Discrimination In Law

According to dosomething.org studies show that police are more likely to pull over and frisk blacks or Latinos than whites in New York city. 80% of the stops made were blacks and Latinos and 85% of those people were frisked compared to an 8% of white people stopped. This is one example of racial inequality going on today. Racism has many forms but is commonly known as “poor treatment or violence against people because of their race” (source: Merriam Webster). Racism is a very important topic that generally occurs all over the world. It impacts our society by creating a stigma against races. Examples of this are not being able to get certain jobs, and getting less pay than someone of another race and fighting against races . Racism goes against our rights as well. For example the constitution states that “All men are created equal” as well as The Civil Rights Act is a law outlawing racial and other forms of discrimination. Therefore our government is defying right and laws. Although some progress has been made towards racial equality, America still remains a very racist country because people discriminate on your ethnicity, a lot of stereotyping, as well as minorities being looked down upon because of their cultures.

Certain law enforcers with racist ideals will sometimes exploit their position of power unfairly to target black Americans, or “racially profile”. In some cases, especially in conservative states, it’s been known for police departments to advise their officers to suspect race in a key element of determining criminal activity. This detrimental generalization based on race has snowballed out of control, taking to events like the War on Drugs (find an article on the war on drugs and racial discrimination within to support your assertion).

Although saying the criminal justice system is racist is a controversial statement, there is evidence and statistics that prove it to be true. Research and evidence validate the issue of racism to be undeniable. Equality and justice are out of reach with the racism that takes place in our criminal justice system and our country. Racial discrimination is prevalent amongst the African American culture in issues regarding drug use, and incarceration which creates unfair inequality for this race. I will use peer reviewed articles to verify the racial disparity in the criminal justice system.

The topic of whether or not there is racism in the legal system is becoming increasingly debatable among certain groups. The obvious evidence that has been glaring in the faces of the public for decades says it all: the criminal justice system is, and always has been, swayed by racism. Despite this, the opposing side of the argument - which mostly consists of privileged whites – diligently argues that racism was outlawed decades ago. There are also African Americans who are unaware of how their race is constantly being oppressed. However, the younger generation is quickly becoming culturally and politically woke and passing on the knowledge. Although racism is not explicitly stated in the law, racists are still hiding behind the supremacy of the country. White policemen have went as far as mindlessly killing young black people and claiming it was done out of self-defense. White judges will find loopholes in the legal process when dealing with an offense committed by an African American. They are targeting African Americans and punishing them more harshly than the white people who commit crimes.

85% more times that whites. They are only 14% of the drug users in New York but they are 37% of those arrested for drug use. African americans are 2 to 11 times higher to be stopped and searched than whites (Fourteen Examples of Racism in Criminal Justice System). When it comes down to it all minorities have disadvantages when it comes to equality in our justice system?

Instead of being explicitly racist the government and affluent white business owners found various ways to obscure their racism. This can be seen in 1968 when President Reagan signed the Anti-Drug Abuse Act, which was supposed to limit the sale of illegal drugs. The law stated that anyone caught with an illegal substance must serve a mandatory sentence which made sense, but when it came to its execution, the law had harsher penalties in the form of cocaine used by blacks under the facade that it was more fatal than the form used by whites. As reposted by Graham Boyd in the article The Drug War Is the New Jim Crow due to harsh sentencing for drugs crimes, mainly low level offenses , approximately 2 million people are currently serving time in jails and prisons across the United States. This war on drugs has created a new and vastly increasing supply of prisoners over the past decade. Even though America only makes up 5% of the world population, we account for 25% of the world’s prisoners, thus granting us the title of the world’s most dominant

The Criminal Justice system is racist. This topic is important to me because, no one should be treated different no matter their color or race. Everyone who has to deal with the Criminal Justice system should be treated fairly and everyone should have the freedom to express their rights. Overall the entire Criminal Justice system is racist because the vast majority of people getting stopped by U.S police officers are people of color; white people are allowed to make mistakes. At a presidential primary debate the past Martin Luther King day, for instance, President Barack Obama charged that blacks and whites, "are arrested at very different rules, are convicted at different rates, and receive very different sentences for the same crime." Also,

The criminal justice system targets black males more frequently than anyone through the creation of political propaganda such as the war on drugs. This measure was taken to disenfranchise and criminalize black people. Anyone who openly accepts a group of people, would not go through such drastic measures to suppress them. According to an article in the Huffington Post written by Law professor Bill Quigley “whites and blacks engage in drug offenses, possession and sales, at roughly comparable rates…while African Americans comprise 13% of the US population and 14% of monthly drug users they are 37% of the people arrested for drug offenses” (Quigley). This is a systematic measure to ensure the criminalization of black people and is the result of the war on drugs campaign started by President Nixon in 1971.

There isn’t defined systems of law that explicitly differentiates between blacks and whites when it comes to crime, however, statistically wise, race seems to play an important role in sentencing and judgment. According to Social Problems (4th Edition) by John Macionis, “Black males are five times more likely than white males to spend time in jail,” even though numbers indicate majority of the suspect's arrested in “street crimes” are white (150). Another major component in the perceived role race plays in the system of law is poverty, even though blacks make up about 13% of the U.S. population, they have a greater chance of being arrested in comparison to their white counterparts (Macionis, 150) reason being is that impoverished neighborhoods

Black youths arrested for drug possession are 48 times more likely to wind up in prison than white youths arrested for the same crime under the same circumstances. Many people are unaware how constant racism has been throughout the years. It is important to understand the problems of racism because it is relevant to society. Racism in America is very real and Americans need to know it.

Black youths arrested for drug possession are 48 times more likely to wind up in prison than white youths arrested for the same crime under the same circumstances. Many people are unaware how constant racism has been throughout the years. It is important to understand the problems of racism because it is relevant to society. Racism in America is very real and Americans need to know it.

Firstly, people are starting to spread incorrect facts online to make things seem racist. For instance, in the article “7 Statistics That Will Change How You View Racism,” the writer chooses to state that “Juries are prone to racist sentencing,” (Simon). However, this is simply untrue. According to the Bureau of Justice statistics, “In 2008, the offending rate for blacks (24.7 offenders per 100,000) was 7 times higher than the rate for whites (3.4 offenders per 100,000),” (Bureau of Justice 11). This shows that it is physically impossible for courts to be “racist,” since statistically more African-Americans are arrested

Believe it or not racism is a health problem. Discrimination is a stressful life experience that has negative effect on health. Racism is something so serious that it is a health problem that can hurt you. According to the national public radio incorporated , “pregnant women who report high levels of discrimination give birth to babies who are lower in birth weight”. This is a huge problem for pregnant women. It is causing their babies to be born in lower weight , later on that just might be a health problem for that child. And it will be all thanks to someone who just wanted to be rude and disrespectful because the color of someone’s skin. This isn’t just for african americans it’s for anyone that racism is attacking.

The death penalty is racist, and has been applied in racially-discriminated ways. African American men are disproportionately sentenced to capital punishment. It is easier for African Americans to obtain the death penalty, there are poor judgment calls within the criminal justice system. (Commondreams 2016)

The United States of America is ranked number one when it comes to highest prison populations in the world. If we were to examine the prisoners in the facilities, we would find that a very large amount of them are minorities. If we were to take a look at their cases and see what they have been put in prison for as well as their sentences we would most likely find that racism is a large factor when determining their sentence. In many cases an african american male who is charged with possession of marijuana and is on their first offense will be definitely more likely to receive a more severe punishment than if it were a caucasian male.