. Another article addresses two important questions: (1) why lawyer members of the bench and bar tolerate nonlawyer judges and (2) how nonlawyer judges differ, as adjudicators, from lawyer judges. This article concludes that at least some issues associated with lay judges can be empirically investigated and suggests a research agenda for this important policy area. A discussion of delay in the British magistrates' courts suggests that factors responsible for such delay may be similar to causes of delay in American misdemeanor courts and suggests an approach to resolving the problem. The question of a court's exercise of greater case control is addressed by two articles which describe a model new case management information system. They also explain the model's implementation and administrative impact in the rural Minnesota misdemeanor court. An examination of planned change in two misdemeanor court environments suggests that change efforts that fail to account for the political and social interests of system participants are less likely to succeed than those that accommodate these interests. A final paper reports on the impact of defense attorney presence on case outcome and case processing practices in the misdemeanor courts in relation to the 1972 Argersinger v. Hamlin decision. Tables, footnotes, and references for individual articles are provided. (Author abstract modified)