Youngjae Lee (Fordham University School of Law) has posted Reasonable Doubt and Implicit Bias (Criminal Law and Philosophy) on SSRN. Here is the abstract:
In Criminal Testimonial Injustice, Jennifer Lackey argues that there is a kind of testimonial injustice, characterized by “an unwarranted excess of credibility” and that “[t]he excess of credibility…results in a distinctive kind of epistemic wrong” in “ways that are widespread, alarming, and pernicious” in our criminal justice system. This Essay, building on Lackey’s original and persuasive analysis, asks the following question: Given the problems that Lackey identifies, how should conscientious jurors in criminal cases approach instances of testimonial injustice in the form of credibility excess? More specifically, this Essay argues that in certain situations a conscientious juror who believes in the defendant’s guilt may still need to vote to acquit if the juror’s conclusion of guilty is based on a reliance on a confession or eyewitness testimony. This is true even if the juror believes beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant is guilty and even if there is no apparent issue with the eyewitness testimony or confession evidence.
Recommended.