TY  - JOUR
PY  - 2014//
TI  - Domestic violence case processing: a matter of local legal culture
JO  - Contemporary justice review
A1  - Currul-Dykeman, Kathleen
SP  - 250
EP  - 272
VL  - 17
IS  - 2
N2  - As one enters a courthouse, its culture is communicated to its listening visitors. The manner in which the security guards speak; the length of time victims are kept waiting; the amount of bail a defendant is assessed; communicate messages to those who are paying attention. Domestic violence cases have long suffered from lenient treatment and dismissals in our criminal courts. This paper examines a unique explanation for this problem: the court's local legal culture. The elements of two courts' local legal culture that most profoundly impacted their processing of domestic violence cases are examined. Over a six month period, 23 in depth interviews were conducted with court workgroup members in two courts, one with a specialized domestic violence session and one without. Court room observations were used to supplement these interviews. The results were insightful and telling about how a court's culture can, at times, be more influential on case processing than the law itself.<p />
LA  - en
SN  - 1028-2580
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10282580.2014.915144
ID  - ref1
ER  -