Zaid R's Senior Project Blog

Project Title: Commonalities Within The Court: Crime, Policing, and Sentencing Trends. BASIS Advisor: Brooke Privette-Walker Internship Location: 175th Judical District Court, 300 Dolorosa St, San Antonio, TX 78205 Onsite Mentor: Catherine Torres-Stahl

Project Abstract

The court system in the United States has heavily been skewed to benefit certain populations. Unfair policing practices, racial biases within juries, and laws on sentencing have all contributed to the ways that led to the over representation of certain incarcerated populations. Even with sex crimes, different populations are overrepresented in statistics and the many perpetrators are able to walk free. The biggest problem is that many of these problems are overlooked and that people are ignorant of inequality that disproportionately hurts underrepresented peoples. The results of this project will highlight the grim realities of the criminal justice system. At the 175th district court, I will be interning with Judge Catherine Torres-Stahl who primarily focuses on sex crimes. The district court tries 100s of cases per week, from sex crimes to petty thefts. The range of the crimes allows accurate statistics to be pulled about what demographics appear before the court. To accumulate the data, I will record everything that happens in each trial observed. In accumulating the data, information will be recorded about who appears in the court highlighting, what they are there for, and what the sentencing is given by the jury that adjudicates the crime. In the end, all the data pulled will be put into a table and conclusions will be drawn to make claims about how the court system operates. The way the justice system is set puts unfair burdens on marginalized populations, and the results of the data should accurately reflect this.