Preview

Race Colors Judgement: the Affect Race Has on Juries in Decisions of Guilt and Innocence

Powerful Essays
Open Document
Open Document
2823 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Race Colors Judgement: the Affect Race Has on Juries in Decisions of Guilt and Innocence
Race Colors Judgment:
The Affect Race Has On Juries in Decisions of Guilt and Innocence

Heather N. Josey

Chestnut Hill College

Abstract
The following review will focus on jury decision-making of guilt or innocence in a criminal court room. Focus will be made on the effect the race of jurors and defendants has on a jury’s decision-making process and verdict. The proposition put forth in this paper is that having majority White juries is one of the causes of the disproportionate overrepresentation of the minority population in the criminal justice system. Theoretical origins to be conceptualized are aversive racism, race salience (racially charged vs. racially neutral) in trials, jury composition, in group/out-group bias, systematic information processing (cognitive theory) and heuristic information processing (cognitive theory).

Keywords: African-American, aversive racism, race salience, systematic information processing, heuristic information processing

Race Colors Judgment:
The Affect Race Has On Juries in Decisions of Guilt and Innocence

The criminal justice system in the United States is one of the many places that I believe stereotypes are formed. For example, African-Americans make up only 13% of the U.S. population but represent 46% of the inmate population who have received sentences of more than one year (Hart, 2006, p.1). Another example of a racial disparity can be seen the percentage of African-Americans who are drug users (14%) and those sentenced for drug offenses (53%) (Sentencing Project, 2009 p.3). “More African-American men are in prison or jail, on probation or parole then were enslaved in 1850, before the Civil War began,” (Alexander, 2010). However, this is not just a problem within the African-American community. More than 60% of the people in prison are now racial and ethnic minorities and three-fourths of all persons in prison for drug offenses are people of color (www.sentencingproject.org). The Bureau of Justice


References: Batson v. Kentucky, 476 U.S. 79 (1986) Brennan, P Hart, M. (2006) Race, sentencing and the pretrial process. Criminology & Criminal Justice Thesis and Dissertations UM Theses and Dissertations, p. 1 Pettigrew, T.F Sommers, S.R., Warp, L.S., & Mahoney, C.C. (2008). Cognitive effects of racial diversity: White individuals’ information processing in heterogeneous groups. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, p. 44, 1129-1136 Sommers, S Sommers, S. R., & Ellsworth, P.C. (2000). Race in the courtroom: Perceptions of guilt and dispositional attributions. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, p. 26, 1367-1379. Sommers, S.R. (2006). On racial diversity and group decision-making: Identifying multiple effects of racial composition on jury deliberations. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, P. 90, 597-612 Sommers, S.R., Ellsworth, P.C Tamborini, R. Huang, R, Mastro, D, & Nabashi-Nakahara, R. (2007) The Influence of race, heuristics, and information load on judgments of guilt or innocence. Communications Studies, p. 341-358 Thomas, C., & Balmer, N
Continue Reading
View Writing Issues

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Satisfactory Essays

    What Role Race Play In Black Juror Summary
    • 217 Words
    • 1 Page

    What Role Race Play In Black Juror Summary

    The author’s have a background in law, specifically he was a Special Assistant Attorney for the United States, who persecuted people with midsummeror in the District of Columbia in 1990. who mainly persecuted those with misdemeanor crimes. The author did not just write this article for the sake of writing an article, he wants to answer a specific question. “…what role race should play in black juror’s decisions to acquit defendants in criminal cases.” In this articles he hopes to get that point across that the American criminal justice system needs to change. He does not only want to tear it down because for its treatment of African-Americans but he wants to build it back up in a way that treats everyone equally.…

    • 217 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Jury Nullification Paper
    • 79 Words
    • 1 Page

    Jury Nullification Paper

    · Conclude by choosing a position for or against ethnicity-based jury nullification and defend your decision.…

    • 79 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Best Essays

    A Study of Stereotypes in a Confederacy of Dunces
    • 2645 Words
    • 11 Pages

    A Study of Stereotypes in a Confederacy of Dunces

    Devine, Patricia G., and Andrew J. Elliot. “Are Racial Stereotypes Really Fading? The Princeton Tirilogy Revisited.” Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin 21.11 (1995): 1139-50. ERIC. Web. 2 Oct. 2012.…

    • 2645 Words
    • 11 Pages
    Best Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    U.S. Criminal Justice System: Creation and Maintenance of Racial Hierarchy through Mass Incarceration
    • 512 Words
    • 1 Page

    U.S. Criminal Justice System: Creation and Maintenance of Racial Hierarchy through Mass Incarceration

    incarceration is another term for enslavement, except for this time, the US has found a way to…

