Privilege and Punishment: How Race and Class Matter in Criminal Court

by Matthew Clair

How the attorney-client relationship favors the privileged in criminal court―and denies justice to the poor and to working-class people of color

The number of Americans arrested, brought to court, and incarcerated has skyrocketed in recent decades. Criminal defendants come from all races and economic walks of life, but they experience punishment in vastly different ways. Privilege and Punishment examines how racial and class inequalities are embedded in the attorney-client relationship, providing a devastating portrait of inequality and injustice within and beyond the criminal courts.

Matthew Clair conducted extensive fieldwork in the Boston court system, attending criminal hearings and interviewing defendants, lawyers, judges, police officers, and probation officers. In this eye-opening book, he uncovers how privilege and inequality play out in criminal court interactions. When disadvantaged defendants try to learn their legal rights and advocate for themselves, lawyers and judges often silence, coerce, and punish them. Privileged defendants, who are more likely to trust their defense attorneys, delegate authority to their lawyers, defer to judges, and are rewarded for their compliance. Clair shows how attempts to exercise legal rights often backfire on the poor and on working-class people of color, and how effective legal representation alone is no guarantee of justice.

Superbly written and powerfully argued, Privilege and Punishment draws needed attention to the injustices that are perpetuated by the attorney-client relationship in today’s criminal courts, and describes the reforms needed to correct them.

Genres: Nonfiction, Sociology, Race, Ethnography, History

320 pages, Paperback

First published November 17, 2020

Reviews

[Petra X]

I wanted to read a book on race in America that was not emotional, ranty or preaching. I am not an American, I live in a rich Black country and have Black children. There is definitely no White privilege here. This book is the book I was looking for. The author objectively, but not dispassionately discusses how being White in a White area will get you more respect from the polive and less punishment from the courts, if you even get arrested for a minor crime since you are unlikely to be suspected of anything. Blacks from a Black neighbourhood, will do worse on all respects. Young Black men get stopped and searched all the time and accused of disrespecting the officers and will be treated much worse by both law enforcement and courts.

What tore my heart though was the amount of hassle homeless Black men get from the police. It is a very sad state of affairs that someone could have fallen so low as to be living on the streets, but it isn't criminal. The police seem to think it is though and hassle them at ever opportunity.

I might not finish this book, but put it to one side, it is terribly, terribly depressing and there doesn't seem to be a solution for it at all.

4/2021

[Apple · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read this book! It helps to make sense of our current political and social moment, given the protests this year against racist police violence. This books is simply heartbreaking, powerful written, and sociologically rigorous. It tells the story of race and class injustice in our criminal justice system in a way that is at once easy to understand and also socially scientific and theoretically interesting. It made me think of how institutional forms of discrimination operate in other parts of our society, not just the legal system. It also provides really thoughtful and unique ideas about how to fix our legal system.

[Jessica Orrell · Rating 2 out of 5]

*Read for SOCY4931*
Meh. I don’t think this study really put forth anything that novel or useful in the field. Methodology was impressive, but I don’t think it’s exactly groundbreaking that people are rewarded in the court system for being deferential to their lawyers. There is certainly terrible systemic racism in policing and prison practices that needs to be addressed, but I’m not sure how compelling the arguments made here for the court systems are. Also don’t think the court system should be abolished in favor of restorative justice practices…. Sorry

[Aleks · Rating 4 out of 5]

Accessible and well-written study of the race and class dynamics embedded in the attorney-client relationship. I found the demographics of the interviewees to be strangely unrepresentative for criminal court (mostly white, charged with largely non-violent offenses). Some of the analysis was a bit shallow and later offset by more complex but very brief commentary in the conclusion. Would be more interesting for a general audience with little knowledge of how the criminal legal system works, or rather doesn’t.

[apollo · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must read for anyone interested in issues of justice, agency, and how race and classed-based inequalities are reproduced in institutional norms and interpersonal relationships. This book is an amazing piece of sociology!

[Audrey Salamon · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was okay. I had to read it for a class. If I wasn't a CJS major, this book definitely would've hit harder, but I already knew everything in it. However, I think it's one of the easier reads to understand if you're first starting to get into the racial and socioeconomic discrepancies in our criminal justice system. I don't regret reading it, but I wouldn't read it again. With that being said, I really like Claire's interview where he talks about this book and his story of choosing a completely different career path to look at the disadvantaged vs. the privileged

[David Burns · Rating 4 out of 5]

Privilege and Punishment: How Race and Class Matter in Criminal Court by Matthew Clair ** Read in Saudi Arabia (Feb-Mar 2021)

[Denise · Rating 4 out of 5]

A vitally important topic, very well handled. That what passes for a "justice system" in the US is hardly deserving of that name isn't exactly news, but that doesn't make this study of how race and class influence outcomes in criminal proceedings any less worth reading.

[Leigh · Rating 5 out of 5]

Essential reading for anyone involved in the criminal legal system and anyone who represents people from marginalized communities.

[Janné McKamey · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wish the author had interviewed subjects in other geographic locations

[TJ · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great book. Insightful and very true. Was able to see the points he was making in my daily job in the courts

[Nina Sigety · Rating 3 out of 5]

Important topic and nice that it read like a pleasure book rather than read like a scientific article, I just feel like it didn't build at all.

[Ciara Sheerin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tbh read this for my dissertation but this year we're counting it! Informative and well researched.

[Ellie Barnett-Cashman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read for my Criminology class ‘Discipline and Punishment’. Great content, easy read.

[Jonathan Lin · Rating 5 out of 5]

- this book discusses why inequality, with respect to class and race, exists in today's criminal justice system. I highly recommend, especially to those who grew up privileged/wealthy or believes that racism doesn't exist in today's world.
- disadvantaged people try to gather their own knowledge about the court system, from friends, family, previous experiences with public officials and arrests, and more. Then they try to apply their own knowledge to their case, but the current court system values deference and silence. So, court members, such as the judge and assistant district attorneys, look down upon those who disrupt the efficiency of the system, such disadvantaged people who sometimes go against their appointed attorney.
- on the other hand, privileged people tend to have less experience with the court system and recognize their inexperience. As a result, they put more trust and faith into their lawyer. Privileged people's lack of resistance and ability to "go with the flow" is rewarded in court, typically leading to better outcomes than disadvantaged people.
- possible solutions suggested by the book: attorneys should focus more on developing trust with their client, and more radically, change, or even abolish, the current court system to focus more on rehabilitation and community-based punishments.

[DearBookClub · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Just over 60% of adults living in the United States know a family member who has been to jail. For Black people, that number is close to 80%."

If trial court judges know their are racial disparities in the criminal legal system then why are they not doing more to prevent them?

The author studied court proceedings in Cook County, Illinois, where he encountered his imprisoned first cousin that inspired this book.