Racism in the Criminal Justice System

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Recommended: Racial Discrimination in the Criminal Justice System

Racism in police treatment of minorities has created great disparities in incarceration amongst the races. Blatant cases of racist law enforcement that are covered in the news are a testament to the fact that racism within police departments exists from coast to coast. However, these are only the cases that people find out about; there are countless other cases of police racism and brutality that are not reported.

A series of reports that have been published in the last few years have shown that young black men are being incarcerated at a rate far greater than their number in the overall population. In the fall of 1995, Vincent Schiraldi, executive director of the Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice in San Francisco, released a study that found that nationally 33% of the black men in their 20~s were under the control of the criminal justice system in some way, shape or form. This shows an increase from 1991, when 25% of the black men nationwide ages 20 to 29 were incarcerated, on probation, or on parole (Butterfield 1996).

Schiraldi, attributed the higher incarceration rates for black men to tougher punishment for the use of crack cocaine than for other drugs; harsh new sentencing laws; the prison construction boom; and poverty, lack of good jobs and poor education in inner cities. We will address how tougher punishments have resulted in worse treatment for minorities in the criminal justice system. The tougher punishment for the use of crack cocaine, which is prevalent in minority neighborhoods, and the harsh new sentencing laws are a result of a new, stringent brand of law enforcement in which officers are trying to arrest as many people as possible. Unfortunately, as a result of this new brand of law enforcement, minoriti...

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...ws. 12 August 2012., late ed.: Al.

Butterfield, Fox. "Study finds a disparity injustice for blacks." NewYork Times. 13 Feb. 2013, late ed.: A8.

Fazlolloh, Mark. "From Prison, Ex-Cops Call Offenses Routine. Philadelphia Inquirer. 12 May 2012, late ed.: Al.

"Fighting Police Abuse: A Community Action Manual." American Civil Liberties Union Online. 9 May May 2014.

Orseno, Brian. "The DWB Phenomenon." American Civil Liberties Union. News Updates. 23 April 2013. Online. 7 May May 2014.

Rose, Veronica. "The ACLU Fights Back Against Police Profiling On A National Level." The ACLU Northern California. 14 January 2013. Online. 8 May May 2014.

Slobodzian, Joseph A. "City Officers Indicted on Corruption Charges." Philadelphia Inquirer. 1 Mar. 2011, late ed.: Al.

"Victims of Mandatory Minimums." Families Against Mandatory Minimums. Online. 17 May May 2014.

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