Privatization in the Criminal Courts

Session Submission Type: Complete Thematic Panel

Abstract/Description

Research on the privatization of punishment often focuses on the correctional system, including the construction of private prisons and detention centers and private control over amenities within carceral facilities. The papers on this panel focus instead on privatization in the criminal courts, analyzing the operations and impacts of privatized court-mandated programs, translation services, and bail bond agencies. In doing so, they aim to broaden our understanding of the nature and consequences of public-private partnerships in the criminal legal sphere.

Sub Unit

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

Individual Presentations

• Gatekeeping Predation: How Morality Prompts Selective Inclusion Within the Criminal Legal System - Faith Deckard, University of California, Los Angeles; Erin Eife, George Mason University

• Privatization without Profit - Gabriela Kirk-Werner, Syracuse University; Mary Ellen Stitt, University at Albany, SUNY

• Who Pays the Price? Interpreter Services for Completing Court-Mandated Requirements - Meghan Maree Ballard, University of California, Irvine

• “It Broke Me Down”: The Collective Toll of Privatized Bail - Charlotte Baker, Harvard University; Tom Wooten, Louisiana State University

Discussant

• Katie Quinn, Syracuse University