NCJ Number
14590
Journal
JOURNAL OF URBAN LAW Volume: 51 Dated: (1974) Pages: 665-685
Date Published
1974
Length
21 pages
Annotation
A STUDY WHICH DRAWS UPON ORGANIZATIONAL THEORY TO IDENTIFY AND UNDERSTAND SOME OF THE INSTITUTIONAL WEAKNESSES OF THE PUBLIC DEFENDER SUCH AS ROUTINIZATION OF DECISION MAKING AND LACK OF AGGRESSIVE DEFENSE.
Abstract
THE STUDY REPORTED HERE IS A FIELD INVESTIGATION OF A LARGE CITY OFFICE OF A STATEWIDE PUBLIC DEFENDER SYSTEM. DATA FOR THIS STUDY WERE COLLECTED OVER A THREE MONTH PERIOD BY TWO MAIN RESEARCH STRATEGIES - PARTICIPANT OBSERVATION AND IN-DEPTH INTERVIEWS. SEVERAL KEY FACTORS WERE IDENTIFIED WHICH AFFECT THE PUBLIC DEFENDER'S BEHAVIOR. EFFORTS TO CONDUCT CREATIVE LEGAL STRATEGIES WERE FOUND TO BE LARGELY UNSUPPORTED BY OTHER RELATED ORGANIZATIONS SUCH AS THE STATE LEGISLATURE AND STATE JUDICIARY SYSTEM. THE PRESSURE TO SERVE A LARGE NUMBER OF CLIENTS AT A MINIMUM COST AND THE LACK OF POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC SUPPORT WERE FOUND TO ENCOURAGE THE PUBLIC DEFENDER TO ROUTINIZE THE DECISION-MAKING PROCESS. ALSO, THE REPETITION OF THE DECISION-MAKING PROCESS WAS SHOWN TO FURTHER PROMOTE THE PUBLIC DEFENDER TO STANDARDIZE CASES AND DEVELOP ROUTINES FOR DEFENSE. (AUTHOR ABSTRACT MODIFIED)