Our knowledge of the nature of prejudice can be deepened by examining how jury decisionmaking is affected by ethnicity and by seeking to understand the nature of any differential treatment. This research will investigate the influence of ethnic identity on the processing of Anglo-American and Hispanic felony defendants. Specifically, the study examines the impact of jury composition on conviction and sentencing patterns in felony cases adjudicated in Texas District Courts. Archival data will be analyzed using multivariate statistical techniques that will permit the examination of such factors as how the social status and socioeconomic composition of juries influence their dispositional decisions. Notably, Texas is one of only a few states that permit jury determination of guilt and sentencing in cases other than capital trials. Part of the importance of the research stems from the dearth of extant data concerning the legal treatment of Hispanic defendants. A more important gap in our knowledge of differential justice that will be filled is the consideration in this project of heretofore unexamined aspects of the problem, such as the social status of jurors. This is the first research to examine this issue with respect to the dispositions of Hispanic defendants. The project has the potential not only to contribute to an understanding of the legal treatment of Hispanic defendants, but also more broadly to the development of a model of differential justice that considers the social characteristics of legal decision makers in articulating the impact of law.
