Realigning Research: A Proposed (Partial) Agenda for Sociolegal Scholars
6 Pages Posted: 19 May 2013 Last revised: 11 Apr 2022
Date Written: May 17, 2013
Abstract
In light of the potential paradigm-shifting nature of AB 109, California’s Realignment policy, which was instituted in the wake of Brown v. Plata, this article delineates several key research trajectories that might be pursued in order to understand its sociolegal impacts on the county criminal justice systems responsible for implementation. It outlines the major trajectories of scholarship that have already emerged or that are likely to emerge concerning the development, passage, and implementation of Realignment. It then focuses in on the potential for robust sociolegal scholarship on its transformation from policy to practice, making the case for two areas of research that should be pursued: transformations of local courts under Realignment, and the role of local jails as increasingly important places of punishment.
Keywords: Realignment, Plata, jails, courts
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