final exam Flashcards
Voir Dire
The process of selecting a jury
- challenged for cause”
- peremptory challenges
Venire
Selection of the actual jurors who will decide the case
Challenges for Cause
Prospective jurors who are considered biased may
be “challenged for cause”
- a request to disqualify a potential juror for specific reasons
- challenge is unlimited
Peremptory Challenges
The dismissal of jurors without stating a valid reason for doing so
- used to eliminate jurors in a racially discriminatory manner
Batson Challenges
An objection to an opposing party’s use of a peremptory strike to exclude a juror from the jury pool based on race
Prison Penalty
The way in which having an incarceration history impacts the opportunity structure of formerly incarcerated people
- unemployment, poverty, homelessness, education, parenting
Punishment Penalty
Young black and brown men are often stereotyped as dangerous or criminal, which judges may consider in their sentencing decisions.
Cumulative Disadvantage
racial discrimination at multiple stages of the criminal justice system works to cumulatively disadvantage minorities
Mass Incarceration
a system of social control that is characterized by correctional control and surveillance.
- imprisonment, probation, parole, race-neutral laws, regulations, informal rules, and stigma that CREATE and reinforce it
Mandatory Minimums
Requires judges to impose a sentence of imprisonment for at least the time specified in a statute
- contributed greatly to the number of people of color behind bars
- prosecutors are twice as likely to pursue a mandatory minimum sentence for Black people as for white people
Patterns in Sentencing
Some is warranted and some is unwarranted
- African Americans and Hispanics have a greater likelihood of pretrial detention and incarceration
War on Drugs (1968)
Nothing has contributed more to the systematic mass incarceration of people of color in the United States than the War on Drugs
- has been fought primarily in minority communities
Stereotypes
Drug Offenders: decision makers construct stereotypes of dangerous drug offenders
- young black and brown men are often stereotyped as dangerous or criminal
- Native American: “drunken Indian / savage”
5 Explanations for Racial Disparities
Legally Relevant Factors
Economic Discrimination
Discretion
Race Neutral Laws
Overt discrimination / Unconscious Racial Bias
Legally Relevant Factors
African Americans and Hispanic Americans commit more serious crimes and have more serious prior records than White Americans and therefore are sentenced more harshly
Economic Discrimination
Poor and unemployed defendants are less likely than
middle/upper class and employed defendants to have a private attorney or to be released prior to trial
Discretion
Sentencing disparities could reflect both equal treatment and discrimination, depending on the nature of the crime, victim-offender dynamic, jurisdiction, demographics of offender
Race Neutral Laws
The application of neutral laws and policies that have racially disparate effects
- crack cocaine vs. powder cocaine sentencing
- three-strikes
Overt discrimination or Unconscious Racial Bias
Judges, prosecutors, and jurors may consider the offenders’ race during critical parts of the justice process - sentencing, pleas, consideration of evidence
Patterns in Exonerations
A disproportionate number of those exonerated have been racial minorities
- African American sexual assault exonerees received much longer prison sentences than white sexual assault exonerees
Wrongful Convictions
A black prisoner serving time for sexual assault is 3 1/2 times more likely to be innocent than a white sexual assault convict
- assaults on white women by African American men are a small minority of all sexual assaults in the United States
6th Amendment
The right to a speedy and public trial by an impartial jury (of the State / district where the crime has been committed)
- right to Assistance of Counsel
- right to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation
Neal v. Delaware
Delaware systematically excluded African American jurors through intelligence tests
- Supreme Court ruled that Delaware was in violation of the law, as was established two years earlier
Avery v. Georgia
The court placed White juror’s names on white cards and Black juror’s names on yellow cards and then “randomly selected” jurors.
- Supreme Court ruled that States could not create juries from pools that were gathered using a neutral process and then introduce discrimination later in the selection process
Swain v. Alabama
Swain, a Black man, was convicted of rape of a White girl and sentenced to death in Alabama
- argued that there was discrimination in the Venire and Voir Dire that led to him being tried by an all-white jury
- a defendant could establish a prima facie case of purposeful racial discrimination by showing that the elimination of African Americans from a particular jury was part of a pattern of discrimination in that jurisdiction
Flowers v. Mississippi
Peremptory Strikes
- 4 employees of a Furniture Store in Mississippi were killed during an armed robbery & Flowers was convicted and sentenced to death for the murder of one of them
- 6 Trials
- Flowers appealed his conviction on the grounds that the State violated his 6th and 14th Amendment rights during the jury selection process by exercising its peremptory strikes in a racially discriminatory way
- Prosecution had struck five African American prospective jurors
- Prosecutors officially dropped the charges against Flowers in 2020
Strauder v. West Virginia
Jury Selection
- Strauder, a Black man, was convicted of murder by an all-white jury (West Virginia had a policy that said only white males could serve on juries)
- Supreme Court ruled that this policy violated the 14th Amendment & harmed the entire African American community
- Harmed Black defendants who were denied even a chance to have people of their own race on the jury
Batson v. Kentucky
Peremptory Challenges / Prima Facie
- Batson, a Black man, was tried and convicted of 2nd degree burglary
- During the jury selection, the prosecutor used peremptory challenges to eliminate 4 black people during Voir Dire, resulting in an all White jury
- Supreme Court ruled that peremptory challenges may not be used to exclude jurors based solely on their race
Lugo v. Texas
Court of Appeals (Texas)
- Only two Mexican Americans had been summoned for jury duty and none had served during his 15 year tenure
- Most of the Mexican population can not speak English
- NOT intentional discrimination
Hernandez v. Texas
Murder conviction of Hernandez tried by an all-white jury
- “no discrimination” because Mexican is not a race included in the 14th Amendment (only applies to White and Black Americans)
- Mexican Americans were counted as White and therefore could not be discriminated against by an all-white jury
- Supreme Court overruled the trial and concluded that excluding Mexican Americans from juries violated the 14th amendment which did not only apply to Black and White Americans
Prima Facie
Upon initial examination, sufficient corroborating evidence appears to exist to support a case
