The Uses of Social Science in Trials with Political and Racial Overtones: The Trial of Joan Little

Abstract

One unintended by-product of the zealous prosecution of political and racial militants in the recent past has been the increased participation by social scientists in the judicial arena. The presence of social psychologists and sociologists was obvious in the more publicized cases, e.g., the Harrisburg Eight,1 the Camden 28,2 and the Gainesville Eight.3 Applied social scientists have also worked in trials involving persons from the right wing of the political spectrum, e.g., Mitchell-Stans,4 and in an increasing number of lesser known criminal cases. Now, at least two organized groups of social scientists, the National Jury Project and the Raleigh-based Psychology and Law Center, are permanently established for consultation in both criminal and civil litigation. In this article we will draw upon our experiences in another of the better known trials, that of Ms. Joan Little, to illustrate some of the contributions of social scientists to the judicial process and to discuss some of the issues raised by the application of social science to the law. The Joan Little case began in Washington, North Carolina. Early on the morning of August 27, 1974, Clarence Alligood, the night jailer for the Beaufort County jail, was found dead in a locked cell in the women's section of the jail. Alligood, a sixty-four-year-old white male, had ice pick punctures