Disparity and Discrimination Essay

The criminal justice system is a set of organizations and procedures set up by governments to control wrongdoing and force punishments on the individuals who disregard the laws. The main frameworks are state and federal. The state criminal justice systems handle wrongdoings perpetrated inside their state limits and government, the federal criminal system handles violations carried out on federal property or in more than one state. This system is supposed to be equal yet the nature of offenses, differential policing policies and practices, sentencing laws and biases are possible contributors to disparities in the system. The severity of the offense, prior record, age and education level are also taking into account when a decision is being made. Our prison system today varies immensely with ascending numbers of minority groups jailed within the system. Racial and ethnic imbalances continue in the United States and no disparity is more evident than that found in the criminal justice system. Disparity usually refers to a difference that is unfair, disparity in the criminal justice system stems from racial disparity which concludes that the proportion of a racial ethnic group within the control of the system is greater than the population of that group outside that control.

America has had discrimination against minorities for a long time and it will continue to have it until people treat minorities with respect. Discrimination is when people treat minorities bad because of their skin color, ethnicity and the place they were born. For immigrants, the problems they had to arrive to America were not a good experience only by the struggle to gain acceptance among the population. Most immigrants came to the U.S. to have a better life and give education to their children. Almost all immigrants have experienced discrimination at some point in their life and even some are still experiencing it today. Most Latinos don’t have a choice but to deal with it because they know they are illegal and they can’t say anything

Racism is defined as prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism directed against someone of a different race based on the belief that one's own race is superior. In the workforce, the issue of racism and discrimination has been brought to the center of conversations around the world. Companies claim to be “colorblind” and not hire somebody based on their race or gender, but the employment rates among minorities and women around the world is significantly lower than the majority in the given country. There is also the growing issue of minorities, such as blacks in america, making significantly less money than whites. This issue affects people all around the world who happen

The diversity issue focused on in this paper will be racial disparity in sentencing. This paper will also focus on some of the reasons why racial disparity exists within sentencing. One of the research methods used in this paper will be case studies. In society today there are a diversity of citizens, of offenders, and leaders within in the court system. However, race still plays a big role in the Criminal Justice system especially during the sentencing portion. Although racial dynamics may have changed over time, race still exerts an undeniable presence in sentencing process. This ranges from disparate traffic stops due to racial profiling to imposition of the death penalty based on the race of

When it comes to holding drugs or weapons in a vehicle, law enforcement officers find more illegal items in white people’s vehicles. According to an article written by Jeff Guo, “Between 2009 and 2013, Chicago police stopped over 200,000 white drivers, but only searched 906, of which 237 had contraband. Of those searched, that’s a hit rate of 26 percent. In that same time period, they stopped over 300,000 black drivers, searched 6,593 of them, and found contraband in 1,232 cases. That’s a hit rate of 19 percent” (Guo). The statistics given above show that officers are more likely to check for illegal items in a minorities’ vehicle rather than a white person’s vehicle.

The intersection of racial dynamics with the criminal justice system is one of longstanding duration. In earlier times, courtrooms in many jurisdictions were comprised of all white decision-makers. Today, there is more diversity of leadership in the court system, but race still plays a critical role in many

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.

The existence of racial disparity and structural inequality within the criminal justice system renders the concept of true justice for all unobtainable. The statistics of convictions and prison sentences by race definitely support the concept that discrimination is a problem in the justice system as well as the insignificantly number of minority judges and lawyers. There are a multitude of circumstances that influence these statistics according to the “Central Eight” criminogenic risk factors. The need for programs and methods to effectively deter those at risk individuals has never been greater and the lack of such programs is costing society in countless ways.

From discrimination to prejudice, from explicit bias to implicit bias, from Jim Crow laws to the current American criminal justice system, there have been many changes, but the outcome has essentially remained the same: racial discrimination. Racial discrimination is treating someone differently only due to one’s race. Although it is said to be illegal in current times,it is still implemented through new techniques such as the modern criminal justice systems. Michelle Alexander discusses in her book, The New Jim Crow, how the current criminal justice system and mass incarceration are a viable analogy to “Jim Crow.” The analogy is apparent through the laws, historical examples, and current affairs as well.

Since Plessy v. Ferguson in 1896, the criminal justice system of the United States has moved past racial discrimination greatly. With the election of President Obama in 2008, it would be easier to say that discrimination no longer exists in the criminal justice system. However, despite the progress that people of colour have made in society, there still exists a great racial disparity that can be seen through the rising trends of the sentencing and incarceration of minorities.

Short Answer: Some of the key historical events that are referenced most often in regard to racial disparity include the unarmed beating of Rodney King, the racial profiling of a black Harvard professor, and the many unwarranted shootings and deaths of black men across the nation. But for these few named instances, these are the ones that are indicative of the many differences that mold the way the criminal justice system is perceived in society today. Eliminating critical criminal disparities within the criminal justice system should be one of many practices that should be addressed. These consequences are adverse effects of some form of disproportional involvement. There

It has been accounted that in the United States, such discrimination has been seen to exist from the initial stages of criminal justice. This is based on the realization that in

“One. The police stop blacks and Latinos at rates that are much higher than whites. In New York City, where people of color make up about half of the population, 80% of the NYPD stops were of blacks and Latinos. When whites were stopped, only 8% were frisked (Quigley, 2010).” Police stops are a very common effect on society. It isn’t fair that police don’t hold everyone accountable the same way. Not every cop is that way but there are that selected few who still have that racist mindset and hold it against innocent people. It’s no secret that in New York especially, there is a lot of crime and gang activity produced by different minority groups in the city. However, The facts does not provide a good reason that in routine stops are people of color targeted and frisked down compared to

Today, a serious problem exists all over the world. Racial oppression takes place in the poorest and the richest countries, including America. Racial oppression is characterized by the majority, or the ruling race, imposing its beliefs, values, and laws on the minority, or the ruled race. In most areas, the ruling race is upper class whites that run the “system”, and have a disproportionate amount of power. In other areas, it may not be the white race, but it is still the race that is comprised of the majority, makes the laws, or has the most money. These are the keys to domination over the weaker minorities that don’t have the power to thrive under the majority’s system according to their own cultural beliefs,

Prejudice is the negative attitude based on false generalizations about members of different racial and ethnic groups. From prejudice, discrimination is born. We all are guilty of discriminating other people, but one can only speculate the factors that bring about this hatred towards one another. Although a single cause cannot account for the presence of racism, factors such as socialization, self-justification, and competition are a few human attributes that lead to acts of racial discrimination.