SOC 225 A01: Racial Bias in Policing and Sentencing

These vocabulary flashcards cover the key terms, legal concepts, and case specifics from the lecture on racial bias in the Canadian justice system and the documentary 'nîpawistamâsowin'.

nîpawistamâsowin

A documentary titled 'We Will Stand Up' focusing on systemic issues in the Canadian Justice System (CJS) regarding Indigenous people, specifically the murder of Colten Boushie.

Colten Boushie

An Indigenous man whose murderer was found non-guilty; the case highlighted issues such as improper evidence handling, victim-blaming, and systemic racism.

Self-defense (Legal Argument)

A legal argument requires a reasonable belief that you or someone else will be harmed, and that you cannot use greater force than necessary; in the Stanley trial, this was used to protect property and land rights.

Peremptory challenges

A legal process used to excuse all prospective Indigenous jurors in the Stanley trial, resulting in an all-white jury; a Bill was later passed striking these from the system.

Debbie Baptiste

Colten Boushie’s mother, who was shaken by police officers and accused of drinking when they notified her of her son's death.

Hang fire

Commonly referred to as the 'magic gun defence,' this was a flawed and inaccurate expert testimony used in Stanley’s defense.

Social Darwinism

The application of evolution and the concept of superior/inferior forms of life to the human social realm, which was used to justify imperialism and colonialism in the $18^{th}$ and $19^{th}$ centuries.

Commission of Systemic Racism into the Ontario CJS

Enacted in 1992, this body conducted studies in 1994 and 2007 measuring perceptions of discrimination, which were found to have increased by 2007.

Gladue

A Supreme Court of Canada (SCC) section and series of efforts (like circle sentencing) intended to address the circumstances of Indigenous peoples and their overrepresentation in corrections.

Functionalist (consensus) perspective

One side of a balanced approach to crime that, alongside the conflict perspective, helps researchers understand the overpolicing of Black youth.

Conflict perspective

A sociological perspective used to analyze how law can restrict access to land for marginalized groups and how the jury affirmed property rights over the life of a victim.

Labelling theory

A theory demonstrated by the handling of Indigenous witnesses being treated as suspects and 'not credible' during the investigation and trial.

Racial Profiling Statistics (No Deviance)

Data showing that among youth with no involvement in deviance, $27\%$ of Black youth were stopped repeatedly by police, compared to only $4\%$ of white youth and $1.8\%$ of non-Black minority youth.

Black Student Stop Rate

According to the provided data, Black students are approximately $\sim 6 \times$ more likely to be stopped by police than white students.

Law and Morality

A section of Chapter 13 focusing on laws that govern morality, specifically regarding topics such as sex and substances.