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  • Stepping into the Projects: Lawmaking, Storytelling, and Practicing the Politics of Identification

    In her article, "The Black Community," Its Lawbreakers, and a Politics of Identification, Professor Regina Austin proposes a paradigm to move the Black community beyond a "manifestation of a nostalgic longing for a time when blacks were clearly distinguishable from whites and concern about the welfare of the poor was more natural than our hairdos.” Austin's politics of identification provides the conceptual framework through which the Black community can reconstitute itself in accordance with its own principles, which may or may not be those embraced by the mainstream. This article considers Professor Regina Austin’s politics of identification as practiced by Black lawmakers in the congressional welfare reform debate.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • Reconsidering Strict Scrutiny of Affirmative Action

    Under the artificial constraints of strict scrutiny, however, the courts are free to veto the government's choice of more effective, race-conscious means. The Supreme Court's unfortunate and ill-conceived adoption of strict scrutiny as the constitutional standard for reviewing race-conscious affirmative action should be reconsidered for several reasons. This Article examines those reasons.