Digital Commons Network^™

Race And Gender Differences In Two Sanctioning Strategies For Juvenile Offenders, Chantrelle Varnado

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

Research suggests that decision-makers often use demographic characteristics for the purpose of influencing the sanctioning strategy allocated. The research study examines the extent to which the sanctioning strategies allocated are influenced by race and gender. The research is based on data gathered from Jefferson Parish Juvenile Services Department of Probation used to examine how race and gender influence juvenile sanctioning strategy allocation. The results from the discriminant analysis offers support for the argument that due to stereotypical perceptions on the part of decision makers, members of minority groups, in particular females may receive differential treatment than their white male counterparts. …

Brown’S Lesson: To Integrate Or Separate Is Not The Question, But How To Achieve A Non-Racist Society, Thomas E. Kleven

University of Maryland Law Journal of Race, Religion, Gender and Class

No abstract provided.

Black Protectionism As A Civil Rights Strategy, Katheryn Russell-Brown

UF Law Faculty Publications

This Article has identified and outlined the parameters of Black protectionism, a practice used by African-Americans to protect prominent community members who have been charged with criminal or unethical activity. This practice took root during slavery-during a time when a false or minor charge against one African-American could result in death or great bodily harm to him and scores of other African-Americans. History has cultivated a culture of Black mistrust of Whites in particular and mainstream society in general. This suspicion is reinforced with the continued disparate treatment of African-Americans within the criminal justice system. History and contemporary conditions explain …

Transforming The Hood: Faith-Based Organizations In New Orleans And Community Development, Jaime Beth Petenko

LSU Master's Theses

New Orleans is one of the most culturally unique cities in America. However, amidst its rich history and lively traditions, there exists extreme poverty and violence. The objective conditions of New Orleans such as poverty, unemployment, violence, poor healthcare, segregation, inadequate housing, drugs, and racism have created a cycle of despair that many in New Orleans cannot escape. These conditions are not isolated in New Orleans but reproduced and reinforced through the basic structure of American society, governmental and institutional policies, and ideologies. While all poor residents in New Orleans internalize and shape the oppression and marginalization they experience on …

Preferring White Lives: The Racial Administration Of The Death Penalty In Maryland, Michael Millemann, Gary W. Christopher

University of Maryland Law Journal of Race, Religion, Gender and Class

No abstract provided.

Against Prediction: Sentencing, Policing, And Punishing In An Actuarial Age, Bernard E. Harcourt

Faculty Scholarship

Actuarial methods – i.e., the use of statistical rather than clinical methods on large datasets of criminal offending rates to determine different levels of offending associated with one or more group traits, in order to (1) predict past, present or future criminal behavior and (2) administer a criminal justice outcome – now permeates the criminal law and its enforcement. With the single exception of racial profiling against African-Americans and Hispanics, most people view the turn to the actuarial as efficient, rational, and wealth-maximizing. The fact is, law enforcement agencies can detect more crime with the same resources if they investigate …

Race Reform In The Early Twentieth Century South: The Life And Work Of Willis Duke Weatherford., Sara Trowbridge Combs

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Willis Duke Weatherford, a liberal pioneer in Southern race reform, argued that the ethics of Christianity obligated Southerners to address the social and economic problems faced by blacks in the early twentieth century. His strategy for improving race relations centred on educating Southerners and promoting economic uplift for blacks. Weatherford advocated race reform through the Young Men's Christian Association, the Southern Sociological Congress, and other voluntary organizations. He published books, taught courses, preached sermons, organized conferences, and raised funds from Northern philanthropists. Through an analysis of Weatherford's published writings and of his papers archived at the Southern Historical Collection, the …

Racial Equity In Exclusionary Discipline Practices, Mary M. Tremper

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The present study examined whether external (out-of-school) suspensions are applied equitably to students of different ethnic backgrounds who commit violent and nonviolent offenses. The hypotheses presented in this study were addressed through secondary analysis of disciplinary records from a large metropolitan school district in Florida.

