Sara Greenlee

Crime Quiz

    The required article that I chose to write about was the, "Perceived Racial and Ethnic Composition of Neighborhood and Perceived Risk of Crime" by Ted Chiricos, Ranee McEntire and Marc Gertz. This article delves into the racial makeup of residents in Southern Florida, and what these residents in Southern Florida think of the different races in their neighborhoods, specifically looking at Blacks, Whites, and Hispanics in the area. The researchers in this study composed questions asking how safe residents felt in their neighborhoods, with the dependent variable being residents and their perceived risks of criminal victimization. The independent variable was the residents in this study, and their views on the racial makeup of their designated neighborhoods. As for the findings of this study, the authors found that perceptions of certain races in these communities was heavily weighted on whether the residents were Black or Hispanic, whereas White neighborhoods didn't have the negative perceptions about them, like Black and Hispanic neighborhoods do because Florida is a very racially diverse state. My second article of choice to examine was, "Preferences for Juries Over Judges Across Racial and Ethnic Groups" by Mary R. Rose, Christopher Ellison, and Shari Seidman Diamond.

    "Preferences for Juries Over Judges Across Racial and Ethnic Groups" discusses how not every court case is the same. Not the same, in terms of having a judge or jury decide the sentencing of the defendant, and whether or not this difference in court proceedings is dependent on the race of the defendant. To research this, the authors of this study surveyed 1,465 Texas residents. The authors began by explaining four hypothetical circumstances to each resident, and then based off of those four hypothetical circumstances, asking residents if they would choose either a jury or judge to oversee the case on their behalf.  The dependent variable in this article being that of the four hypothetical circumstances. The independent variables were the races of the survey's participants, specifically Hispanics, African Americans, and non-Hispanic whites. As for the results of this article, it was found that whites, or non-Hispanic whites, chose juries over judges overseeing their cases. On the reverse side of things, it was African Americans, and some Hispanics, that chose to have judges oversee their cases, versus juries. The minority participants that have had previous jury duty, however favored juries or judges. Lastly, Hispanics who took the survey in Spanish favored judges over juries. All in all, members of society, specifically minority groups who have histories of mistreatment in the criminal justice system, prefer judges over juries to oversee their cases, due to biases towards the defendant, that may more easily form in juries. In the words, the authors of this article are saying that it is a strong possibility that because everyone has preconceived biases towards certain races, minorities feel that if a wider pool of people is examining their case, minorities have a greater chance of a worse sentence. Thus the reason for why minorities favor judges to oversee their cases, not juries.