Katherine Beckett

Last updated

Katherine Beckett is an American sociologist known for researching the United States criminal justice system. [1] She is a professor in the University of Washington's Law, Societies & Justice Program, as well as in the Department of Sociology there. She previously taught at Indiana University. [2]

Contents

Research

Beckett has researched racial disparities in the United States criminal justice system, such as the disproportionately high rates of drug arrests among racial minorities. [3] [4] She has also researched bans imposed on individuals by public parks, finding that most people disobey them. [5] In October 2018, the Washington Supreme Court relied on a regression analysis a death row prisoner had commissioned from Beckett when it abolished the state's death penalty because of its unconstitutionally racist imposition. [6] [7] [8]

Other work

Beckett helped develop the Rethinking Punishment Radio Project, along with another podcast known as Cited. [9]

Related Research Articles

Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty and formerly called judicial homicide, is the state-sanctioned practice of killing a person as a punishment for a crime, usually following an authorised, rule-governed process to conclude that the person is responsible for violating norms that warrant said punishment. The sentence ordering that an offender be punished in such a manner is known as a death sentence, and the act of carrying out the sentence is known as an execution. A prisoner who has been sentenced to death and awaits execution is condemned and is commonly referred to as being "on death row". Etymologically, the term capital refers to execution by beheading, but executions are carried out by many methods, including hanging, shooting, lethal injection, stoning, electrocution, and gassing.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Louise Arbour</span> Canadian lawyer, prosecutor and jurist (born 1947)

Louise Arbour, is a Canadian lawyer, prosecutor and jurist.

Drunk driving is the act of operating a motor vehicle with the operator's ability to do so impaired as a result of alcohol consumption, or with a blood alcohol level in excess of the legal limit. For drivers 21 years or older, driving with a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of 0.08% or higher is illegal. For drivers under 21 years old, the legal limit is lower, with state limits ranging from 0.00 to 0.02. Lower BAC limits apply when operating boats, airplanes, or commercial vehicles. Among other names, the criminal offense of drunk driving may be called driving under the influence (DUI), driving while intoxicated or impaired (DWI), operating [a] vehicle under the influence of alcohol (OVI), or operating while impaired (OWI).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Capital punishment in the United States</span> Legal penalty in the United States

In the United States, capital punishment is a legal penalty throughout the country at the federal level, in 27 states, and in American Samoa. It is also a legal penalty for some military offenses. Capital punishment has been abolished in 23 states and in the federal capital, Washington, D.C. It is usually applied for only the most serious crimes, such as aggravated murder. Although it is a legal penalty in 27 states, 20 states have the ability to execute death sentences, with the other seven, as well as the federal government, being subject to different types of moratoriums.

The U.S. state of Washington enforced capital punishment until the state's capital punishment statute was declared null and void and abolished in practice by a state Supreme Court ruling on October 11, 2018. The court ruled that it was unconstitutional as applied due to racial bias however it did not render the wider institution of capital punishment unconstitutional and rather required the statute to be amended to eliminate racial biases. From 1904 to 2010, 78 people were executed by the state; the last was Cal Coburn Brown on September 10, 2010. In April 2023, Governor Jay Inslee signed SB5087 which formally abolished capital punishment in Washington State and removed provisions for capital punishment from state law.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">War on drugs</span> Campaign of drug prohibition led by the US government

The war on drugs is the policy of a global campaign, led by the United States federal government, of drug prohibition, military aid, and military intervention, with the aim of reducing the illegal drug trade in the United States. The initiative includes a set of drug policies that are intended to discourage the production, distribution, and consumption of psychoactive drugs that the participating governments and the United Nations have made illegal. The term was popularized by the media shortly after a press conference, given on June 17, 1971, during which President Richard Nixon declared drug abuse "public enemy number one".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Traffic stop</span> Detention of a driver by police

A traffic stop, colloquially referred to as being pulled over, is a temporary detention of a driver of a vehicle and its occupants by police to investigate a possible crime or minor violation of law.

Mandatory sentencing requires that offenders serve a predefined term of imprisonment for certain crimes, commonly serious or violent offenses. Judges are bound by law; these sentences are produced through the legislature, not the judicial system. They are instituted to expedite the sentencing process and limit the possibility of irregularity of outcomes due to judicial discretion. Mandatory sentences are typically given to people who are convicted of certain serious and/or violent crimes, and require a prison sentence. Mandatory sentencing laws vary across nations; they are more prevalent in common law jurisdictions because civil law jurisdictions usually prescribe minimum and maximum sentences for every type of crime in explicit laws.

