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Full-Text Articles in Law
Blinding Prosecutors To Defendants’ Race: A Policy Proposal To Reduce Unconscious Bias In The Criminal Justice System, Sunita Sah, Christopher Robertson, Shima Baughman
Blinding Prosecutors To Defendants’ Race: A Policy Proposal To Reduce Unconscious Bias In The Criminal Justice System, Sunita Sah, Christopher Robertson, Shima Baughman
Faculty Scholarship
Racial minorities are disproportionately imprisoned in the United States. This disparity is unlikely to be due solely to differences in criminal behavior. Behavioral science research has documented that prosecutors harbor unconscious racial biases. These unconscious biases play a role whenever prosecutors exercise their broad discretion, such as in choosing what crimes to charge and when negotiating plea bargains. To reduce this risk of unconscious racial bias, we propose a policy change: Prosecutors should be blinded to the race of criminal defendants wherever feasible. This could be accomplished by removing information identifying or suggesting the defendant’s race from police dossiers shared …
Michael Brown, Eric Garner, And Law Librarianship, Ronald E. Wheeler
Michael Brown, Eric Garner, And Law Librarianship, Ronald E. Wheeler
Faculty Scholarship
Professor Wheeler discusses the police killings of Michael Brown and Eric Garner. He posits that racialized fear is part of what fuels such violence and discusses examples of how racialized fear have impacted his personal life. Wheeler then discusses how and why law librarians can and should be prepared to discuss such events with their law library patrons.
We All Do It: Unconscious Behavior, Bias, And Diversity, Ronald E. Wheeler
We All Do It: Unconscious Behavior, Bias, And Diversity, Ronald E. Wheeler
Faculty Scholarship
Mr. Wheeler suggests that many of our behaviors, in the workplace and elsewhere, are motivated by unconscious triggers and emotions, including racial biases. These behaviors, however, can be prevented by making conscious choices that enhance diversity.
Risk As A Proxy For Race: The Dangers Of Risk Assessment, Bernard E. Harcourt
Risk As A Proxy For Race: The Dangers Of Risk Assessment, Bernard E. Harcourt
Faculty Scholarship
Actuarial risk assessment in the implementation and administration of criminal sentencing has a long history in this country – a long and fraught history. Today, many progressive advocates promote the use of actuarial risk assessment instruments as part of a strategy to reduce the problem of "mass incarceration." Former Attorney General Eric Holder has called on the U.S. Sentencing Commission to hold hearings to further consider the matter of risk assessment and prediction tools in sentencing and parole.
The objective – to reduce our massive over-incarceration in this country – is critical and noble. But risk assessment tools are simply …