Gang Member as Defendants: The Importance of Procedural Justice

• In Event: Legal Services for the Indigent – Integrating Awareness of The Client’s Experience into Research and Practice

Abstract

Prior research has demonstrated that defendants’ satisfaction with case outcomes and court processing can be predicted by measurements of defendant perceptions of procedural justice (also referred to as procedural fairness). In some studies, perceived fairness was found to be more predictive of defendant satisfaction than disposition or sentence. This study examined defendant perceptions of experiences in criminal court among a sample of gang involved and non-gang involved defendants. Each defendant had a recently closed case in an upstate New York City with an admitted gang problem. City and county officials have employed various enforcement, intervention, and prevention strategies for years in an effort to decrease gang activity, meaning gang members are often known to court actors. Intensive interviews were used to develop an in-depth understanding of how defendants developed perceptions of their court experiences and of which factors most influenced defendant satisfaction with case outcomes and case processing. Results were compared to prior research, most of which has employed close-ended surveys, to explore the use of interviews as a method to increase understanding of the issues of defendant satisfaction and perceptions of procedural justice. The results and conclusions of this study will be discussed, along with policy implications.

Author

• Kirstin A. Morgan, University at Albany, SUNY