The Truth About Crime: Sovereignty, Knowledge, Social Order. By Jean Comaroff and John L. Comaroff. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2016.

• Published date: 01 December 2017
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/lasr.12301
• Date: 01 December 2017

85

trial), and accepting a sentence of up to 360 days. In this high-

86

volume court where efficiency is paramount, Lynch describes

87

observing a defense attorney joking with his client about pointing to

88

“si” or “no” on a piece of paper so the client would know the

89

“correct” answer to the judge’s questions. In one of many potent

90

anecdotes that animate the text, Lynch notes that upon hearing this

91

quip, everyone in the room laughed.

92

The implications of such observations point to where the book

93

could have offered more in the way of analysis. Although Lynch

94

conducts 63 formal interviews and 12 shorter informal interviews,

95

Hard Bargains does not offer any systematic analysis of this valuable

96

qualitative data. As a result, an opportunity is missed to methodi-

97

cally bring to light the meaning state actors assign to their roles,

98

practices, and decisionmaking. Given the paucity of scholarship on

99

federal case processing, such analysis could be quite revelatory.

100

Nonetheless, Hard Bargains engages well with a perennial and

101

problematic gap in the literature on decisionmaking in the criminal

102

justice domain. Accessing prosecutorial decisionmaking is notori-

103

ously difficult as is obtaining systematic data about case processing

104

or sentencing that includes information about the judge. Lynch’s

105

approach tackles both problems with notable success.

106

Overall, what Lynch powerfully demonstrates is how, in myriad

107

ways, there actually is no functional check on prosecutorial power.

108

Her work therefore raises the pressing question of how to effect

109

change. Although she concludes with some perspectives on how

110

deeply entrenched this power is and provides some specific recom-

111

mendations for change (e.g., reducing statutory maximums), Lynch

112

has made quite clear the difficulty of disentangling the substance

113

and process of law. About this truth, one of the most disheartening

114

epilogues in a scholarly book you are likely to encounter leaves no

115

doubt. It follows that the outrage will continue. But, hopefully, so

116

will such distinguished scholarship.

117*** 118

119

The Truth About Crime: Sovereignty, Knowledge, Social Order. By Jean

120

Comaroff and John L. Comaroff. Chicago: University of Chicago

121

Press, 2016.

122

Reviewed by Dolly Kikon, School of Social and Political Sciences, The

123

University of Melbourne

124

In their most recent book, anthropologists Jean and John L.

125

Comaroff consider how crime and policing have transformed

Book Reviews 1003