All content categorized with: Criminal Legal System

Filter

    • Article
    • By Christo Lassiter
    • Volume 1, Issue 1
    • January, 1996

    The O.J. Simpson Verdict: A Lesson in Black and White

    This article is an attempt to analyze the O.J. Simpson verdict and the press coverage of it, to suggest ways not only of improving criminal justice in a diverse community, but also of improving press coverage of criminal justice in a diverse community. Part Two of this essay is subdivided into two sections. The first section surveys the op-ed pages of major newspapers to evaluate the analysis of, and the commentary on, the O.J. Simpson verdict. The second section deconstructs the press' spin on the verdict. Part Three of this article discusses the role of a jury and proof beyond a reasonable doubt among a diverse set of jurors. Part Four is an effort to explain reasonable doubt and to provide the factual analysis in support of the jury's verdict in the O.J. Simpson case-an exercise which the press largely shrugged off. The conclusion contains no easy answer, but suggests a role for concerned public constituencies in demanding a better brand of criminal justice and press coverage of criminal justice.
    • Article
    • By Sheri Lynn Johnson
    • Volume 1, Issue 2
    • January, 1996

    The Color of Truth: Race and the Assessment of Credibility

    This article will address specifically the relationship between race and credibility in legal cases, while acknowledging that broader bias issues are often, though sometimes imperceptibly, intertwined in racially biased credibility determinations. Part I will survey race and credibility issues that have arisen in courts, with particular focus on two modern habeas corpus cases. Part II will summarize the legal rules that presently regulate racially influenced assessments of credibility; it may surprise some readers to realize that there is no established mechanism for challenging racially biased credibility determinations. Part I will propose some standards for determining when race is permissibly used in credibility determinations and some mechanisms for enforcing those standards. Although my sources and primary concern in this article are criminal cases, most of what follows has relevance to civil cases as well, albeit to a lesser extent.

  • The Social Construction of Identity in Criminal Cases: Cinema Verité and the Pedagogy of Vincent Chin

    This article will discuss the use of the film, Who Killed Vincent Chin?, as a method: (1) to analyze the relationship of social constructions of identity, particularly race, on the rules and discretionary application of criminal jurisprudence; (2) to provide an interactive pedagogical tool for law teachers, especially criminal law teachers, to examine the social contexts of criminal jurisprudence from multiple perspectives; and (3) to examine the ability of criminal law doctrine to address issues of race.