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Abstract:
This ethnographic work examines the inner workings of a highly formalized plea bargaining unit in a large urban prosecutor's office from the lawyers' point of view. Observations of forty two plea negotiations between prosecutors and defense attorneys along with both formal and informal interviews reveal how the legal actors adapt to institutional rules in the pursuit of the both efficiency and justice. In the face of ever increasing prosecutorial power, defense attorneys find ways to equalize the balance when cases don't fit the 'normal crimes' model. Examination of negotiating strategy and discourse give further insight into whether prosecutors and defense attorneys behave differently under highly rationalized systems of plea-bargaining compared with traditional models previously studied.

plea bargaining, defense attorneys, prosecutors, criminal justice system

Abstract:
The notion of a colorblind society captured the imagination of voters who passed propositions banning affirmative action in higher education admissions in California, Washington, more recently in Michigan, and on November 4th, in Nebraska. Affirmative action is no longer required, proponents assert, because society no longer judges people by their skin color. They argue that the need for affirmative action is a vestige of a bygone era, and such a policy only creates resentment and stigma. This paper confronts the colorblind ideal myths of stigma and resentment, which appear at much greater rates in anti-affirmative action states. In analyzing data from a national survey of 335 students majoring in the sciences, this paper tests the three main arguments of affirmative action opponents and finds: 1. that under-represented minorities experience far more hostility at institutions of higher learning in states that bar affirmative action in admissions than in those states that permit race-based admissions; 2. that under-represented minority students encounter more external and internal stigma at institutions in states that ban race-based admissions; and 3. students who experience critical mass by never being racially isolated in the classroom encounter the least amount of overt racism and stigma. Thus, contrary to what anti-affirmative action advocates argue, students of color endure silencing, the pressure of "performing" and the hostility of "imposition" in white spaces at a far greater rate in the states that espouse a colorblind ideal. Moreover, this paper raises questions about the court's use of a diversity rationalization, the benefits of critical mass, and the effects of stereotype threat and makes recommendations.

affirmative action, higher education, colorblind ideal, race, stereotype threat, critical mass, diversity, racism

Abstract:
Do intact same-sex couples in which one member of the couple became pregnant with assisted reproduction or one member was the primary adopter, and the other member became a parent through second parent adoption understand the legal protections afforded them? In short the answer is no. An interesting family dynamic arises around who can claim the true status as parent based on their legal understandings of parenthood and their interactions with the dominant culture. While high profile custody cases on this issue have been decided in the United States with varying results, no research has examined the impact of uneven legal protections afforded to gay fathers and mothers on intact same-sex families. Results indicated that second parent adopters had much less emotional power in the family, but often had more economic power. Even in long-term stable relationships, non-biological mothers and second parent adoptive fathers expressed significant worries about this emotional power differential. On the other hand, biologically connected mothers and some primary adopter fathers were concerned about whether their partners would continue to financially support their children should the couple's relationship dissolve. Both parents had misconceptions about what kind of legal protections or obligations the law afforded these second parent adopters should the couple end their relationship. Furthermore, the families' interactions with the larger culture served to further undermine the stability of the family, as they worried whether their family would be culturally and legally recognized if they traveled from one state to another. Ultimately, I conclude that second parent adopters become imprisoned parents within the family and across the larger culture because of current legal frameworks and policies. Recommendations are made for legislatures, courts, policy-makers, and lawyers to expand parentage presumptions, allow for joint adoption outside of the marital context, and reframe how lawyers counsel same-sex couples as they engage in family formation.

domestic relations, family, parentage, sexuality, same-sex parents

Abstract:
Discussions around post-racialism inevitably lead the question of whether affirmative action remains a relevant tool in a colorblind society. Those in the post-race paradigm raise the concern that affirmative action stigmatizes students of color. Similar to the tired adage, guns don’t shoot, people do, one might argue that affirmative action doesn’t stigmatize, people do. While recent research (Bowen 2010) demonstrates that greater stigma occurs in states that ban affirmative action, the reality is that stigma is present in all institutions of higher learning, colorblind or not.

With the move in institutions of higher learning to recruit and create mentoring programs for students of color, particularly in the sciences, (perhaps only in the name of marketing one’s school as diverse), it is worth critically examining how stigma operates for these students within an intersectional framework. This study aims to do just that.

The intersection of race and gender creates additional burdens for women of color in the scientific field. While females generally are at greater risk for exiting the science and engineering pipeline at every stage more so than males, women of color experience isolation and stigma more so than white women or minority males. They carry the double burden of two master statuses.

Women of color must overcome the stereotypes associated with their scientific and mathematical abilities based on their race and gender. However, schools tend to address gender and race as two separate attributes that force women of color to choose one status over the other. Race becomes much more salient because gender issues are centered on a white female construct that alienates women of color. Thus, women of color are limited in their ability to confront their multidimensional identities in an academic setting. And for some women, navigating the additional burden (or privilege) of class creates even greater complexity in how they confront stigma.

In this national quantitative and qualitative study of over 300 students of color, I offer a comparative analyses and new insight into how stigma operates and is mediated through the intersection of race, class and gender for African American and Latina students. Specifically, how female students perceive (and how others engage in) both internal and external stigma is heavily influenced by race/ethnicity as well as the socioeconomic status. While prior research has examined the intersection of race and gender in college experiences, this work specifically examines stigma and demonstrates the importance of considering the intersection of race, class and gender. The study concludes that future strategies in confronting inequality in higher education must carefully contemplate the social status that students occupy based on their gender, race/ethnicity and class, as we examine the losers and beneficiaries of diversity in our allegedly ‘post race’ world, generally. And those working to create effective science minority mentoring programs, specifically, must tailor them to fit the multidimensional identities that students possess and with which they interact in the in academy.

education, gender, race, class, STEM