Swift But Severe - by Nick Petersen (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

Exposes the structural forces behind persistent racial disparities in criminal punishment

Despite growing concerns about racialized mass incarceration from the public and lawmakers, racial-ethnic inequalities in the criminal justice system persist. Are biased court actors to blame, or is the problem more systematic? Swift But Severe examines the organizational drivers of cumulative racial-ethnic inequalities across Miami-Dade County's criminal justice pipeline from arrest to sentencing.

Critiquing and building off dominant socio-legal theories of criminal courts, Nick Petersen blends statistics and interviews to develop a novel perspective he calls "organizationally expedient inequalities," emphasizing how incentives to process cases efficiently produce policies and practices that prioritize speed over equity. As a result, ostensibly colorblind organizational and cultural forces prioritizing efficiency within Miami's justice system perpetuate cumulative racial-ethnic disparities that increasingly disadvantage people of color as they progress through the courts, even in the absence of overt racial-ethnic prejudice or stereotypes. Given these structural causes, inequalities emerge in Miami's courts despite seemingly race-neutral decision-making, underscoring the desperate need for macro-level policy reforms. Using a database tracking nearly 200,000 individuals across Miami's courts over six years, along with in-depth interviews of court actors and people affected by the system, Swift But Severe underscores the human toll of racism in Miami's courts.

Review Quotes

"Nick Petersen examines the important question of why racialized incarceration has persisted in the face of reforms designed to dismantle it. To answer this question, he develops a novel theory in which he argues that organizational goals and incentives (rather than overt racism) lead to policies and practices that emphasize expediency over equity. This ground-breaking book should be required reading for researchers and scholars trying to make sense of racial disparities in criminal justice decision making."-- "Cassia Spohn, co-author of Criminal Courts: A Contemporary Perspective"

About the Author

Nick Petersen is Associate Professor of Sociology & Criminology at the University of Miami.