Change.org's Criminal Justice blog points us to a study from the University of Hawaii that tells us something we probably already knew but is nonetheless useful to have demonstrated in scientific form: Criminal juries are more likely to believe dark-skinned suspects are guilty. At least, that's according to an experiment conducted by the university that is, incidentally, backed up by everything a courtroom observer has seen with her own eyes.
While this points out the disturbing role prejudice plays in jury decisions, it's important to know that the vast majority of cases are resolved long before they reach trial. In those cases, the biases of prosecutors, defense attorneys, and judges are more important. The prejudice doesn't always show itself in overt ways, but it's there. A middle-class person, for example, is more likely to know what to do to show the judge how contrite he or she is and get themselves "on the right track" in the hopes of a more lenient sentence.
In Stamford, Connecticut, for example, where I used to be a reporter, the son of former Mayor Dannel Malloy (who is now running for governor) pleaded guilty to, on two occasions, being involved in drug crimes. In the first one, a confidential informant told police the son, Benjamin Malloy, was selling drugs out of his father's home, though he was charged with possession and not dealing. In the second, Malloy and friends were charged with trying to rob a suspected dealer over a small amount of marijuana in an incident originally reported as a home invasion. They had BB guns, and were possibly shot at as they fled the scene in a residential neighborhood. He received no jail time, but should he violate his probation he could face up to 10 years.
I don't think anyone should go to jail over pot, but this was a sentence many felt was light simply because he was the mayor's son. What is almost certainly true is that Malloy knew how to use the system to his advantage. He enrolled in a drug-treatment program and said in court he was addicted to drugs. He had a good lawyer, and the support of his family who said they would help him get his life on track. There were so many times in which I saw a defendant's demeanor make a difference in how the judge talked to them in court, though I can't say that that affected the sentence, and Malloy's demeanor was always apologetic. Those subtle, cultural clues make a difference in how a defendant is viewed in the court system, whether they're seen as real criminals who need jail time or fundamentally good people whose lives took a wrong turn. It's not that African American or Latino defendants were never given the benefit of the doubt; it's just that the kind of access someone has to the types of attorneys and programs who can help them the most is affected by race and class. I don't know if people understand how often judgment calls like that are made.
So while it's always nice to have a study show the role bias plays in the courtroom, it's another study I wish didn't have to be done.
-- Monica Potts
