OPTIONAL: The Courtroom as White Space: Racial Performance as Noncredibility

Student Note by Amanda Carlin, 63 UCLA L. Rev. 450 2016)

Read this article if you are interested in learning more about how the assesment of credibility in the "white space" of courtrooms serves to silence the voices of people of color at trial.

From the abstract: "Using Rachel Jeantel's testimony in the George Zimmerman trial as a case study, this Comment highlights credibility determinations as a tool of exclusion, and argues that the courtroom has always already discredited narratives and testimony of color."

Note: This student-authored article was cited in a 2021 case by a concurring judge to support the assertion that: "Reliance on demeanor as an indicator of credibility also allows the interjection of the subconscious influence of stereotypes and selective empathy, leading scholars to theorize that there is a “demeanor gap” along lines of culture, race, and gender." Vazquez Diaz v. Commonwealth, 167 N.E.3d 822, 844, 487 Mass. 336, 359 (Mass., 2021) (Kafker, J., concurring).

This book, and all H2O books, are Creative Commons licensed for sharing and re-use with the exception of certain excerpts. Any excerpts from the Restatements of the Law, Principles of the Law, and the Model Penal Code are copyright by The American Law Institute. Excerpts are reproduced with permission, not as part of a Creative Commons license.