The "Williamsburg Effect"

June 22, 2014 5:28 PM

The influx of well-off and educated white people to trendy neighborhoods such as Williamsburg is rapidly “gentrifying’’ the borough’s jury pool — and transforming verdicts. (SLNYP)
posted by monospace (15 comments total)

“They are . . . much more trusting of police,” Clark said of the jurors. “I’m not sure people from the University of Vermont would believe that a police officer would [plant] a gun.’’

This shit infuriates me. Last December I served on a jury here in Chicago-- just some penny-ante drug bust, the defendant allegedly sold $10 of crack to an undercover cop. The State's entire case rested on the testimony of the undercover cop, and in fact all of the rest of what evidence you'd expect there to be ran counter to her testimony. Just for example: In her police report, she said the guy who sold her drugs was wearing a black jacket and black pants. The guy they arrested (and was on trial) was arrested wearing a grey sweatshirt and bluejeans. The guy described in the report was 180 lbs. The defendant was 130lbs. The cops assisting never lost sight of the guy after he left the store where the incident allegedly took place, but no one ever found the marked bills used to purchase the crack. The entire case ran counter to this one cop's story.

Once we got to deliberation, the jury was split 6/6. Over the course of ten hours we Twelve-Angry-Menned it in the wrong direction to 11/1 guilty. I was the lone holdout and we ended up hung. Folks kept saying 'I just can't think of a reason she [the undercover cop] would lie.'

They're retrying the case this month.
posted by shakespeherian at 5:40 PM on June 22, 2014 [23 favorites]

FTA:

"...if the hipster gets along with everyone, that can even be more dangerous because they are confident and educated..."

“We’re dealing with more sophisticated people, and they don’t believe [plaintiffs] should be awarded millions of dollars for nothing.”...

“The juror pool is getting more cosmopolitan here in Brooklyn. There’s more of a blend across all socioeconomic strata...”

“I see a lot more highly educated people.

Christ, what a humanitarian disaster. Perhaps Congress could step in and do something.
posted by codswallop at 5:41 PM on June 22, 2014 [3 favorites]

I believe this in principle, because the underlying pool from which juries are drawn has demonstrably changed to be whiter, richer, and more educated, but I would like more evidence than the observations of five lawyers and a judge, if only because confirmation bias is a real thing and because the jury selection process is non-random. Are such data collected?
posted by gingerest at 5:42 PM on June 22, 2014 [1 favorite]

The percentage of white people in Brooklyn grew from 41 percent to 50 percent between 2000 and 2012, according to US Census data.

So I assume that the jury selection process is deliberately being stacked to achieve this effect, since that's only a 9% increase?
posted by winna at 5:43 PM on June 22, 2014 [1 favorite]

This is interesting, I'd like more information.

I'm a bit befuddled by the idea that grand juries used to be anti-police. I'd never heard that one before. Doesn't jibe with my experience of ham sandwiches.
posted by Sticherbeast at 5:45 PM on June 22, 2014

I would also love more verification of this trend, because I absolutely believe it may be happening but that article is horrible. "Cosmopolitan" and "trusting of the police" are not synonymous.
posted by jaguar at 5:46 PM on June 22, 2014 [2 favorites]

So I assume that the jury selection process is deliberately being stacked to achieve this effect, since that's only a 9% increase?

Perhaps the new residents are less savvy in the art of getting out of jury duty?
posted by gyc at 5:46 PM on June 22, 2014 [1 favorite]

Just a heads up: this is from the New York Post, which basically is the Fox News of newspapers. I'm not saying this isn't a thing that's happening; I'm saying that the NYP is well within the ability of making this shit up out of whole cloth and what looks like a couple of interviews and zero actual statistics except for census and rent data.
posted by griphus at 5:47 PM on June 22, 2014 [3 favorites]

So I assume that the jury selection process is deliberately being stacked to achieve this effect, since that's only a 9% increase?


White people are more likely to avoid felony charges that render them ineligible for jury service, so the increase is more than the raw numbers.
posted by ChurchHatesTucker at 5:48 PM on June 22, 2014 [1 favorite]

And that being said I agree 100% that people who have only been here in the recent boom years are going to make worse decisions on juries than people who actually have a grasp of the city's dynamics, especially between the marginalized populations and the NYPD, who are basically the last bastion of organized crime in NYC. But the article doesn't actually back that up with, you know, journalism.
posted by griphus at 5:49 PM on June 22, 2014 [2 favorites]

There doesn't seem to be any actual data in that article, just a lot of assertions from some lawyers.
posted by octothorpe at 5:50 PM on June 22, 2014

For all you know the exact opposite effect might be observed. This kind of thing is actually knowable, so submitting it with no backup is particularly egregious. Not worth arguing about this article.
posted by borges at 5:52 PM on June 22, 2014 [1 favorite]

White people are more likely to avoid felony charges that render them ineligible for jury service, so the increase is more than the raw numbers.

I had thought about the racist results of the judicial system, but ex-felons can vote in New York so I didn't know if that would make a difference.
posted by winna at 5:52 PM on June 22, 2014

SLNYP should not be a thing.
posted by milarepa at 5:55 PM on June 22, 2014 [5 favorites]

Oh, come on. This is nonsense.
posted by unknowncommand at 5:55 PM on June 22, 2014