Racism in our court system has existed for a long time – probably the most remembered cases were during the rise of the civil rights movement. Now granted these cases occurred at a time when our nation was amidst a social evolution, but recently cases, similar to those around the time of the movement, have occurred. Today what we encounter is lack of unbiased jury decision making, unnecessary degrees of punishment for crime, and misrepresentation in jury selection. Jury selection is a process in which minorities are excluded because of both the criterion one has to meet and the use peremptory challenges by defense and prosecution. This seems to contradict the impartial jury clause of the 6th amendment which requires a representative jury and “fair possibility of a cross-section of the community". In diverse and large communities representation seems to be improving, but there still exists the issue of Cross-Race effect. The Cross-Race effect shows that there exists a change in a jury's decision based on the inclusion of minorities. The racial mix can potentially affect other jurors’ view the defendant and in effect the degree of punishment they receive. This could imply that many people in communities, with the right ‘legal’ representation, could be subjected to cruel and unusual punishment - violating their 8th amendment right. Granted, we should consider the fact that these people committed crimes and are to face punishment. But the justice system aims to correct people; and if we are putting people in jail for a period of 20 years for a conviction that should only be about 5-10 years or no jail time at all there is a problem. We as a nation who preaches equal treatment under law allow such injustices occur in local courts.
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4 comments:
I feel like race definetly has a crucial impact on the verdict of the jury. The US justice system is focused on the ideal of equality for all; however, in dealing with juries, this basic right seems to be overlooked. Though we strive to have an unbiased jury by having a random assortment of individuals serving at one time, minorities do suffer when they do not receive equal representation. I agree with you in the fact that a person should not be made to endure a harsher punishment based on his or her race, especially when it comes to a punsihment as harsh as the death penalty. In my research, I found many such cases in which people were wrongfully committed and sentenced to death, and I feel like race, both of the jury members and the defendant, did play a role, however slight, in the conviction minorities.
I think you are right when talking about problems with jury selection. Defendants are promised the right to "be tried by a jury of their peers," but sometimes this does not occur, especially in the case of minorities. This is important because minorities do tend to be more compassionate towards other minorities. This may be wrong because ideally we want all jurors to be impartial, but it could be important to counterbalance the bias of others. It is important to get jurors with differing backgrounds and opinions so that a defendant is not doomed with a jury of one opinion. This may be hard because of the current system of jury selection, where both sides try to select jurors that they think will be more favorable to themselves.
I definitely agree with you and believe that race plays a very important role in the outcome of the jury. I do also think that many times it is unfair. The random assortment of individuals on the jury seems like a good idea, but in practice does not really do much. It all depends upon who is being tried (their race) and who is on the jury at the time. This should not be how our court system is run, however I do not see how it is possible to change it with the amount of bias and racism that is still apparent in the US.
I think the main thing that needs more focus is the acknowledgement of values. This post does a good job of explaining what the issue is, but does not provide insight into the values that it is based on. Also, I think that there needs to be a more in depth look at the Cross-Race Effect and its stipulations and implications. The causal relationships are shown well through transition words in the last part of the post, but I think there could be more in the beginning when you talked about the 6th Amendment.
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