Systematic Racism in United States
- Thread starter FILA|AUS
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So you like too talk from the outside looking in. "What does that have to do with anything?" It is what we are talking about. We are talking about the american justice system but you have never even been through it but are an expert because of internet numbers? You slander me because I am a felon while making up reasons for every non white person too be a felon.
I agree, it is a class aka caste system, but that doesn't negate the fact that white society has predominately treated black people different. It doesn't negate the fact that the system has targeted black people disproportionately. Most lower class people are not black. More white people are on public assistance than black people. The assumptive premise that it is black people is a form of s-y-s-t-e-m-i-c classism alone.
As I have stated in previous posts, and actually done the research and wrote a paper on the matter, prison corporations have been utilizing test scores of third graders since the 80s, but now they are using kindergarten. This means children who have any cognitive or learning issues that especially go undiagnosed and/or untreated, that impact a child's ability to pass an educational test, are being targeted to end up in a prison cell. Notice, in this paragraph, that I haven't stated anything regarding race, but let's go ahead and get there.
The top three races in the US where a child or children are from a single parent household are not white: 1) Black or African American 66%, 2) American Indian 52%, 3) Hispanic or Latino 42%.(2016 ACS Statistics). Research consistently demonstrates that children living with single parents score lower on measures of academic ability and achievement than do children with two continuously married parents.
That is all I am going to add for now due to time constraints. Hopefully, you understand where I am going with this and potentially look at the issue from a different perspective outside of your own opinion. This issue is a reality.
As I have stated in previous posts, and actually done the research and wrote a paper on the matter, prison corporations have been utilizing test scores of third graders since the 80s, but now they are using kindergarten. This means children who have any cognitive or learning issues that especially go undiagnosed and/or untreated, that impact a child's ability to pass an educational test, are being targeted to end up in a prison cell. Notice, in this paragraph, that I haven't stated anything regarding race, but let's go ahead and get there.
The top three races in the US where a child or children are from a single parent household are not white: 1) Black or African American 66%, 2) American Indian 52%, 3) Hispanic or Latino 42%.(2016 ACS Statistics). Research consistently demonstrates that children living with single parents score lower on measures of academic ability and achievement than do children with two continuously married parents.
That is all I am going to add for now due to time constraints. Hopefully, you understand where I am going with this and potentially look at the issue from a different perspective outside of your own opinion. This issue is a reality.
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Dear idiot,
Your experience in the world is YOUR experience alone. We are here talking numbers. We are here talking about MANY people's experiences over MANY generations. Just because you got fucked over doesn't make it applicable across THE WHOLE SYSTEM, MANY YEARS, MANY CIRCUMSTANCES, ETC.
The fact that you cannot grasp this is proof that you are an uneducated and unread moron.
Its like saying "I've had 3 girl friends who are white and they all smelled like ass--all white girls smell like ass"
And the fact that your beliefs can be easily disproven while you willingly put your head in the sand means YOU are the one here that is not trying to be convinced. You'd rather be RIGHT about feeling wronged by the system than you would rather fix the same god damn system you so adamantly oppose.
please read all of the citations present in this WIKIPEDIA article
Criminal stereotype of African Americans - Wikipedia
Your experience in the world is YOUR experience alone. We are here talking numbers. We are here talking about MANY people's experiences over MANY generations. Just because you got fucked over doesn't make it applicable across THE WHOLE SYSTEM, MANY YEARS, MANY CIRCUMSTANCES, ETC.
The fact that you cannot grasp this is proof that you are an uneducated and unread moron.
Its like saying "I've had 3 girl friends who are white and they all smelled like ass--all white girls smell like ass"
And the fact that your beliefs can be easily disproven while you willingly put your head in the sand means YOU are the one here that is not trying to be convinced. You'd rather be RIGHT about feeling wronged by the system than you would rather fix the same god damn system you so adamantly oppose.
please read all of the citations present in this WIKIPEDIA article
Criminal stereotype of African Americans - Wikipedia
Justice has never been blind when it comes to race in Florida.
Blacks were first at the mercy of slave masters. Then came Jim Crow segregation and the Ku Klux Klan.
