Prosecutorial Discretion and the Social Construction of Violence

• In Event: Contemporary Issues in Prosecution: Hate Crime, Violence, and Conviction Integrity

Abstract

While scholarship on prosecutorial discretion has grown in recent years, much of this research consists of quantitative analyses that identify the correlates of prosecutors’ decisions and many scholars focus on the prosecution of drug crimes. Less is known about how prosecutors make sense of and define crimes that lie close to the boundary between violence and nonviolence. This article examines the role of prosecutors in the social construction of violence. Drawing on ethnographic observations and interviews across two midwestern District Attorney’s offices, I argue that prosecutors define the boundaries of violence by relying not just on the law, but also on community norms and their perceptions of and relationships with the people involved in the criminal case process. More specifically, I find that three main factors shape how prosecutors think and talk about the decision to charge someone with battery (a violent offense) or disorderly conduct (a nonviolent offense): their own experiences and beliefs about “normal” violent behavior, victims’ voices, and their expectations of jury members’ perceptions of a case.

Author

• Chiara Clio Packard, University of Utah