The Influence of Defendant Immigration Status, Country of Origin, and Ethnicity on Juror Decisions

Abstract

This study examined prejudicial attitudes toward immigrant defendants who vary on legal status, country of origin, and ethnicity. Three hundred twenty mock juror participants read a trial transcript that varied defendants' immigration status (documented or undocumented), defendant country of origin (Canada or Mexico), and defendant race/ethnicity (Caucasian or Latino). Dependent measures included verdict, sentencing, culpability ratings, and trait assessments. European American mock jurors found undocumented, Latino immigrants from Mexico guilty significantly more often, more culpable, and rated this defendant more negatively on various trait measures in comparison with all other conditions. Latino mock jurors did not demonstrate ingroup favoritism or outgroup bias. This study examines aversive racism as a factor of this bias. Limitations and future directions are discussed.

Support for Tough Immigration Policy: Identity Defense or Concern for Law and Order?

“…Results suggest that proponents of tough immigration law, who frequently occupy similar positions of political and social power and who emphasize the neutrality of such forms of policies, do so in part to reinforce Anglocentric constructions of U.S. identity. It is unclear whether such patterns would replicate among participants who occupy positions with less power (e.g., participants from ethnic minority communities and/or immigrant communities; see Minero & Espinoza, for an exception). This remains another important question for future research.…”

Evaluación del prejuicio hacia inmigrantes: adaptación argentina de la escala de prejuicio sutil y manifiesto

“…A partir de estos abordajes, fueron desarrollándose nuevos enfoques teóricos que analizaron estas formas de rechazo más indirectas en términos de "racismo moderno" (Campo-Arias, Oviedo, & Herazo, 2014;Chambers, Schlenker & Collisson, 2013;McConahay, Hardee & Batts, 1981). "racismo simbólico" (Berg, 2013;Chambers, Schlenker & Collisson, 2013;McConahay & Hough, 1976), "racismo aversivo" (Dovidio, Gaertner, & Pearson, 2017;Gaertner & Dovidio, 1986;Minero & Espinoza, 2016) y, posteriormente, "prejuicio sutil" (Pettigrew & Meertens, 1992.…”

Punitiveness and Perceptions of Criminality

“…To our knowledge, only two previous studies have examined public views on the criminal punishment of nonimmigration offenses committed by undocumented immigrants (Espinoza, Willis-Esqueda, Toscano, & Coons, 2015; Minero & Espinoza, 2016). Espinoza, Willis-Esqueda, Toscano, and Coons (2015) conducted a study using European American venire jurors ( n = 320) using a mock case involving a murder trial with a male defendant.…”

“…Minero and Espinoza (2016) conducted a similar study using European American ( n = 160) and Latino ( n = 160) undergraduate psychology students. The mock cases in this study also involved a murder trial.…”