Unknown Mex: Mexican and Mexican American Criminality and the Justice System (2024)

Borders of Violence and Justice: Mexicans, Mexican Americans, and Law Enforcement in the Southwest, 1835-1935

Brian D. Behnken

Published:

2022

Online ISBN:

9781469670140

Print ISBN:

9781469670126

Contents

  • < Previous chapter
  • Next chapter >

Borders of Violence and Justice: Mexicans, Mexican Americans, and Law Enforcement in the Southwest, 1835-1935

Brian D. Behnken

Chapter

Get access

Brian D. Behnken

Brian D. Behnken

Find on

Oxford Academic

Pages

117–146

  • Published:

    November 2022

Cite

Behnken, Brian D., 'Unknown Mex: Mexican and Mexican American Criminality and the Justice System', Borders of Violence and Justice: Mexicans, Mexican Americans, and Law Enforcement in the Southwest, 1835-1935 (Chapel Hill, NC, 2022; online edn, North Carolina Scholarship Online, 23 May 2024), https://doi.org/10.5149/northcarolina/9781469670126.003.0005, accessed 30 May 2024.

Close

Search

Close

Search

Advanced Search

Search Menu

Abstract

The fourth chapter focuses on Mexican and Mexican American criminality. While White people often considered Mexican-origin people as predisposed to certain criminal activities, especially murder or sex work, the available historical record shows instead that police tended to arrest them for suspicion, vagrancy, or for property crimes. This perception of criminality drove law enforcement to monitor Mexican people and constantly intervene in their lives. This chapter also demonstrates that while police officers often treated Mexicans and Mexican Americans with a heavy hand, the broader criminal justice system tended to treat them more fairly. It also shows some important evolutions in the criminal justice system, especially the augmenting of fines for vagrancy or loitering in the early twentieth century as a method of dealing with the thousands of Mexicans who arrived in the US as refugees from the Mexican Revolution.

Keywords: Criminality, Criminal Justice System, Racism, Incarceration, Institutional bias in the criminal justice system, Compassionate jurisprudence

Subject

Latin American History

You do not currently have access to this chapter.

Sign in

Get help with access

Personal account

  • Sign in with email/username & password
  • Get email alerts
  • Save searches
  • Purchase content
  • Activate your purchase/trial code
  • Add your ORCID iD

Sign in Register

Institutional access

    Sign in through your institution

    Sign in through your institution

  1. Sign in with a library card
  2. Sign in with username/password
  3. Recommend to your librarian

Institutional account management

Sign in as administrator

Get help with access

Institutional access

Access to content on Oxford Academic is often provided through institutional subscriptions and purchases. If you are a member of an institution with an active account, you may be able to access content in one of the following ways:

IP based access

Typically, access is provided across an institutional network to a range of IP addresses. This authentication occurs automatically, and it is not possible to sign out of an IP authenticated account.

Sign in through your institution

Choose this option to get remote access when outside your institution. Shibboleth/Open Athens technology is used to provide single sign-on between your institution’s website and Oxford Academic.

  1. Click Sign in through your institution.
  2. Select your institution from the list provided, which will take you to your institution's website to sign in.
  3. When on the institution site, please use the credentials provided by your institution. Do not use an Oxford Academic personal account.
  4. Following successful sign in, you will be returned to Oxford Academic.

If your institution is not listed or you cannot sign in to your institution’s website, please contact your librarian or administrator.

Sign in with a library card

Enter your library card number to sign in. If you cannot sign in, please contact your librarian.

Society Members

Society member access to a journal is achieved in one of the following ways:

Sign in through society site

Many societies offer single sign-on between the society website and Oxford Academic. If you see ‘Sign in through society site’ in the sign in pane within a journal:

  1. Click Sign in through society site.
  2. When on the society site, please use the credentials provided by that society. Do not use an Oxford Academic personal account.
  3. Following successful sign in, you will be returned to Oxford Academic.

If you do not have a society account or have forgotten your username or password, please contact your society.

Sign in using a personal account

Some societies use Oxford Academic personal accounts to provide access to their members. See below.

Personal account

A personal account can be used to get email alerts, save searches, purchase content, and activate subscriptions.

Some societies use Oxford Academic personal accounts to provide access to their members.

Viewing your signed in accounts

Click the account icon in the top right to:

  • View your signed in personal account and access account management features.
  • View the institutional accounts that are providing access.

Signed in but can't access content

Oxford Academic is home to a wide variety of products. The institutional subscription may not cover the content that you are trying to access. If you believe you should have access to that content, please contact your librarian.

Institutional account management

For librarians and administrators, your personal account also provides access to institutional account management. Here you will find options to view and activate subscriptions, manage institutional settings and access options, access usage statistics, and more.

Purchase

Our books are available by subscription or purchase to libraries and institutions.

Purchasing information

Metrics

Total Views 0

0 Pageviews

0 PDF Downloads

Since 5/30/2024

Citations

Powered by Dimensions

Altmetrics

×

More from Oxford Academic

Arts and Humanities

History

History of the Americas

Latin American History

Regional and National History

Books

Journals

Unknown Mex: Mexican and Mexican American Criminality and the Justice System (2024)
Top Articles
Latest Posts
Article information

Author: Terence Hammes MD

Last Updated:

Views: 6163

Rating: 4.9 / 5 (69 voted)

Reviews: 84% of readers found this page helpful

Author information

Name: Terence Hammes MD

Birthday: 1992-04-11

Address: Suite 408 9446 Mercy Mews, West Roxie, CT 04904

Phone: +50312511349175

Job: Product Consulting Liaison

Hobby: Jogging, Motor sports, Nordic skating, Jigsaw puzzles, Bird watching, Nordic skating, Sculpting

Introduction: My name is Terence Hammes MD, I am a inexpensive, energetic, jolly, faithful, cheerful, proud, rich person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.