Reddit reviews Courtroom 302: A Year Behind the Scenes in an American Criminal Courthouse

Recommended: Courtroom 302

A couple of things you may not understanding:

1. Prosecutors are bureaucrats who work in big organizations and at the state/county level, the person at the top is elected.
   
   
2. They answer to someone. Yes, "they" have discretion but does the individual pushing the paper? Depends. Felonies are harder to make go away than misdemeanors. Indictments for felonies harder still. Crimes against people with a victim, probably harder again.
   
   
3. Caseloads are usually overflowing. The first "screen" any prosecutor is going to make is: Can I prove this case? Is there even a case there? Plea bargaining is the grease that keeps the machine running.
   
   
4. I found this book to be very helpful in giving a "worms eye" view of the system through one criminal courtroom.
   
   http://www.amazon.com/Courtroom-302-American-Criminal-Courthouse/dp/0679752064
   
   
5. Why is the prison population growing? Why does the U.S. imprison more people per-capita than any other or most other countries in the world? Mandatory minimums? Private prisons lobbying for stiffer penalties? Three strikes your out? There's a lot of culprits.

Courtroom 302

The first comment about the court-appointed reminded me of a great book I read called "Courtroom 302." For anyone who is interested in criminal justice nonfiction, pick it up. Steve Bogira spent a year observing criminal courts in Cook County, Chicago.

http://www.amazon.com/Courtroom-302-American-Criminal-Courthouse/dp/0679752064