Now, prejudice wears a black robe.
Half a century after the civil rights movement, trial judges throughout Florida sentence blacks to harsher punishment than whites, a Herald-Tribune investigation found.
They offer blacks fewer chances to avoid jail or scrub away felonies.
They give blacks more time behind bars — sometimes double the sentences of whites accused of the same crimes under identical circumstances.
Florida lawmakers have struggled for 30 years to create a more equitable system.
Points are now used to calculate sentences based on the severity of the crime, the defendant’s prior record and a host of other factors. The idea is to punish criminals in Pensacola the same as those in Key West — no matter their race, gender or wealth.
But the point system has not stopped discrimination.
In Manatee County, judges sentence whites convicted of felony drug possession to an average of five months behind bars.
They give blacks with identical charges and records more than a year.
.....
The Herald-Tribune spent a year reviewing tens of millions of records in two state databases — one compiled by the state’s court clerks that tracks criminal cases through every stage of the justice system and the other by the Florida Department of Corrections that notes points scored by felons at sentencing.
Reporters examined more than 85,000 criminal appeals, read through boxes of court documents and crossed the state to interview more than 100 legal experts, advocates and criminal defendants.
The newspaper also built a first-of-its-kind database of Florida’s criminal judges to compare sentencing patterns based on everything from a judge's age and previous work experience to race and political affiliation.
No news organization, university or government agency has ever done such a comprehensive study of sentences handed down by individual judges on a statewide scale.
Among the findings:
• Florida’s sentencing system is broken. When defendants score the same points in the formula used to set criminal punishments — indicating they should receive equal sentences — blacks spend far longer behind bars. There is no consistency between judges in Tallahassee and those in Sarasota.
• The war on drugs exacerbates racial disparities. Police target poor black neighborhoods, funneling more minorities into the system. Once in court, judges are tougher on black drug offenders every step of the way. Nearly half the counties in Florida sentence blacks convicted of felony drug possession to more than double the time of whites, even when their backgrounds are the same.
• Florida's state courts lack diversity, and it matters when it comes to sentencing. Blacks make up 16 percent of Florida’s population and one-third of the state’s prison inmates. But fewer than 7 percent of sitting judges are black and less than half of them preside over serious felonies. White judges in Florida sentence black defendants to 20 percent more time on average for third-degree felonies. Blacks who wear the robe give more balanced punishments.
• There’s little oversight of judges in Florida. The courts keep a wealth of data on criminal defendants. So does the prison system. But no one uses the data to review racial disparities in sentencing. Judges themselves don’t know their own tendencies.
....
Across Florida, when a white and black defendant score the same points for the same offense, judges give the black defendant a longer prison stay in 60 percent of felony cases.
For the most serious first-degree crimes, judges sentence blacks to 68 percent more time than whites with identical points.
For burglary, it's 45 percent more.
For battery, it’s 30 percent.
SOURCE: Department of Corrections
Blacks were first at the mercy of slave masters. Then came Jim Crow segregation and the Ku Klux Klan.
Now, prejudice wears a black robe.
Half a century after the civil rights movement, trial judges throughout Florida sentence blacks to harsher punishment than whites, a Herald-Tribune investigation found.
They offer blacks fewer chances to avoid jail or scrub away felonies.
They give blacks more time behind bars — sometimes double the sentences of whites accused of the same crimes under identical circumstances.
Florida lawmakers have struggled for 30 years to create a more equitable system.
Points are now used to calculate sentences based on the severity of the crime, the defendant’s prior record and a host of other factors. The idea is to punish criminals in Pensacola the same as those in Key West — no matter their race, gender or wealth.
But the point system has not stopped discrimination.
In Manatee County, judges sentence whites convicted of felony drug possession to an average of five months behind bars.
They give blacks with identical charges and records more than a year.
.....
The Herald-Tribune spent a year reviewing tens of millions of records in two state databases — one compiled by the state’s court clerks that tracks criminal cases through every stage of the justice system and the other by the Florida Department of Corrections that notes points scored by felons at sentencing.
Reporters examined more than 85,000 criminal appeals, read through boxes of court documents and crossed the state to interview more than 100 legal experts, advocates and criminal defendants.
