15 Differential Treatment and Wrongful Convictions

Introduction Officials in charge of dispensing justice can get carried away in efforts to punish criminals This chapter discusses two main problems in the processing of criminal cases: “Differential treatment” “Rush to judgment”

Introduction One case may be treated differently than the next for both legitimate and illegitimate reasons Example of a legitimate reason is the desire to speed up the administration of justice An illegitimate reason could be flagrant racial prejudice

Introduction Offense Seriousness Celebrated Cases Differential treatment -- it takes longer to hold trials for serious offenses than it does for less serious cases Celebrated Cases High profile cases include mass murders and graphic killings. Most face lengthy, highly-publicized trials Celebrities, star athletes, and politicians receive plenty of press attention

Introduction Defendant Characteristics Most well-known and unfortunate form of differential treatment is based on race or ethnicity Discrimination is the unfair treatment of a person or group because of prejudice about race, sex, age, or other distinguishing characteristic Disparity refers to a difference that does not necessarily involve discrimination

Introduction The Rush to Judgment If an elected prosecutor wishes to stay in office, it is often necessary to take a tough stance toward crime This can lead to the conviction of an innocent person in the rush to judgment The rush to judgment is about striving to satisfy the demands of a public that wants its government to be tough on crime

Differential Treatment: The Wedding Cake Criminal trials variations occur based on Seriousness of the offense The “status” of the defendant The wedding cake model originally had three layers: celebrated cases, felonies and misdemeanors

Differential Treatment: The Wedding Cake Figure 15-1 The Criminal Justice Wedding Cake

Differential Treatment: The Wedding Cake Celebrated Cases Cases involving celebrities or those which receive extensive media coverage Defendants can benefit from a full-blown, drawn-out criminal trial that can take months The publicity from celebrated cases can have a negative effect on public perceptions about criminal justice Walker states policy should not be formed based on celebrated cases

Differential Treatment: The Wedding Cake Misdemeanors Metaphorical representation of the large number of misdemeanors relative to felonies Cases are dispensed of quickly in brief trials Arguably more representative of the true nature of criminal justice in America, but it is the layer most people never see

Differential Treatment: Racial and Ethnic Disparities Researchers have examined racial and ethnic disparities at all stages of the criminal process Race refers to distinct physical characteristics, e.g. the color of one’s skin Ethnicity refers to a shared national, religious, linguistic or cultural heritage

Differential Treatment: Racial and Ethnic Disparities Police-Citizen Encounters Arrests and traffic stops are the gateway to the criminal process Arrests mark the point where a person formally enters the criminal process Many traffic stops lead to arrest If there is evidence of disparity in either step, then the suspects in the criminal process do not represent the population at large

Differential Treatment: Racial and Ethnic Disparities Arrests Minorities are arrested more, as a percentage of their representation in the general population, than whites Some studies have found that a suspect’s race is not predictive of his or her likelihood of arrest Rather, evidence factors, crime seriousness and suspect cooperation were important

Differential Treatment: Racial and Ethnic Disparities Another analysis found police were more likely to arrest when the victim was white and the suspect was black Stops Researchers attempt to determine if an individual’s race or ethnicity influences an officer’s decision to stop him or her Results are mixed; rampant discrimination to none at all

Differential Treatment: Racial and Ethnic Disparities Age and gender are also important factors It does appear based on the research that race and ethnicity are important some of the time The Lasting Impact of Terry v. Ohio (1968)

Differential Treatment: Racial and Ethnic Disparities The Pretrial Period There does not appear to be a clear relationship between race/ethnicity, case outcomes and either: defense representation bail decisions plea bargaining Racial/ethnic disparities do not seem to be a serious problem

Differential Treatment: Racial and Ethnic Disparities Defense Representation Minority offenders tend to be less financially secure than white offenders and may need appointed counsel Bail There may be racial/ethnic disparities in the bail context It is not clear that race has a direct effect on either the decision to set bail or sentencing outcomes

Differential Treatment: Racial and Ethnic Disparities Plea Bargaining Does race affect plea agreements? Research suggests plea agreements are mostly affected by: Offense seriousness The defendant’s prior record The strength of the evidence Research has found that white receive better plea agreement deals than minorities

Differential Treatment: Racial and Ethnic Disparities Sentencing Race/Ethnicity and Sentencing Evidence suggests that black and Hispanic offenders are more likely to be sent to prison than whites – and for longer periods Any discrimination that exists is contextual

Differential Treatment: Racial and Ethnic Disparities Drug Sentencing A number of researchers have found racial/ethnic disparities in sentencing outcomes for drug offenders

Differential Treatment: Racial and Ethnic Disparities Imprisonment and Corrections Prisons Table 15-1 Race/Ethnicity Of Male Prisoners Sentenced To State And Federal Correctional Facilities

Differential Treatment: Racial and Ethnic Disparities Jails While minority representation in the jail population has declined, the over-representation of Black inmates is still troubling Points to a possibility of racial/ethnic discrimination in bail-setting Community Corrections There is a clear discrepancy between the percentage of blacks and whites in the population of probationers and parolees

Differential Treatment: Racial and Ethnic Disparities Figure 15-1 Racial/Ethnic Breakdown Of Probationers Figure 15-2 Racial/Ethnic Breakdown Of Parolees

Differential Treatment: Racial and Ethnic Disparities Capital Punishment 1972 Furman v. Georgia decided that the death penalty was unconstitutional The Evidence Before Furman Blacks, especially those who killed whites, were more likely than whites to be executed Studies also revealed that the death penalty for rape was largely used for punishing blacks who had raped whites

Differential Treatment: Gender Discrimination Is Gender Discrimination a Problem? It appears that female defendants receive more lenient sentences than white males Gender effects are most pronounced in the decision whether to imprison – as opposed to in conviction and sentence length decisions

Differential Treatment: Gender Discrimination Researchers have also looked at interactive effects of race and sex Steffensmeier conclusions

The Rush to Judgment: Wrongful Convictions The Innocence Movement In the 1980s DNA testing entered the mainstream Innocence Project The mission is to exonerate wrongfully convicted persons through DNA testing

The Rush to Judgment: Wrongful Convictions Progressive Prosecutors Some prosecutors have taken a strong position that wrongful convictions must be avoided at all costs

The Rush to Judgment: Wrongful Convictions Exonerations Occurs when a person is wrongfully convicted and later declared not guilty Four means of exoneration A governor issues a pardon Charges are dismissed by the court Acquittals at a retrial Posthumous

The Rush to Judgment: Wrongful Convictions Exoneration Trends The number has increased in recent years The three explanations for this trend are: Growing availability of DNA testing The “newsworthy” nature of exoneration cases More resources have been devoted to the problem

The Rush to Judgment: Wrongful Convictions Crimes for Which Exonerees Were Convicted Vast majority are murder, rape or sexual assault