Stuber Chapter 11

Question 1

What are some examples of racialized strategies of policing and surveillance?

Answer 1

1) What is considered a crime (drugs deemed a “priority” for law enforcement have racial underpinnnigs)
2) Blacks and Hispanics are overrepresented in the criminal justice system, while whites and Asians are underrepresented
3) Blacks and Latinos were 9 times more likely than whites to be stopped-and-frisked, and these searches rarely uncovered crime - created a sweeping policy with racially disparate effect (some races were more likely to be caught up in the criminal justice system)

Question 2

Kimbrough v. United States

Answer 2

illustrates how law enforcement defines certain drugs as “problematic” in order to obtain social control over specific populations - crack and powder cocaine had different sentencing guidelines, resulting in Black offenders receiving disproportionately

Question 3

racial profiling

Answer 3

refers to police activity that uses race or ethnicity as a basis for where, when, and how to intervene in criminal activity - it is legal when there is a legitimate justification for it, but it can result in some groups getting caught up in the criminal justice system

Question 4

driving while Black

Answer 4

the idea that drivers are pulled over and ticketed because of their race

Question 5

stop-and-frisk

Answer 5

the name for a crime-reduction strategy where law enforcement officers have the right to stop and physically search individuals on the street

Question 6

indigent defense

Answer 6

the federally mandated system that provides legal representation to those who cannot afford a layer - Blacks and Hispanics are more likely to rely on this system, which is often substandard due to its high demand

Question 7

plea bargaining

Answer 7

prosecutors and defendants negotiate charges and penalties outside the courtroom - these are subject to implicit and explicit racial biases, resulting in white defendants being more likely to have most serious initial charge dropped or reduced

Question 8

jury selection

Answer 8

this process may produce harsher penalties for minorities
1) minorities are less likely to be summoned for jury duty, as they are less likely to hold a state ID
2) reasons for dismissing a potential juror have racial undertones

Question 9

Baldus study

Answer 9

concluded that the race of the victim is a major factor in deciding whether to apply the death penalty - Blacks who victimize whites are more likely to receive the death penalty than whites who victimize Blacks

Question 10

felon disenfranchisement

Answer 10

the practice of prohibiting convicted felons from voting - this law disproportionately affects minorities; the US Supreme Court has declared felon disenfranchisement laws unconstitutional

Question 11

voter ID laws

Answer 11

state-level provisions that require voters to present an official form of identification when going to the polls - critics argue that evidence of voter fraud is rare and that these laws deliberately disenfranchise elderly, poor, and minority voters

Question 12

poll tax

Answer 12

a now-illegal fee used in many southern states to discourage Blacks from voting - some argue that voter-ID laws are the new poll tax

Question 13

collateral consequences of criminal conviction

Answer 13

refers to how ex-offenders continue to be stripped of their civil rights - includes that loss or restriction of professional licenses, ineligibility of welfare benefits and student loans, loss of voting rights, and ineligibility for jury duty

Question 14

What was the difference in sentencing if one owned powder cocaine vs crack cocaine?

Answer 14

• 5 year minimum sentence for 5 grams of crack
• 5 year minimum sentence for 500 grams of powder

Question 15

What was the Supreme Court’s ruling of Kimbrough?

Answer 15

• the sentencing guidelines that differentiated between crack and powder were unjustified
• “the law fosters a lack of confidence in the criminal justice system because the perception is that it promotes an unwarranted divergence based on race”
• data supports this - Blacks accounted for 81% of crack cocaine offenders
• there is no evidence that sentencing disparities were justified by drugs effects
• so, you can’t have a seemingly race-neutral law with disparities like this

Question 16

How does race play a role in punishment, specifically in terms of the criminal justice system?

Answer 16

• low-income defendants (who are more likely to be Black or Hispanic) rely more heavily on indigent defense - which has been criticized for being underfunded (too many cases loads = less time to meet with clients and fewer resources)
• plea bargaining - white defendants are more likely than black defendants to have their most serious initial charge dropped or reduced to a less serious charge
• jury selection - minorities are less likely to register to vote or have state ID, so less likely to be called for jury duty
• jury selection - dismissing a potential juror can have racially coded undertones (e.g. posture, attending a historically black college, etc.)

Question 17

Based on 10 years of observation, what did Von Cleve observe about the criminal justice system?

Answer 17

• judges falling asleep at the bench
• prosecutors fraternizing in judge’s chambers
• public defenders making choices about which defendants they will “save” and which they will “sacrifice”
• sheriff’s officers mocking and abusing defendants family members