The newspaper also built a first-of-its-kind database of Florida’s criminal judges to compare sentencing patterns based on everything from a judge's age and previous work experience to race and political affiliation.
No news organization, university or government agency has ever done such a comprehensive study of sentences handed down by individual judges on a statewide scale.
Among the findings:
• Florida’s sentencing system is broken. When defendants score the same points in the formula used to set criminal punishments — indicating they should receive equal sentences — blacks spend far longer behind bars. There is no consistency between judges in Tallahassee and those in Sarasota.
• The war on drugs exacerbates racial disparities. Police target poor black neighborhoods, funneling more minorities into the system. Once in court, judges are tougher on black drug offenders every step of the way. Nearly half the counties in Florida sentence blacks convicted of felony drug possession to more than double the time of whites, even when their backgrounds are the same.
• Florida's state courts lack diversity, and it matters when it comes to sentencing. Blacks make up 16 percent of Florida’s population and one-third of the state’s prison inmates. But fewer than 7 percent of sitting judges are black and less than half of them preside over serious felonies. White judges in Florida sentence black defendants to 20 percent more time on average for third-degree felonies. Blacks who wear the robe give more balanced punishments.
• There’s little oversight of judges in Florida. The courts keep a wealth of data on criminal defendants. So does the prison system. But no one uses the data to review racial disparities in sentencing. Judges themselves don’t know their own tendencies.
....
Across Florida, when a white and black defendant score the same points for the same offense, judges give the black defendant a longer prison stay in 60 percent of felony cases.
For the most serious first-degree crimes, judges sentence blacks to 68 percent more time than whites with identical points.
For burglary, it's 45 percent more.
For battery, it’s 30 percent.
SOURCE: Department of Corrections
'What they call leniency'
Seventeen-year-old Allen Christopher Peters entered the criminal justice system as an adult in 2008, when he stuck up a gas station in Lee County.
Peters and his co-defendant made off with about $500 and another $140 worth of merchandise, court records show.
The Cape Coral man, who carried a gun, was charged with armed robbery with a deadly weapon.
The scoresheet calculations determined four years was the “lowest permissible prison sentence” that the court could levy.
Ignoring the guidelines, prosecutors and defense counsel agreed to a plea deal that called for no jail time.
Judge Joseph A. Simpson, who took over the case from Judge Edward Volz Jr., concurred.
Simpson sentenced the white teenager to probation without any incarceration.
Judge Volz was not so lenient with Jaquavias Sturgis.
Allen Peters
Jaquavius Sturgis
Just before 9 a.m. on a Monday in 2012, two men wearing black hooded sweatshirts and ski masks entered a Lee County convenience store and demanded money. They were armed with guns.
They grabbed $300 from the register. They took the store clerk’s wallet and jewelry.
Prosecutors charged Sturgis with one count of armed robbery with a deadly weapon.
Judge Volz gave the black teen four years in prison, also agreeing to a plea bargain between prosecutors and defense counsel.
Both Peters and Sturgis have three confidential crimes on their juvenile records, which were not taken into consideration. Both were convicted of armed robbery in the same county. Both signed plea deals to avoid trial and both were 17 at the time of their offenses. Both scored the same points.
Nothing in public documents provides an explanation for why they were treated differently. Peters' file has been destroyed, according to the State Attorney's Office.
“My lawyer at the time said this was the best deal I was going to get,” Sturgis said. “I guess that’s what they call leniency.”
The disparity between the two cases is not unusual.
Since 2004, Lee County judges sentenced black defendants convicted of robbery to an additional 16 months on average compared with whites who scored the same points.
“I have two kids. One is a white kid from the suburbs. The judge sees that the kid kind of looks like his son and talks like his son, and the judge thinks: ‘This kid is a good kid. I’ll give him a second chance,’” said Howard Finkelstein, Broward County’s public defender. “Second kid is urban, has a bounce in his step, from a poor community. When he speaks, his tone is a little different, and the judge thinks: ‘This kid has a bad attitude. I’m not going to give him a second chance.’”
