Speaker: Nisha Waller, PhD candidate at the University of Oxford, Centre for Criminology
Abstract
Through the narratives of young black men convicted as secondary parties to murder, and insight from legal practitioners, Nisha will surface the punitive function of the ‘gang’ in the context of joint enterprise. Nisha contends that young black male defendants face inherent disadvantages when they are indicted as a secondary party, as they fit within a ‘ready-made’ narrative of ‘gangs’ which has a conviction-maximising capacity in the context of joint enterprise. Nisha also illustrates that young black men are more likely to enter the dock with ‘gang evidence’ readily available for the prosecution to use against them - a direct outcome of the surveillance and ‘datafication’ of young black men through discriminatory police work. Nisha’s work prompts critical reflection on the connection between racialised criminal justice policies, longstanding stereotypes about ‘black criminality’, and the racialised application of joint enterprise.
Bio
Nisha is a final year PhD candidate at the University of Oxford, Centre for Criminology. Her PhD research investigates racialised processes of prosecution in the context of ‘joint enterprise’, specially focusing on the experiences of young black men. Nisha’s work is in part motivated by her own experience of having a loved one convicted under ‘joint enterprise’ in 2017.
Nisha also works part time as a researcher at charity law practice APPEAL, where she is leading a research project exploring the relationship between the English jury system, Britain’s colonial history and miscarriages of justice.
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