Summary
The task of pursuing justice is frequently complicated by the deficiencies of the court systems and, more specifically, the problems attributed to prosecution. These specialists work in the conditions of limited resources and tend to neglect societal circumstances due to the high workload and the lack of evidence. Therefore, numerous scholars devote their publications to this subject in order to make suggestions on improving this mechanism.
The Practice of Law as Confidence Game
In the article “The Practice of Law as Confidence Game,” Blumberg writes about the conflicting perspectives of sociologists and legal specialists or, in other words, the need for combining theory and practice presented by them. He claims that the neglect of either of the field is unacceptable for making proper decisions, and the previous court rulings regarding the assistance for indigent persons support his stance. In the past, accusations and interrogations were made while neglecting this principle, and the mentioned three decisions also reflected inadequate interactions of society and legal proceedings. By describing the explicit link between the proper defense as per the latter provisions and the former’s financial needs, the scholar examines the matter.
In the continuation of this publication, Blumberg narrates about the neglect of social constructs by personnel of courts and the prioritized needs of institutions instead of people who need protection. It means that ethics are frequently violated, and similar events are conditional upon lawyers’ stronger connection to courts rather than their clients. In addition, they support the bureaucratic obstacles to justice and further contribute to following the established principles while neglecting the environment of the communities in question. As a result, the intangible nature of lawyers’ work paid for by the clients in the absence of any guarantees presents a challenge for making sound judgments and bringing harm to individuals’ psychological health.
The State (Never) Rests: How Excessive Prosecutorial Caseloads Harm Criminal Defendants
In the article “The State (Never) Rests: How Excessive Prosecutorial Caseloads Harm Criminal Defendants,” Gershowitz and Killinger further expand the ideas of inappropriate defense practices due to financial obstacles while linking it to prosecutorial faults. According to them, the problem stems from the working conditions, which do not allow specialists to devote sufficient time to each client. The subsequent errors lead to the punishment being non-compliant with the offenses, and this outcome is caused by the lack of information about the participants in the process. On a global scale, this challenge signifies the greater confusion of the population as it seems impossible to determine who is actually guilty.
Consequently, the authors claim that there are several reasons for the emergence of problems in the field connected to the specificities of present-day prosecutors’ work. First, there are significant shortages of personnel throughout the country, which explains the failure to take into account the actual circumstances of crimes. Second, the harm caused to the public, defendants, and victims is immense, and it is generated by unjustified reductions in sentences, the impossibility of pursuing justice, and the lack of opportunities to examine the evidence. Third, the scholars suggest that in order to improve the situation, it is necessary to guarantee the provision of additional resources to prosecutors and lawyers, including financial support. Thus, the mechanism of the action of court systems in the context of the above challenges is thoroughly discussed.
Conclusion
To summarize, the neglect of personal factors when considering legal processes is caused by the issues linked to the court system. The two articles confirm that the work of prosecutors cannot be deemed effective until they have enough resources and time to carefully approach situations on a case-by-case basis. Thus, these publications complement each other in the task of clarifying the problems and developing solutions to eliminate the underlying risks.