The Influence of Race on Jurors' Perceptions of Lethal Police Use of Force

Details: By Logan Ewanation and Evelyn M. Maeder; Parent Category: Criminal Justice and Racism; Category: Jury and Sentencing; 28 April 2023; Hits: 2204

Abstract

Excerpted From: Logan Ewanation and Evelyn M. Maeder, The Influence of Race on Jurors' Perceptions of Lethal Police Use of Force, 47 Law and Human Behavior 53 (February, 2023) (References) (Full Document)

EwanationMaeder A law enforcement officer's deadly use of force is one of the most extreme examples of the state using power against its own citizens. Sherman refers to lethal police use of force as “execution without trial”. Recently, several highly publicized incidents involving Black, indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC) victims of police use of force have gained unprecedented attention in the media, politics, and public discourse. These incidents evoke immense public concern about police officer accountability and injustice for the victim. In the summer of 2020, mass public protests concerning police brutality occurred across more than 2,000 cities around the world, with many people calling for reforms to police funding and training . BIPOC individuals' attitudes toward the police in particular have been shown to be negatively affected by these publicized use-of-force incidents. For example, a recent Gallup poll revealed that less than 30% of Black respondents were confident in the police, compared with 56% of White respondents.

Recent policing research has examined to whom the police are most likely to apply force. These data are unsettling, demonstrating that police are significantly more likely to use force against BIPOC than against White civilians. For instance, Goff et al. analyzed data from 12 police forces in the United States that were geographically and demographically diverse. The authors observed that the average rate of use of force was 3.6 times higher for Black civilians (273 per 1,000,000) compared with White civilians (76 per 100,000). These racial disparities remained even after the authors controlled for level of crime severity. Similarly, Buehler's examination of census data from the United States indicates that Black and Hispanic individuals were between 2.8 and 1.7 times more likely to have “legal intervention” listed as the cause of death compared with those who were White. Fryer found that Black and Hispanic civilians were significantly more likely to be targets of nonlethal police use of force but observed no differences as a function of race for lethal police use of force. If jurors are aware of these disparities, it may influence their perceptions and decisions in trials involving police use of force.

Despite the current attention given to police shootings in the media, there is a dearth of published work concerning juror decision-making in the context of trials involving officer use of force. Overall, the empirical jury decision-making literature indicates that race has a small but significant effect on decision-making. For example, archival studies demonstrate that jurors are more punitive toward defendants whose victims are White as compared to Black. However, this may not be the case in trials involving police use of force. Furthermore, although some research has demonstrated discrimination against BIPOC defendants , recent work suggests that participants may be more likely to convict White as opposed to Black police officers in case summaries involving police use of force. We sought to further explore the influence of race on perceptions of police use of force by investigating the interactive effects of victim and defendant race on mock jurors' decisions in a trial involving an officer charged with manslaughter

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We investigated the interactive role of victim race, defendant race, juror race, and perceptions of police legitimacy in a trial involving a police officer charged with manslaughter. Overall, our results demonstrate that mock jurors viewed the officer's use of force as significantly more excessive when the victim was Black compared with White. Additionally, mock jurors were significantly less likely to render convictions and to perceive the force as significantly less excessive when the police officer defendant was Black compared with White. However, the effect of defendant race on verdict was qualified by a significant interaction between juror race/ethnicity and defendant race. Simple-slope analyses indicated no significant effect of defendant race for White jurors, but BIPOC jurors were significantly less likely to convict the Black officer. In addition, mock jurors with more favorable attitudes concerning police legitimacy were less punitive toward the officer and perceived the officers' use of force to be significantly less excessive. The findings indicate that both race and general attitudes toward police play an important role in trials involving police officers charged with manslaughter stemming from a use-of-force incident.

David DeMatteo served as Action Editor.

Logan Ewanation (iD) https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4174-9099

Evelyn M. Maeder (iD) https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2537-7045

Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Logan Ewanation, Institute of Criminology and Criminal Justice, Carleton University, Loeb C562 1125 Colonel By Drive, Ottawa, ON K1S 5B6, Canada. Email: logan.ewanation @carleton.ca

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Race, Racism and the Law
Vernellia R. Randall
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