Hernandez vs. Texas: Importance to Latinos in the US

Hernandez vs. Texas and its Importance to Latinos in the U.S.

Studies conducted in the past have clearly indicated that some racial groups are overrepresented in the U.S. criminal justice system. There have been claims that some stages of the criminal justice system disadvantage some groups, with some of the disadvantaged groups being Asian-Americans, Hispanics, and African-Americans. This text largely concerns itself with the U.S. Supreme court ruling of Hernandez vs. Texas, a landmark Court ruling that has had a significant impact on the civil rights of Mexican-Americans. In so doing, it will, amongst other things, speculate on the relevance of this particular court ruling to Latinos in the U.S.

Overview

In basic terms, the Hernandez case "involved the exclusion of Mexican-Americans from serving as jurors, which, like voting, is a primary duty and privilege of U.S. citizenship" (Soltero, 2009, p. 38). Accused of murdering Joe Espinoza, Hernandez was indicted by a grand jury whose members were all white. The attorneys of the accused tried their best to ensure that the indictment was quashed with the claim that in addition to being barred from the judge-selecting jury commission, Mexican-Americans were also excluded in petit juries. The accused person's attorneys also raised concern that no person of Mexican descent was, in this particular case, serving in the jury. This exclusion was used by the attorneys of the accused as the basis of the claim that there was systematic discrimination of citizens of Mexican ancestry as a special class. The motions were denied by the trial court and the accused promptly sentenced to life imprisonment by the all-white jury (Soltero, 2009).

On appeal, Hernandez's pleas were rejected by Texas' highest criminal court on the basis that Mexicans were essentially "white people of Spanish descent" (in distinction to those from the 'Negro Race') and could, therefore, not be categorized as a special race (Soltero, 2009, p. 39). With this, the court pointed out that "since other white people served on the juries, the absence of people of Mexican ancestry did not violate equal protection" (Soltero, 2009, p. 38). As per the decision, therefore, Mexicans could not be put under the 'special class' banner as encapsulated in the U.S. Constitution's Fourth Amendment. On this front, the key query or issue of concern remained: was making use of a jury that deliberately excluded members of a particular ancestry or race to try an individual that came from the excluded ancestry or race a breach of the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment? In a unanimous decision reached by the Supreme Court, other racial groups that existed in communities, beyond the two under consideration (i.e. Negros and whites), were also protected by the Fourteenth Amendment. More specifically, the court found that "the Fourteenth Amendment is not directed solely against discrimination due to a two-class theory' -- that is, based upon differences between 'white' and Negro" (Garc'a, 2009, p. 180).

Factors Impacting on the Latina/o Experience in the Criminal Justice System and their Relevance to the Topic

The Latina's experience in the American criminal justice system is impacted upon by a wide range of economic, social, political, as well as legal factors. Two of these include racial profiling and diminished educational and economic opportunities.

Racial Profiling and Stereotypes: for a long time, the issue of racial profiling has largely been discussed in terms of back and white. Essentially, racial profiling could assume many forms. Essentially, it involves the utilization of either the ethnicity or race of an individual as the basis for some decision by law enforcement personnel. For instance, in this case, law enforcement could use the ethnic extract or race of an individual to make a decision on whether or not to partake in some enforcement duty, i.e. arrest or search. According to Levin in Alvarez (as cited in Cyndi, 2009), Latinos are not only thought by most to be lazy, but also sneaky and thieving. For this reason, "law enforcement practices and the criminal justice system have been shown to collaborate in discrimination against Latinos in the form of police harassment of Mexican-Americans" (Cyndi, 2009, p. 67). As recently as the year 2003, university professors hired by the DOJ came to the conclusion that Latino drivers were actively being profiled by law enforcement officers in Alamance Country. This was widely reported in the media.

Many witnesses have, in the past, reported that a number of law enforcement agencies such as the LAPD have well-entrenched practices that condone the harassment of minorities (The Sentencing Project, 2013). This is particularly the case when it comes to the detention of Latino and African-American men whose description fits that of subjects (Cyndi, 2009). Specifically, the LAPD has been accused of employing "invasive humiliating tactics against minorities in minority neighborhoods" (Cyndi, 2009, p. 67).

Essentially, manifestations of Latinos stereotypical representations could be found in literature, common talk, the mass media, etc. It is important to note that there are numerous depictions of Latin America that have been put forward in works of fiction. These, most times, are mere stereotypes that have their basis on misconceptions. Stereotyping is so severe with regard to Latinos that they unfortunately "suffer from an aggregation of negative stereotypes experienced by both African-Americans and Asian-Americans" (Delgado and Stefancic, 2000, p. 207). At the basic level, they are seen as immigrants, outsiders, or foreigners (Delgado and Stefancic, 2009). Stereotyping on this front could sink to the point whereby all Latinos are simply seen as illegal immigrants -- such that those whose English has some Spanish accent are associated with illegal immigration (Delgado and Stefancic, 2000).