The results indicate that, for the group of 1,667 tenth grade students included in this analysis, racial equity was related to the type of offense, as well as to the student's socioeconomic status. Racial differences were found when SES was not considered, with African American students more likely to be suspended from school for status …

Discrimination In Sentencing On The Basis Of Afro-Centric Features, William T. Pizzi, Irene V. Blair, Charles M. Judd

ExpressO

For a long time, social scientists have worried about possible racial discrimination in sentencing in the United States. With a prison population that exceeds two million inmates of whom approximately 48% are African American, the worry over the fairness of the sentencing process is understandable. This article is not about discrimination between racial categories as such, but about a related form of discrimination, namely, discrimination on the basis of a person’s Afro-centric features. Section I of the article describes a line of social science research that shows that a person’s Afro-centric features have a strong biasing effect on judgment such …

Juror First Votes In Criminal Trials, Stephen P. Garvey, Paula Hannaford-Agor, Valerie P. Hans, Nicole L. Mott, G. Thomas Munsterman, Martin T. Wells

Cornell Law Faculty Publications

Our analysis of the voting behavior of over 3,000 jurors in felony cases tried in Los Angeles, Maricopa County, the District of Columbia, and the Bronx reveals that only in D.C. does a juror's race appear to relate to how he or she votes. African-American jurors in D.C. appear more apt to vote not guilty on the jury's first ballot in cases involving minority defendants charged with drug offenses. We find no evidence, however, that this effect survives into the jury's final verdict.

Race And Ethnicity, Race And Social Justice: Rawlsian Considerations, Tommie Shelby

Fordham Law Review

No abstract provided.

Is There A Place For Race As A Legal Concept, Sharona Hoffman

Faculty Publications

What does "race" mean? The word "race" is omnipresent in American social, political, and legal discourse. The concept of "race" is central to contemporary debate about affirmative action, racial profiling, hate crimes, health inequities, and many other issues. Nevertheless, the best research in genetics, medicine, and the social sciences reveals that the concept of "race" is elusive and has no reliable definition.

This article argues that "race" is an unnecessary and potentially pernicious concept. As evidenced by the history of slavery, segregation, the Holocaust, and other human tragedies, the idea of "race" can perpetuate prejudices and misconceptions and serve as …

Managing Black Guys: Representation, Corporate Culture, And The Nba, Glyn Hughes

Sociology and Anthropology Faculty Publications

This article explores the intersection of representation, management, and race in the National Basketball Association (NBA) through a larger question on the relationship between corporate strategies for managing racialized subjects and popular representations of race. The NBA “brand” is situated in terms of recent developments in corporate and popular culture and then analyzed as an example of diversity management. Relying on original interviews with NBA corporate employees, as well as business and marketing industry reporting, the article analyzes the NBA as simultaneously an organization and a brand. As such, the NBA helps to “articulate” the corporate with the popular, largely …

Consideration Of Race/Ethnicity In Adolescent Substance Abuse Treatment Outcome Studies, Marilyn J Strada

UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations

Substance use among youth continues to be a major concern in the United States. Several treatments have been developed for youth, but their external validity racially/ethnically diverse populations have not been evaluated for use in ethnic populations. The purpose of this paper was to examine the extent to which adolescent substance use treatment outcome studies have considered race/ethnicity-related factors in the design, implementation, and evaluation of treatments to determine degree of generalizability in racially/ethnically diverse populations. The findings underscored (1) discrepancies between treatment needs of racially/ethnically diverse youth and substances targeted in treatment, (2) the urgent need to focus on …

'But I Thought He Had A Gun' - Race And Police Use Of Deadly Force, Cynthia Lee

GW Law Faculty Publications & Other Works

It is undisputed that Blacks are disproportionately represented among the victims of police shootings. In a comprehensive review of the literature on police use of deadly force, James Fyfe reports that every study that has examined this issue [has] found that blacks are represented disproportionately among those at the wrong end of police guns. Although Blacks represent approximately 13 percent of the population in the United States, in parts of the country they constitute 60 to 85 percent of the victims of police shootings. On average, Blacks are more than six times as likely as Whites to be shot by …

