NEW ORLEANS &ndash

American Civil Liberties Union
Because flexibility cannot defend by itself.
Crucial Troubles
Our Work
News
About the ACLU
Donate Newsfeeds
Blog
Donate
Presence Outside Caddo Parish Courthouse Produces Intolerable Danger That Capital Punishment Technique Can not Be Pretty Administered In Courthouse Walls
FOR Quick Launch
Get in touch with: (212) 549-2666; media@aclu.org
NEW ORLEANS – The American Civil Liberties Union today argued before the Louisiana Supreme Court that a murder conviction and death sentence should be overturned since the Confederate flag flying outdoors the Caddo Parish Courthouse prevents criminal justice from being rather administered, particularly in death penalty cases.
The ACLU and other groups Pandora Like Beads, along with dozens of religious leaders, historians and legal scholars, filed a friend-of-the-court brief last month saying the conviction and subsequent sentencing to death of Felton D. Dorsey in 2009 should be overturned due to the fact Tiffany Glas, among other reasons, the 11 whites and one African-American that comprised his jury walked past the flag dozens of times before rendering a verdict and voting on a sentence. Dorsey is African-American and African-Americans comprise nearly half of Caddo Parish’s population.
“We hope that the court will recognize that racial bias has no place in the capital punishment system,” said Anna Arceneaux, staff attorney with the ACLU Capital Punishment Project who delivered arguments today. “The Confederate flag is viewed by many people as a symbol of white supremacy and racism Pandora Earrings, and its presence outside the courthouse represents the legacy of lynching, terror and oppression of the African-American race. Flying the flag outdoors the courthouse risks diminishing the trust of African-Americans in the criminal justice system and priming white jurors to view African-American defendants and victims as second-class citizens.”
The flag was raised on public land exterior the courthouse in 1951 during a period often referred to as the “Second Reconstruction,” as an act of resistance to the civic and civil rights advances of African-Americans. The flag flies beside a Confederate monument commissioned in 1903 by parish officials at a time of strong resistance to civil rights reforms promised by the 13th Pandora Rings Uk, 14th and 15th Amendments passed in the wake of the Civil War. The monument was meant to honor the parish as the last stand of confederate Louisiana.
According to the ACLU’s brief, the flag outdoors the courthouse has a substantially adverse impact on the administration of justice inside the courthouse. It poses the intolerable chance that criminal justice can not be relatively administrated inside of its walls, particularly in death penalty cases Engagement Rings Tiffany, in violation of the Eighth Amendment. The flag denied Dorsey a fair trial, according to the ACLU’s brief, denied potential African-American jurors the opportunity to serve on Dorsey’s jury and risked tainting with racial bias all jurors, potential jurors, witnesses and citizens who attended and participated in the court proceedings conducted underneath it.
In Dorsey’s case, Shreveport resident Carl Staples, a potential African-American juror, was struck by the prosecutor in Dorsey’s case after expressing frustration with the systemic injustices inherent in the nation’s criminal justice program. He highlighted the presence of the Confederate flag outside the courthouse as symbolizing the pernicious realities that serve to undercut his faith in the technique. As Staples told the court, to him, the flag represents “a symbol of one of the most . . . heinous crimes ever committed to another member of the human race, and I just don’t see how you could say that, I mean Cheap Tiffany Jewelry, you’re here for justice, and then again you overlook this great injustice by continuing to fly this flag which . . . put[s] salt in the wounds of . . . people of color.”
According to the ACLU’s brief, even if other African-American prospective jurors in Dorsey’s case did not express similar concerns as Staples Tiffany & Co, at least some others were undoubtedly disturbed by the flag and may have sought to avoid jury service. African-American jurors who do serve on Caddo Parish juries may well be hesitant to return verdicts inconsistent with the principles the flag celebrates Tiffany Charms, especially in cases such as Dorsey’s which involve an African-American defendant and a white victim.
Psychological research also shows that the flag results in an unacceptable chance that implicit racial bias could impact the trial process, particularly when the defendant is African-American. A recent study by a Florida State University social psychologist found that exposure to images of the Confederate flag increases the expression of negative attitudes toward African-Americans among whites.
“The Confederate flag represents for many people, and particularly for African-Americans, the public entrenchment of racism in Caddo Parish’s judicial technique and is an endorsement of historical efforts to deny African-Americans equality under the law,” said Arceneaux. “Allowing it to fly outside the Caddo Parish courthouse sends a clear statement that money punishment are not able to be relatively administered in the courthouse walls.”
A copy of the ACLU’s friend-of-the-court brief is available online at: www.aclu.org/racial-justice/aclu-amicus-brief-support-new-trial-felton-d...