Abstract Most theorists assume that the criminal courts are neutral arbiters of justice, protected by the Constitution, the rule of law, and court records. This essay challenges those assumptions and examines the courts as a place of punitive excess and the normalization of racial abuse and punishment. The essay explains the historic origins of these trends and examines how the categories of “hardened” and “marginal” defendants began to assume racialized meanings with the emergence of mass incarceration. This transformed the criminal courts into a type of public theater for racial degradation. These public performances or “racial degradation ceremonies” occur within the discretionary practices and cultural norms of mostly White courtroom professionals as they efficiently manage the disposition of cases in the everyday practice of law. I link these historical findings to a recent study of the largest unified criminal court system in the United States–Cook County, Chicago–and discuss court watching programs as an intervention for accountability and oversight of our courts and its legal professionals.

中文翻译：

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正当程序与种族退化剧场：刑事法院审前处罚的演变概念

摘要 大多数理论家认为，刑事法院是公正的中立仲裁者，受到宪法、法治和法庭记录的保护。本文对这些假设提出了挑战，并将法院视为过度惩罚和种族虐待和惩罚正常化的场所。这篇文章解释了这些趋势的历史渊源，并研究了随着大规模监禁的出现，“硬化”和“边缘”被告的类别如何开始呈现出种族化的含义。这将刑事法庭变成了一种种族退化的公共剧院。这些公开表演或“种族退化仪式”发生在大多数白人法庭专业人员的自由裁量实践和文化规范中，因为他们在日常法律实践中有效地管理案件的处理。