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Created: October 5, 2002
Latest Update: October 25, 2002
jeannecurran@habermas.org
takata@uwp.edu

TITLE OF ESSAY

Site Copyright: Jeanne Curran and Susan R. Takata and Individual Authors, October 2002.
"Fair use" encouraged.

On Thursday, October 24, 2002, Kimberly Dorn-Williams wrote:

Hi Jeanne.
My name is Kimberly Dorn-Williams. I was just reading "Justice," Justice, and JUSTICE, by Peter K. Manning in the Social Justice Criminal Justice ,book. I could easily relate to the point made about one's socioeconomic position strongly affecting the perception of the criminal justice system. Interestingly enough, it has been true in my experience, that those people with a lower social "status" tend to have more contact with the system. Likewise they tend to be the people who are most displeased with its operation. This concept makes perfect sense to me. However, there is one concept that I could use some clarification on. On page 132, in the last sentence on the page, Manning briefly mentions something called, "legal theatre". Is he being facetious, or is there something to this phrase?

On Thursday, October 24, 2002, Kimberly Dorn-Williams wrote:

Good point, Kimberly. People of lower socio-economomic do come into more contact with the justice system, and are more likely to have first-hand experience or know of instances in which justice was not served from their perspective. One could suggest that hte greater dissatisfaction expressed with the system is dependent upon one's personal outcomes, and a sense that the system should have "forgiven" more readily.

This concept has recently come uip in one of our other discussions on the fairness of grading based on command of standard grammar and language. Students who have encountered what they considered unfair evaluation of their grammar and language, to the detriment of their grade, even when they have exhibited a command of the new learning material, are those who see this "punitive" side of the system up close and personal. It's hard to compare their reactions to those of students who gained a resonable command of grammar and language before their university experience, and consider that a normal part of the university requirements.

Illocutionary discussion might bring us to the point of understanding the very different social structures that created these two classes of students. Then, of course, there's a third class of students who would just like to get by without doing very much. We need to think very carefully about our operational definition of what kind of student is making this complaint of unfairness.

In just the same way, we need to think very carefully how we are opearationally defining those who encounter the criminal justice system. There are those who are unfairly singled our, because of race or association or gender or whatever. There are those who just happen to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, and to whom the justice system will certainly seem unfair, as would fate at that point. There are those who work at deterring crime, who will react much more strongly to the person they believe unfairly escaped just retribution. And there are those who work at defending the accused, who will hear much more of the accused's story, and who will see much more often the defense that goes unheard and unrecognized.

Each of these roles may appear in what Mannheim calls the "legal theatre." By that he means the first scene on the streets or in the bar or whatever, where the first illegal transaction calls the attention of the law. Here we might find those who are just in the wrong place, or who associate with the wrong people, or who hand out in the wrong place knowing what might happen. Each will have a different role within the actors who frequent this place. Here the roles are not formalized, as they are in the police department and in the court, but there are roles: the bully, the hangers-on, the new kid, the peace-maker, the incitor. These are roles you'd recognize from any drama.

In "legal theatre" Mannheim also include the second scene of the police department. Here you'll find the "street cops," the investigators, the people who keep the records, hold the arrestees, receive the reports of victims, and try to help get things back under control. This is the scene in which shows like NYPD Blue treat us to the roles of "good cop," "bad cop," to the Internal Affairs people and their image with both police and outsiders, in which cops are sometimes heroes and saints, and sometimes "bad guys." Again, most of these are all roles we recognize.

Mannheim is particularly referring to scen three, the courtroom, the seat of justice. And the roles are judge, bailiff, court reporter, clerk, witnesses, attorneys (defense and prosecution). These roles are usually more formalized than the ones in the earlier scenes. Bailiffs regularly recite "All rise." You will often hear, "May it please the court. . . " These formalized bits of speech control the courtroom demeanor. They demand that visitors and players pay appropriate respect to the court. One may not speak out of turn in court. The accused is not permitted to speak. The attorney speaks for the accused. This provides the court with enormous control.

And it's serious to violate that control. I still remember the day, as a younger attorney, when I motioned peremptorily to a client to come to my side, so that he could make his plea to the judge. He didn't budge. Somewhat annoyed, I motioned again, a little more forcefully. He still didn't budge. By now I was irked. When I motion, my students respond. Then the judge said softly, "I don't believe the bailiff will let him." And I looked over to see the bailiff's gun drawn. Oops! I had just violated one of the dramaturgical sequences of that criminal court room. I graciously walked over to my client, and stopped demanding that he come to center stage.

Whole sets of others scenes play out in backrooms where the accused are locked up. Again, they're less scripted, but no less meaningful. That's what Mannheim means by "legal theatre," probably most of all referring to the well-scripted courtrom scenes. This approach to sociological analysis was initiated by Erving Goffman's Presentation of Self in Everyday Life, in which he describes how much we all behave like actors playing a role on a stage, including a backstage that we share only with each other, and a front stage that we present to the world.

Erving Goffman and Modern Sociology by Philip Manning, Polity, 1992, paperback. Review by Andrew Travers,University of Exeter. Reviewing Sociology Volume 10 Number 1 1997Backup.Andrew Travers. University of Exeter Link added October 24, 2002.