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Racism in the criminal justice system in america essay
Racism in the american justice system
Racial Discrimination in the Criminal Justice System
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Race and the American Criminal Justice System: The O.J. Simpson Case
Historically racism has pervaded the administration of justice in America and Canada. Racial biases against blacks are still apparent today through the many different arenas of the criminal justice system. Black Americans argue that they are treated unequally and more brutally than whites at all levels in the criminal justice system. As a result of this unequal treatment blacks are more likely to be arrested, charged, convicted and receive longer sentences then whites for the same crimes. Black Americans make up about 12% of the US population and they account for more then 30% of all arrests, 44% of all prisoners and 40% of prisoners on death row (Hunt, 1999:74).
The racial problem exists in many forms within the criminal justice system and most of this racial disparity can be attributed to the practices of the prosecution and more particularly the police. The unequal treatment of blacks within the justice system becomes evident through various forms of police misconduct such as excessive use of force against blacks, harassment, planting and falsifying evidence and police perjury. Most of these issues were brought to question in the criminal court case against O. J. Simpson, who was arrested and charged with the murders of his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald L. Goldman.
The question of race was addressed in the high profile court case of O.J. Simpson when Simpson's lawyer, Johnnie Cochran took a Critical Race Theory position in defence of his client (Aylward, 1999:68). Cochran believed that racism was a central issue to the case and it was revealed primarily by detective Mark Fuhrman of the LAPD in a white supremacist form. Fuhrman was the detective who uncovered most of the evidence that connected Simpson to the murders. The defence's argument was that detective Fuhrman, motivated by his hatred of blacks, had planted the blood on O.J.'s bronco and the bloody glove at the Simpson's residence in order to incriminate him for the crime.
In order to prove Fuhrman's racial hatred and willingness to fabricate evidence, Cochran wanted to introduce evidence of thirty incidents where detective Fuhrman used racial epithets ("nigger") and eighteen examples of his misconduct contained in audio tapes that Fuhrman had made (Aylward, 1999:69). The court did not allow this evidence to be admitted but did allow for the defence to put three witnesses on the stand to testify to the racist attitudes they had experienced from detective Fuhrman.
On May 7th 2000, fifteen year old Brenton Butler was accused of the murder of Mary Ann Stephens, who had been fatally shot in the head while walking down a breezeway of a hotel with her husband. Two and a half hours later, Butler is seen walking a mile away from where the incident occurred, and is picked up by the police because he fit the description of the individual who shot Mary Ann Stephens. However, the only characteristic of the description that Butler featured was the color of his skin. Police then brought Butler to the scene of the crime in order for Mary Ann Stephens’s husband, James Stephens, to confirm whether or not Butler was the individual who had shot his wife. Almost immediately, Stephens identifies Butler as his wife’s killer.
During Forman’s case with “Brandon” he began to notice that the courts convicting so many black males were in fact not white, but black. “It wasn’t
Just Mercy’s Bryan Stevenson exposes some of these disparities woven around his presentation of the Walter McMillian case, and the overrepresentation of African-American men in our criminal justice system. His accounts of actors in the criminal justice system such as Judge Robert E. Lee and the D.A. Tom Chapman who refused to open up the case or provide support regardless of the overwhelmingly amount of inconsistencies found in the case. The fact that there were instances where policemen paid people off to testify falsely against McMillian others on death row significantly supports this perpetuation of racism. For many of the people of color featured in Stevenson’s book, the justice system was unfair to them wrongfully or excessively punishing them for crimes both violent and nonviolent compared to their white counterparts. Racism towards those of color has caused a “lack of concern and responsiveness by police, prosecutors, and victims’ services providers” and ultimately leads to the mass incarceration of this population (Stevenson, 2014, p. 141). Moreover the lack of diversity within the jury system and those in power plays into the already existing racism. African-American men are quickly becoming disenfranchised in our country through such racist biases leading to over 1/3 of this population “missing” from the overall American population because they are within the criminal justice
“A report by the United States General Accounting Office in 1990 concluded that 82 percent of the empirically valid studies on the subject show that the race of the victim has an impact on capital charging decisions or sentencing verdicts or both” (86).
