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The Impact of Victim Assessment on Prosecutors' Screening Decisions: The Case of the New York County District Attorney's Office

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 July 2024

Elizabeth Anne Stanko
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Abstract

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This paper examines the discretionary judgments of the prosecutor during the screening of felony arrests. In particular, I emphasize the significance of the victim on the prosecutor's definition of serious crime and criminal activity. Descriptive accounts of felony screening illustrate how prosecutors rely on stereotyped characteristics to assess victim credibility.

Type
Research Article
Information
Law & Society Review , Volume 16 , Issue 2 , 1982 , pp. 225 - 239
Copyright
Copyright © 1982 The Law and Society Association.

Footnotes

*

This is a revised version of a paper delivered at the Northeastern Political Science Association Annual Meeting, 1980. I would like to thank Lindsey Churchill, George Cole, Cynthia Enloe, Joel Grossman, Jim Thomas, Gaye Tuchman, and the anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments on this paper.

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