What is it about?
How does the racial and ethnic diversity of the courtroom workgroup (i.e., judges, prosecutors, and defense attorneys who routinely work together on cases) impact disparities in criminal court outcomes? The current study answers this question using data from more than 10,000 felony cases in Florida.
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Why is it important?
Structural inequalities in society are prominently reflected in the criminal justice system. Many reformers suggest that increasing the diversity of the court workforce will minimize the extent to which racial and ethnic disparities in arrests are exacerbated during the pretrial and sentencing phases. But are diverse courtroom workgroups fairer in their decision-making than more uniformly White workgroups, or do professional socialization and pressures toward organizational conformity override preexisting differences? The answer to this question is key to proposing effective solutions to racial and ethnic disparities in the criminal justice system.
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This page is a summary of: Race and ethnicity in the courtroom workgroup: Can diversifying the court solve racial and ethnic disparities in case outcomes?, Law and Human Behavior, June 2026, American Psychological Association (APA),
DOI: 10.1037/lhb0000658.
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