Lawrence E Walsh Dropped Efforts to Pursue Criminal Charges Agains
journal article
The Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology (1973-)
, pp. 93-144 (53 pages)
Published By: Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law
https://www. jstor .org/stable/48614102
When an African American male defendant tries to plea bargain an equitable justice outcome, he finds that the deep-rooted racial bias that casts African American men as dangerous, criminal and animalistic, compromises his justice rights. Plea bargaining has become the preferred process used to secure convictions for upwards of 97 percent of cases because of its efficiency. This efficiency, however, comes at a cost. The structure and process of plea bargaining makes it more likely that the historical racial bias that exists against African American male defendants will taint the negotiation process and justice outcomes. The racial profiling by the police, the presumption of guilt rather than innocence for African American men, the prosecutor's discretion when charging the defendant, and the justice negotiation's speed all contribute to the harsher negotiated sentences that African American male defendants receive compared to white male defendants accused of similar crimes. These racially tainted outcomes threaten the integrity of our justice system, and the core of our democracy. This Article traces the origins of racial bias in plea bargaining by chronicling the historical relationship among three societal developments: slavery, the criminal justice system, and plea bargaining. The Article then explains how plea bargaining's structure, as it exists today, allows these historical racial biases to manifest and fester. Culling from the research of cognitive psychologists, dispute system design scholars, and anti-racism educators, this Article prescribes organizational and procedural reforms to unshackle plea bargaining from racial bias.
The Journal of Criminal Law & Criminology was founded in 1910 by Dean John Henry Wigmore, and has played a unique role in the criminal justice debate ever since. The journal provides a forum for dialogue and debate on current criminal law and criminology issues. The journal is one of the most widely read and cited legal publications in the world and is the third most widely subscribed journal published by any law school in the country. Its readership includes judges and legal academics, as well as practitioners, criminologists, and police officers. It publishes research in criminal law and criminology that addresses concerns pertinent to most of American society. The journal strives to publish the very best scholarship in this area, inspiring the intellectual debate and discussion essential to the development of social reform.
Founded in 1859, the school that would become known as the Northwestern Pritzker School of Law was the first law school established in the city of Chicago. Today, Northwestern Law advances the understanding of law and produces graduates prepared to excel in a rapidly changing world. Northwestern Law uniquely blends a rigorous intellectual environment with a collegial and supportive community. Our students have access to the most interdisciplinary research faculty in the nation. We also have one of the lowest student-faculty ratios, so our students enjoy an unusual amount of individual access to these scholars, even after graduation. Our lakefront location in the heart of downtown Chicago provides a spectacular setting in which to live and study. A major world financial center, Chicago is the third largest city in the United States and one of its largest legal markets. Northwestern Law's proximity to courts, commerce, and public interest activities enables students to experience the practice of law, as well as its theory, in one of the most vibrant legal and business communities in the world.
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Source: https://www.jstor.org/stable/48614102
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