Sara Miles, a spokeswoman for the 20th Circuit, wrote in an email statement that judges in Lee County “strive to avoid any appearance of bias or partiality.”
“I can tell you that our judges sentence defendants according to sentencing guidelines and state statutes,” Miles said in the email. “They do not take any bias into consideration.”
Seventeen-year-old Allen Christopher Peters entered the criminal justice system as an adult in 2008, when he stuck up a gas station in Lee County.
Peters and his co-defendant made off with about $500 and another $140 worth of merchandise, court records show.
The Cape Coral man, who carried a gun, was charged with armed robbery with a deadly weapon.
The scoresheet calculations determined four years was the “lowest permissible prison sentence” that the court could levy.
Ignoring the guidelines, prosecutors and defense counsel agreed to a plea deal that called for no jail time.
Judge Joseph A. Simpson, who took over the case from Judge Edward Volz Jr., concurred.
Simpson sentenced the white teenager to probation without any incarceration.
Judge Volz was not so lenient with Jaquavias Sturgis.
Allen Peters
Jaquavius Sturgis
Just before 9 a.m. on a Monday in 2012, two men wearing black hooded sweatshirts and ski masks entered a Lee County convenience store and demanded money. They were armed with guns.
They grabbed $300 from the register. They took the store clerk’s wallet and jewelry.
Prosecutors charged Sturgis with one count of armed robbery with a deadly weapon.
Judge Volz gave the black teen four years in prison, also agreeing to a plea bargain between prosecutors and defense counsel.
Both Peters and Sturgis have three confidential crimes on their juvenile records, which were not taken into consideration. Both were convicted of armed robbery in the same county. Both signed plea deals to avoid trial and both were 17 at the time of their offenses. Both scored the same points.
Nothing in public documents provides an explanation for why they were treated differently. Peters' file has been destroyed, according to the State Attorney's Office.
“My lawyer at the time said this was the best deal I was going to get,” Sturgis said. “I guess that’s what they call leniency.”
The disparity between the two cases is not unusual.
Since 2004, Lee County judges sentenced black defendants convicted of robbery to an additional 16 months on average compared with whites who scored the same points.
“I have two kids. One is a white kid from the suburbs. The judge sees that the kid kind of looks like his son and talks like his son, and the judge thinks: ‘This kid is a good kid. I’ll give him a second chance,’” said Howard Finkelstein, Broward County’s public defender. “Second kid is urban, has a bounce in his step, from a poor community. When he speaks, his tone is a little different, and the judge thinks: ‘This kid has a bad attitude. I’m not going to give him a second chance.’”
Sara Miles, a spokeswoman for the 20th Circuit, wrote in an email statement that judges in Lee County “strive to avoid any appearance of bias or partiality.”
“I can tell you that our judges sentence defendants according to sentencing guidelines and state statutes,” Miles said in the email. “They do not take any bias into consideration.”
'In the wilderness for a very long time'
Nassau County deputies arrested Timothy Blount for selling five grams of cocaine to an undercover informant in 2005.
He pleaded guilty and scored 28 points.
Judge Robert Foster showed mercy. He sentenced the 21-year-old white man to drug rehab and three years of probation.
The same judge was harder on Zachary Jamison.
Timothy Blount
Zachary Jamison
Charged in 2009 with selling cocaine in Nassau County, the 22-year-old black man also pleaded guilty, scored 28 points and went before Foster.
But probation was not in the cards. Foster sent Jamison to state prison for 13 months.
Nassau County has one of Florida’s widest racial discrepancies in sentencing when it comes to drug crimes, a Herald-Tribune analysis of state sentencing data shows.
Judges presiding over courtrooms in the conservative county north of Jacksonville give blacks an additional 332 days in lockup for felony drug charges. That is more than double the time given to whites with identical records.
“That’s wrong,” said Greg Evers, a former Republican state senator from Milton who chaired the Senate’s Criminal Justice Committee, referring to the statewide disparities uncovered by the Herald-Tribune. “What we were trying to do was to make like crimes have like sentences and to stop discrepancies.”
The courthouse in Nassau County is named after Foster, who was appointed to the bench nearly 30 years ago.
