Policing the Black Man

May 1, 2017
“The political justice system polices black men at every step of the process,” asserts Davis (Arbitrary Justice), a professor of law at American University and editor of this eye-opening assemblage of essays on racism in the American criminal justice system. The various perspectives of the contributors—all specialists in criminal law and justice—offer a kaleidoscopic view of each step. In “Boys to Men,” for example, Kristin Henning, the director of the Juvenile Justice Clinic at Georgetown Law, demonstrates the devastating impact of the presence of police security officers in schools. Her essay is followed by law professor Katheryn Russell-Brown’s in-depth examination of implicit bias. “The Grand Jury and Police Violence Against Black Men,” by Roger Fairfax (Grand Jury 2.0), illuminates a less-discussed stage of the criminal process, as does Davis’s own contribution, which considers the particular role of the prosecutor. The culmination is relentlessly informative and disturbing.

May 1, 2017
Lucid perspectives on how and why the United States criminal justice system often victimizes black males.A professor at American University's Washington College of Law, Davis (Arbitrary Justice: The Power of the American Prosecutor, 2007, etc.) used her platform to pull together this collection of essays from a variety of scholars and writers. Providing useful context, the editor points out that black males have never fared well when confronted by police and prosecutors across the U.S. For a couple of centuries, in fact, black men could rarely convince white authorities of the breadth and depth of the injustices. In recent decades, new technology, including smartphones and body cameras, combined with the sounding board of social media have removed doubt about the credibility of many victims. In the introduction, Davis invokes the names of numerous dead black males, placing special emphasis on the killing of Trayvon Martin five years ago by George Zimmerman. While soliciting the essays, Davis offered an expanded definition of the word "policing," showing how much of the foundation of policing black males rests on racial profiling by law enforcement. In her powerful essay, law professor Renee McDonald Hutchins explains what the law does and does not say about racial profiling, how police agency policies are drafted in light of the law, and how the on-the-street practices of racial profiling sometimes violate both the letter and spirit of laws and policies. While many of the essays focus on the police, Davis focuses on her specialty, prosecutors, and how their untrammeled authority is a major part of the problems within the criminal justice system. While the essays lean toward narrating the problems rather than proposing comprehensive solutions, the final essay links multigenerational poverty of black males with violence and an absurd level of incarceration. Other contributors include Bryan Stevenson, Sherrilyn Ifill, and Marc Mauer. An absorbing anthology, scholarly yet approachable.

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March 1, 2017

With recent deaths bringing into sharper focus the long, tragic history of the arrest, prosecution, and imprisonment of African American men, this anthology collects essays by leading criminal justice experts that explore issues from racial profiling to the Supreme Court's failure to redress the balance.

Copyright 2017 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

July 1, 2017

In the introduction to these new essays, Davis (law, American Univ.; Arbitrary Justice) states that the media has made the American public real-time witnesses to the country's chronic and systemic violence against black males. Davis, along with 13 other criminal justice experts, advance critical understanding to combat and correct structural racism and advocate for justice and peace. They suggest that, although the evidence is now readily available, targeted brutality is hardly new as it perpetuates what black people have endured and continue to live with following the legacy of slavery and the racialized criminal justice system. Policing propagates that legacy through policies and practices of racial profiling. Further, implicit bias from chronic presumption of guilt reaches beyond policing to disparate prosecuting of black males, as several contributors demonstrate. The essayists offer more than indictments, however. Almost all move beyond calls for reform to respond with practical suggestions for change to make black lives truly matter. VERDICT For general readers, students, and experts alike, these essays provide much-needed data, analysis, and insights into the disparities throughout U.S. society and its criminal justice system. [See Prepub Alert, 2/13/17.] --Thomas J. Davis, Arizona State Univ., Tempe

Copyright 2017 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.