It is also important to note that "like African-Americans, Latinos suffer from a Latino-as-criminal stereotype" (Delgado and Stefancic, 2000, 207). As the authors further point out, this particular kind of stereotyping is largely age and gender specific, with a majority of those affected being young male Latinos. Such individuals, according to the authors, "are assumed to be gang members, particularly if they live in a low-income high-crime neighborhood and wear baggy pants and T-shirts" (Delgado and Stefancic, 2000, p. 207).

Yet another stereotype which is worth mentioning here is that which portrays Latinos, particularly men, as being hot tempered. According to Delgado and Stefancic (2000), this particular stereotype casts Latinos as 'macho.' In this case, Latinos are presented as people who are easily motivated to engage in violence as a means of venting out their anger. In the words of Delgado and Stefancic (2000, p. 208), in quite a number of cases, "Latinos have been shot, beaten, and/or killed by citizens or police officers claiming justifiable use of deadly force under circumstances calling into question whether the use of deadly force was truly warranted." It is for this same reason that it has been argued that Latinos are profiled.

Diminished Educational and Economic Opportunities: there are a wide range of reasons as to why Latinos do not reach collage at a rate that is similar to that of their white counterparts. According to Schhneider, Martinez, and Ownes (2006), "many Hispanic students begin formalized schooling without the economic and social resources that many other students receive, and schools are often ill equipped to compensate for these initial disparities." The lack of the said social and economic resources often emanates from their parent's lack of the relevant information regarding the U.S. system of education and their status as immigrants having limited access to resources.

As a result, many Latinos end up performing poorly or dropping out of school -- thereby jeopardizing their chance of joining college. Further, like other Hispanics, Latinos -- in comparison to whites -- are likely to attend schools whose curriculum is less demanding, expectations are lower, teachers are less qualified, etc. These schools are not held in high regard, and as a result, it becomes extremely hard for those who have attended the said schools to secure acceptance to colleges.

Those who fail to secure college admission or fail to graduate from high school find their future aspirations and prospects dimmed, with the criminal economy in most cases being the only logical alternative to eke out a living. For obvious reasons, those who choose to go this route often end up in prison. It is, however, important to note that not all choose this route. Others seek out, and often find, legitimate ways of eking out living. However, the fact that a slim minority of Latinos embrace the crime enterprise is often enough to result in the criminalization of the entire community.

The Relevance of the Topic to an Area of Major Importance to Latino/s in their Interaction with the U.S. Criminal Justice System

The one major area of importance to Latinos that is addressed by the case and subject matter is fair trial. The relevance of ensuring that legal proceedings are fairly conducted cannot be overstated. As a matter of fact, this is an issue that has a bearing on the efficiency of our country's criminal justice system. According to Bado (2013), both the assurance, as well as security for a citizen's right to be tried fairly are enshrined in our constitution's Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments. In the words of the author, "the two provisions must be read together in order to provide the full extent of the due process rights afforded those in a criminal trial" (Bado, 2013, p. 89). As the author further points out, while the Fourteenth Amendment seeks to extend the due process provisions to the state governments, the application of the Fifth Amendment is at the federal government level. This is the key difference between the Amendments.

The right to a fair trial ought to be applied to all the trial stages. If it is contravened in any way, then the person on the receiving end cannot be said to have been protected from unlawful deprivation of freedom. It is important to note that over time, quite a number of standards have been developed in an attempt to measure the fairness of trial. In the case of Hernandez vs. Texas, the court, as Olivas (2006, p. 137) points out, "recognized that the due process right to fair trial prohibits discrimination in jury selection." In that regard, therefore, the trial of Hernandez could not be deemed as having been fair as long as a specific group of people, which happened to belong to the accuser's descent, had deliberately been excluded from the membership of the jury. Most importantly, this reasserted that minorities were beneficiaries of the traditional equal protection rights that discouraged any kind of the said minorities underrepresentation on jury venices, provided such underrepresentation was deemed to be substantial (Olivas, 2006). It the final analysis, therefore, the case of Hernandez vs. Texas is of great relevance when it comes to the relations that exist between Latinos and the U.S. criminal justice systems, as in addition to helping redefine discrimination (by widening the same beyond race), it also came in handy in the promotion of the right to fair trials of Mexican-Americans.

Cases, Concepts, and Areas of Concern to the Protection of the Latina/o Rights in the Context of the Topic

Some of the key areas of concern when it comes to the protection of the rights of Latinos in the U.S. include, but they are not limited to; racial profiling, overrepresentation in jails, and the influence of stereotypes in the criminal justice system.

