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California State University, Dominguez Hills
University of Wisconsin, Parkside
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Created: June 22, 2003
Latest Update: November 5, 2006
jeannecurran@habermas.org
takata@uwp.edu

CRMJ/SOCA 365: Race, Crime and Law
Week 10: Race and Sentencing

You will be held accountable for purposes of grading for the readings and exercises listed here. There will be no "testing." That means that you will not have to live in anxious anticipation of what we will ask and how much you will have to know. Instead, we will provide weekly discussion questions, lectures, essays, and concepts we feel that you should know as a result of having taken this course. You will assure us of that learning and receive your grade for the questions and concepts about which you choose to write and talk with us. In addition, you will find detailed explanations and examples on our grading policies in the first week's reading.

* * * * *

Week 10: Week of November 5, 2006

• Topic: Race and Sentencing

  Special Note:
  Thursday, November 30th at 11 a.m. central time - The Absolute Final Deadline for TR RCL class.
  Friday, December 1st at 11 a.m. central time - The Absolute Final Deadline for MWF RCL class.

• Preparatory Readings:
  --- Fellman. Rambo and the Dalai Lama. entirety
  --- Walker, et. al The Color of Justice. ch. 7
  --- Kennedy. Race, Crime and the Law. ch. 10
  --- Documentary, "Law Enforcement in Indian Nations" (Wednesday - Moln 109) or "Spirit of Crazy Horse" (Thursday - D132 Moln) -- to be shown in class. TR students are welcome to view "Law Enforcement in Indian Nations" on Wednesday and MWF students are welcome to view the "Spirit of Crazy Horse on Thursday.
  
  

• Links to Lecture Notes and Other Things
  

  Pyramid Box Instructions

  Evaluating Authority
  Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. An excellent resource for juvenile justice related issues.
  National Criminal Justice Resource Service. Administered by the Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice.
  
  

  Join the Yahoo Discussion Group . Discuss topics beyond the classroom and with students from California State University, Dominguez Hills.
  Gordon Fellman related materials on the Dear Habermas site.
  W.I. Thomas "Definition of the Situation
  
  Frequently Asked Questions (and Answers) on How We Teach and Why

Lecture: in class

Concepts:

• racial disparity
• sentencing disparity
• sentencing guidelines
• judicial discretion
• contextual discrimination
• direct discrimination
• disparity
• economic discrimination
• focal concerns
• "three-strikes" laws
• truth-in-sentencing
• AIM
• Leonard Peltier
• Russell Means
• Wounded Knee

Discussion Questions:

Incorporate the readings and the documentary, "Spirit of Crazy Horse" or "Law Enforcement in Indian Nations" in your answers. These questions are taken from the Walker text, pp. 280-281.



1. Why is the evidence of racial disparity in sentencing not necessarily evidence of racial discrimination in sentencing? What are the alternative explanations? Which explanation do you agree with? Why. [Walker, Q.1]
2. Some researchers argue that racial stereotypes affect the ways in which decision makers, including criminal justice officials, evaluate the behavior of minorities. What are the stereotypes associated with African Americans? Latinos/as? American Indians? Asian Americans? Euro Americans? How might these stereotypes affect judges' sentencing decisions? [Walker Q.2] What would Fellman say? Why.
3. Research reveals that young, unemployed African American and Hispanic males pay a higher punishment penalty than other types of offenders. What accounts for this? [Walker, Q.5]
4. The sentencing reforms adopted during the past three decades were designed to structure discretion and eliminate unwarranted disparity in sentence outcomes. Has this goal been achieved? [Walker, Q.10] What might Fellman advocate? Why.

Ideas and Suggestions for Creative Measures

Note: Start thinking about ideas for your creative measures. Must relate to "race, crime, law." Must be approved before starting your creative measure. Cannot be something that you are doing or have done for another course. Research cannot be 100% online (i.e., google, askjeeves). Must conduct library research using scholarly works, (not the popular press -- Time Magazine, Newsweek, Sports Illustrated). No term papers! Allow time to dialogue and present your creative measure in class. Email me your idea. Before the absolute final deadline, you need to have completed your visual projects of your learning in this course. Think about how you might demonstrate your learning visually creative way.



• Make A Box a Week focusing on the week's topic or issues.

• NEW Make a Globe (Origami Balloon). Try it!
• Research your state's sentencing reform efforts during the past twenty years, including an analysis of the effects of such reforms on the duration of the averaage sentences served for various serious crimes, (from instructor's manual).
• Talk to a local judge about the sentencing process and the factors he/she considers when making a sentencing decision. [from instructor's manual]
• Discuss the 100-to-1 federal sentencing differentiual for possession of crack cocaine versus possession of powder cocaing. [from instructor's manual]
• Examine the most recent research on race and sentencing.
  
• When does race matter when it comes to sentencing?
  
• Explore sentencing and the War on Drugs.
  
• Find out more about tribal law enforcement.
• Explore the American Indian and criminal justice/social justice.

Recommended Readings:

• Marc Mauer. Race to Incarcerate.
• Marc Mauer. Young Black Men and the Criminal Justice System: A Growing National Problem.
• Michael Tonry. Malign Neglect: Race, Crime, and Punishment in America.
• Alfred Blumstein and others. Research on Sentencing: The Search for Reform.
• Jerome Miller. Search and Destroy: African-American Males in the Criminal Justice System.
• Joan Petersilia. Racial Disparities in the Criminal Justice System.
• Kenneth Culp Davis. Discretionary Justice.
  
  
• Recommended readings on the American Indian:

  --- Mary Crow Dog. Lakota Woman.
  --- Dee Brown. Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee.
  --- Leonard Peltier. Prison Writings.
  
  
  

• The Dalai Lama. Freedom in Exile: The Autobiography of the Dalai Lama.
• The Dalai Lama. The Universe in a Single Atom: The Convergence of Science and Spirituality.
• The Dalai Lama. Ethics for the New Millennium.
• The Dalai Lama. An Open Heart.
• The Dalai Lama. Live in a Better Way.
  
  
  
• The 9-11 Commission Report
• Alfie Kohn. No Contest. The Case Against Competition.
• Thomas Kuhn. Structure of Scientific Revolutions.

• Paulo Freire. Pedagogy of the Oppressed.
• Jurgen Habermas. Between Facts and Norms.
  
• Martha Minow. Making All the Difference: Exclusion, Inclusion and American Law. Check out this link Martha Minow on the Dear Habermas site.

Course Syllabus for CRMJ/SOCA 365-001 (MWF) "Race, Crime, Law"

Course Syllabus for CRMJ/SOCA 365-002 (TR) "Race, Crime, Law"