Rethinking Racial Profiling: A Critique Of The Economics, Civil Liberties, And Constitutional Literature, And Of Criminal Profiling More Generally, Bernard Harcourt

Faculty Scholarship

New reporting requirements and data collection efforts by over four hundred law enforcement agencies across the country – including entire states such as Maryland, Missouri, and Washington – are producing a continuous flow of new evidence on highway police searches. For the most part, the data consistently show disproportionate searches of African-American and Hispanic motorists in relation to their estimated representation on the road. Economists, civil liberties advocates, legal and constitutional scholars, political scientists, lawyers, and judges are poring over the new data and reaching, in many cases, quite opposite conclusions about racial profiling.

"Insolent And Contemptuous Carriages": Re-Conceptualizing Illegitimacy In Colonial British America, John Watkins

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This Master's thesis investigates one particular aspect of sexuality in colonial Anglo America--the products of non-marital intercourse. Earlier historical research emphasized the importance of economic considerations in the creation of bastardy laws and the prosecution and punishment for violators of these statutes. Undoubtedly, financial anxieties were a major concern in out-of-wedlock births, but they were only one concern of many. Class, race, and gender dynamics were prominent in colonists' conceptualization of illegitimacy and largely defined who was at risk for having an "insolent and contemptuous carriage" and the resulting punishment for the debauched act. Elite, white officials made women, servants, …

Minding The Gap: An Assessment Of Racial Disparity In Metropolitan Chicago, Center For Urban Research And Learning, The Human Relations Foundation/Jane Addams Policy Initiative

Center for Urban Research and Learning: Publications and Other Works

In cooperation with the Human Relations Foundation of Chicago (HRF), CURL and the Jane Addams Hull House examined inequalities among racial and ethnic groups in Chicago. Drawing from a broad range of existing data sources, researchers documented areas of reduced inequality as well as other areas of persistent inequality.

Minding the Gap: An Assessment of Racial Disparity in Metropolitan Chicago examines seven quality of life measurements: income, wealth and employment, education, housing, transportation, health, the lives of children and the criminal justice system. This report, by examining these seven systems, not just one, creates a unique context for understanding both …

Race And Local Television News Crime Coverage, Jeremy Harris Lipschultz, Michael L. Hilt

Communication Faculty Publications

Viewers of local television newscasts across the United States are regularly exposed to crime news stories. Crime coverage by local television stations is studied with an interest in how live reporting, dramatic video, and timeliness influence perceptions of race in the United States. Crime coverage did not always identify the race of a suspect because that information often was not available from police. However, when violent criminals or suspects were identified, race normally was shown through a mug shot, photograph, or video from the scene. When an African-American suspect was shown in police custody, the images tended to reinforce existing …

Race, Crime, And Institutional Design, Erik Luna

Law and Contemporary Problems

Minorities are gravely overrepresented in every stage of the criminal process--from pedestrian and automobile stops, to searches and seizures, to arrests and convictions, to incarceration and capital punishment. While racial data can provide a snapshot of the current state of affairs, such information rarely satisfies questions of causation, and usually only sets the scene for normative theory.

Racial Auditors And The Fourth Amendment: Data With The Power To Inspire Political Action, Andrew E. Taslitz

Law and Contemporary Problems

Taslitz discusses the current practice of racial auditing as a method of police regulation. Racial auditing relies on the strategy of using independent investigators to disseminate data about an organization to broader publics. Racial auditors, however, are not accountants but rather human rights organizations.

Retrying Race, Anthony V. Alfieri

Articles

No abstract provided.

