Courtroom Diversity to Create a More Just Legal System
Myriad discussions regarding the American justice system begin with the racialized undertones that the system emanates, especially when the conversation happens at a seemingly “woke” institution such as Wesleyan. While the judicial system remains largely unchanged and powerful in its path towards “serving justice,” with prominent commonly held conceptions of it as a legitimate institution, there contradictingly seems to be a common understanding within the public that the system is not entirely just. I think that the law is perceived as so archaic and virtually religious in a way that makes it difficult to mobilize for change; even as we see increasing discussions of abolition take place, the mainstream still favors the efficient proceedings of the current judicial system… including integrated racism, classism, and all. Law has a way of codifying norms, and each actor in the judicial system comes with their own developed perspectives, experiences, and biases, making the apparent neutral and apolitical governmental branch even more difficult to disentangle. Regardless, we see race play a key role in the outcomes of the justice system in unprecedented ways. Black Americans are incarcerated at more than five times the rate of their white counterparts, and prison populations continuously disproportionately represent minority populations. (NAACP)
The racialized nature of the American legal system alone begs for radical changes, but racialized norms in relation to ideas of justice and punishment and the dominant majority consisting of those with the most political power have allowed the system to be maintained. Its racialized nature is no new feature though, as we have seen the entire justice system formed around the oppression of the historically lower classes--BIPOC, women, the poor, drug users, etc. This has been my personal conception of the legal system as I have seen it impact and traumatize so many people that I am related to, in particular my black family on my mother’s side. While a plethora of both the white and black sides of my family have faced encounters with incarceration and the law, my black family members have tended to face harsher sentencing and generally have had worse interactions. Many people read about race and the law and the histories of racialized judicial outcomes, but the manner in which it is commonly discussed, both within academic spaces and outside of them, can be very uncomfortable. I find this uncomfortability particularly strong when discussing those who have histories with drug use and the language in which people use to characterize them. I currently work for the Middletown Harm Reduction Initiative, which provides safer use drug kits to residents of Middletown and I commonly find myself interrogating even the most basic language of the term “drug addict” and its harmful connotations with those who have personal experience with addiction. In regards to the killing of Breonna Taylor, an unarmed, young, black woman from my hometown of Louisville, KY, I heard various friends of mine who are generally quite progressive in their ideology lose empathy for Breonna Taylor once the mention of her history with drugs arose-- as if her drug interactions alone made her unworthy of receiving justice; justice, in this case, cost her life. Yet, dangerous connections such as this are ingrained within the norms that the carceral system utilizes to make decisions.
When discussing the justice system, my mind automatically gravitates towards possible ways to mitigate the detrimental issues that are so deeply entrenched within it. While I do not think that much power lies within the legislative branch, as its members respond too strictly to the wealthy political ruling electorate, I think that representative reform to the judicial branch may hold the key. By this, I mean getting more commonly unrepresented populations-- BIPOC, women, young people, etc-- involved at the various levels that an American may interact with the legal system. This means getting more racial, ethnic, and gender minorities on the bench, in the courtroom, and in the legal process. I imagine this having the strongest influence in emboldening systemic change through the mechanism of changings norms through diversifying juries and diversifying the demographics of legal professionals.
We have proper reason to believe that we should be distrustful of all/mostly white juries, insinuating that a racially diverse jury is necessary for a fair trial. Juries insert community power into the legal system, thus bringing greater experiences and values of laypeople (regular people of the non-legal profession) into the courtroom-- making them necessary towards achieving justice. In the summer of 2020, many of us followed the tragedy of former Minneapolis police officer killing George Floyd in 2020, highlighted the possible power of encouraging diverse juries, and this change was on the accord of Judge Cahill himself. The jury selection process deviated from the standard, and allowed for a wider range of beliefs and identities to be represented within the jury; this diversity was a key factor in the outcome of the case. Not only did this case illustrate just mechanisms for choosing juries, but emphasized that it is in fact possible for the court system to choose diverse juries through its current functions. Diverse juries can allow communities to impact legal norms instead of solely the elites who have held the power to impact them historically. Moreover, they can increase the comfortability for minorities in the courtroom that they will be tried purely based on the facts of the case, instead of it being informed by their identity.
Additionally, increasing the diversity of those within legal professions can help mitigate the unjust aspects of the judicial system. As I work on law school applications and research the demographics of certain programs and firms, I am made starkly aware of how white the world of law is. Just as it is intimidating for me to go into a profession that is dominated by white men (only 5% of lawyers are black and 37% are female), it is incredibly intimidating to be a person of color and walk into a courtroom surrounded by white actors of authority. (American Bar) In fact, it is commonplace for women and people of color to be told that they “do not look like a lawyer.” In corporate America, a large part of the game is “looking the part,” however, this has become synonymous in the legal profession as nicely tailored suits, and being white and a man. (Melaku) This phrase portrays that the norms surrounding success and competence are inherently tied to those identities, making it hard for women and people of color to even imagine themselves as successful lawyers. Therefore, before the case even begins, it can seem painstakingly obvious that the odds are already not in your favor as a person of color in a courtroom. However, this is not a new concept for minorities living in the United States.
Systemic racism, also called institutional racism, has provely shown its existence through all U.S. institutions, and we understand it as the vehicle in which white supremacy sustains. As people took to the streets after the killing of George Floyd, protesting police brutality and racism in the justice system that has existed since its conception, we also saw the COVID-19 pandemic have disproportionate impacts on minority populations. This is not just a coincidence. We see race intertwined with the wage gap, housing, policing, jobs, mental health, and just about every other domain. Looking specifically towards the justice system, it was built and consolidated in the Jim Crow era, in which racism was ubiquitous in society and used to criminalize black and brown bodies at a highly disproportionate rate. (Balko) Now, we have seen the criminal justice used to preserve racial order and continue minorities’ disproportionate representation in prisons, as the unhoused, and as drug users. This can also make the legal process for people of color psychologically damaging from the start, even before the possibility of incarceration. While it seems ridiculous that in 2021 only 5% of practicing lawyers are black, it illuminates that there are strong institutions and norms keeping BIPOC out of legal professions, the same ones informing racialized legal outcomes.
While these mechanisms may be able to provide more democratic outcomes, the mechanisms are slow and rely on changes to be made from the elite class who controls the actions of the judicial system. However slow they may be, abolition seems further from our near reality than I had naively thought before. Is it possible to give agency and humanity to those who are incarcerated without abolitionism as the framework? I am inclined to answer no, but while we work towards abolition and revolutionary change, it is imperative to investigate institutional ways to improve justice, thus, improving individual lives of citizens within our country. Devout change is necessary to alter the carceral system’s current path, and outside of the realm of abolition, this change is possible through broadly diversifying courtrooms and those within the legal profession.
Sources
ABA National Lawyer Population Survey. https://www.americanbar.org/news/reporter_resources/profile-of-profession/
Balko, Radley. Opinion: there's overwhelming evidence that the criminal justice system is racist. here's the proof. https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2020/opinions/systemic-racism-police-evidence-criminal-justice-system/
Melaku, Tsedale. Why women and people of color in law still hear "you don't look like a lawyer". https://hbr.org/2019/08/why-women-and-people-of-color-in-law-still-hear-you-dont-look-like-a-lawyer.
NAACP, Criminal Justice Fact Sheet. https://naacp.org/resources/criminal-justice-fact-sheet