Prosecution in the Making IV: The Institution of Justice: Prosecutors, Politics, and Legitimacy

Session Submission Type: Complete Thematic Panel

Abstract/Description

This session is one of four titled “Prosecution in the Making”, designed to bring together new evidence on the organization, context and strategy of local/national prosecution offices in the United States, Latin America, and the Caribbean. Specifically, the presentations will examine key issues related to prosecutorial discretion, plea bargaining, and pretrial detention (Panel 1); the investigative and decision-making processes of prosecutors (Panel 2); their role as courtroom actors (Panel 3); and their position within the broader justice system, focusing on politics and legitimacy (Panel 4).
Drawing on case studies from Colombia, Chile, Peru, Guatemala, Brazil, Argentina, Mexico, and the United States as well as other efforts at regional/comparative work, we explore common challenges for research, policy and advocacy, as well as opportunities for follow-up work to deepen connections to theory and practice.

Sub Unit

• Area VI. The Criminal Justice System / 46. Courts & Sentencing

Individual Presentations

• Impartiality and the legitimacy of courts: Experimental evidence from Brazil - Luiz Vilaca, Bowdoin College

• Politicians, prosecutors and police chiefs: The ecology of criminal justice oversight in the United States - CANCELLED - Andres F. Rengifo, Rutgers University; Don Stemen, Loyola University Chicago; Luis C. Torres, Temple University

• Jurisdiction attributes and their effects on local prosecutor elections - Maria Arndt, John Jay College of Criminal Justice; Tania Jahanpanah, John Jay College of Criminal Justice

• From Revolutionary to ordinary: Narratives of professional and organizational alignment in the Chilean Public Prosecutorial Office. - Javier Wilenmann, Universidad Adolfo Ibañez; Isabel Arriagada Gajewski, Old Dominion University; Felipe Aguila, Universidad Adolfo Ibañez / Universidad Católica de Chile

Chair

• Pilar Larroulet, Rutgers University-Newark

Discussant

• Andres F. Rengifo, Rutgers University

Organized by a Division or external group?

Prosecution in the Americas Working Group