Proxies For Loyalty In Constitutional Immigration Law: Citizenship And Race After September 11, Victor C. Romero

Faculty Scholarship

The purpose of this article is to share some thoughts about using citizenship and race as proxies for loyalty in constitutional immigration discourse within two contexts: one historical and one current. The current context is the profiling of Muslim and Arab immigrants post-September 11, and the historical context is the distinction the Constitution draws between birthright and naturalized citizens in the Presidential Eligibility Clause.

African-Americans Within The Context Of International Oppression, Kevin D. Brown

Articles by Maurer Faculty

No abstract provided.

Perceptions Of Minorities' Criminal Involvement In Grand Rapids: Community And Media Dialogue, Rafael E. Castanon

McNair Scholars Journal

This study examines media overrepresentation and its effects on community perception. The research examines the perception of racial/ethnic involvement in violent crimes in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Grand Rapids Police Department arrest reports for violent crime were dichotomized by race/ethnicity and compared to news articles reporting violent crimes found in the Grand Rapids Press to determine if a disparity exists between those data sets. To measure public perceptions, questionnaires were administered concerning racial/ethnic groups and their likelihood to commit violent crimes. The overall intention is to provide a better understanding of root causes of minority disparity within the Criminal Justice System.

The Relationship Between Bail Decision-Making And Legal Representation Within The Criminal Justice System, Alfred Allan, Maria M. Allan, Margaret Giles, Deirdre Drake

Research outputs pre 2011

The primary aim of this study was to examine the relationship between legal representation and bail decision-making within the criminal justice system in Western Australia. In doing so it was necessary to "rule out" a number of other factors and this process provided the opportunity to test whether some of the factors mentioned in the literature, such as age and race, have an independent effect on bail decision-making. The data also provided a valuable snapshot of bail decision-making in the Courts of Petty Sessions and the Perth Children’s Court...

More Than Mere Ripples: The Interwoven Complexity Of Female Incarceration And The African-American Family, Joseph Cudjoe, Tony A. Barringer

University of Maryland Law Journal of Race, Religion, Gender and Class

No abstract provided.

Dissecting Axes Of Subordination: The Need For A Structural Analysis, Darren Lenard Hutchinson

UF Law Faculty Publications

Proceedings of a criminal trial in Dallas, Texas, demonstrate the vulnerability of LGBT individuals to judicial bias. Although the jury convicted the defendant of murdering two gay males, the judge explained his light sentence: "I put prostitutes and gays at about the same level, and I'd be hard put to give somebody life for killing a prostitute . . . had [the victims] not been out there trying to spread AIDS, they'd still be alive today . . . These two guys that got killed wouldn't have been killed if they hadn't been cruising the streets picking up teen-age boys …

New Complexity Theories: From Theoretical Innovation To Doctrinal Reform, Darren Lenard Hutchinson

UF Law Faculty Publications

During the latter part of the twentieth century, progressive scholars in various fields of study have developed a large body of works analyzing identity politics. Within legal scholarship, critical race, feminist, anti-heterosexist, and other progressive theorists have demonstrated how legal doctrines and policies perpetuate social hierarchy and reinforce the domination of oppressed classes. The efforts of progressive scholars (and activists) to launch a unified critique of injustice, however, has proved difficult - due in part to the variety of theoretical and doctrinal options available to counter subordination and also to the intractable nature of institutionalized oppression. Yet, progressive scholars have …

New Complexity Theories: From Theoretical Innovation To Doctrinal Reform, Darren L. Hutchinson

Faculty Articles

This Article examines the work of the new complexity or multidimensionality scholars. Most of these scholars are "race-sexuality-gender­class" critics - or scholars whose research introduces sexuality and "queer" theories to the race, gender, and class project initiated by intersectional scholars. This Article seeks to identify concrete points of intervention for multidimensional theorizing. Part II offers an "intellectual history" of the new complexity theories. This section explores the distinctions and similarities among intersectionality literature and the recent contributions of authors in the multidimensionality school. Parts III considers some of the doctrinal implications of new complexity theory and concludes that this work …