The Pros And Cons Of Criminal Injustice

Criminal Injustice

Economic status and social standing does affect the incarceration rates of young people in the U.S. Theoretically, judges and magistrates ought to be free and fair in making judgments, but the reality is that bias does occur in a jury. Poor people are more likely to receive harsher treatment that their rich counterpart for the similar crimes committed. People from pooper areas typically live in areas where there are higher rates of poverty, and there is a breakdown in social institutions. Crime in these places is more frequent and this creates the notion that young offenders from this are unlikely to be rehabilitated. The racial dimension is also apparent in cases as ethnic minorities have larger percentages in lower social strata of the society. Couch an upper middle class killed people through drunk driving but used the affluenza defense to escape harsh treatment (Hayes, 2014). On the other hand, Gonzalez was involved in the fatal shooting of a woman in robbery incident gone wrong, and although he was not the one who shot at the woman he was sentenced to life imprisonment without parole. Couch is Caucasian and Gonzalez was of Hispanic extraction, and although both were involved in the death of two innocent people, it is Gonzalez who received harsher treatment. Power and money are intertwined to the extent that the more one has money the more they have power to influence and get favorable sentences.

Jurors also make decisions based on their assumptions and characteristics of the accused, and based on predetermined attitudes. Essentially, the economic status of people determines how the justice systems view the accused on the prisms of social status. The economic status of a person is one of the stereotypes that...

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...hould be considered as reintegration would be easier for them. Looking into the background of offenders creates a more holistic picture of the minors allowing the jury to focus more on rehabilitation. For instance Miller a 14- year old killer was subsequently to have suffered years of abuse and violence in his parent’s home, and he had also tried to commit suicide several times (Dahl). The Eighth Amendment is crucial in the justice system as it spells out prohibition against cruelty and unusual punishment and hence the age of minors should be taken into consideration during convictions. At times, political undertones get in the way of the criminal justice system ‘ with being tough on crime’ being election pledges, but such statements ignore the need to integrate minors from poor background into the mainstream society and rehabilitation through alternative means.