Within the framework of the FCT-funded research project on “The role of meritocracy in legal decisions towards low status groups”, Rui Costa Lopes (co-coordinator of XLab) and his team conducted an experimental study demonstrating the persistence of racial inequalities, this time in terms of the public acceptance of the early release of black and white prisoners (to address the overcrowding of prisoners during the pandemic).
People are more unfavorable towards the early release of black prisoners when they have committed a stereotypically-black crime, but the same does not occur for white prisoners who have committed a stereotypically-white crime. Moreover, this bias is more pronounced for people who endorse the idea of meritocracy.
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