The Machinery of Criminal Justice University of Pennsylvania Law
School January 1, 2012 THE MACHINERY OF CRIMINAL JUSTICE, S.
Bibas, Oxford University Press, 2012 U of Penn Law School,
Public Law Research Paper No. 12-16 Two centuries ago, the
American criminal justice system was run primarily by laymen.
Jury trials passed moral judgment on crimes, vindicated victims
and innocent defendants, and denounced the guilty. But over the
last two centuries, lawyers have taken over the process,
silencing victims and defendants and, in many cases,
substituting a plea-bargaining system for the voice of the jury.
The public sees little of how this assembly-line justice works,
and victims and defendants have largely lost their day in court.
As a result, victims rarely hear defendants express remorse and
apologize, and defendants rarely receive forgiveness. This
lawyerized machinery has purchased efficient, speedy processing
of many cases at the price of sacrificing softer values, such as
reforming defendants and healing w