Research Guides: Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion: Evidence

Evidence Google Document

Vernellia The Content of Our Characters

character evidence discussion that looks at past experiences of persons based on social identities

Vernellia The Content of Our Characters

General Evidence

Gonzales Rose, Jasmine B., Toward a Critical Race Theory of Evidence (October 5, 2016). Minnesota Law Review, Vol. 101, p. 2243, 2017, U. of Pittsburgh Legal Studies Research Paper No. 2016-29, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2848452

Guerilla Guides to Law Teaching No. 5 – Evidence https://guerrillaguides.wordpress.com/2017/09/05/no-5-evidence/

Jules Epstein, Is Evidence Law Race 'Neutral?', Advocacy and Evidence Blog, https://www2.law.temple.edu/aer/is-evidence-law-race-neutral/

Thompson, Mikah, A Culture of Silence: Exploring the Impact of the Historically Contentious Relationship between African-Americans and the Police (January 1, 2017). 85 UMKC L. REV. _ (2017), Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3001054

Mikah K. Thompson, Blackness as Character Evidence, 20 MICH. J. RACE & L. 321 (2015). Available at: https://repository.law.umich.edu/mjrl/vol20/iss2/4

Guerilla Guides to Law Teaching No. 5 – Evidence https://guerrillaguides.wordpress.com/2017/09/05/no-5-evidence/

Jules Epstein, Is Evidence Law Race 'Neutral?', Advocacy and Evidence Blog, https://www2.law.temple.edu/aer/is-evidence-law-race-neutral/

Mikah K. Thompson, Blackness as Character Evidence, 20 MICH. J. RACE & L. 321 (2015). Available at: https://repository.law.umich.edu/mjrl/vol20/iss2/4

Guerilla Guides to Law Teaching No. 5 – Evidence https://guerrillaguides.wordpress.com/2017/09/05/no-5-evidence/

Jules Epstein, Is Evidence Law Race 'Neutral?', Advocacy and Evidence Blog, https://www2.law.temple.edu/aer/is-evidence-law-race-neutral/

Mikah K. Thompson, Blackness as Character Evidence, 20 MICH. J. RACE & L. 321 (2015). Available at: https://repository.law.umich.edu/mjrl/vol20/iss2/4

Scholars, judges, and lawyers have long believed that evidence rules apply equally to all persons regardless of race. This Article challenges this assumption and reveals how evidence law structurally disadvantages people of color. A critical race analysis of stand-your-ground defenses, cross-racial eyewitness misidentifications, and minority flight from racially-targeted police profiling and violence uncovers the existence of a dual-race evidentiary system. This system is reminiscent of nineteenth-century race-based witness competency rules that barred people of color from testifying against white people.

Guerilla Guides to Law Teaching No. 5 – Evidence

"We explore the rules as sites of contested meaning in a world of asymmetrical power relationships. We investigate some of the factors that influence the drafting and application of these rules, and problematize some of the concepts upon which evidence law relies. We seek to enrich our study of these rules by introducing diverse voices that illustrate their impact, and visions that illuminate alternative approaches." Gonzales Rose, Jasmine B., Toward a Critical Race Theory of Evidence (October 5, 2016). Minnesota Law Review, Vol. 101, p. 2243, 2017, U. of Pittsburgh Legal Studies Research Paper No. 2016-29, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2848452

Is Evidence Law Race ‘Neutral?’ by Jules Epstein

"We live in a time where every action we take, every premise we rely on, warrants scrutiny through the prisms of race and implicit bias. This reckoning, long overdue for too many individuals and institutions, was brought about by the murder by police of George Floyd and the consequent outpouring of grief, rage, and commitment. The application of the Rules of Evidence requires that same scrutiny by those who teach and those who judge." Jules Epstein, Is Evidence Law Race 'Neutral?', Advocacy and Evidence Blog, https://www2.law.temple.edu/aer/is-evidence-law-race-neutral/

Thompson, Mikah, A Culture of Silence: Exploring the Impact of the Historically Contentious Relationship between African-Americans and the Police (January 1, 2017). 85 UMKC L. REV. _ (2017)

"This Article will explore whether common perceptions of law enforcement have risen to the level of cultural norms in the African-American community and consider the effect the existence of such norms should have on the admissibility of silence." Thompson, Mikah, A Culture of Silence: Exploring the Impact of the Historically Contentious Relationship between African-Americans and the Police (January 1, 2017). 85 UMKC L. REV. _ (2017), p.1 Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3001054

Mikah K. Thompson, Blackness as Character Evidence, 20 MICH. J. RACE & L. 321 (2015). Available at: https://repository.law.umich.edu/mjrl/vol20/iss2/4

This Article will explore solutions that may serve to eliminate or rebut the unspoken evidence that is often at play when African-Americans navigate through our justice system. Part I of the Article will focus on the development of the Federal Rule of Evidence that prohibits the use of propensity evidence to prove action in conformity therewith. Part II of the Article will define the concepts of implicit bias and transparency phenomenon and explore how those concepts can come together to create evidence of stereotypical Blackness. Part III of the Article will discuss the use of Blackness as character evidence in the State v. George Zimmerman trial. Lastly, Part IV of the Article will analyze possible solutions that may eliminate jurors' consideration of evidence of stereotypical Blackness or at least reduce its probative value.

Jasmine B. Gonzales Rose, Toward a Critical Race Theory of Evidence, 101 MINN. L. REV. 2243 (2017).

Guerilla Guides to Law Teaching No. 5 – Evidence

Is Evidence Law Race ‘Neutral?’ by Jules Epstein

Thompson, Mikah, A Culture of Silence: Exploring the Impact of the Historically Contentious Relationship between African-Americans and the Police (January 1, 2017). 85 UMKC L. REV. _ (2017)

Mikah K. Thompson, Blackness as Character Evidence, 20 MICH. J. RACE & L. 321 (2015). Available at: https://repository.law.umich.edu/mjrl/vol20/iss2/4

Thompson, Mikah, Blackness as Character Evidence (March 1, 2015). 20.2 MICH. J. RACE & L. 321 (2015)., Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3001321

Guerilla Guides to Law Teaching No. 5 – Evidence https://guerrillaguides.wordpress.com/2017/09/05/no-5-evidence/

Jules Epstein, Is Evidence Law Race 'Neutral?', Advocacy and Evidence Blog, https://www2.law.temple.edu/aer/is-evidence-law-race-neutral/

Mikah K. Thompson, Blackness as Character Evidence, 20 MICH. J. RACE & L. 321 (2015). Available at: https://repository.law.umich.edu/mjrl/vol20/iss2/4