The Fear of Too Much Justice: Race, Poverty and the Persistence of Inequality in the Criminal Courts

Yale law professor Bright and legal scholar Kwak (Economism) delineate in this urgent call to action the ways in which inequality “continues to infect our criminal legal system.” According to the authors, many defendants are assigned incompetent counsel, leaving them as good as defenseless; prosecutors exercise tremendous power with little oversight (for example, they threaten defendants with excessive jail time in order to force them into plea bargains); judges “make rulings with an eye on their upcoming elections,” which have become “contests over who [is] the most determined to execute people”; fees imposed by the court system keep people who cannot pay in jail, while warrants are issued for the arrest of those in arrears; and private prisons profit when the imprisoned population increases. Bright and Kwak provide extensive insight into problems with the current procedures and protocols of the criminal justice system, and propose reasonable solutions like banning court fees and for-profit incarceration, the elimination of judicial elections, and limits on prosecutors’ power. This is an invaluable resource for advocates of criminal justice reform. (June)