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Ethnic and Racial Inequalities in the Justice System There are many ethnic differences in each stage of the justice system. In order to be able to prove these it is important to break the system down, and evaluate it bit by bit, showing the possible signs of ethnic differences. Firstly Policing, Philips and Bowling (2007) have noted that in the 1970’s there have been many accusations of oppressive policing if minority ethnic communities. These have included mass stop and search operations, police violence and failure to respond to racist violence. It has been known that members of ethnic minority groups are more likely to be stopped and searched by the police. Police are able to use this “power” if they have “reasonable suspicion”. Compared to white people, black people are seven times more likely to be stopped and searched, and Asian people are over twice as likely. All under the Terrorism Act (2000) police can stop and search persons or vehicles whether or not the have reasonable suspicion. Statistics for 2006/07 show that Asians were over three times more likely to be...
Stop and Frisk is a procedure put into use by the New York Police Department that allows an officer to stop and search a “suspicious character” if they consider her or him to be. The NYPD don’t need a warrant, or see you commit a crime. Officers solely need to regard you as “suspicious” to violate your fourth amendment rights without consequences. Since its Beginning, New York City’s stop and frisk program has brought in much controversy originating from the excessive rate of arrest. While the argument that Stop and Frisk violates an individual’s fourth amendment rights of protection from unreasonable search and seizure could definitely be said, that argument it’s similar to the argument of discrimination. An unfair number of Hispanics and
While the stop and frisk program ultimately seems like a great idea and that it will help residents of New York City feel safer while on the streets, there has been much controversy with this program. The issue of racial profiling is largely discussed when talking about NYPD’s stop and frisk program. Besides police officers targeting lower income neighborhoods, more stops are of African Americans or Latinos than of whites. These stops often end up with a higher arrest rate. Of the 685,784 stopped last year, 92% were male and 87% were African American or Latino (Devereaux, 2012).
One of the biggest reason stop-and-frisk should be abolished is in hopes to decrease such blatant racial profiling that has been going on under the name of “stop-and-frisk”. In 2007, 55% of the people stopped in New York were blacks and 30% were Hispanic (“Update: Crime and Race”). When checked again in 2011 a total of 685,000 people were stopped by the police of that 685,000, 52.9% were African Americans, 33.7% were Latino, and 9.3% were white (“Racial Profiling”). There is a story of an innocent victim of the stop-and-frisk policy, a man by the name of Robert Taylor. Police in Torrance stopped the elderly man and claimed he fit the description of a suspect that was linked to a robbery. But there was one simple problem; Taylor is a light complexioned, tall, 60 year-old man and the suspect was believed to be a short, dark complexioned, stocky man in his thirties; nothing like Taylor at all (Hutchinson). His shows that the police do not always stop people based on the right reasons, they tend to stop people based on the color of thei...
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.
There is considerable evidence that minorities and police are not in agreement on many issues, and the blame is being shifted from all parties involved. The police feel that they are fair in their treatment of minorities, but the evidence in many instance prove otherwise. When we view articles on the arrests of minorities versus whites, you will notice a variation in how various nationalities are treated. When reading the newspaper, you will see the photograph of a minority with previous criminal history and other issues outlined. This to me is done to paint a picture that shows the accused is already known for violating the law.
Sentencing disparity refers to the differences in sentences that are passed down in the same instances. This can happen on a variety of fronts. It can occur with judges, in different states, states v. federal, different prosecutors, among different victims, etc. (Criminal – Sentencing…2017 p.4) A more specific definition from USLegal.com states that, “Sentence disparity refers to an inequality in criminal sentencing which is the result of unfair or unexplained causes, rather than a legitimate use of discretion in the application of the law.”. There are a variety of ways that sentencing disparity affects the justice system. There are three factors that disparity looms around; they are gender disparity, racial disparity, and age disparity. (4
In modern-day America the issue of racial discrimination in the criminal justice system is controversial because there is substantial evidence confirming both individual and systemic biases. While there is reason to believe that there are discriminatory elements at every step of the judicial process, this treatment will investigate and attempt to elucidate such elements in two of the most critical judicial junctures, criminal apprehension and prosecution.
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.
Race does have a role in wrongful convictions especially when it comes to sexual assaults. The criminal justice system, unfortunately, has a lot more work to do when it comes to making sure the right people are being punished for crimes that they commit. The criminal justice system needs to make sure potential suspects are not being coerced or tricked into falsely confessing. When it comes to eyewitnesses, their confidence levels should be tested frequently as well as making sure estimator factors are being taken more seriously. If a witnesses’ confidence level is not high, then their identification should not be the only thing convicted someone. Societal norms will always create labels and strains for people who are not living up to standards
The main purpose of this article is to look at the possible link between race and exoneration, and how race and wrongful convictions lead to the exonerations. There were three reasons that the authors chose this topic to research. The first reason was the research previously done in the field show racial biased in the criminal justice system. This paper looks at how that effects wrongful conviction and the subsequent exoneration. The second reason is because if there is an innocent person in prison that means that the real culprit is still out there, and more than likely committing more crimes. The third reason is racial composition of the dyad, victim and the perpetrator. This article is the first to mention the dyad and the authors focus on that in their discussion of wrongful conviction. This article is a very insightful look at the problem of the racial bias in the system that leads to wrongful conviction and how that leads to exoneration. It effectively explains the causes of wrongful convictions and how race affects those causes, especially how the dyad is incorporated in it.
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
In order to be able to implement positive change in the United States (U.S.) Justice System, it is vital that her citizens generate a solid understanding of the many different cultures that exist in the U.S. and have an understanding of the social diversity that exists in the U.S. Furthermore, social diversity and multiculturalism are variables that must be addressed within the U.S. as a whole and more specifically within the justice system. It’s vital for all U.S. citizens and their respective cultures to be open and willing to settle cultural and individual differences. Therefore, Americans must be willing to utilize openness and exercise the ability to compromise in order to resolve the differences that exist. In the event, Americans
In this paper, I propose to talk about how all the three parts of the criminal justice system works and also delve a little bit on the issue of racism in context of the criminal justice system as a lot of people believe that the system most of the times acts keeping the individual’s race in mind.
The white people are referred to as the dominant racial group. They believe that police are on their side and that they have a good relationship with them that entitles them to valuable resources. They have become afraid of losing their privileges to minority groups because of the public’s hate for racial profiling. People are arguing that valuable resources are being wasted searching people who pose no threat rather than investigating those that do (Holbert & Rose, 2004, pgs.
Many across this country are blaming race on why young, unemployed African-Americans and Hispanics seem to pay a higher punishment than other groups of offenders. Jacobs and Kkleban (2003) even say that minorities are treated differently worldwide in the criminal justice system. It’s not that simple to blame it solely on racial discrimination. In her lecture, Williams (2015) says “A predominately White Congress has mandated that prison sentences for the possession and distribution of crack cocaine are 100 times more severe than the penalties for possession of the same amounts of powder cocaine.” McNamara and Burns (2009) take it even further and say that states simply turn the cases over to the federal government to get the higher