Ordinary Injustice

Rascuache Lawyering and the Anatomy of a Criminal Case

Alfredo Mirandé

• Publisher: University of Arizona Press
• Year: 2023
• Print ISBN:
  9780816551781
  9780816551798
• eBook ISBN:
  9780816551804
• Topic: Social Sciences
• Subtopic: Discrimination & Race Relations
• Index: Social Sciences

Ordinary Injustice is the unique and riveting story of a young Latino student, Juan Rulfo, with no previous criminal record involved in a domestic violence dispute that quickly morphs into a complex case with ten felonies, multiple enhancements, a "No Bail" order, and a potential life sentence without the possibility of parole.

Building from author Alfredo Mirandé's earlier work Rascuache Lawyer, the account is told by "The Professor," who led a pro bono rascuache legal defense team comprising the professor, a retired prosecutor, and student interns, working without a budget, office, paralegals, investigators, or support staff. The book is a must-read for anyone interested in race, gender, and criminal injustice and will appeal not only to law scholars and social scientists but to lay readers interested in ethnographic field research, Latinx communities, and racial disparities in the legal system.

The case is presented as a series of letters to the author's fictional alter-ego, Fermina Gabriel, an accomplished lawyer and singer. This narrative device allows the author to present the case as it happens, relaying the challenges and complexities as they occur and drawing the reader in.

While Ordinary Injustice deals with important, complicated legal issues and questions that arise in criminal defense work and looks at the case from the time of Juan's arrest to the preliminary hearing, indictment, pretrial motions, and attempts to obtain a negotiated plea, it is written in nontechnical and engaging language that makes law accessible to the lay reader.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Dedication
• Contents
• Preface
• Introduction
• 1. The First Case: A Family Vacation, March 25, 2019
• 2. A Visit to the Dentist
• 3. Las Mañanitas
• 4. Trespassing
• 5. Cartas Marcadas (Stacked Deck)
• 6. Lying About the Truth: The Preliminary Hearing
• 7. Las Rejas No Matan: The Information and Arraignment
• 8. Hearing on Motion to Dismiss
• 9. Amor Tóxico: Penal Code §1382 and §995 Motions
• 10. The Rape Allegation
• 11. Negotiating a Plea
• 12. The Final Chapter?
• 13. The Appeal
• Epilogue
• Appendix: Petition to the Supreme Court of California
• Notes
• References
• Index
• About the Author