Race-based misperception of Black men as threatening reaches into charging and sentencing
Evidence
The entry point is that, as noted above, the social psychological research studies on implicit bias, identity anxiety, and stereotype threat provide powerful evidence that even when individuals have fairness as a goal, deep concern is still warranted. For example, the research showing that Black men are misjudged as larger and more threatening due to their race has ramifications for witness and police officer actions, accounts, and trial testimony. Prosecutors also are at risk of holding this association, which may affect charging decisions, plea negotiations, and sentencing recommendations. — Joseph Avery, Jim Sidanius, Joel Cooper, Gregory Davis, Amanda N., Bias in the Law, 1380
Categorization
Category: Factual Claims
- XREF: The larger/more threatening misperception ties to the chapter 9/10 discussion and is the same effect found in the Wilson/Hugenberg work and recall bias studies.
Related
- Sincere fairness goals do not prevent race-based misjudgment in prosecutors (similarity 0.89)
- Identically proportioned Black men are perceived as larger and more threatening than White men (similarity 0.83)
- Implicit bias alone insufficiently explains racial inequity in criminal justice outcomes (similarity 0.82)
- People judge Black targets as bigger, stronger, and more threatening even from faces alone (similarity 0.81)
- Studies find racial bias throughout justice-system actors including officers (similarity 0.81)
- Race shapes imprisonment far more for men than for women. (similarity 0.79)
- Observed race disparities in sentencing do not fully capture judicial bias. (similarity 0.78)