Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: research on white-collar criminal defence attorneys largly focuses on private attorneys. however, little is knownabout public defenders that represent individuals charged with white-collar crimes. in this research we conduct extensive interviews to explore the defence strategies that federal public defenders use to represent their white-collar clients. we dicovered thateach federal public defender relies on a devised strategy that helps them manage their case as well as their client. Specifically, we found that federal public defenders practice three different defence strategies. each defence strategy is based on the nature of the criminal accusations and the defence attorney's lawyering style.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: Existing work on race and gender disparities in judicial decision making focuses on whether and to what extent judges take race and gender into account in making decisions and on whether a judge’s race or gender affects his or her treatment of criminal defendants generally. While useful, this body of work ignores prosecutorial charging and bargaining behavior at earlier stages of the criminal process and does little to identify, at the trial level, how other players in the system may mitigate or exacerbate inconsistent treatment. We use a unique data set from the New Orleans District Attorney’s (NODA) office to address these weaknesses. Unlike currently available datasets, the NODA dataset allows us to incorporate demographic information on three of the criminal justice system’s key players – judges, defendants, and prosecutors (as well as defense attorney identifiers). It also contains information on the stage preceding a criminal trial or the entry of a plea: the prosecutor’s charging decision, and, importantly, the decision to “decline” cases. We employ panel data methods and a potential outcomes framework (and the random assignment of judges and prosecutors) to 1) test for the existence of inconsistent treatment by judges in light of potential inconsistent treatment occurring at an earlier charging stage and 2) evaluate whether the presence of other players (e.g., prosecutors) from similar or different demographic groups alters judicial sentencing and trial outcomes, a question made salient by recent research on “appellate panel effects.” We present and discuss preliminary results and briefly describe possible policy implications.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: Despite research concerning plaintiff injury severity's effects on legal decisions, no research has fully explored the effects of a defendant's injuries. In a simulation study, we considered the effects of a defendant's injuries on liability decisions in an automobile negligence case. Mock jurors were more likely to find the defendant liable for the accident when both the defendant and the plaintiff suffered severe injuries. When only one party suffered a serious injury, liability decisions did not differ. While participants reported more sympathy for the more injured parties, this state emotion did not predict liability decisions.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: This paper has defended a moderate concept of cultural equality, on which equality-centric multiculturalism is conceptually distinguished from protective, polyglot and hybrid multiculturalisms. This critical and equality-centric multiculturalism offers a new and radical way of rejuvenating the idea and practice of multiculturalism and challenges the unspoken assumption of the domination of a majority culture. According to this equality-centric model of multiculturalism, each culture deserves the right to equal respect and consideration. And institutional arrangements need to be redesigned to ensure cultural equality in institutional setting, minimize cultural inequalities, and to promote the equal status of cultural practice. However, all cultures are accorded equal value only if they respect and honour human rights. Cultural equality is restricted by the human rights principle. It cannot be used to justify internal cultural practices of inequality.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: Every year, hundreds of American college students are the victims of bias-motivated verbal and physical assaults. Hate crimes occur on large and small, urban and rural college campuses. However, little research explores whether there is a systematic pattern to the hate crimes that occur on college campuses. In this paper, we study why some college campuses experience ethnic/racial hate crimes while others do not. We explore the possibility that college campuses may sometimes be defended neighborhoods – that when the composition of the student population on a campus changes, some majority group members react violently to protect the status quo. Through a statistical analysis of the hate crimes reported to the FBI by 351 colleges, we find that ethnic/racial hate crimes are more likely to occur on predominantly Anglo college campuses that have experienced a large increase in their minority student population. We also find that ethnic/racial hate crimes are more likely in states that have seen a large increase in their minority population, suggesting that students react to changes within both their immediate and broader social environments. These findings suggest that scholars must look beyond the neighborhood to fully understand how demographic change influences ethnic conflict. This research represents one of the first empirical studies of college campus hate crimes, as well as a rare quantitative examination of how social context influences the incidence of hate crimes.