US Legal System
"Racial Diversity and Jury Deliberations." Harvard Mental Health Letter 23.4 (2006): 6. Academic Search Premier. Web. 3 Oct. 2016.
An experiment was conducted that consisted of whites and blacks. The crime involved sexual assault whereby the victim was a white while the defendant was a black. In this case, the evidence was ambiguous where after the video the jurors were asked to state whether the defendant was guilty of the act. After seeing the video immediately 40% of the jury voted yes that the defendant was guilty (6). 31% of the jury in the mixed group gave the verdict of guilty and 51% of the white in the group voted for a guilty verdict. It is, therefore, evident enough to say that even before the black jurors had the chance to the verdict the white jurors in the group were open to the defendant guilty (6). The issue of having a mixed jury in this experiment made the white jurors takes their responsibility seriously and less ready to favor as they have different opinions to put into consideration.
Pond, Brandon C. "Juror Testimony Of Racial Bias In Jury Deliberations: United States V. Benally And The Obstacle Of Federal Rule Of Evidence 606(B)." Brigham Young University Law Review 2010.1 (2010): 237-250. Business Source Complete. Web. 3 Oct. 2016.
Mr. Benally who was the defendant was accused of assaulting a Bureau officer of the Indian Affairs with a weapon was found guilty in the year 2007. After the jury released its verdict one of them came to the defense of the accused as she argued that the jury deliberation was improperly influenced to Mr. Benally who was a Native American on the basis of racist’s claims (237). The argument was founded on that most Indians individuals get drunk after taking in alcohol hence becoming violent. The juror further said that Mr. of Benally would not go scot free after assaulting a police officer and that a message should be sent back to the reservation. This opened a new case for Mr. Benally raising the question of racial discrimination that none of the jurors could answer affirmatively. Race played a crucial role in this judgment as information was considered and not evidence (239).
Taslitz, Andrew E. "Racial Threat Versus Racial Empathy In Sentencing--Capital And Otherwise." American Journal Of Criminal Law 41.1 (2013): 1-40. Academic Search Premier. Web. 3 Oct. 2016.
Empathy is considered to be the capability in standing in another man’s shoes while sympathy is compassion or understanding from the person perspective. From different people’s perspective, white people are well understood by the white jurors which means that a different race rather than the white is likely to be misunderstood by the white juror creating a huge gap in socially especially where the accused is not a white. The disparity is coincidental but it is overwhelming when the victim is a white while the defendant is a black (6). The white jurors exercise empathy to the white victims leading to harshness towards the black defendant’s thus affecting the decision of the jury, especially where their number is not evenly distributed hence the unfair judgment.
Brown Jr., Lonnie T. "Racial Discrimination In Jury Selection: Professionalism Misconduct, Not Legitimate Advocacy." Review Of Litigation 22.2 (2003): 209. Academic Search Premier. Web. 3 Oct. 2016.
Jury’s decisions have been affected by the racial discrimination hence the adoption of the anti-discrimination principles in the context of the jury selection. In the case of Stauder versus West Virginia the court held that the right was denied if the blacks were excluded from the jury as the defendant could move the case from the state court (223). This means that if the jury is only comprised of the whites then there is bound to be unfair judgment as the inclusion of the blacks in the jury was meant to eliminate the stigma that the black race faced throughout the history. In the eyes of the white, the colored races were deemed ignorant and abject and were unfit to command respect from those who had superior intelligence hence unfair judgment (223).
Sommers, Samuel R. "Race And The Decision Making Of Juries." Legal & Criminological Psychology 12.2 (2007): 171-187. Academic Search Premier. Web. 3 Oct. 2016.
The historical nature of the legal system of the United States has been presumably played a role in the way juries make their decision where the blacks stand accused. The white system has predominantly given harsh treatment to the blacks. A study carried out has shown that the white jurors are harsh towards same race defendant implying that despite the level of evidence in any given case race plays a bigger role (172). The discrimination of the blacks and the notion that the white have towards the black stands in the way of fair judgment. As a way of overcoming these odds of unfair judgment, individual differences have been put into consideration to ensure that elimination of racial discrimination.
Lynch, Mona, and Craig Haney. "Emotion, Authority, And Death: (Raced) Negotiations In Mock Capital Jury Deliberations." Law & Social Inquiry 40.2 (2015): 377-405. Academic Search Premier. Web. 3 Oct. 2016.
The emotions and authority arise in the jury that has mixed races. Where the victim is a white the white juror’s have shown to be more emotional. In another case, the black defendant was considered not to be a man but to be an animal by the white jurors. Emotions were attached. They displayed negative emotions to the defendant despite lacking evidence (389). The deliberation by the jury to the defendant was bad character and depravity of the defendant whereby the best justification was putting him to death. There was no fair judgment to the black defendant as emotion was attached to the injured part irrespective of the level of evidence which shows that race played a great role in their judgment (390). The defendant was considered dirty because of the race hence a racially biased outcome.