    • 512 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Powerful Essays

    PSY328 final proposal
    • 1936 Words
    • 6 Pages

    PSY328 final proposal

    Juries represent the ordinary public and therefore are more likely to judge in line with generally accepted values of the society. Justice and equity are the standards of an eligible jury, and the jury selection is meant to ensure “counterbalancing of biases” or canceling out individual biases (Hastie, Penrod & Pennington, 1983). However, jury trials are often vulnerable to the effects of prejudice and stereotypes of the jury, by geographical or historical factors, and it tend to be harmful to certain groups. For example, juror characteristics, such as gender, religion, education level, socio-economic status (Hastie et al., 1983; Wrighstman, Kassim & Willis, 1987), and racial prejudices (Urszbat, 2005). And attorneys’ intonation, posture, attractiveness, confidence, and credibility also affect juries’ perception and their judgments (Jakubaszek, 2014). Most significant, the characteristics of defendants like gender and age would affect jury decision making (Pazzulo, Dempsey, Meader & Allen, 2010). These prejudices and stereotypes cause in-group-out-group bias during the trial process. In-group bias means in-group favoritism that refers to the fact that under certain conditions people will preference and have an affinity for one’s in-group over the out-group, or anyone viewed as outside the in-group. It is usually expressed in one 's evaluation of others, linking, allocation of resources and many other ways (Aronson, E., Wilson, T. D. & Akert, R. D., 2009). And out-group bias is the phenomenon in which an out-group is perceived as being threatening to the members of an in-group ( Hewstone, M.; Rubin, M.; Willis, H., 2002) defined as out-group derogation. It is a matter of favoritism towards an in-group and the absence of equivalent favoritism towards an out-group (Brewers, Marilynn B., 1999). Outgroup derogation often…

    • 1936 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Race-Based Theory In Criminal Justice
    • 139 Words
    • 1 Page

    Race-Based Theory In Criminal Justice

    Race-based theory plays a major role in predicting substantial and institutionalized discrimination that is always aimed at minorities within the systems of criminal justice. Racial discrimination in the criminal systems is mainly carried out by police, judges in the courts and agencies which carry out corrections in the United States. Evidence of criminal discrimination against African Americans and Hispanics found in the United States highlights some of the discrimination incidences that the minorities go through. Discrimination against minorities is popularly explained as a purpose of little position of their socioeconomic actions rather than indigenous or racial status. There are two race-based conflict theories which address the discrimination…

    • 139 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Powerful Essays

    Police: Racial Profiling in America
    • 2373 Words
    • 10 Pages

    Police: Racial Profiling in America

    References: Holbert, S; Rose, L (2004) the color of GUILT & INNOCENCE RACIAL PROFILING AND POLICE PRACTICES IN AMERICA…

    • 2373 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Equality of Justice and Jury Nullification
    • 758 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Equality of Justice and Jury Nullification

    Christopher Stone. (2001). Race, Crime, and the Administration of Justice: A Summary of the Available Facts. Retrieved from Christopher Stone, ADJ/255 website.…

    • 758 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Race-Based Jury Nullification
    • 365 Words
    • 1 Page

    Race-Based Jury Nullification

    Some people view that the jurors should consider this option when they are faced with situation where the defendant is from a minority and he is persuaded that the law is unjust to the defendant. Some people believe that this is the only way to bring equality in our courts of law. They believe that jury nullification based on race is the only way to bring change and reduce racial discrimination in the American law courts. The judgment issued by the judge is not supposed to be wholly based on facts but should consider factors such as the racial injustices and inequalities based on their wisdom and experience. Otherwise a machine can effectively replace the judges (Rivera, 2006).…

    • 365 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Jury Decision Making Research Paper
    • 1363 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Jury Decision Making Research Paper

    stereotypical race crime biases play into a jury’s decision making, and from there, analyze what…

    • 1363 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    Jury Nullification
    • 1578 Words
    • 7 Pages

    Jury Nullification

    O 'Neill, T. P. (n.d) The Role of Race Based Jury Nullification in American Criminal Justice Retrieved November 15, 2010 from…

    • 1578 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Implicit Stereotypes
    • 355 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Implicit Stereotypes

    Implicit biases are particularly relevant to the law enforcement decision-making process because they link certain groups with traits related to crime and violence. For example, stereotypes linking African American adolescents to aggression suggest that people precieve behavior by an African American youth as more aggressive than behavior similarily displayed with white adolescents, in addition to violence, danger and hostility [citation-Duncan 1976]. These same stereotypes indicate an aspect of criminality, which is particularily important when assessing whether a suspect poses a threat to personal safety. Furthermore, research suggests that the race of an adolecent will influence these perceptions of threat [citation-Devine 1995]. As first point of contact, law enforcement…

    • 355 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Cultural Disparity In The Criminal Justice System
    • 901 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Cultural Disparity In The Criminal Justice System

    Statistics continue to reflect issues of disparity and discrimination within the American criminal justice system. The issues that affect the enforcement of laws and government policy can result in justice for the safety of society and/or justice that will single out members of society. With the diverse population living in the United States, stereotypical judgments and attitudes can influence and possibly overwhelm the direction of the criminal justice system. The American system of criminal justice is thought to…

    • 901 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Stereotypes Of Racial Injustice In Schools
    • 905 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Stereotypes Of Racial Injustice In Schools

    Black people face a tremendous amount of injustice in the criminal justice system. White and Black people use drugs at similar rates, however Black people are jailed on drug charges ten times more often than White people are. (Hinger) In addition, Black Men sentences are on average 10% longer than those of their white peers for the same crime. (Kahn) From initial charging decisions to plea bargaining, to sentencing African Americans are treated more harshly when they are the defendants. (Death)…

    • 905 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Stereotypes: Article Analysis
    • 509 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Stereotypes: Article Analysis

    As a researcher we can link methods to other articles that reflect this topic. Labeling theory plays a major role in our society, it affects the way we see other human beings in our society. As research claims race does give a defendant a higher punishment in a case and has shown a 25% higher indication of capital punishment. Racial bias in our court system can be used against an ongoing case due to the possibility it’s unconstitutional and can be against the amendments of receiving a free trail and various other…

    • 509 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More

Related Topics