U.S. Supreme Court,
Criminal,
Constitutional Law
Mar. 14, 2017
Decisions show increased attention to racism in criminal trials
For all too long, the U.S. Supreme Court has refused to recognize the pervasiveness and insidiousness of racism in criminal justice.
Erwin Chemerinsky
Dean and Jesse H. Choper Distinguished Professor of Law
UC Berkeley School of Law
Erwin's most recent book is "Worse Than Nothing: The Dangerous Fallacy of Originalism." He is also the author of "Closing the Courthouse," (Yale University Press 2017).
Racism affects every aspect of the criminal justice system, ranging from who the police stop and arrest to who gets prosecuted to who gets convicted to what sentence is imposed. For all too long, the U.S. Supreme Court has refused to recognize the pervasiveness and insidiousness of racism in criminal justice. But two decisions in recent weeks expressly acknowledge the problem of racism and the need to eliminate its taint from criminal trials. My hope is that these rulings are the beginning...
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