We study the effects of laws streamlining access to post-conviction forensic DNA technology ("DNA laws"). We present a conceptual framework in which DNA laws' effects differ by race due to unequal access to non-DNA exoneration technologies. Consistent with the framework's predictions, we find...

In July 1995, the University of California Board of Regents voted to end affirmative action based on race and gender in admissions, hiring, and contracting. Recently, the Equal Opportunity Act introduced by the Republicans would abolish three decades of affirmative action programs initiated by...

We analyze the extent and consequences of unequal representation on juries in Harris County, Texas. We first document that residents from predominantly white and high-income neighborhoods are substantially over-represented on juries. Using quasi-random variation in those called for jury duty...

The jury system evolved as an essential ingredient of America's judicial framework. In recent years, however, frailties of the jury system in respect to its lack of fairness for women, Blacks, Latinos, and the poor have increasingly become the center of controversy. Federal law is clear that...

Over the past twenty-five years, the U.S prison system has experienced continuous substantial increment in the prison population. At the same time, incarceration rates have risen by more than 300%, a phenomenon that many analysts have referred to as mass incarceration (DeFina & Hannon, 2013)....

This paper identifies the individual components of social harm associated with a hypothetical racially motivated police encounter. An individual who believes they are being targeted by police because they are a member of a racial minority may suffer from fear of physical harm and humiliation by...