Race and Crime Final

The Sociological Imagination

the ability to connect individual thoughts, feelings, and behaviors to broader social forces

Sociological Intervention

using or changing social structures and systems to address social problems

Critical Legal Scholarship (CLS)

academic movement started in the 1970s-80s started by legal scholars, questions why racial inequality persists after civil rights movement

Critical Social Theory

builds upon CLS, how individuals and social structures interact to produce inequality

4 key Concepts in Critical Legal Theory

racial is a social construct

racial attitudes interact with the legal system

“liberal legalist thought” in western legal system

racial attitudes embedded in liberalism

Political criminalization

social construction of identities, organizations, and institutions shape who or what is deemed criminal

Demystification

clarifying legal jargon shows how the legal system serves interests of the powerful

Critique of legal rights

rights framed as individual liberties undermine collective action and systematic change

Reification

social constructed ideologies are “made real” and treated as natural via insitutionalization

Racialized Reification in Organizations

organizations place certain people in certain positions, provide unequal access to resources and structured in ways that benefit certain people

Racial Superstructure

racial Ideology (justification of racial inequality)

Racial structure

rules and resources (formal/informal) (material/social)

Racial substructure

schemas (binaries, emotions, implicit)

3 Key Elements of Critical Race Theory

1. Hegemonic Liberalism

2. Colorblind law

3. Prioritization of the individual

Hegemonic liberalism

political philosophy promoting individual/civil rights, political equality, and private enterprise (universalism, neutrality, objectivity)

Universalism

all formal rules and consequences apply to everyone equally

Neutrality

creation of laws based on consent of the governed

Objectivity

enforcement is based solely on legal factors

John Locke

social contract, property, natural rights, separation of powers

Thomas Hobbes

state of nature, belief in centralized authority, social contract

Social contract

people must surrender some degree of freedom to a sovereign to establish social order

The Racial Contract

limited universality (racial exclusion), colonial dispossession, legalization of “just war” and slavery, property rights and race

Color-Blind Law

belief that equal treatment under the law eliminates racial discrimination, ignorance of race and other social structures, justifies unequal outcomes

Color-Blind Racism

ideology that claims race should not matter while ignoring ongoing structural and systematic inequalities that shape peoples’ lives, views racism as the past and attributes outcomes to personal choice

Liberalism and MLK

advocated for true liberalism that integrates ones community in the deep South

Derrick Bell

argued Brown v. Board of Ed was not a civil rights turning point but coincided with hegemonic middle/upper class white interests

Racism without Racists

social conditions produce racialized attitudes, colorblindness account for invisibility of biased racial attitudes, race is embedded into laws, policies, and practices

Race Consciousness

CLS argues recognizing that race exists and has significant consequences, intersectionality accounts for subjectivities that are impermeable

Prioritization of the Individual

liberalism/political equality encourages difference to be attributed to individual characteristics, crime measured by individual actions

Racial Distinctiveness

race accounts for unique experiences that generate unique subjectivities by race and racialization

Integrative Model of Critical Race Consciousness

racial reflexivity, racial analysis, antiracism actions

Diversity and Inter-Subjectivity Objectivity

rejects prioritization of certain identities, asserts an unbiased social structure requires equal representation of all identities

Meritocracy

people should be valued and selected based on ability

Affirmative action

recognition that race/identity informs perceptions of merit and treated as a merit in itself

Blind Auditions

orchestra tryouts behind a screen increases hiring of minority musicians → identity informs perceptions of merit and white subjectivities

Prioritization of the Individual in CJ

liberal justice achieved by punishing the criminal and providing restitution to victim, fails to address social conditions

Types of law enforcement agencies

Municipal, County, State, Federal (vast majority are local)

Police officers in the US

majority are white men

Slave Patrols and Constable Watches

state-sanctioned violence, evolved into police force

Modern Policing policies

Miranda Warning—silence and representation

Terry Stops—balance privacy and safety under reasonable suspicion and probable cause

Qualified immunity (shields gov. officials from personal civil liability)

Use of force limits

Functions of Police (in opinion of IACP)

serve the community

protect life and property

protect the innocent

keep the peace

ensure civil rights

4 Main Functions of Police

1. Enforce laws

2. Prevent crime

3. Respond to emergencies

4. Provide support services

Which of the following is NOT a function of police?

Administering court trials and overseeing criminal sentences

Police culture

cynicism, suspicion, solidarity, masculinity, prejudice

warriors and guardians

sheepdogs → protectors

Enforcement Oriented Policing

Compliance, control and safety strategies (use of force), traditional policing, WARRIORS

Broken Windows Policing

argued that visible signs of disorder invite more serious crimes in social environments, social harm of discrimination and overpolicing

Community Oriented Policing

Cooperation, building trust and positive relationships, de-escalation strategies, progressive policing, “guardians”

Problem-Oriented Policing

Prevention/Diversion, hot spot policing, connect and collaborate with social services/workers, diversion from courts to treatment

Officer Level Policing Strategies

perception and discretion

Disproportionate Minority Contact

racial minorities are more likely to be stopped and investigated by police

Racial profiling

implicit or explicit use of race as grounds for suspicion

Which of the following is not a consequence of racial profiling?

