Delivering Decisions in Courts

Abstract

Communicating decisions, especially the sentence, is a moment when the performance of judicial authority is most visible to several audiences (Booth 2016). Primarily, the delivery of the news on penalty is for the defendant. This is a moment when the magistrate may engage directly with the defendant as an individual, even if legally represented. In this encounter, the magistrate can indicate that she or he has listened to this person’s story and considered her or his background, circumstances, and prospects. Such direct communication can render the defendant central rather than incidental to the proceedings (Carlen 1976a; Cowan et al. 2006; Jacobson, Hunter and Kirby 2015; McBarnet 1981a; Rock 1991). An encounter that displays positive engagement can promote legitimacy beyond that based on established legal rules of decisionmaking.