But members of the black community have been calling on him to step down over what they perceive as a bias against minorities, particularly with drug cases. They started an online petition in 2014 that drew more than 630 signatures.
“When you have misconduct and you know it, where do you go?” said Bernard Thompson, a long-time NAACP leader and advocate in Nassau County. “We have been in the wilderness for a very long time.”
Foster locks up whites for an average of 224 days for felony drug possession. He gives blacks charged with the same crime and who scored the same points an average of 562 days — nearly a year longer.
Foster adamantly denied discriminating against black defendants.
“From my viewpoint, 29 years on the bench, I don’t care if a defendant is black or white or male or female," Foster said. "I am unaware if that enters my mind in any of my decisions.”
Foster said that every case is different, and even if two defendants commit the same crime under similar circumstances, he believes it is unfair to compare the outcome.
While not addressing the racial disparity, he said his rulings reflect the desires of his community in Nassau to take a hard line on drugs in all cases.
"If you have a community that believes selling drugs is wrong, and there should be consequences to it, there will be sentences that comport to that," he said. "I am part of the community. I reflect the values of my community.”
Nassau County deputies arrested Timothy Blount for selling five grams of cocaine to an undercover informant in 2005.
He pleaded guilty and scored 28 points.
Judge Robert Foster showed mercy. He sentenced the 21-year-old white man to drug rehab and three years of probation.
The same judge was harder on Zachary Jamison.
Timothy Blount
Zachary Jamison
Charged in 2009 with selling cocaine in Nassau County, the 22-year-old black man also pleaded guilty, scored 28 points and went before Foster.
But probation was not in the cards. Foster sent Jamison to state prison for 13 months.
Nassau County has one of Florida’s widest racial discrepancies in sentencing when it comes to drug crimes, a Herald-Tribune analysis of state sentencing data shows.
Judges presiding over courtrooms in the conservative county north of Jacksonville give blacks an additional 332 days in lockup for felony drug charges. That is more than double the time given to whites with identical records.
“That’s wrong,” said Greg Evers, a former Republican state senator from Milton who chaired the Senate’s Criminal Justice Committee, referring to the statewide disparities uncovered by the Herald-Tribune. “What we were trying to do was to make like crimes have like sentences and to stop discrepancies.”
The courthouse in Nassau County is named after Foster, who was appointed to the bench nearly 30 years ago.
But members of the black community have been calling on him to step down over what they perceive as a bias against minorities, particularly with drug cases. They started an online petition in 2014 that drew more than 630 signatures.
“When you have misconduct and you know it, where do you go?” said Bernard Thompson, a long-time NAACP leader and advocate in Nassau County. “We have been in the wilderness for a very long time.”
Foster locks up whites for an average of 224 days for felony drug possession. He gives blacks charged with the same crime and who scored the same points an average of 562 days — nearly a year longer.
Foster adamantly denied discriminating against black defendants.
“From my viewpoint, 29 years on the bench, I don’t care if a defendant is black or white or male or female," Foster said. "I am unaware if that enters my mind in any of my decisions.”
Foster said that every case is different, and even if two defendants commit the same crime under similar circumstances, he believes it is unfair to compare the outcome.
While not addressing the racial disparity, he said his rulings reflect the desires of his community in Nassau to take a hard line on drugs in all cases.
"If you have a community that believes selling drugs is wrong, and there should be consequences to it, there will be sentences that comport to that," he said. "I am part of the community. I reflect the values of my community.”
'Embarrassed by the numbers'
Until the 1980s, judges had wide discretion over everything from levying fines to imposing prison sentences.
In search of consistency, Florida adopted sentencing guidelines in 1983.
State lawmakers continued to tweak sentencing rules over the ensuing years, adding the Criminal Punishment Code in 1998 in hopes of further leveling the playing field.
Prosecutors now assign points to defendants based on the severity of their crime, whether they have a prior record and the circumstances surrounding their arrest. Points are added for victim injuries or flashing a gun. Scores go up for violating probation or skipping court.
Prosecutors then tally the numbers to determine the minimum sentence required by law.
