Misdemeanorland: Criminal Courts and Social Control in an Age of Broken Windows Policing

by Issa Kohler-Hausmann

An in-depth look at the consequences of New York City’s dramatically expanded policing of low-level offenses

Felony conviction and mass incarceration attract considerable media attention these days, yet the most common criminal-justice encounters are for misdemeanors, not felonies, and the most common outcome is not prison. In the early 1990s, New York City launched an initiative under the banner of Broken Windows policing to dramatically expand enforcement against low-level offenses. Misdemeanorland is the first book to document the fates of the hundreds of thousands of people hauled into lower criminal courts as part of this policing experiment.

Drawing on three years of fieldwork inside and outside of the courtroom, in-depth interviews, and analysis of trends in arrests and dispositions of misdemeanors going back three decades, Issa Kohler-Hausmann argues that lower courts have largely abandoned the adjudicative model of criminal law administration in which questions of factual guilt and legal punishment drive case outcomes. Due to the sheer volume of arrests, lower courts have adopted a managerial model--and the implications are troubling. Kohler-Hausmann shows how significant volumes of people are marked, tested, and subjected to surveillance and control even though about half the cases result in some form of legal dismissal. She describes in harrowing detail how the reach of America's penal state extends well beyond the shocking numbers of people incarcerated in prisons or stigmatized by a felony conviction.

Revealing and innovative, Misdemeanorland shows how the lower reaches of our criminal justice system operate as a form of social control and surveillance, often without adjudicating cases or imposing formal punishment.

Genres: Nonfiction, Law, Politics, Academic, History, Sociology

328 pages, Hardcover

Published April 3, 2018

Reviews

[Andrew Eibel · Rating 5 out of 5]

A learned, comprehensive, incisive and thought-provoking review of New York City Criminal Court practice in the 'Broken Windows' era. Drawing together her backgrounds in sociology and law, Prof. Kohler-Hausmann analyzes the processing of petty pseudo-criminal cases, and offers insights into the systems created to deal with them, how those policies affected the administration of law and (in a very very loose sense 'justice,') and what those administrative and managerial practices meant for larger society in New York City. Her conclusions still hold valid today, even though there has been some movement away from "Broken Windows' and definitely from indiscriminate 'Stop and Frisk' for communities of color. The bonus is that she writes really well, so her examination is compelling, well-written and enjoyable. As criminal justice reforms loom on the horizon (or do they?), it should be required reading for judges, prosecutors, court admininstrators, municipal officials and all interested citizens.

[Alyssa Bauer · Rating 1 out of 5]

I have to be honest and say I did not finish this book. I tried for weeks to force myself past page 105 but I just couldn’t. It’s an interesting and relevant topic but the dense language and repetitive nature of the book makes it inaccessible to anyone who isn’t an academic. I’m an attorney and I found it unbearable and difficult to decipher. Maybe it would work as a 10 page article but it certainly did not need a 268 page book.

[Naomi · Rating 3 out of 5]

I learned a lot about the functioning of misdemeanor courts here - the combination qualitative and quantitative data painted a very detailed picture. Nonetheless, this book could have much more easily been an article - the fundamental argument about marking, performance, and procedural hassle was both interesting and intuitive. But the chapters got very repetitive (other thought - she wanted each chapter to be teach-able on its own). Only really worth reading if its a particular area of interest.

[Emily Smith · Rating 3 out of 5]

While this book was right up my alley (I work in NYC criminal court), I found it difficult to finish. It was a very “academic” book- which I’m not often fond of because it makes it less accessible to a wide variety of readers.

[Alison · Rating 5 out of 5]

There is so much in this book - from how we allow (encourage?) the police to treat people who jump a turnstile or even just look suspicious on the street to how little the misdemeanor courts seem to value the facts and “reasonable doubt”. The book gave me a lot of insight and the conclusion is 🔥
“It seems that we, as a political community, are comfortable relying on the instrumentalities of criminal law as the primary social control mechanisms in urban spaces of concentrated poverty and insecurity. If we hope to change that then we must first honestly confront the human costs and moral meaning that our current approach entails.”

[Chrissy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Overall this book provided a lot of valuable insight about NY courts and the handling of misdemeanor arrests in the "broken windows" era, and solid ideas about how to consider reforms. The only critique I have - a minor one - is that the author didn't really address, even in her conclusion, whether the criminal acts in question should be criminal. In my view that is a vital starting point for any reform efforts.

[Paige]

Wish this book had been a TedTalk instead.

[Jake · Rating 4 out of 5]

Expected a theory book and got a *very* in depth study. Very useful. Very tedious.

[Tracey · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5
Very informative and I did enjoy the amount of research and statistics plus personal stories I felt like the layout of the book was a little backwards. But it's definitely worth your time.

[Wilson · Rating 4 out of 5]

SOC222. Very dry at times but chapters 3 and 4 were pretty interesting

[ava merryman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Had to read for class. Maybe like 2.5. I feel like she just repeated herself a lot but the interviews with other people was what made it more interesting