All of these are consequences → disproportionate stops, higher likelihood of force, increased distrust

Officer interactions and race

officers initiate most police-civilian contact, most contact is for traffic violations, black people are disproportionately stopped (stop and frisk and DMC)

Officer Decision Making

self control theory → under stress cognitive control decreases while actions on bias increase

subjective uncertainty → unknown perceptions cause assumptions

Threat

perception that something is likely to diminish one’s status, power, or agency

Minority Group Threat Theory

as minority group populations increase, majority group feels more threatened and imposes more social control

Officer Discretion

situational judgement often impacted by police culture, laws, policies, and practices (morality vs. compliance)

Procedural justice

fairness in the process (unbiased, responsive, respectful, trustworthy)

Courts form social control by…(4)

formally enforcing norms and laws

legalizing authority

socializing individuals into legal system

reinforcing social inequalities

4 rights of the criminality charged

right to due process, right to representation, right to reasonable bail, right to fast and speedy trial

Dual court sturcture

federal and state criminal courts

Federal Criminal Courts

Federal Criminal Code across states, federal property/interests, conflicts with states sometimes

State Criminal Courts

majority of cases

What best describes the dual court system in the United States?

A court system where both state and federal jurisdictions exist, with each state and the federal government establishing their own unique processes and organizational structures for adjudication

Pre Trial Court Process

initial appearance, preliminary hearing, arraignment

Trial

jury selection, deliberation, sentencing

Initial apperance

charges, examination of rights, preliminary bail, attorney appointment

Preliminary hearing

evidence, testimony, judicial discretion (trial?)

Arraignment

review, plea, plea bargain

Counsel

right granted in Gideon v. Wainwright, high cost of private counsel → appointment of public counsel who are often overworked and underpaid, lower quality

Which of the following best accounts for the crisis in indigent defense?

High case volumes and inadequate funding for public counsel

Bail and inequality

bail based on amount of perceived threat (criminal history, extra-legal factors), inability to afford bail

Persecutorial discretion

legal authority of prosecutor to decide whether to file criminal charges, which charges to file, whether to offer a plea deal/diversion agreement, or pause/drop the case

Minorities more likely to have…

more charges and more severe charges

Judicial discretion

judges power to make legal decisions based on individualized evaluation and range of fair, equitable choices rather than rigidly applying strict rules (evidence, best interest, sentencing)

Minorities and pleas

receive less favorable pleas, more likely to accept bad deals, increase discretion

Liberal universalism

everyone should be get equal rights and treatment in courts regardless of sympathy, status, etc. (Marcia Clarke’s view of OJ Simpson)

Implicit bias and OJ

many friends of OJ believed he was innocent b/c of their bias since he was their friend, many Black people also sympathized with him because he was black (unconscious)

Perceived discrimination and OJ

racial attitudes largely impacted factors of the case and how it was handled (ex. Mark Fuhrman was racist, led to questioning of how case was being handled)

Collective memory and OJ

shared memory of Black people being treated unfairly in courts, negative view of police, more support for OJ

defense uses conspiracy and blame, reminders of history of racism in LAPD

Liberalism conflict and OJ

hard to separate racial subjectivities from court processes → jury of Black people harder to convince of OJs guilt), forced to look at things racially and harder to find impartiality

Color blindness and OJ

prosecution tried censoring n-word from Mark Fuhrman’s case with LAPD to pull race out of the case, make it less of a deciding factor

Theory of racialized organizations and OJ

courtrooms serve as organizations with roles of varying influence, race distributes resources disproportionately outside of the institution in verdicts; juries are often more white than Black and biased against Black defendents

Race salience and OJ

race became visible in this case but its often invisible in other unfair case outcomes

Racial subjectivity

individual experiences of how we view the world, shape our racial views

Sentencing Process

establish guilt through plea or jury decision “beyond a reasonable doubt” → 95% certainty, unreasonable doubt, exculpatory evidence

Judicial decree or discretion

judge sentencing or guideline selection by judge, individualized sentencing, culture, deferral, aggravating vs. mitigating factors

Morality vs. Compliance

individual blameworthiness and justice vs. uniform adherence to guidelines and rules

4 aspects of sentencing

retribution, rehabilitation, deterrence, incapacitation

Retribution

punishment proportionate to the criminal charge

Rehabilitation

preventing recidivism

Deterrance

preventing recidivism (specific) or preventing others from committing crime (general)

Incapacitation

limits the agency of a criminal to reoffend

A judge sentences an offender to 10 years in prison, stating that he wants to keep the public safe by ensuring the offender cannpt commit further crimes in society. Which of the following best describes the purpose of this sentencing?

incapacitation

The Medical Model

emphasis on treating crime like an illness, prevent crime (environmental toxins) and treat criminals (rehabilitation), medical parole, equity and “tough on crime”

3 part structure of Sentencing Policy

guidelines/determinants, mandatory minimums and “truth in sentencing”, three strike laws

Guidelines

reduce discrimination and individual bias (laws, enforcement, application), vary in severity and history and departures

Mandatory minimums

minimize judicial discretion and individual bias, disproportionate laws, disproportionate enforcement

Three Strike Laws

increased mandatory minimums for repeat offenders, strikes come from any “serious” offense (violent vs. nonviolent)

What distinguishes three strikes laws from earlier habitual offender laws?

Three strikes laws typically include a broader range of offenses as strikes, not limited to a specific type