FIPS Broken News: BK Juries Are Getting Whiter And It's Changing Things

Twelve Angry Hipsters

This is going to come as a huge shocker, so get ready: As gentrification takes an even stronger hold in Brooklyn, the juries are getting whiter. I mean this is real genius stuff. And no, I can't take credit for this high-end anthropological study, it comes from yesterday's New York Post. They are calling it "The Williamsburg Effect." And it goes a little something like this (hit it): "The influx of well-off and educated white people to trendy neighborhoods such as Williamsburg is rapidly 'gentrifying' the borough’s jury pool — and transforming verdicts, lawyers and judges told The Post."

According to someone, the number of white people living in Brooklyn jumped from 40 to 50% between 2001 and 2012 and they all have to go to jury duty. Also not surprising is the 77% increase in rents over the same 11 year time period. So more white people, more money, more different juries. 

But not in the way you might think. This is really a tale of two juries: grand and civil. 

For grand juries, the shift has resulted in more wins for prosecutors. Why? grand juries used to be rife with anti-police sentiment because they were made up mostly of minorities. But now the young white kids just can't relate. That's according to "high profile lawyer," Arthur Aidala: “People who can afford to live in Brooklyn now don’t have the experience of police officers throwing them against cars and searching them. A person who just moves here from Wisconsin or Wyoming, they can’t relate to [that]. It doesn’t sound credible to them.” 

And just look at what former prosecutor and defense lawyer John Paul DeVerna  has to say about hipsters and how they ruin everything for grand juries: “A contrarian-minded person — and Billyburg has them in spades — can cause discord in the jury room. And if the hipster gets along with everyone, that can even be more dangerous because they are confident and educated, which means they have the potential to hijack the jury.” 

Now in Civil cases it's just the opposite. Juries are now starting to side with defendants, since civil cases tend to involve lawsuits due to car accidents, on the job injuries, slipping on banana peel. Those kinda things. And the Williamsburg Effect has made those juries much more conservative in their awards to plaintiffs suing for millions in damages.

Says plaintiff lawyer Charen Kim: “There’s an influx of money, and when everything gets gentrified, these jurors aren’t pro-plaintiff anymore. We’re dealing with more sophisticated people, and they don’t believe [plaintiffs] should be awarded millions of dollars for nothing.” 

So I'm going to tie a nice pretty bow on all of this: little ole white me is actually supposed to be in jury duty RIGHT NOW as I type, but I'm not. And before someone calls the cops to have them throw me in jail for shirking my citizenly duties, I was deferred till next year. Now, I wasn't planning on flexing my whitey muscles and changing verdicts. I am PSYCHED. Jury duty is the LAST THING I want to be doing...ever! Which just leads me to one conclusion: I would've thought the one thing white people in BK would be doing on juries is trying to get out of them. Maybe that's just me.