Social Influence and the Impact of Ethnicity on Jury Decisionmaking

社会影响和种族对陪审团决策的影响

• 批准号: 8802587
• 负责人: Harmon Hosch
• 金额: $ 12.93万
• 依托单位: University of Texas at El Paso
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 1988
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 1988-12-01 至 1991-05-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=8802587&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Social; Influence; Impact; Ethnicity; Jury

Our knowledge of the nature of prejudice can be deepened by examining how jury decisionmaking is affected by ethnicity and by seeking to understand the nature of any differential treatment. This research will investigate the influence of ethnic identity on the processing of Anglo-American and Hispanic felony defendants. Specifically, the study examines the impact of jury composition on conviction and sentencing patterns in felony cases adjudicated in Texas District Courts. Archival data will be analyzed using multivariate statistical techniques that will permit the examination of such factors as how the social status and socioeconomic composition of juries influence their dispositional decisions. Notably, Texas is one of only a few states that permit jury determination of guilt and sentencing in cases other than capital trials. Part of the importance of the research stems from the dearth of extant data concerning the legal treatment of Hispanic defendants. A more important gap in our knowledge of differential justice that will be filled is the consideration in this project of heretofore unexamined aspects of the problem, such as the social status of jurors. This is the first research to examine this issue with respect to the dispositions of Hispanic defendants. The project has the potential not only to contribute to an understanding of the legal treatment of Hispanic defendants, but also more broadly to the development of a model of differential justice that considers the social characteristics of legal decision makers in articulating the impact of law.

通过研究陪审团的决策如何受到种族的影响以及寻求理解任何差别待遇的本质，我们可以加深对偏见本质的了解。 本研究将调查种族身份对英美裔和西班牙裔重罪被告的处理的影响。 具体来说，该研究探讨了陪审团组成对德克萨斯州地方法院审理的重罪案件的定罪和量刑模式的影响。 将使用多元统计技术对档案数据进行分析，以便检查陪审团的社会地位和社会经济组成如何影响其处置决定等因素。 值得注意的是，德克萨斯州是少数几个允许陪审团在死刑审判以外的案件中定罪和量刑的州之一。 这项研究的重要性部分源于缺乏有关西班牙裔被告法律待遇的现有数据。 我们对差别正义的认识中一个更重要的空白将被填补，是在这个项目中考虑迄今为止未经审查的问题的各个方面，例如陪审员的社会地位。 这是第一项针对西班牙裔被告的处置问题来考察这一问题的研究。 该项目不仅有可能有助于了解西班牙裔被告的法律待遇，而且有可能更广泛地促进差别正义模型的发展，该模型在阐明法律的影响时考虑了法律决策者的社会特征。