Video Of The Week: Judge Mathis Weighs in on the execution of Troy Davis

Video Of The Week: Judge Mathis Weighs

in on the execution of Troy Davis

“Davis execution shows us just how flawed our government system has become. Troy Davis was failed at every step of the judicial process. America must revamp its legal system beginning with the way we investigate and arrest suspects and continue with the way we prosecute them and the way we handle appeals. One innocent man is one too many.”

Diversity: Obama’s Judicial Diversity

[photo caption: In 2009 Justice Sonia Sotomayor became the first Latina to serve on the Supreme Court bench]

Obama’s Judicial Diversity

By: Tamara Braunstein

Earlier this week the Associated Press reported that since taking office in 2008, about 70 percent of Obama’s judicial nominees have been “non-traditional,” making him the first president to “not pick a majority of white males for the judiciary.” (Politico)

Obama’s achievements include becoming the first President to place three females on the Supreme Court bench, including the first Latina judge, and appointing the first openly gay male to a federal judgeship. What’s more, 21 percent of his nominees have been African American, and one of the 55 nominees currently awaiting approval, Arvo Mikkanen, could become the nation’s only sitting federal judge who is Native American.

Why is this important? In 2009 Black non-Hispanic males were incarcerated at a rate six-times higher than White non-Hispanic males and one in every 300 Black women was incarcerated, compared to one in every 1,099 White women (US Bureau of Justice Statistics). That same year, Blacks made up just 28.3 percent of the arrested population; Whites made up 69.1 percent of the arrested population (FBI Criminal Justice Information Services).   

So while it’s important to applaud President Obama’s achievements of improving diversity among the judiciary, our country’s historical and ongoing conviction disparities should serve as a vivid reminder that these changes have been a long time coming.

Criminal Justice: Your Lyin' Eyes

Criminal Justice: Your Lyin' Eyes

Adam Serwer blogs at The American Prospect about the recent New Jersey Court ruling on the unreliability of eyewitness testimony. Chief Justice Stuart Rabner wrote an opinion holding that the legal standards for admissibility of eyewitness evidence needs to change. Rabner cited factors like cross-racial identification and stress that may impact victim's recollection. The ruling cites scientfic studies on the unreliability of eyewitness identification that show victims pick the wrong person in a lineup as often as they pick the right one.

While victims' memories may be shaky, if they appear confident while giving testimony juries are likely to convict.

According to the Innocence Project, over 75 percent of DNA exonerations involve eyewitness misidentification.

Read about it here: http://prospect.org/csnc/blogs/adam_serwer_archive?month=08&year=2011&base_name=you_cant_believe_your_eyes