Texan Whose Jury Was Told Blacks More Likely to Be Dangerous Can Appeal, Supreme Court Rules

WASHINGTON — Twenty years after a psychologist testified that convicted murderer Duane Buck was at risk of “future dangerousness” because he was black, the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that Buck will be allowed to continue an appeal of his death row sentence.In a 6-2 decision issued Wednesday, the Supreme Court ruled that Buck was sent to death row in part because of racially biased testimony and should be allowed to continue with his efforts to secure a new sentencing trial. The testimony in question was provided by a psychiatrist, Walter Quijano, who had a long history of asserting that black and Hispanic men were more likely to be dangerous in the future than their white counterparts.“Dr. Quijano’s testimony appealed to a powerful racial stereotype — that of black men as ‘violence prone,’ ” Chief Justice John Roberts wrote.  Continue reading...

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