Document Type

Article

Publication Date

4-22-2022

Publication Title

Justice System Journal

Volume

43

Issue

1

Pages

53-67

Publisher Name

Taylor & Francis

Abstract

The notion of law as sacred, and lawyers as righteous saviors, may seem anachronistic in the current context of heavy caseloads and expedited processing in the criminal justice system. Nevertheless, language reflecting these ideals still permeates defense attorneys’ descriptions of their roles, their legal practice, and their relationships to their colleagues and adversaries. We examine this language – specifically, attorneys’ quasi-religious rhetoric – to better understand courtroom dynamics: how attorneys see themselves, their work, their colleagues, and their legal adversaries. In this analysis of semi-structured interviews with 30 defense attorneys, we find that attorneys use of quasi-religious rhetoric manifests as a cultural practice that helps to establish and maintain professional identities, boundaries, and relationships. Our findings also suggest that young and novice public defenders are likely to express especially zealous views, which may compromise their efforts to collaborate within the adversarial system, as well as contribute to burnout.

Comments

Author Posting © National Center for State Courts, 2022. This article is posted here by permission of the National Center for State Courts for personal use, not for redistribution. The article was published in the Justice System Journal, Volume 43, Issue 1, April 2022, https://doi.org/10.1080/0098261X.2022.2067799.

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License.

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