Discrimination and racial disparities are a part of every stage within the U.S. criminal justice system, from policing to trial to sentencing. The United States is the world’s leading jailer with 2.2 million people behind bars. Perhaps no single reason has contributed more to racial disparities in the criminal justice system than the so-called “War on Drugs” which many people believe was a thinly disguise veil for racism on African-American. Even though racial and other ethnic groups use and sell drugs at roughly the same rate, Blacks and Hispanics are punished more and harshly by the system forming 62 percent of those in state prisons for first drug offenses, and 72.1 percent of all persons sentenced for federal drug trafficking offenses …show more content…
Racism in the criminal justice system apparent and never will be addressed properly I say this because when you take a look at the case of Clarence Brandley in 1990. He was released after spending nearly a decade on Texas’ death row for a crime he did not commit. The misconduct in that case involved every level of government, from the police who threatened witnesses to prevent them from testifying for Brandley, to the trial judge and the prosecutor who held secret meetings to rehearse objections and rulings, to the state attorney general who lied about the results of a lie detector test. Racism enabled Texas’ officials to pursue Mr. Brandley with such a single-minded disregard for facts, fairness human decency and basic justice was that the victim in the case was a white school girl who had been raped and murdered (Curtis et al., 1987). These officials refused to do their obligated job and find the murderer of this girl, but instead chose to pin and railroad an innocent man solely because the color of his skin. This is a prime example of no matter how many decades past by racism in the United States will not …show more content…
Unequal treatment of minorities characterizes every stage of the process. This the price that is paid in order to keep this false fallacy of justice while African and Hispanic Americans, and other minority groups, are victimized by disproportionate targeting and unfair treatment by police and other law enforcement officials; by racially skewed charging and plea bargaining decisions of prosecutors; by discriminatory sentencing practices; and by the failure of judges, elected officials and other criminal justice policy makers to redress the inequities that become more glaring every
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
Many would argue that the reason why the incarceration rate for African Americans is sustainably higher compared to white American is because of economic situations, and because of past arrest patterns. While it is true that the economic opportunity someone has will affect their decisions, this argument doesn’t fully explain the real reason of why the rates are higher. To fully understand the reason why one must look back on America’s history and how African Americans were treated. The past arrest patterns do not explain why the gap continues to increase, however it is clear that the past arrest patterns is more an indicator of institutional racism that exists in this country. One study found that African Americans believe the reason for the high incarceration rates is becau...
The question becomes that, after all the progress we’ve made as a society, why do we still allow racism to exist, especially in our criminal justice system? The Sentencing Project, a non-profit organization that promotes changes in sentencing policies and fights against unjust racial practices, conducted a report in July 2009 and found that non-whites made up two-thirds of the people in the US with life sentences (Quigley, “Fourteen Examples of Racism in Criminal Justice System”). Our society is built upon the idea that whites are superior to all other races and, because of this, we may never be able to fully erase racism. However, we can try. Despite what these and other criticisms say, I believe that all humans are equal in all aspects of life, and that race cannot take away a person’s right to live happily and healthily in this world. Although we have come very far, we still have a long way to go. Our efforts will be worth it the day that jail sentences are based on the crime, not the race of the
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).
This research essay discusses racial disparities in the sentencing policies and process, which is one of the major factors contributing to the current overrepresentation of minorities in the judicial system, further threatening the African American and Latino communities. This is also evident from the fact that Blacks are almost 7 times more likely to be incarcerated than are Whites (Kartz, 2000). The argument presented in the essay is that how the laws that have been established for sentencing tend to target the people of color more and therefore their chances of ending up on prison are higher than the whites. The essay further goes on to talk about the judges and the prosecutors who due to different factors, tend to make their decisions
We can see many examples of how race and ethnicity impacts our justice system on every level. For instance, we can see its impact in our courts in terms of prosecution and sentencing. We can even see it in our prisons more specifically in confinement. We see that there is a huge disparity amongst non-minorities and minorities. The two are sentenced differently, they are housed in different areas in our prisons. They are prosecuted differently as well. Many may argue that it is an issue of the past, and many argue otherwise. There are lots of studies that show how much of an issue race and ethnicity is in our justice system, while there are other studies that show that race is not an issue. Race and ethnicity may not be as overt and in your face as it has been in the past, but it still sticks out in our justice system. We as a society can combat the issue, but it will take a lot of time and participation from everyone to combat
The criminal justice system is full of inequality and disparities among race, gender, and class. From policing neighborhoods, and the ongoing war on drugs, to sentencing, there are underlying biases and discriminatory practices in the criminal justice system that impacts minority communities and groups. Fueled by stereotypes and generalizations, it is important to identify and discuss what crimes take place and who actually makes it up.
