Pretrial process costs can exceed the actual penalty for minor offenders

Evidence

As Malcolm Feeley has observed: “The time, effort, money, and opportunities lost as a direct result of being caught up in the system can quickly come to outweigh the penalty that issues from adjudication and sentence.” Or more succinctly, “The process is the punishment.” — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 1663

Categorization

• CANDY: “The process is the punishment” is a punchy, memorable formulation perfect for a course discussion opener.
• XREF: connects to: Gideon and Argersinger extended counsel to nearly all criminal defendants — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 1650; Prevention programs pay for themselves through avoided criminal justice costs — , The Rod and the Child: A Global History…, 10790; Capital trials cost more than life imprisonment — Hilary Mantel, A Memoir of My Former Self- A Life in…, 658

Broader Connections

• Capital trials cost more than life imprisonment #corroborates (0.80) — Hilary Mantel, A Memoir of My Former Self- A Life in…, 658
• Prevention programs pay for themselves through avoided criminal justice costs #corroborates (0.72) — , The Rod and the Child, 10790