Judges may depart from the minimum if the defendant is cooperative or needs special treatment, but the law says any departures must be made in writing.
In Citrus County, Leroy Waters scored 4.6 points when convicted of driving with a suspended license for the third time — a felony. Waters obtained a public defender and signed a plea agreement that included jail time.
Judge Richard Howard sentenced the 42-year-old black man to 89 days in county lockup.
When Paul Penninger was busted for the same charge, he also went before Judge Howard. He used a court-appointed lawyer, pleaded no contest and scored a matching 4.6 points.
The agreement called for no jail time, so the judge took it easy on the 48-year-old white man, sentencing him to a year on probation.
The judge also withheld adjudication, which means Penninger is not considered a convicted felon.
Penninger later violated the terms and could have been sentenced to as long as five years in prison. But once again, there was no call for lockup and Howard let the white man go free.
“I’m embarrassed, frankly, by the numbers,” said Derek Byrd, a criminal defense attorney in Sarasota. “I knew that the system had a disparity between the treatment of blacks and whites. I did not know it was to that degree. We obviously have a long way to go.”
Howard turned down five requests for comment. His judicial assistant cited his busy court schedule, which included a murder trial. When told the nature of the story, she said “every case is different so it's hard to compare them.”
Critics of the point system say discrepancies jeopardize the fundamental function of the court, which is held together by the perception that it is fair and unbiased.
“Judicial neutrality is the basis of judicial legitimacy,” said Gregory Pingree, a professor at Florida Coastal School of Law in Jacksonville. “It’s why people follow the laws.”
Until the 1980s, judges had wide discretion over everything from levying fines to imposing prison sentences.
In search of consistency, Florida adopted sentencing guidelines in 1983.
State lawmakers continued to tweak sentencing rules over the ensuing years, adding the Criminal Punishment Code in 1998 in hopes of further leveling the playing field.
Prosecutors now assign points to defendants based on the severity of their crime, whether they have a prior record and the circumstances surrounding their arrest. Points are added for victim injuries or flashing a gun. Scores go up for violating probation or skipping court.
Prosecutors then tally the numbers to determine the minimum sentence required by law.
Judges may depart from the minimum if the defendant is cooperative or needs special treatment, but the law says any departures must be made in writing.
In Citrus County, Leroy Waters scored 4.6 points when convicted of driving with a suspended license for the third time — a felony. Waters obtained a public defender and signed a plea agreement that included jail time.
Judge Richard Howard sentenced the 42-year-old black man to 89 days in county lockup.
When Paul Penninger was busted for the same charge, he also went before Judge Howard. He used a court-appointed lawyer, pleaded no contest and scored a matching 4.6 points.
The agreement called for no jail time, so the judge took it easy on the 48-year-old white man, sentencing him to a year on probation.
The judge also withheld adjudication, which means Penninger is not considered a convicted felon.
Penninger later violated the terms and could have been sentenced to as long as five years in prison. But once again, there was no call for lockup and Howard let the white man go free.
“I’m embarrassed, frankly, by the numbers,” said Derek Byrd, a criminal defense attorney in Sarasota. “I knew that the system had a disparity between the treatment of blacks and whites. I did not know it was to that degree. We obviously have a long way to go.”
Howard turned down five requests for comment. His judicial assistant cited his busy court schedule, which included a murder trial. When told the nature of the story, she said “every case is different so it's hard to compare them.”
Critics of the point system say discrepancies jeopardize the fundamental function of the court, which is held together by the perception that it is fair and unbiased.
“Judicial neutrality is the basis of judicial legitimacy,” said Gregory Pingree, a professor at Florida Coastal School of Law in Jacksonville. “It’s why people follow the laws.”
Racial discrepancies in sentencing, experts say, more likely involve implicit bias — subtle stereotypes developed through upbringing, schooling, television and movies.
Black men have long been stereotyped as scofflaws. Broadcasts flash images of black suspects lined up in chains and jailhouse orange. Hollywood often casts blacks as criminals.
A series of police killings of black men in recent years has exacerbated the divide. TV coverage shows throngs of blacks and whites, on opposite ends of streets or separated by barricades, jeering. Altercations are blasted across social media. They roiled the presidential race.
