Academic

Racist Prosecution By Design: The Philly DA Training Tape

By Dan Filler

As we bid adieu to Charles Rosenthal, the Houston DA accused (among other things) of sending racist emails, it's a good time to remind ourselves that race and prosecution is a toxic mix.  We need only go back a to the 1987 Philly DA training tape (note that the tape says 1996 - and that's not right) where junior DA's are taught that: "let's face it, the blacks from the low income areas are less likely to convict and as a result you don't want those people on your jury...you're just being realistic."  Am I suggesting that all prosecutors or prosecutions are racist?  Not at all.  But given the outputs of our criminal justice system - the overwhelming disproportionate representation of minorities, for example - it seems to me that we have a special duty of vigilance when it comes to state sponsored racism.

Full post as published by The Faculty Lounge on February 23, 2008 (boomark / email).