Racially Mixed Juries

When looking at illegal actions and activities, also known as crimes, people of all color commit them. Whether people commit lesser or more excessive crimes, the action will be committed by a multitude of races. People of all colors are able to achieve the standards that have been set by society. When looking at the statistics, the evidence shows that people of color, especially African Americans tend to get harder and more solemn charges for the crimes that they have committed. What people might not notice is that there is a racial bias in the judicial system. That bias is changing the outcome of indictments. With all of the change going on in the United States of America, one untouched subject is the racial bias in the judicial system. If a change does not occur now, then when will there ever be a change? There is a racial bias in the judicial system, and a change needs to occur now.

* Watch the video titled “Diversity’s real power” (2 min 6 s) from Management Tips with Todd Dewett, located at http://www.lynda.com/Business-Business-Skills-tutorials/Diversitys-real-power/126132/174433-4.html?org=strayer.edu. Investigate two to three (2-3) reasons why diversity is important to an organization’s

Diversity within a team is beneficial as each person brings together their own unique views and ways of working. When managed effectively this can help bring together different ideas and build a strong team. By having a diverse team there is opportunity for views / ideas to be seen that could help make the business better. This is due to each person seeing the task/ result from a different light. By listening to all people you can gage a better understanding of the end result.

A diverse organisation is one in which people can learn new things from different perspectives and cultures and their experience will be enriched and therefore the organisation will work better due to the learning that takes place such a new and improved ways of doing things. Both the employer and the employee in this instance will benefit. Employers will benefit as they will have a team which is better equipped to work effectively and the employees will benefit as they will learn new skills and ways of working meaning their career prospects will be enhanced.

Racial differences within the court system of the United States can create various interpretations of laws and the impartiality of such laws. Minorities within this country may believe that the criminal justice system has prejudices and may dismiss the legality of certain laws. Jury nullification is a process in which members of the jury exonerate a person of a guilty verdict although the evidence presented in the case overwhelmingly proves the person’s guilt. People within the jury may believe the laws are not fair, do not apply to the particular case, or they may empathize with the defendant (McNamara & Burns, 2009).

Policing and punishment in America is hardly colorblind. It is not a coincidence that minorities serve longer sentences, have higher arrest and conviction rates, face higher bail amounts, and are more often the victims of police use of deadly force than white citizens. When it comes to criminals, many people have a preconception of what a criminal is. Usually when people think of a criminal they picture a Black or Latino face. The thought of an Asian criminal is often related to Asian gangs. Interestingly enough, White people as a group are rarely associated with the thought of crime, even though they account for 70% of arrests and 40% of the prison population each year (Russel xiv). This seems to be

Persistent racial disparities are a defining characteristic of the United States justice system. Racial disparities in the justice system are characterized by differences in the proportions of a racial group in the system and in the general population. There is extensive literature detailing the higher likelihood of minorities, specifically African Americans, being arrested, receiving harsher sentences, and being incarcerated more frequently than Whites. As of 2008, African Americans comprised 13% of the general population, yet made up 38% of prison and jail inmates. Latinos comprised 15% of the general population, and 19% of the prison and jail population. An African American male born in 2001 has a 32% chance of spending time in

The gender, ethnicity, economic backgrounds, and religious have and still plays a major factor in the supreme court. Majority of the Supreme Court consist of older white men that are highly educated and has a good economic background. On Wednesday Obama nominated Merrick Garland to fill the seat in the supreme court. Obama decision did not bring diversity in the courts, which upset a lot of people. The people that were upset were mainly African American women. With Obama being an African American I feel that people expects him to bring change when it comes to putting African Americans in higher positions.

Racial tensions are at an all-time high. Whites and minorities are given different sentencing for the same kind of crime, with the lenient sentences going to Whites. African Americans are being killed by police officers, and the public are no longer willing to just sit back and do nothing. People are starting to take matters into their own hands. Our country is becoming divided and dangerous.

Sommers, S. (2009, January 1). On the Obstacles to Jury Diversity. In www.thejuryepert.com. Retrieved November 29, 2014, from

* Greater diversity leads to greater innovation and productivity which is crucial in being successful on the market. It encourages different perspectives and ideas whilst fostering innovation as well as ability to come up with wider range of solutions to a business problems and challenges. Available at: http://www.slideshare.net/fred.zimny/forbes-innovation-through-diversity?related=1 (Accessed:13th October 2015)

Diverse people tend to have more diverse thinking styles, backgrounds, viewpoints, and values tending to create a more effective unit.

I think that the most significant impact can be found in the idea that an organization is looking to maintain somewhat homogenous unit. Homogeneity lends itself to challenges when making decisions, groupthink and potentially stalling innovation. When making decisions group diversity and thought processes are important. Johnson and Johnson (2013) discuss this, “Overall, whether for better or worse, the range of skills and abilities a group can access in its diverse members affects its performance on creative and decision making tasks”(p. 421). In my opinion, institutional constancy intentional works to eliminate the concept of diversity of groups, by creating specific procedures and policies on how tasks are to be completed. This discussion of diversity is focused on the idea diverse opinions and experience and not that of age or race. The lack of diversity in decision making is ripe for increasing the potential for groupthink. “Groupthink is the collective striving for unanimity that overrides group members’ motivation to appraise alternative courses of action realistically…” (p. 271). Groupthink lends itself for an error-prone decision making model. Finally, institutional constancy has the ability to stall innovation and prohibit creativity. Johnson and Johnson discuss several procedures to promote creativity. Those procedures

Diversity is important to companies because with a diverse environment people can benefit and learn from others' ideas. Other reasons for the importance of diversity to many organizations are the recognition of differences as prerequisites for high performance and continuous improvement, enhancing the effectiveness and creativity of the organization, and valuing conflicts as opportunities for more effective decision-making and problem solving. Diversity has a major impact on our behaviors in the work place.

Diversity can lead to many things. New ideas, understanding, and triumph over prejudice can all come from diversity. John Stuart Mill, a 19th century British philosopher and the author of On Liberty, valued diversity for the political prowess it could bring us. Edward O. Wilson, a modern biologist and the author of Consilience, valued diversity for more scientific reasons, including evolution and natural selection. Those concepts are manifested in their books. These different perspectives both go hand in hand, and conflict in certain aspects.