“People think the face of crime is a black man with jewelry and tattoos,” said LeRoy Pernell, a law professor and former dean at the Florida A&M University College of Law, a historically black school. “People in the criminal justice system are very different than that image. We’ve got to be able to show a different face.”
An implicit bias test on the Internet, taken by millions of people, found that nearly three-fourths of participants showed at least some negative biases toward blacks.
Run by researchers from Harvard, the University of Virginia and the University of Florida, the test reveals that men are more biased than women. Conservatives are more biased than liberals.
“Every human has biases,” said Scott Bernstein, a judge for the 11th Circuit Court in Miami who teaches diversity to judges. “The goal is not to rid yourself of biases, but to be conscious of them. As judges, we know to set biases aside. But when you’re not aware that this is going on in your brain, that’s where trouble comes.”
Cornell researchers used experiments in 2009 to gauge racial biases among 133 participating judges. A majority of white judges in the group favored whites. Those judges gave harder sentences to black defendants in hypothetical cases if they had been primed with words tied to black culture.
“The worst thing you can say to a judge is that they’re corrupt or biased, especially with regards to race,” said Jeffrey Rachlinski, a law professor at Cornell who helped author the study. “But we found that judges are not different than most adults. And most white adults tend to associate African-Americans with negative imagery, and so that’s what we see in judges, too. They’re part of a society that more often associates African-Americans with violence and crime.”
New judges in Florida must complete 90 minutes of training on racial biases within their first 12 months on the job. They are required to take an additional eight-hour course on diversity within three years.
Some say that is not enough.
“It took us a lifetime to develop our biases,” said Lorie Fridell, a University of South Florida criminology professor and expert on bias training. “It’s not easy to make them go away.”
Black men have long been stereotyped as scofflaws. Broadcasts flash images of black suspects lined up in chains and jailhouse orange. Hollywood often casts blacks as criminals.
A series of police killings of black men in recent years has exacerbated the divide. TV coverage shows throngs of blacks and whites, on opposite ends of streets or separated by barricades, jeering. Altercations are blasted across social media. They roiled the presidential race.
“People think the face of crime is a black man with jewelry and tattoos,” said LeRoy Pernell, a law professor and former dean at the Florida A&M University College of Law, a historically black school. “People in the criminal justice system are very different than that image. We’ve got to be able to show a different face.”
An implicit bias test on the Internet, taken by millions of people, found that nearly three-fourths of participants showed at least some negative biases toward blacks.
Run by researchers from Harvard, the University of Virginia and the University of Florida, the test reveals that men are more biased than women. Conservatives are more biased than liberals.
“Every human has biases,” said Scott Bernstein, a judge for the 11th Circuit Court in Miami who teaches diversity to judges. “The goal is not to rid yourself of biases, but to be conscious of them. As judges, we know to set biases aside. But when you’re not aware that this is going on in your brain, that’s where trouble comes.”
Cornell researchers used experiments in 2009 to gauge racial biases among 133 participating judges. A majority of white judges in the group favored whites. Those judges gave harder sentences to black defendants in hypothetical cases if they had been primed with words tied to black culture.
“The worst thing you can say to a judge is that they’re corrupt or biased, especially with regards to race,” said Jeffrey Rachlinski, a law professor at Cornell who helped author the study. “But we found that judges are not different than most adults. And most white adults tend to associate African-Americans with negative imagery, and so that’s what we see in judges, too. They’re part of a society that more often associates African-Americans with violence and crime.”
New judges in Florida must complete 90 minutes of training on racial biases within their first 12 months on the job. They are required to take an additional eight-hour course on diversity within three years.
Some say that is not enough.
“It took us a lifetime to develop our biases,” said Lorie Fridell, a University of South Florida criminology professor and expert on bias training. “It’s not easy to make them go away.”
STUART — Chase Legleitner was 19 when he robbed three men in a 2008 drug deal.
Lamar Lloyd was 21 when he stuck up a Pizza Hut and gas station the following year.
