Two centuries ago, American criminal justice was run primarily by
laymen. Jury trials passed moral judgment on crimes, vindicated
victims and innocent defendants, and denounced the guilty. But
since then, lawyers have gradually taken over the process,
silencing victims and defendants and, in many cases, substituting
plea bargaining for the voice of the jury. The public sees little
of how this assembly-line justice works, and victims and defendants
have largely lost their day in court. As a result, victims rarely
hear defendants express remorse and apologize, and defendants
rarely receive forgiveness. This lawyerized machinery has purchased
efficient, speedy processing of many cases at the price of
sacrificing softer values, such as reforming defendants and healing
wounded victims and relationships. In other words, the U.S. legal
system has bought quantity at the price of quality, without
recognizing either the trade-off or the great gulf separating
lawyers' and laymen's incentives, values, and powers. In The
Machinery of Criminal Justice, author Stephanos Bibas surveys the
developments over the last two centuries, considers what we have
lost in our quest for efficient punishment, and suggests ways to
include victims, defendants, and the public once again. Ideas range
from requiring convicts to work or serve in the military, to moving
power from prosecutors to restorative sentencing juries. Bibas
argues that doing so might cost more, but it would better serve
criminal procedure's interests in denouncing crime, vindicating
victims, reforming wrongdoers, and healing the relationships torn
by crime.
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