期刊名称：RSF: The Russell Sage Foundation Journal of the Social Sciences
印刷版ISSN：2377-8253
电子版ISSN：2377-8261
出版年度：2022
卷号：8
期号：1
页码：200-220
DOI：10.7758/RSF.2022.8.1.09
语种：English
出版社：Russell Sage Foundation
摘要：Monetary sanctions are a ubiquitous part of court systems. Previous studies have focused largely on these sanctions at the state level or solely on large urban jurisdictions. However, court systems differ considerably across communities of varying population size, composition, and density. This article examines how differences in court structure and organizational dynamics in communities across the rural-urban continuum lead to differences in how court actors consider the role of monetary sanctions. Using interviews with court actors and ethnographic observations in communities across four states, we find that the practical and symbolic nature of monetary sanctions varied by the acquaintanceship density of the court and community. These interpersonal dynamics influenced courtroom considerations, monetary sanctions’ relationship to local finances, and actors’ positioning toward state-level policy. These findings emphasize the importance of court and community context and structure in assessing the law-in-action both when conducting research and designing reform.
关键词：monetary sanctions;punishment;acquaintanceship density