The Law Enforcement Action Partnership (LEAP), formerly Law Enforcement Against Prohibition, is a U.S.-based nonprofit organization group of current and former police, judges, prosecutors, and other criminal justice professionals who use their expertise to advance drug policy and criminal justice solutions that enhance public safety. The organization is modeled after Vietnam Veterans Against the War. As of April 2017

Capital punishment in Saudi Arabia is a legal penalty. Death sentences are almost exclusively based on the system of judicial sentencing discretion (tazir), following the classical principle of avoiding Sharia-prescribed (hudud) penalties when possible. In recent decades, the government and the courts have increasingly issued these sentences, reacting to a rise in violent crime during the 1970s. This paralleled similar developments in the U.S. and Mainland China in the late 20th century.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Race in the United States criminal justice system</span>

Race in the United States criminal justice system refers to the unique experiences and disparities in the United States in regard to the policing and prosecuting of various races. There have been different outcomes for different racial groups in convicting and sentencing felons in the United States criminal justice system. Although prior arrests and criminal history is also a factor. Experts and analysts have debated the relative importance of different factors that have led to these disparities.

Sentencing disparity is defined as "a form of unequal treatment in criminal punishment that is often of unexplained cause and is at least incongruous, unfair and disadvantaging in consequence". In the United States men are most adversely affected by sentencing disparity being twice as likely to be sentenced to jail after conviction than women and receiving on average 63% longer jail sentences.

The Death Penalty Information Center (DPIC) is a non-profit organization based in Washington, D.C., that focuses on disseminating studies and reports related to the death penalty. Founded in 1990, DPIC is primarily focused on the application of capital punishment in the United States.

Crime in California refers to crime occurring within the U.S. state of California.

The War on Drugs is a term for the actions taken and legislation enacted by the US federal government, intended to reduce or eliminate the production, distribution, and use of illicit drugs. The War on Drugs began during the Nixon administration with the goal of reducing the supply of and demand for illegal drugs, but an ulterior racial motivation has been proposed. The War on Drugs has led to controversial legislation and policies, including mandatory minimum penalties and stop-and-frisk searches, which have been suggested to be carried out disproportionately against minorities. The effects of the War on Drugs are contentious, with some suggesting that it has created racial disparities in arrests, prosecutions, imprisonment, and rehabilitation. Others have criticized the methodology and the conclusions of such studies. In addition to disparities in enforcement, some claim that the collateral effects of the War on Drugs have established forms of structural violence, especially for minority communities.

African Americans, and African American males in particular, have an ethnic stereotype in which they are portrayed as dangerous criminals. This stereotype is associated with the fact that African Americans are proportionally over-represented in the numbers of those that are arrested and convicted for committing crimes. It has appeared frequently in American popular culture, reinforcing the negative consequences of systemic racism.

<i>The New Jim Crow</i> Nonfiction book about mass incarceration in the United States by Michelle Alexander

The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness is a book by Michelle Alexander, a civil rights litigator and legal scholar. The book discusses race-related issues specific to African-American males and mass incarceration in the United States, but Alexander noted that the discrimination faced by African-American males is prevalent among other minorities and socio-economically disadvantaged populations. Alexander's central premise, from which the book derives its title, is that "mass incarceration is, metaphorically, the New Jim Crow".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sheryl Gordon McCloud</span> American judge (born 1955)

Sheryl Gordon McCloud is an American lawyer who has served as an associate justice of the Washington Supreme Court since 2013. She was elected to replace outgoing Associate Justice Tom Chambers on Seat 9 of the Washington Supreme Court, winning 55.24% of the vote and defeating former Associate Justice Richard B. Sanders. With her election, the Washington Supreme Court is now majority-female.

See Kee Oon is a Singaporean judge who is currently a Judge of the Supreme Court and was the Presiding Judge of the State Courts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Criminal justice reform in the United States</span> Reforms seeking to address structural issues in criminal justice systems of the United States

Criminal justice reform seeks to address structural issues in criminal justice systems such as racial profiling, police brutality, overcriminalization, mass incarceration, and recidivism. Reforms can take place at any point where the criminal justice system intervenes in citizens’ lives, including lawmaking, policing, sentencing and incarceration. Criminal justice reform can also address the collateral consequences of conviction, including disenfranchisement or lack of access to housing or employment, that may restrict the rights of individuals with criminal records.

References

  1. "Katherine Beckett". Scholars Strategy Network.
  2. Abramsky, Sasha (June 1999). "When They Get Out". The Atlantic. Retrieved 2017-07-27.
  3. Holden, Dominic (2014-04-16). "Reform in Reverse". The Stranger. Retrieved 2017-07-27.
  4. Roberts, Chris (2016-02-22). "Report: Black Tenderloin Drug Dealers Definitely Arrested More Often Than Whites, Latinos". SF Weekly. Retrieved 2017-07-27.
  5. Brown, Jennifer (2015-02-21). "Banned from 16th Street: Dozens ordered by court to stay away". The Denver Post. Retrieved 2018-01-09.
  6. Sudermann, Hannelore. "How UW research convinced our state's highest court to toss out the death penalty". University of Washington Magazine. Retrieved 2 December 2019.
  7. Beckett, Katherine; Evans, Heather (13 October 2014). "The Role of Race in Washington State Capital Sentencing, 1981-2012" (PDF). Archived from the original on 1 October 2018. Retrieved 2 December 2019.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  8. State v. Gregory, 427P.3d621 (Wash.2018).
  9. "A New Podcast Tells a Different Kind of Prison Story". Seattle Weekly. 2015-03-24. Retrieved 2017-07-27.