Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: This article focuses on the use of plea bargaining in reported sexual assault cases, particularly the extent to which sexual assaults are pled down to non-sexual offenses. Official documentation shows that many victims do not report their victimization to the police and few rapists are convicted of their crime. Plea bargaining has become very prevalent in the criminal justice system, with as many as 90% of all crimes using this method of adjudication. Several theoretical perspectives are applied to the use of plea bargaining in sexual assault cases, with a major focus on game theory and courtroom workgroup theory. This project examined sexual assaults reported in a Southwestern, medium-sized metropolitan from January to December 2005; these files were tracked from the police departments that filed the reports through the district attorney’s office that filed the charges. The study assesses the extent of plea bargaining sexual assaults to non-sexual offenses, the most common charge plea bargained down to from sexual assault, and the factors associated with the odds of a successful plea bargain in sexual assault cases.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: This research looks at a newspaper sample of men and women who committed multiple domestic homicide (thereby making the perpetrator eligible for the death penalty) for the years 1993-2002. Differences in capital sentencing are examined in relation the gender of the perpetrator and the plea that was entered at trial. The approach to the criminal justice system - in the form of a Guilty, Not Guilty or Not Guilty by Reason of Insanity plea - taken by the women and their lawyers is fundamentally different from the approach taken by the men and those representing them. Further, the jury's perception of the defendant and, therefore, their decision to sentence these men and women to death seems to reflect an interaction between the perpetrator’s gender and the plea that was entered.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: Guilty pleas in criminal matters are sometimes characterized as the latter stage of a linear sequence, beginning with arrest/summons through charge, negotiation, conviction and sentence. Much valuable analysis of the production of guilty pleas concentrates on the out-of-court or off-stage interactions which lead to a guilty plea.
Our research suggests that the production of guilty pleas involves a less sequential and more intersectional process, in which in-court events interact with out-of-court activities in an often non-linear way.
Our observational study of criminal matters in Australian lower courts examines ways the first stages of in-court proceedings contribute to and are driven by the guilty plea production process. These court proceedings may include first appearance [arraignment], bail applications, and adjournments [continuances] especially for legal advice. In particular, we analyse the role of the magistrate in managing adjournments to create conditions conducive to guilty pleas, especially prompt pleas. While the magistrate, as the presiding judicial officer, has no direct role in or even knowledge of the substance of plea or charge bargaining, she or he can communicate clear expectations about when a guilty plea can or should occur and influence the circumstances needed for a plea to be produced promptly.
This paper will explore implications of the magistrate’s management of these preliminary court events for the legitimacy of a criminal justice system where most charges are resolved by a guilty plea.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: Our observational study of criminal matters in Australian lower courts examines the interaction between the presiding judicial officer (a magistrate) and other participants in a range of non-trial proceedings, including guilty pleas and sentencing. In these matters, the magistrate interacts directly with the defendant, as well as with prosecutors, defense representatives. These interactions are subject to significant time pressure; magistrates must deal with individual matters very quickly to get through the large number of cases scheduled each day.
One challenge for magistrates is to treat participants fairly within the normative confines of the judicial role and the practical constraints of a busy court proceeding. This is particularly the case when the charges are resolved by a guilty plea, especially a negotiated plea. This court appearance may be the only opportunity for a defendant to participate directly in the resolution of the criminal charges and is the location where the professionals directly involved in the shared production of guilty pleas must perform their allocated (adversarial) roles.
A key element in this court process is the magistrate’s own demeanour or orientation towards the other participants. The National Court Observation Study analyses the varied demeanours magistrates display. This paper will explore the complex meanings of these demeanours, considering ways they may enhance or undermine the legitimacy of the court and their implications for a criminal justice system where most charges are resolved by a guilty plea.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Review Method: Peer Reviewed
Abstract: In Thoreau's political thought there is a pronounced tension between the right of individuals to lead private lives and their obligations to act on behalf of their fellow citizens and humans. On the one hand, Thoreau valued moral integrity and the pleasures of solitary reflection greatly, and thus was indisposed to participate in politics for love of solitude and for fear of the moral compromises that politics so often requires. On the other hand, Thoreau agonized over the possibility that retreat into private life quietly enabled political evil, such as the perpetuation and expansion of racial slavery in the United States. This paper examines Thoreau's 1859 lecture, "A Plea for Captain John Brown," as a way of exploring the tension between Thoreau's love of negative liberty and his sense of duty to work for slavery's abolition. By analyzing Thoreau's startling claim that John Brown was "the most American of us all," the paper shows how Thoreau's defense of John Brown makes political action central to the ethical practice of democratic individuality.