more limited role and less of an adjudicative role than is popularly imagined or which they might play in a fairer and better organized criminal justice system.
Feeley summarizes the role of such judges as follows:
the judge's role is a study in contrasts. To the community, the judge is a symbol of authority and respect . . . Within the courthouse, however, the powers of the judge are severely circumscribed. Like a rock in the middle of a whirlpool, the judge is placed in a swirl of activity which neither moves him nor is significantly shaped by him (p. 69).
Under the American system of criminal justice, defendants are presumed innocent unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt by a jury of their peers after a trial in which their constitutional and other procedural rights have been protected through an adversarial process in which the judge plays a key role in ensuring fairness. However, very few cases in the lower criminal courts ever proceed to trial and even fewer to a jury trial. Feeley said "in the lower courts tria
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