Racial Profiling: as has been discussed elsewhere in this text, racial profiling of Latinos is rather frequent. This could take various forms, i.e. during drug stings or traffic checks. As a matter of fact, according to Cyndi (2009), one of the things that have in the past contributed vastly towards the higher rates of incarceration of Latinos is the policy of mandatory minimum crack cocaine. With regard to drug stings, there have been cases of clear bias with the majority of those arrested during such swoops being African-Americans and Latinos. There have also been cases of racial profiling in traffic checks with the probability of a driver being pulled over significantly increasing if the said driver is Latino or African-American (the Sentencing Project, 2013).

As a matter of fact, the rate at which Latinos were pulled over for violations is much higher than that of whites. Security checks could be conducted for a variety of reasons, including but not limited to actual or suspected violations of traffic rules, amongst other offenses. Actual searches are, in most cases, conducted as an attempt to recover drugs, firearms, or other contraband. According to the Sentencing Project (2013), Latinos are likely to undergo searches than their white counterparts when flagged down by law enforcement officers - despite the fact that data from such states as New Jersey indicates that whites are essentially "twice as likely to be carrying illegal drugs as stopped African-American drivers and five times as likely to be carrying contraband as stopped Hispanic Drivers." This, in my opinion, is a diversity issue that ought to be given significant attention as its impact on the delivery of justice could be potentially harmful.

Overrepresentation of Latinos in Jails: looking at the American prison system, one thing remains clear -- worrying racial disparities do exist. It is important to note, from the onset, that although a vast majority of those in prison are Caucasians, when compared to their numbers in the society, there is significant underrepresentation with regard to those in prison. This is in contrast to Blacks and Hispanics who happen to be over-represented in prison, taking into consideration their actual population in the country. In basic terms, "racial minorities are more likely than white Americans to be arrested; once arrested, they are more likely to be convicted; and once convicted, they are more likely to face stiff sentences" (the Sentencing Project, 2013).

Essentially, the obvious racial disparity witnessed in this case could be a consequence of three factors. These are racial profiling, drug sentencing inequities, and the war on drugs. Racial profiling has been discussed in significant detail above. When it comes to the war on drugs, it is important to note that as per the U.S. Department of Justice Statistics, one of the most common crimes for which people were convicted by the end of the year 2012 had to with illegal drugs (Carson, 2014). To bring the issue into perspective, of the total number of those convicted for drug offenses, 19.55% were Hispanic, 37.73% were non-Hispanic blacks, and 30.83% were non-Hispanic whites (Carson, 2014). The percentage of Hispanics or Latinos in the country currently stands at 17.1%. That of non-Hispanic Latinos is estimated to be 13.2%, while that of whites alone is 77.7% (United States Census Bureau, 2014). It is clear from this breakdown that both Latinos and non-Hispanic Blacks are overrepresented in the criminal justice system, in comparison to their actual population.

Influence of Stereotypes: the stereotypes that exist out there do have an impact on how justice is served in actual sense. As I have pointed out elsewhere in this text, there have been instances where excessive or deadly force has been used against Latinos, with some being beaten, shot at, and even killed in circumstances that were not clear. These instances, as Delgado and Stefancic (2000) observes, have raised concerns over whether, given the circumstances, deadly force was warranted. In the words of the authors, "in many of these cases, despite the fact that the Latino victim was unarmed or shot in the back, criminal charges were not brought against the person claiming justifiable homicide" (Delgado and Stefancic, 2000)). This situation is indicative of the collective and widely held belief that Latinos are more likely than not to be the lawbreakers; such that when one is shot at, the general perception is that they were in the wrong and, hence, the shooter was just playing his or her role in seeking to either avert a crime or bring a criminal to book. It is not difficult to see how, if applied in the formal system of justice, this perception could be injurious to the interests of Latinos.

Efforts that Have Been Made to Improve the Situation of Latina/os (900)

Being the largest justice system in the world, the U.S. criminal justice system ought to ensure that fairness is not only exercised, but also seen to be exercised in all maters relating to the arrest, prosecution, and sentencing of wrong doers. In a 'report of the Sentencing Project to the United Nations Human Rights Committee', the Sentencing Project, a research and advocacy for reform outfit, points out that the incarceration rate of the U.S. By far exceeds that of any other country in the world. These broad statistics, however, as the author further points out, mask the prevalent disparity that exists therein. This is the sad reality. On the brighter side, it is important to note that there are some efforts have been made in various quarters to improve the situation for the affected groups. In this section, I will largely concern myself with the measures that have been taken to better the situation for Latinos.

Some of the causes that have been on the front line in an attempt to enhance fairness in the criminal justice system include, but they are not limited to, the Sentencing Project, the American Civil Liberties Union, and the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights. Founded 28 years ago with the sole aim of promoting an effective and fair criminal justice system, the Sentencing Project seeks to not only promote reforms in sentencing policy but also address the existing racial practices and disparities characteristic of the system (the Sentencing Project, 2013).