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Civil Rights and Discrimination

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Selected Works

2014

Death penalty

Articles 1 - 5 of 5

Full-Text Articles in Law

Racial Epithets In The Criminal Process, Sheri Lynn Johnson, John H. Blume, Patrick M. Wilson Dec 2014

Racial Epithets In The Criminal Process, Sheri Lynn Johnson, John H. Blume, Patrick M. Wilson

Sheri Lynn Johnson

The evidence of modern bias is often difficult to document and, even when documented, still capable of racially neutral interpretations. In contrast, the use of racial epithets is neither subtle nor ambiguous. Prior to the research that generated this article and our representation of two clients whose cases involved racial epithets, we would have assumed that the use of a racial epithet by a decision-maker in a criminal trial would be rare, but that assumption turns out to be wrong. We also would have assumed that the use of an epithet by any of the decision makers would lead to …


Black Innocence And The White Jury, Sheri Johnson Dec 2014

Black Innocence And The White Jury, Sheri Johnson

Sheri Lynn Johnson

Racial prejudice has come under increasingly close scrutiny during the past thirty years, yet its influence on the decisionmaking of criminal juries remains largely hidden from judicial and critical examination. In this Article, Professor Johnson takes a close look at this neglected area. She first sets forth a large body of social science research that reveals a widespread tendency among whites to convict black defendants in instances in which white defendants would be acquitted. Next, she argues that none of the existing techniques for eliminating the influence of racial bias on criminal trials adequately protects minority-race defendants. She contends that …


Unconscious Racism And The Criminal Law, Sheri Johnson Dec 2014

Unconscious Racism And The Criminal Law, Sheri Johnson

Sheri Lynn Johnson

No abstract provided.


Racial Epithets In The Criminal Process, Sheri Lynn Johnson, John H. Blume, Patrick M. Wilson Dec 2014

Racial Epithets In The Criminal Process, Sheri Lynn Johnson, John H. Blume, Patrick M. Wilson

John H. Blume

The evidence of modern bias is often difficult to document and, even when documented, still capable of racially neutral interpretations. In contrast, the use of racial epithets is neither subtle nor ambiguous. Prior to the research that generated this article and our representation of two clients whose cases involved racial epithets, we would have assumed that the use of a racial epithet by a decision-maker in a criminal trial would be rare, but that assumption turns out to be wrong. We also would have assumed that the use of an epithet by any of the decision makers would lead to …


Infusing The Meaning Of “Cruel And Unusual” Through The Digital Public Sphere: How The Internet Can Change The Debate On The Morality Of Capital Punishment, Adam A. Marshall Mar 2014

Infusing The Meaning Of “Cruel And Unusual” Through The Digital Public Sphere: How The Internet Can Change The Debate On The Morality Of Capital Punishment, Adam A. Marshall

Adam A Marshall

In this paper, I suggest new strategies that abolitionists should adopt in the debate over the morality of the death penalty. As the Eighth Amendment “draw[s] its meaning from the evolving standards of decency that mark the progress of a maturing society”, advocates for abolishing the death penalty should develop strategies based on the moral theories of Adam Smith to leverage the power of the internet and ensure all citizens feel the effects of the death penalty in order to stimulate debate over its morality. By examining these concepts through the case of Troy Davis, we can see how the …