The past quarter century of American history has been profoundly impacted by the “war on drugs.” Ever since the Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act of 1970 was passed by President Richard Nixon, the number of yearly incarcerations for drug violations has grown exponentially. America’s drug policies have cost billions of dollars and imprisoned hundreds of thousands of Americans, yet rates of drug, property, and violent crime have failed to decrease. Yassaman Saadatmand summates the consequences of Nixon’s policies: “Not only has the drug war failed to reduce violent and property crime, but it has also shifted criminal justice resources (the police, courts, prisons, probation officers, etc.) away from directly fighting violent and property crime.” The issue is further complicated by racial inequalities in the rates of drug use and crime. Whereas Whites consist the majority of the population of any state, they are outnumbered by African-Americans in both state and federal prisons (E. Ann Carson 2013). This incongruity is paralleled with many other races, such as an overrepresentation of Native Americans and an underrepresentation of Asians in rates of drug use. What causes this imbalance? What purpose do the higher rates of incarceration for certain minorities serve? As this topic is explored, it becomes evident that the racial disparity in drug crime is perpetuated by America’s legacy of bigotry and racism, capitalism, and a cycle of poverty.
Firstly, a person’s race comes into play too often. People of color are more likely to entangle themselves in the justice system. Consider that the arrest rate and disparity of African American and Hispanic people are much higher. Police “stops and searches” are proof of racial profiling. A study conducted in Connecticut proved the racial disparity by showing that more people of specific races are pulled over during the day, but not at night because they cannot be seen. Also, a glimpse at the people serving time provides a vivid example of the racial inequalities seen throughout legal situations. When the Brown vs Board of Education case was won, there was around 100,000 African Americans in jail and currently there are at least 800,00 in prison. Black men are six times more likely to get incarcerated as white men and Hispanics are 2.3 times more likely (“18 Examples of”). Additionally, before the sentencing even begins these individuals are at a disadvantage. These communities have worse odds of making bail, in contrast to white defendants. This implies that they include the greater parts of those who are imprisoned before their trial even begins, placing even the innocent in jail for longer than needed. Overall, a person’s race or skin color should not produce a lower quality of
Racial disparity in drug related convictions has been a wide spread problem in the United States since the War on Drugs in the early 1980s. It was prevalent before that time, but minorities became the target of drug related crimes in startling numbers at this time. There are several hypotheses for this alarming situation, but the bottom line remains that racism is the leading cause of racial disparity in drug related convictions. Minorities from inner cities, with low-incomes and socioeconomic statuses who get caught in a downward spiral, are the easiest targets for the government to point the finger at for drug problems in the United States. The statistics will show that while more White people use illicit drugs in the United States, more African Americans and other minorities will be convicted, and more harshly than their White counterparts, for the same crimes.
These authors’ arguments are both well-articulated and comprehensive, addressing virtually every pertinent concept in the issue of explaining racially disparate arrest rates. In The Myth of a Racist Criminal Justice System, Wilbanks insists that racial discrimination in the criminal justice system is a fabrication, explaining the over-representation of African Americans in arrest numbers simply through higher incidence of crime. Walker, Spohn and DeLone’s The Color of Justice dissents that not only are African Americans not anywhere near the disproportionate level of crime that police statistics would indicate, they are also arrested more because they are policed discriminately. Walker, Spohn and DeLone addi...
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.
Discrimination against the minority population is a major problem in the United States society’s justice system. There are many examples where African American and low-income minorities are treated differently and not given the chance to prove their innocence. The law enforcement promises to treat all men or women equal opportunity, but the same system has put 120,000 innocent African Americans in prison. While most of them still remain in prisons, injustice by law enforcements is still a burden to the minorities in America. Moreover, wrongful conviction is a horrible injustice when a person spends years in jail. This is getting recognized by the U.S. system but often late. In many cases by the time a person is proven innocent, he or she might
The majority of our prison population is made up of African Americans of low social and economic classes, who come from low income houses and have low levels of education. The chapter also discusses the amount of money the United States loses yearly due to white collar crime as compared to the cost of violent crime. Another main point was the factors that make it more likely for a poor person to be incarcerated, such as the difficulty they would have in accessing adequate legal counsel and their inability to pay bail. This chapter addresses the inequality of sentencing in regards to race, it supplies us with NCVS data that shows less than one-fourth of assailants are perceived as black even though they are arrested at a much higher rate. In addition to African Americans being more likely to be charged with a crime, they are also more likely to receive harsher punishments for the same crimes- which can be seen in the crack/cocaine disparities. These harsher punishments are also shown in the higher rates of African Americans sentenced to
When a person of color is being sentenced the unjustness of sentencing is blatantly shown such as in the article Race Sentencing and Testimony which stated, “ These scholars conclude that black male arrestees “face significantly more severe charges conditional on arrest offense and other observed characteristics” and attribute this primarily to prosecution charging decisions” (Mauer 4). This piece of writing explains that for no other reason than race do these people get convicted far more significantly than others who have the same charge but are white, which continues as far as giving a person of color the max sentence that they can have on a certain charge just for the color of their skin. The justice system has turned into the opposite of what it claims to be and continues to grow as a racist overseer, bashing down on those that they believe should be punished as harshly as possible simply for the color of their skin. The system has gone as deep as to making it so that even if a person has not committed a crime, but are being charged for it they can agree to a plea bargain, which makes it so even though the person did not do it the system is going to have them convicted of it anyway (Quigley 1). “As one young man told me ‘who wouldn’t rather do three years for a crime they didn’t commit than risk twenty-five years