RESEARCH MEMORANDUM, ETHNOGRAPHY OF THE COURTROOM

Order Description

ETHNOGRAPHY OF THE COURTROOM

Write a paper summarizing your experiences observing the courtrooms in the Champaign County Courthouse. Your paper should address the following issues:

• Provide a brief summary of Eisenstein and Jacob and/or Feeley.

• Based on those readings, what would you have expected to see in the courtrooms at the Champaign County Courthouse?

• How did your visits to the courtroom confirm or contradict your expectations based on the reading?

• How did your visits to the courtroom confirm or contradict your expectations about criminal courtrooms in general?

• Choose one of the following: What did your observations lead you to conclude about the role of race in the criminal justice system? OR What did your observations lead you to conclude about the kind of protection that courtroom workgroups offer to defendants’ rights?

• If you could change one thing about the Champaign County Courthouse and the nature of the criminal trials held there, what would it be and why?

Your paper must be no longer than 4 typewritten pages, double-spaced with one-inch margins, a 12-point font, and page numbers. (It doesn’t have to be 4 pages, so don’t pad if you’ve answered the question in 3 pages.) The essay should contain an introduction, several paragraphs outlining your arguments and a concluding paragraph. Your paper will be evaluated on a) how well you answer the questions; b) the organization of your answer; and c) the clarity of your writing.