Live Poster Session: https://wesleyan.zoom.us/j/95837337442
Ian Valenti
Ian is a student at Wesleyan University who is in the class of 2025. He is double majoring in Neuroscience and the College of Letters. Ian grew up in Los Angeles, California before coming to Wesleyan. At home, he works as an art broker. Ian is taking QAC to help him perform neuroscience research in the future. He hopes that what he has learned in this class will help him be able to interpret the data found in his research more accurately.
Abstract: Many studies have been conducted to investigate the relationship between race and drivers being pulled over at a city-wide level, often focusing on the quantity of incidents rather than the severity of the consequences that come from them. There is little research on the latter, which is why this study involves the association between the race of Connecticut drivers that were pulled over in 2018 and the punishment that followed the incident afterwards, exploring the role of sex at times as well. By taking into account all punishments that resulted in legal action (tickets, misdemeanors, infractions, and uniform arrest reports) and comparing the frequency of occurrence for each race, we begin to see significant associations with the severity of someone’s punishment for race and sex. Indigenous male drivers were found to be the group most likely to receive a punishment resulting in legal action, followed by Asian males, and then Indigenous females. Furthermore, it was found as a whole that White drivers, both male and female, were statistically the least likely to receive a punishment resulting in legal action. This research is significant because it points to the possibility that the Connecticut justice system may not be free from bias. With certain groups receiving more severe or lenient punishments statistically, questions can be raised about the policing system run in the small state.
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