Case 4 Random Juror

RACIAL PREJUDICE, JUROR EMPATHY, AND SENTENCING IN DEATH PENALTY CASES
Introduction
For as long as the judicial system has been around, there has always been a presence of bias in regard to incarceration and sentencing procedures. This is because the judicial system “focuses its attention on the core values of symbolic legality of criminal procedure, rather than on the biased outcomes that these procedures produce which, as a result, allows for and perpetuates racial discrimination under the guise of ‘race neutral’ procedures.” (Edelman, 2006) Ultimately, “prejudice has not been extinguished from the judicial system, but has been metamorphized into a subtler form that operates beneath the surface” (Edelman, 2006) in the form of a jury.
Essentially, …show more content…
Further broken down, there were 76 black defendant/white victim cases and 63 black defendant/black victim cases, most of which occurred recently so as to help improve juror reliability and juror recall in regards to the details of the case. Essentially, the subject sample was chosen by interviewing and selecting 4 random jurors from each trial and distributing questionnaires to them that asked them to “chronicle their juror experience, provide details from the case, which were cross-referenced and corroborated with data in the LexisNexis database, possible influences that may have had an impact on their duties, and what ultimately led to their sentencing decision.” (Edelman, 2006) From here, jurors were then further broken down by the specific need of the hypothesis being tested and were thus given another questionnaire based upon the need of the study. Below is a breakdown of the hypotheses tested and their sample make …show more content…
This portion of the study sampled 131 white jurors out of 367 and distributed them ‘empathy’ questionnaires. Hypothesis 2 was testing whether or not empathy towards a victim and his or her family affected a white juror’s victim evaluations. This study was based upon the same 131 white jurors as Hypothesis 1 was and the subjects were given a ‘victim evaluation’ questionnaire to answer. Hypothesis 3 was testing whether or not the murder of a positively evaluated individual would be more likely to result in support for the death penalty than the murder of a less positively evaluated individual. Using the same sample from the previous hypotheses, Hypothesis 3 used a sample of 131 white jurors who were thus given a questionnaire on their ‘pre-deliberation sentencing positions’. Hypothesis 4 was determining whether or not the perceived dangerousness of a black defendant is affected by the race of the juror. This sample was overall comprised of 33 white jurors and 33 black jurors who were given a ‘defendant’s perceived dangerousness’ questionnaire. Hypothess 5 was determining to see if a white juror’s perceptions of the danger posed by a black defendant would impact their evaluation of mitigating evidence. This study was comprised of 66 white jurors who were given two separate questionnaires—one being ‘perceived future dangerousness of the defendant’ and the

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