Guide under construction
Welcome to the research guide on Structural Racism and the Legal System. This guide is under construction and will be changing in the future.
Reports on state judicial systems
- Racial Disparities in the Massachusetts Criminal SystemElizabeth Tsai Bishop et al., The Criminal Justice Policy Program, Harvard Law School, Racial Disparities in the Massachusetts Criminal System (2020).
- Report to the New York State Court's Commision on Equal Justice in the CourtsJudicial Friends Ass'n, Report to the New York State Court's Commision on Equal Justice in the Courts (2020).
Unpublished scholarship
- Implicit Bias is Real, Implicit Bias Training Matters: Responding to the Negative PressSarah E. Redfield, Implicit Bias is Real, Implicit Bias Training Matters: Responding to the Negative Press (Sep. 8, 2020) (unpublished manuscript) (SSRN).
The psychology of racial bias
- Understanding and Using the Implicit Association Test: III. Meta-Analysis of Predictive ValidityAnthony G. Greenwald et al., Understanding and Using the Implicit Association Test:III. Meta-Analysis of Predictive Validity, 97 J. Personality and Soc. Psych. 17 (2009).
- Attributions of Implicit Prejudice, or “Would Jesse Jackson ‘Fail’ the Implicit Association Test?”Hal R. Arkes & Philip E. Tetlock, Attributions of Implicit Prejudice, or “Would Jesse Jackson ‘Fail’ the Implicit Association Test?”, 15 Psych. Inquiry 257 (2004).
- Dismantling Institutional Racism: Theory and ActionDerek M. Griffith et al., Dismantling Institutional Racism: Theory and Action, 39 Am. J. Community Psych. 381 (2007).
- Predicting Ethnic and Racial Discrimination: A Meta-Analysis of IAT Criterion StudiesFrederick L. Oswald et al., Predicting Ethnic and Racial Discrimination: A Meta-Analysis of IAT Criterion Studies, 105 J. Personality and Soc. Psych. 171 (2013).
Scholarly sources on racial bias in the legal system
- Discrimination and Implicit Bias in a Racially Unequal SocietyRichard R. Banks et al., Discrimination and Implicit Bias in a Racially Unequal Society, 94 Calif. L. Rev. 1169 (2006).
- Deconstruct and Superstruct: Examining Bias across the Legal SystemDebra Lyn Basset, Deconstruct and Superstruct: Examining Bias across the Legal System, 46 U.C. Davis L. Rev. 1563 (2013).
- The Implicit Racial Bias in Sentencing: The Next FrontierMark W. Bennett, The Implicit Racial Bias in Sentencing: The Next Frontier, 126 Yale L. Rev. F. 391 (2017).
- Blind Injustice: The Supreme Court, Implicit Racial Bias, and the Racial Disparity in the Criminal Justice SystemTyler Clemons, Blind Injustice: The Supreme Court, Implicit Racial Bias, and the Racial Disparity in the Criminal Justice System, 51 Am. Crim. L. Rev. 689 (2014).
- Race and the Decision to Detain a SuspectSheri Lynn Johnson, Race and the Decision to Detain a Suspect, 93 Yale L. J. 214 (1983).
- The Law of Implicit BiasCass R. Sunstein & Christine Jolls, The Law of Implicit Bias, 94 Calif. L. Rev. 969 (2006).
- Implicit Bias in the CourtroomJerry Kang et al., Implicit Bias in the Courtroom, 59 UCLA L. Rev. 1124 (2012).
- Implicit Racial Bias across the LawImplicit Racial Bias across the Law (Justin D. Levinson, Robert J. Smith, eds., 2012).
- Systematic Racism of African-American Males in the Criminal Justice SystemTerrence Lamar McWilliams, Systematic Racism of African-American Males in the Criminal Justice System: An Analytical Review of the History, Practices, and Functions of the American Criminal Justice System (1995) (M.S. thesis, University of Louisville) (ProQuest).
- Whom the State KillsScott Phillips & Justin Marceau, Whom the State Kills, 55 Harv. C.R.-C.L. L. Rev. 585 (2020).
- Discrimination in Sentencing on the Basis of Afrocentric FeaturesWilliam T. Pizzi et al., Discrimination in Sentencing on the Basis of Afrocentric Features, 10 Mich. J. Race & L. 327 (2005).
- Does Unconscious Racial Bias Affect Trial JudgesJeffrey J. Rachlinski et al., Does Unconscious Racial Bias Affect Trial Judges, 84 Notre Dame L. Rev. 1195 (2009).
- The Impact of Implicit Racial Bias on the Exercise of Prosecutorial DiscretionRobert J. Smith & Justin D. Levinson, The Impact of Implicit Racial Bias on the Exercise of Prosecutorial Discretion, 35 Seattle U. L. Rev. 795 (2012).
- Peña-Rodriguez v. Colorado: A Critical, but Incomplete, Step in the Never-Ending War of Racial BiasNatalie A. Spiess, Comment, Peña-Rodriguez v. Colorado: A Critical, but Incomplete, Step in the Never-Ending War of Racial Bias, 95 Denv. L. Rev. 809 (2018).
- Uncovering Juror Racial BiasChristian B. Sundquist, Uncovering Juror Racial Bias, 96 Denv. L. Rev. 309 (2019).
- Racism in the U.S. Criminal Justice System: Institutionalized Genocide?Nkechi Taifa, Racism in the U.S. Criminal Justice System: Institutionalized Genocide? (Am. Const. Soc'y for L. and Pol'y, 2016)
- Criminal Selectivity in the United States: A History Plagued by Class & Race BiasValeria V. Weis, Criminal Selectivity in the United States: A History Plagued by Class & Race Bias, 10 DePaul J. for Soc. Just. (2017).
