Hostname: page-component-77c89778f8-5wvtr Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-07-22T04:30:11.527Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The Decision to Prosecute

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 July 2024

George F. Cole
George F. Cole*
Affiliation:
University of Connecticut
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

This paper is based on an exploratory study of the Office of Prosecuting Attorney, King County (Seattle), Washington. The lack of social scientific knowledge about the prosecutor dictated the choice of this approach. An open-ended interview was administered to one-third of the former deputy prosecutors who had worked in the office during the ten year period 1955-1965. In addition, interviews were conducted with court employees, members of the bench, law enforcement officials, and others having reputations for participation in legal decision-making. Over fifty respondents were contacted during this phase. A final portion of the research placed the author in the role of observer in the prosecutor's office. This experience allowed for direct observation of all phases of the decision to prosecute so that the informal processes of the office could be noted. Discussions with the prosecutor's staff, judges, defendant's attorneys, and the police were held so that the interview data could be placed within an organizational context.

Type
Research Article
Information
Law & Society Review , Volume 4 , Issue 3 , February 1970 , pp. 331 - 343
Copyright
Copyright © 1970 by the Law and Society Association.

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

BLAU, P. M. (1955) The Dynamics of Bureaucracy. Chicago: Univ. of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
CHAMBLISS, W. J. (1969) Crime and the Legal Process. New York: McGraw-Hill.Google Scholar
EVAN, W. M. (1965) “Towards a theory of inter-organizational relations.” Management Sci. 11 (August): 218–230.Google Scholar
GORE, W. J. (1964) Administrative Decision Making. New York: John Wiley.Google Scholar
County, King (1964) Annual Report of the Prosecuting Attorney. Seattle: State of Washington.Google Scholar
KLONSKI, J. R. and R. I., MENDELSOHN (1965) “The allocation of justice: a political analysis.” J. of Public Law 14 (May): 323–342.Google Scholar
LADINSKY, J. (1963) “The impact of social backgrounds of lawyers on law practice and the law.” J. of Legal Education 16, 2: 128–144.Google Scholar
LEVINE, S. and P. E., WHITE (1961) “Exchange as a conceptual framework for the study of inter-organizational relationships.” Administrative Sci. Q. 5 (March): 583–601.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
LONG, N. (1962) The Polity. Chicago: Rand McNally.Google Scholar
SCHUR, E. M. (1965) Crimes Without Victims. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall.Google Scholar
SKOLNICK, J. E. (1966) Justice Without Trial. New York: John Wiley.Google Scholar