Race, violence, and justice.
How has race mattered in the rape trial I've been observing?
1. Yesterday, the defendant called his one and only witness. She's a former girlfriend, the mother of one of the alleged victims. They had a long Q&A or conversation, maybe 45 minutes.
The judge interrupted them, periodically, supposedly for the sake of the court reporter (never the jury IIRC) sitting 3 feet from the witness, to tell them to speak more slowly or more loudly, not to speak over each other.
But the problem wasn't their speed or volume, it was their 𝘈𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘈𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘌𝘯𝘨𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘩 (see article below).
2. The defendant and the 4 victims are African American. But nearly everybody judging the case is (or passes as) white.
The whites include the judge, the prosecution team (except 1), 10/12 jurors, the backup public defender, the victim advocates, the social workers (well, I missed 1 or 2), the clerk, the bailiff, and all the police officers guarding and transferring the defendant. [Update: on the final day, there were two African American police officers during part of the morning.]
If I'm not mistaken, the 2 African American women got the fewest questions during jury selection.
3. Race is surely a factor in the socio-economic context for the lives of the defendant, his girlfriends, and the (alleged) victims.
This context includes poverty, inadequate access to day care, use of crack and heroin, addiction and alcoholism, heroin dealing, violence and threats of violence among various adults (involved or named in the trial), single-parent or grandparent custody, and incarceration of at least two of the victims' mothers.
The defendant was incarcerated for over 10 years and the alleged sexual crimes were committed soon after his reentry. His mental health problems have apparently not been treated (if even diagnosed).
One minor witness had mental health problems that were not diagnosed until interviewed for this case. On Friday, when he couldn't appear, the excuse note came from the non-profit Crossroad Health Clinic in an impoverished neighborhood. (See my post for the 4th day.)
4. There's no doubt much more that I am missing. But presumably the racial overtones are not lost on the African American participants.
5. By the way, gender is not imbalanced, or it favors women. The women include: judge, prosecutor, 5/12 jurors, victim advocate, the bailiff, court reporter, 1 of 2 detectives. The victims have had a few female relatives/friends in the courtroom; I just saw one man (father?).
6. Class and education obviously are a major factor. In these observations, not sure how to separate these from race. Well, it's obvious that a better educated, wealthier, and mentally stable defendant would not be representing himself in a rape trial, regardless of his race.
Link to original post: https://www.facebook.com/hcgray/posts/10161767130550335
How has race mattered in the rape trial I've been observing?
1. Yesterday, the defendant called his one and only witness. She's a former girlfriend, the mother of one of the alleged victims. They had a long Q&A or conversation, maybe 45 minutes.
The judge interrupted them, periodically, supposedly for the sake of the court reporter (never the jury IIRC) sitting 3 feet from the witness, to tell them to speak more slowly or more loudly, not to speak over each other.
But the problem wasn't their speed or volume, it was their 𝘈𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘈𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘌𝘯𝘨𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘩 (see article below).
2. The defendant and the 4 victims are African American. But nearly everybody judging the case is (or passes as) white.
The whites include the judge, the prosecution team (except 1), 10/12 jurors, the backup public defender, the victim advocates, the social workers (well, I missed 1 or 2), the clerk, the bailiff, and all the police officers guarding and transferring the defendant. [Update: on the final day, there were two African American police officers during part of the morning.]
If I'm not mistaken, the 2 African American women got the fewest questions during jury selection.
3. Race is surely a factor in the socio-economic context for the lives of the defendant, his girlfriends, and the (alleged) victims.
This context includes poverty, inadequate access to day care, use of crack and heroin, addiction and alcoholism, heroin dealing, violence and threats of violence among various adults (involved or named in the trial), single-parent or grandparent custody, and incarceration of at least two of the victims' mothers.
The defendant was incarcerated for over 10 years and the alleged sexual crimes were committed soon after his reentry. His mental health problems have apparently not been treated (if even diagnosed).
One minor witness had mental health problems that were not diagnosed until interviewed for this case. On Friday, when he couldn't appear, the excuse note came from the non-profit Crossroad Health Clinic in an impoverished neighborhood. (See my post for the 4th day.)
4. There's no doubt much more that I am missing. But presumably the racial overtones are not lost on the African American participants.
5. By the way, gender is not imbalanced, or it favors women. The women include: judge, prosecutor, 5/12 jurors, victim advocate, the bailiff, court reporter, 1 of 2 detectives. The victims have had a few female relatives/friends in the courtroom; I just saw one man (father?).
6. Class and education obviously are a major factor. In these observations, not sure how to separate these from race. Well, it's obvious that a better educated, wealthier, and mentally stable defendant would not be representing himself in a rape trial, regardless of his race.
Link to original post: https://www.facebook.com/hcgray/posts/10161767130550335
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