Search for a Presentation
B85 - Bias-Based Judicial Convictions in the Local Courts
The research conducted in this study focuses on convictions of people of color, rooted in bias, taking place between the 1860s and the 1970s, particularly in the Southern region of the United States (below the Mason-Dixon line).
B85 - Bias-Based Judicial Convictions in the Local Courts
Mentor: Carolyn Craig
The research conducted in this study focuses on convictions of people of color, rooted in bias, taking place between the 1860s and the 1970s, particularly in the Southern region of the United States (below the Mason-Dixon line). This bias became institutional as a result of both the Mexican-American War and Civil War. American imperialism (commonly discussed as the concept of "Manifest Destiny") led to the Mexican-American, which in turn resulted in Native Mexicans gaining citizenship (Crawford et al., 1999). Thirteen years after this war, the United States Civil War began. In the latter year of the war the Emancipation Proclamation would be signed by Abraham Lincoln, declaring the slaves of the confederate states free. Amid the Reconstruction period, three amendments were added to the U.S. Constitution, in order to help assimilate formally enslaved individuals into society. A high rate of discrimination in 'the South' still existed during this time period. Jim Crow policies would be implemented throughout theses states, this would in turn result in systemic coercion, a subtle and pervasive pressure from the institutions (Abrams, 1981). Efforts to combat this racism-rooted legislation would be largely demonstrated through civil movements such as the Civil Right Movement (taking place mostly between 1954 and 1968) and various Mexican American rights movements (proximal to the time of the aforementioned movement). However, prior to theses movements (also during in slightly lower amounts), local Southern courts had excessive rates of Caucasian jurors and African-American convictions. Data from the Alvarez & Bachman, 1996 and Langan, 1985 provides that evidence for a lower rate of racial bias and discrimination in United States court systems in years following the limits of this research.