Syracuse University’s Humanities Center hosted a panel Sunday about Syracuse Stage’s performance of “Twelve Angry Men” as part of this year’s Syracuse Symposium annual public events series.

Lanessa Chaplin, a project councilor from the New York Civil Liberties Union, and Sanjay Chhablani, a professor and researcher at SU’s Forensic and National Security Sciences Institute, discussed issues of race and lack of diversity in the American criminal justice system during the panel.

The play follows 12 jurors who must decide the verdict in the trial of a young boy who allegedly murdered his father. All but one of the jurors discriminate against the boy based on his age, race and background throughout the play, and the jurors’ prejudice becomes increasingly apparent.

One issue the panel focused on was the flaws in the juror selection process, especially in representing perspectives from diverse groups in the community.

Biases toward the prosecution or the defense exist in juries because attorneys choose jurors who they believe will support their side, Chaplin said during the panel. A majority of white attorneys can also lead to a less diverse jury on many trials, she said.

“Today most jurors are white and male. Even in Syracuse, we are having problems getting people of color to participate as jurors,” Chaplin said. “So I don’t think that there’s much of a change since the origination of (the play) that we can see in the courtrooms today.”

Both Chaplin and Chhablani touched on the importance of combining multiple perspectives, especially in the criminal justice system.

In the play, one juror speaks up in support of the boy and suggests the evidence against him is insufficient. This situation can only occur with the expansion of diverse perspectives in the courtroom that further discussion and investigation of the issue, Chhablani said.

“If we are able to move as a society together, it’s going to involve us having to acknowledge the realities that others share and come to a common ground,” Chhablani said.

The panel also touched on the silence that disadvantaged defendants experience in having access to a fair trial — an aspect that was present in the play and is currently present in Onondaga County, Chaplin said.

Onondaga County has an Assigned Counsel Program rather than a Public Defender’s office, allowing private attorneys in the county to act more as independent contractors than federal workers, she said. This creates a lack of oversight and accountability, silencing defendants who have to seek attorneys through this program because their private attorneys are not accountable for being fully invested in the trial, she said.

The panel concluded by discussing how students can get involved in these issues, especially in the Syracuse community.

“The best thing students can do is go out, register, and get involved on a jury,” Chaplin said. “This is a positive thing because college students are young people who are seeking knowledge and information and will go on that jury with a refreshing eye and be able to give a fair trial to someone who needs it.”

Published on October 13, 2019 at 10:09 pm

Contact Maggie: mehicks@syr.edu | @maggie_hickss