All White Jury

This article talks about how the underrepresented and exclusion of people of color in juries leads to unfair trails for people of color. Despite the constitution promising fair trails to all, it is made difficult when the jury, who is supposed to be made up of your peers, would be racially biased. Many Prosecutors have not picked African American jurors because they claim that they have low intelligence, which they have based on the way they walk or the color they have dyed their hair. Even after this many courts claim to be race neutral.

This article reminds me of Spade’s argument that racism isn’t a individual problem but a systemic problem. Although people can claim they are not and will not be biased when they are jurors, you can’t just erase history and the historical context of racism. So even though you claim not be biased maybe years of living is a biased society where people of color are criminalized and fall victims to prejudice, can change they way you view a case.

So whats the best way to deal with these unfair trails where minorities are underrepresented?

The author of the article offers some ideas:

1. Fining prosecutors who exclude minorities
2. Criminal defense bar should receive special training, this way they can catch and stop when officials excluded minorities from being jurors.
3. States should strengthen policies to make sure racial minorities are fully represented in jury pools
4. Enforce anti-discrimination laws designed to prevent racially biased jury selection

Do you guys think these ideas would work?

Diana

Ten Point Plan

Ten Point Plan

The Ten point plan are ten ideas that the Black Panther Party demanding from the US Government for hundreds of years of oppression. Most of these ten points are demanding rights promised to them by the Constitution of the United States. For example point number nine states that they want the release as well as retrials for all black and oppressed people currently incarcerated because they were unfairly trailed through a racist judicial system. The sixth amendment clearly gives American Citizens the right to a speedy and impartial trail.  As someone who has been called various times for jury duty, I know that I can only serve in the community in which I live in. This point makes me question whether minorities where picked for jury duty for these cases (will post an article on this soon under commentary) or was it an all white jury.

When I read their plan it me think of their relationship with the law and how their experiences shaped the way they looked at the law. From our readings in The Common Place of Law, I picture their relationship with the law would go under the Against the Law section. Law for them works like big brother” they are always there and always watching them in their everyday life. Law to them is a hierarchy where there are roles that people are allowed or not allowed to play. To them the law is far from being impartial and objective. Nothing the law has done has benefited them as equally as white Americans. Law is not a game for them and if it were a game it is one they cannot win because the system is fixed so that minorities always lose.

The Black Panthers’ ten point plan reminded me of the ideas of Karl Marx.  They explain that the capital system has robbed and oppressed the black community.  In point three they demand the promises of land that was once promised to them by the Unites States for oppressing and murdering minorities. This makes me wonder what other promises the United States has made that they have not kept.

Can anyone think of any promises to minorities that the US government did not keep or maybe even found loopholes to avoided meeting it?

Anti-Social Behavior Contracts ABC

I wanted to learn more about Anti-social Behavior Contracts mentioned in the excerpts from Banished. I had questions on what are on these contracts and if they worked? And if so, how do they work.  Antisocialbehaviour.org  states that and that Anti-Social Behavior Contracts or ABC’s are formal written contracts stating that the individual is responsible for his or her own actions. If your actions don’t follow the norms then there will be some sort of consequence. This article from the National Audit Office stated that most people (65 percent) who received some type of anti-social behavior intervention did not reengage in the behavior again. I was reminded of the Panopticon and the idea of self-monitoring your behavior in order to not get into any trouble. There is a constant fear and questioning of who is watching me while I am performing such action and is this action okay to do? So it seems that there strategy is to unstill fear so no one will engage in the unwanted behaviors.

ABCs are social control strategies in the UK. Banished mentioned Juvenile curfews as a form of social control. I am from Kissimmee Florida and Juvenile curfews are in affect but it seems like no one really gets in trouble or is truly affected by them.

Can you guys think of some type of ABC that details unwanted behaviors that affects us here in NYC?

Our Constitution

Liberty: The quality or state of being free:

a :  the power to do as one pleases

b :  freedom from physical restraint

c :  freedom from arbitrary or despotic control

d :  the positive enjoyment of various social, political, or economic rights and privileges

e :  the power of choice

My first time learning about the Constitution of the United States my teacher showed me this video. Despite the cheesy music, there was a clear message saying that these are not just words but promises for Americans. As a little girl I believed the constitution was a document that served as evidence of my promised rights and liberties. As I became older I became more aware that the liberties and rights that were promised to me are not always withheld.

In the Preamble the first thing that catches my attention is the term “establish justice”. As an American I would like to think that the United States is trying to create a just society but when I whiteness injustices I questions that promise.

I was on the train coming home from work when an announcement came on stating that the train was being held at the by the dispatcher at the station. A couple of seconds later four police officers came into the cart and pulled a man wearing a turban aside. They demanded his identification and questioned his motivates behind talking the train. Despite him explaining over and over that he was just going home they continued demanding the truth. The train doors closed and I never found out how the situation ended. This article from Human Rights Watch demonstrates the illusion I have about justice. The US justifies their actions as acts for justice but it seems like they are violating liberties and rights and in this situation taking away liberties to an American. Under the fourteenth amendment, the constitution states that if you are a citizen these are promises of rights and freedoms that belong to you. Regardless of your heritage you have rights and liberties, yet the promises were violated. The remainder of my train ride home I was overwhelmed with guilt, I felt my silence and pretending like I did not see anything was promoting the injustice towards this man.

After reviewing the constitution and reading last’s weeks article Sex Workers at Risk I also see another Amendment being violated. The fourth amendment is supposed to protect against unreasonable searches. In this article I saw law enforcement searching people who he assumed to be sex workers. The officer judged many just by his or her appearance and searched them, even though the law is supposed to protect against unreasonable searches.

Even though I would like to think I am protected and have certain rights and liberties that are supposed to be inalienable rights and liberties. I can’t help but wonder if the constitution really means anything if the promises on there are not being kept.

Diana Sanchez