Both men pleaded no contest to two counts of armed robbery. They went before the same judge, in the same courthouse. Each had a single misdemeanor on his record. They tallied the exact same points on the scoresheets used to determine criminal punishments in Florida.
But their sentences could not have been more different.
Legleitner spent less than two years in county jail. He is now free to golf and fish on the weekends.
Lloyd got 26 years in prison. He will be 47 upon his release in 2034.
Chase Legleitner
Lamar Lloyd
That disparity is not unusual in the courtroom of Judge Sherwood “Chip” Bauer Jr.
Since taking the bench a decade ago, Bauer has been tougher on those with a darker complexion, often sentencing blacks to two or three times longer than white defendants who committed the same crimes.
Or in the case of Lloyd and Legleitner, 13 times longer.
During a meeting with the Herald-Tribune, Bauer was surprised to see his sentencing numbers. But the judge stood by his record.
Bauer said he tries to be fair to everyone who steps into his courtroom and that race is of “complete insignificance.”
“I don’t believe in my heart that I sentence more harshly one race or gender than another,” Bauer said. “We all think we’re fair. We would have never gotten into the business if we didn’t.”
A yearlong Herald-Tribune investigation used two databases — one compiled by court clerks and the other by the Department of Corrections — to find that racial inequalities in criminal sentencing are rampant throughout Florida. Blacks spend more time behind bars than whites who score the same number of points under the state’s sentencing guidelines. Blacks also are more likely to have their civil rights revoked, preventing them from voting and making it harder to find jobs and housing.
Bauer’s rulings still stand out. They are among the widest racial discrepancies in the 19th Circuit — one of the worst courts in Florida to be black, according to a statistical analysis of every felony case across the state during the past 12 years.
With a shaved head, a military demeanor and a commanding voice, Bauer said he listens to pleas from family members and considers a defendant’s attitude before determining sentence in some cases. When discrepancies arise, he said, they are the result of plea deals already worked out between the prosecution and defense.
“Almost every single one is negotiated,” Bauer said. “I don’t know of a fairer way to play the game.”
Lamar Lloyd was 21 when he stuck up a Pizza Hut and gas station the following year.
Both men pleaded no contest to two counts of armed robbery. They went before the same judge, in the same courthouse. Each had a single misdemeanor on his record. They tallied the exact same points on the scoresheets used to determine criminal punishments in Florida.
But their sentences could not have been more different.
Legleitner spent less than two years in county jail. He is now free to golf and fish on the weekends.
Lloyd got 26 years in prison. He will be 47 upon his release in 2034.
Chase Legleitner
Lamar Lloyd
That disparity is not unusual in the courtroom of Judge Sherwood “Chip” Bauer Jr.
Since taking the bench a decade ago, Bauer has been tougher on those with a darker complexion, often sentencing blacks to two or three times longer than white defendants who committed the same crimes.
Or in the case of Lloyd and Legleitner, 13 times longer.
During a meeting with the Herald-Tribune, Bauer was surprised to see his sentencing numbers. But the judge stood by his record.
Bauer said he tries to be fair to everyone who steps into his courtroom and that race is of “complete insignificance.”
“I don’t believe in my heart that I sentence more harshly one race or gender than another,” Bauer said. “We all think we’re fair. We would have never gotten into the business if we didn’t.”
A yearlong Herald-Tribune investigation used two databases — one compiled by court clerks and the other by the Department of Corrections — to find that racial inequalities in criminal sentencing are rampant throughout Florida. Blacks spend more time behind bars than whites who score the same number of points under the state’s sentencing guidelines. Blacks also are more likely to have their civil rights revoked, preventing them from voting and making it harder to find jobs and housing.
Bauer’s rulings still stand out. They are among the widest racial discrepancies in the 19th Circuit — one of the worst courts in Florida to be black, according to a statistical analysis of every felony case across the state during the past 12 years.
With a shaved head, a military demeanor and a commanding voice, Bauer said he listens to pleas from family members and considers a defendant’s attitude before determining sentence in some cases. When discrepancies arise, he said, they are the result of plea deals already worked out between the prosecution and defense.
“Almost every single one is negotiated,” Bauer said. “I don’t know of a fairer way to play the game.”