On the night of the deaths Fuhrman went to O.J Simpson’s house and supposedly unveiled a glove that he believed took part in the murders. When the evidence of the glove was presented in court Simpson was asked to put it on and unexpectedly the glove didn’t fit. People then began to believe that Mark was setting Simpson up and was trying to frame him. Soon after the glove scandal was public it slowly began to racially divide society and became a watershed moment. A great deal of African-Americans felt as if most of the white people just viewed Simpson as a black male and didn’t even take into consideration other aspects of the case. But a various amount of white people felt as if all the evidence had been presented so he had to be the murderer. A Handful of African-Americans knew that as soon as the evidence of Fuhrman being racist came out he had to of framed Simpson. Shortly after the evidence became public Joseph Rouzan who was a black detective that worked with Fuhrman decided to do an interview and stated that “Fuhrman was a part of white officers that caused problems for young black female officers
On June 13, 1994, Nicole Brown, ex-wife of O.J. Simpson, was found murdered alongside Ronald Goldman (Dershowitz 19). Chapter one of Reasonable Doubts describes how many people jumped to the conclusion that O.J. carried out the murders. Incriminating evidence emerged that more than pointed to Simpson’s guilt (Dershowitz 21). Soon enough, media reports claimed that Simpson would be charged with two counts of first-degree murder. Simpson’s reluctance to be peacefully taken into custody was illustrated by his famous Los Angeles free-way chase that ended in his eventual surrender (Dershowitz 23). Dershowitz chose to join the defense team when offered the opportunity, claiming that the case could greatly educate people, especially his Harvard law students, on...
While talking to the police, the women accused all of the black men of raping them. These women were known prostitutes of the area, but their word was still taken over the black men who were accused. Twelve days later, the trial took place. There were many witnesses that held bias towards the black men. One acquaintance of the women was a white lady who refused to support the lies that were coming out of the white women's mouths.
Race plays a large factor in showing how you are viewed in society. Although there is no longer slavery and separate water fountains, we can still see areas of our daily life clearly affected by race. One of these areas is the criminal justice system and that is because the color of your skin can easily yet unfairly determine if you receive the death penalty. The controversial evidence showing that race is a large contributing factor in death penalty cases shows that there needs to be a change in the system and action taken against these biases. The issue is wide spread throughout the United States and can be proven with statistics. There is a higher probability that a black on white crime will result in a death penalty verdict than black on black or white on black. Race will ultimately define the final ruling of the sentence which is evident in the racial disparities of the death penalty. The amount of blacks on death row can easily be seen considering the majority of the prison population is black or blacks that committed the same crime as a white person but got a harsher sentence. The biases and prejudices that are in our society relating to race come to light when a jury is selected to determine a death sentence. So what is the relationship between race and the death penalty? This paper is set out to prove findings of different race related sentences and why blacks are sentenced to death more for a black on white crime. Looking at the racial divide we once had in early American history and statistics from sources and data regarding the number of blacks on death row/executed, we can expose the issues with this racial dilemma.
After three hundred years of suffering and oppression by the Spanish crown, and inspired by the fire of revolution sweeping over the world in places such as United States and France, the Mexican population finally decided that they could endure no more, it was time for a change! In this essay I put together some of the various factors of Spanish colonialism that led to the Mexican independence. These factors were the socio political conditions of nueva españa, the enlightment era, as well as various leaders
Many inequalities exist within the justice system that need to be brought to light and addressed. Statistics show that African American men are arrested more often than females and people of other races. There are some measures that can and need to be taken to reduce the racial disparity in the justice system. Racial disparity in the criminal justice system exists when the proportion of a racial or ethnic group within the control system is higher than the proportion of the group in the general population. The cause of this disparity varies and can include differences in the levels of criminal activity, law enforcements emphasis on particular communities, legislative policies, and/or decision making by one or more persons at some level in the criminal justice system.
Art of war. Dir. David Baeumler. Perf. Richard A. Gabriel. A & E Television Network, 2009. DVD.
Jason Bourne, a character created by novelist Robert Ludlum in 1980, first appeared in the film “Bourne Identity” in 2002. Bourne was originally named David Webb, but picked up the alias Jason Bourne and was ultimately transformed into a CIA special agent for the U.S. Bourne is known for his vast intelligence, serious personality, and expertise with martial arts and firearms. The film “Bourne Identity” depicts Bourne struggling to regain his conscience and trying to find his true identity after an apparent failed mission to assassinate a corrupt dictator. The action packed film follows the agent as he realizes he is being h...
Fairchild, H. & Cowan, G (1997). Journal of Social Issues. The O.J. Simpson Trial: Challenges to Science and Society.
The Good Life: Originally associated with Aristotle, “the good life” refers to an ideal. How do these texts represent that ideal? As living in sensual pleasures? As living for a contented mind through a simple life? As living for others? As a utopian ideal that is so far off as to be impracticable? How does the treatment of the good life change across these texts?
Aristotle asserts that the highest good has three qualities: it must be chosen as an end in itself and never for the sake of something else, as well as self-sufficient which lacks nothing. Happiness alone satisfies all these conditions. It is the highest good of a human being. People often reach their conception of the good based on their lives. The three prominent lives include the life of gratification, of political activity, and lastly, of study. For instance, an active human being favors the political life over the life of gratification in pursuit of virtue rather than honor or pleasure. Additionally, the life of a moneymaker is not the good people seek since...