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ERIC Number: ED517110
Record Type: Non-Journal
Publication Date: 2010
Pages: 342
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: ISBN-978-1-1097-3777-6
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
Specious Rights: Myth vs. Reality in the American Criminal Justice System
Reinhardt, William R.
ProQuest LLC, Ph.D. Dissertation, Fielding Graduate University
Contrary to the dominant discourse metanarrative, this dissertation explores, re-exposes, and updates the generally hidden realities of what is actually taking place in the current operation of the American criminal justice system. The government/dominant discourse benefits from the amorphous ambiguity of the law in conjunction with its usage of the equally amorphous, biased, criminal justice procedural system to enforce government policies, maintain political control, and in many cases, the personal agendas of government bureaucrats. Discourse control and manipulation are primary methods: propaganda and sophistry are primary techniques. These actual techniques capitalize on the proclivities of the human condition and the group behavioral characteristics of organizations and crowds. Using critical discourse analysis in conjunction with ethnography, this study identifies and focuses on some of the major dominant ideological myths as they are played out in the use of current government prosecutorial tactics, which are being unconstitutionally utilized to wrongfully convict and incarcerate hundreds of thousands of Americans. These tactics are used in conjunction with the addition of an unprecedented number of new laws (and their creative interpretation and usage), which result in government prosecutors virtually having the ability to, in Kafkaesque fashion, convict and incarcerate any American they wish. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]
ProQuest LLC. 789 East Eisenhower Parkway, P.O. Box 1346, Ann Arbor, MI 48106. Tel: 800-521-0600; Web site: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml
Publication Type: Dissertations/Theses - Doctoral Dissertations
Education Level: Adult Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: United States
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A