Robert P. Burns – författare

In "The Death of the American Trial", distinguished legal scholar Robert P. Burns makes an impassioned case for reversing the rapid decline of the trial before we lose one of our public culture's greatest achievements. As a practice that is adapted for modern times yet rooted in ancient wisdom, the trial is uniquely suited to balance the tensions - between idealism and realism, experts and citizens, contextual judgment and reliance on rules - that define American culture. Arguing that many observers make a grave mistake by taking a complacent or even positive view of the trial's demise, Burns concludes by laying out the catastrophic consequences of losing an institution that so perfectly embodies democratic governance.

The Trial is actually closer to reality than fantasy as far as the client's perception of the system. It's supposed to be a fantastic allegory, but it's reality. It's very important that lawyers read it and understand this." Justice Anthony Kennedy famously offered this assessment of the Kafkaesque character of the American criminal justice system in 1993. While Kafka's vision of the "Law" in The Trial appears at first glance to be the antithesis of modern American legal practice, might the characteristics of this strange and arbitrary system allow us to identify features of our own system that show signs of becoming similarly nightmarish? With Kafka's Law, Robert P. Burns shows how The Trial provides an uncanny lens through which to consider flaws in the American criminal justice system today. Burns begins with the story, at once funny and grim, of Josef K., caught in the Law's grip and then crushed by it. Laying out the features of the Law that eventually destroy K., Burns argues that the American criminal justice system has taken on many of these same features.In the overwhelming majority of contemporary cases, police interrogation is followed by a plea bargain, in which the court's only function is to set a largely predetermined sentence for an individual already presumed guilty. Like Kafka's nightmarish vision much of American criminal law and procedure has become unknowable, ubiquitous, and bureaucratic. It, too, has come to rely on deception in dealing with suspects and jurors, to limit the role of defense, and to increasingly dispense justice without the protection of formal procedures. But, while Kennedy may be correct in his grim assessment, a remedy is available in the tradition of trial by jury, and Burns concludes by convincingly arguing for its return to a more central place in American criminal justice.

A novel meditation on how courts and bureaucracies function today and how they can be made better.We live in a highly bureaucratic society, so much so that we often don’t even see it. Although we think of bureaucracies and courtrooms as different kinds of institutions, as Robert P. Burns argues in Courts and Bureaucracies, their functions and everyday operations often blur together. Today, courts are being used to address numerous social problems that the government is unable or unwilling to tackle, and consequently, the courts frequently emphasize bureaucratic goals—such as efficiency and social control—over the adjudicatory functions that they are supposed to embody.Drawing on social theory, philosophy, public administration, and law, Burns clarifies the role of courts in today’s bureaucratic society and considers the distinctive contributions that specifically legal procedures can bring. After exploring the competing first principles of adjudication, Burns then examines our current administrative, civil, and criminal processes and describes new and looming changes to rules and practices that should affect our thinking about the rule of law and the role of the courts.A broad reassessment—both philosophical and practical—of how criminal, civil, and administrative practices differ from one another and what benefits each bestows, Courts and Bureaucracies offers concrete suggestions for how we can better achieve the ideals already implicit in our judicial traditions and practices.

A novel meditation on how courts and bureaucracies function today and how they can be made better.We live in a highly bureaucratic society, so much so that we often don’t even see it. Although we think of bureaucracies and courtrooms as different kinds of institutions, as Robert P. Burns argues in Courts and Bureaucracies, their functions and everyday operations often blur together. Today, courts are being used to address numerous social problems that the government is unable or unwilling to tackle, and consequently, the courts frequently emphasize bureaucratic goals—such as efficiency and social control—over the adjudicatory functions that they are supposed to embody.Drawing on social theory, philosophy, public administration, and law, Burns clarifies the role of courts in today’s bureaucratic society and considers the distinctive contributions that specifically legal procedures can bring. After exploring the competing first principles of adjudication, Burns then examines our current administrative, civil, and criminal processes and describes new and looming changes to rules and practices that should affect our thinking about the rule of law and the role of the courts.A broad reassessment—both philosophical and practical—of how criminal, civil, and administrative practices differ from one another and what benefits each bestows, Courts and Bureaucracies offers concrete suggestions for how we can better achieve the ideals already implicit in our judicial traditions and practices.

Anyone who has sat on a jury or followed a high-profile trial on television usually comes to the realization that a trial, particularly a criminal trial, is really a performance. Verdicts seem determined as much by which lawyer can best connect with the hearts and minds of the jurors as by what the evidence might suggest. In this celebration of the American trial as a great cultural achievement, Robert Burns, a trial lawyer and a trained philosopher, explores how these legal proceedings bring about justice. The trial, he reminds us, is not confined to the impartial application of legal rules to factual findings. Burns depicts the trial as an institution employing its own language and styles of performance that elevate the understanding of decision-makers, bringing them in contact with moral sources beyond the limits of law. Burns explores the rich narrative structure of the trial, beginning with the lawyers' opening statements, which establish opposing moral frameworks in which to interpret the evidence. In the succession of witnesses, stories compete and are held in tension. At some point during the performance, a sense of the right thing to do arises among the jurors.How this happens is at the core of Burns's investigation, which draws on careful descriptions of what trial lawyers do, the rules governing their actions, interpretations of actual trial material, social science findings, and a broad philosophical and political appreciation of the trial as a unique vehicle of American self-government.

Ideal for those with a minimum of mathematical and statistical knowledge, Business Research Methods and Statistics Using SPSS provides an easy to follow approach to understanding and using quantitative methods and statistics. It is solidly grounded in the context of business and management research, enabling students to appreciate the practical applications of the techniques and procedures explained.

 

The book is comprehensive in its coverage, including discussion of the business context, statistical analysis of data, survey methods, and reporting and presenting research. A companion website also contains four extra chapters for the more advanced student, along with PowerPoint slides for lecturers, and additional questions and exercises, all of which aim to help students to:

- Understand the importance and application of statistics and quantitative methods in the field of business

- Design effective research studies

- Interpret statistical results

- Use statistical information meaningfully

- Use SPSS confidently

Ideal for those with a minimum of mathematical and statistical knowledge, Business Research Methods and Statistics Using SPSS provides an easy to follow approach to understanding and using quantitative methods and statistics. It is solidly grounded in the context of business and management research, enabling students to appreciate the practical applications of the techniques and procedures explained.

 

The book is comprehensive in its coverage, including discussion of the business context, statistical analysis of data, survey methods, and reporting and presenting research. A companion website also contains four extra chapters for the more advanced student, along with PowerPoint slides for lecturers, and additional questions and exercises, all of which aim to help students to:

- Understand the importance and application of statistics and quantitative methods in the field of business

- Design effective research studies

- Interpret statistical results

- Use statistical information meaningfully

- Use SPSS confidently