Ethnicity and the Juvenile Justice System

Racial inequality in the American criminal justice system has a strong effect of many realms of society such as the family life, and employment. Education and race seem to be the most decisive factors when deciding who goes to jail and what age cohort has the greatest percentage chance of incarceration. Going to prison no longer affects just the individual who committed the crime. Instead, the family and community left behind gain a new burden by one individual's actions. The United States still has a large disparity between Whites and Blacks and now a growing Hispanic population. This racial disparity in the educational

Evidence-based studies imply that youth of color are being placed in detention at a higher rate all throughout juvenile justice system not only in Kentucky but, nationwide. Disproportionate minority contact (DMC) in juvenile justice alludes to youth of color being place into the system at a greater rate than their Caucasian counterparts. All races break the law at about the same rate; however, youth of color are arrested, charged and institutionalized at a higher percentage than Caucasians for similar offenses. African-Americans made up 16 percent of all youth in the United States, but constituted 28 percent of youth arrests, 30 percent of referrals to juvenile court, 37 percent of detained youth, 34 percent of youth formally processed by juvenile court, 30 percent of youth adjudicated delinquent, 35 percent of youth judicially waived to criminal court, 38 percent of youth in residential placement, and 58 percent of youth sent to state adult prisons. (Grieshop et al 2009)

The continual hyper-criminalization and racialization exhibited by various institutions against young black and latino boys has run rampant in the last decade. Youth in underprivileged communities across America today are subject to an inevitable web of punishment

In this video Marc Mauer explains the racial disparities in the criminal justice system which are overlooked and continues silently in the criminal justice system. Mauer explains how two teenage boys arrested for shoplifting in different social classes receives different treatment from the criminal justice system. The first teenager has a two parents that are able to send their son to get help. They are able to send him to a social worker. They inform the prosecutor that their son is doing better. The prosecutor decided to drop the charges against the teen because he was able to seek help for his criminal behavior. It is also implied this teenager is white financial stable and not a danger to the community. He is just an average teen who fell into the wrong crowd. Therefore, he has no criminal record and is able to apply for jobs without scrutiny for being arrested as a teen. This teen would also be viewed as a youth that is having environmental problems and would get social dispute resolutions, interventions for acting out in

African American males are overrepresented in the criminal justice and many times are subject to harsher sentences than their Caucasian counterparts. African American males also experience racial profiling and have more negative interactions than any other population in the United States. Ibie, Obie, and Obiyan states, “African Americans have continued to be the repository for American crime and to be treated as amalgamation of presumed group trait rather than as individuals”. This topic is important because African American adolescents are less likely to be referred to rehabilitation or diversion programs and more likely to be sent to juvenile and/or prison. History has not been kind to African Americans and the injustices experienced by African Americans in the criminal justice system is extremely high. According to Weatherspoon, “The Supreme Court condoned and perpetuated many of the present day stereotypical biases concerning African Americans in the landmark decision of Dred Scott v. Sanford”. Over that past few years, with the advent of social media, the world is becoming more aware of the injustices and brutality suffered by African American males in the justice system. Many view this as a new phenomenon, but others know this abuse has always occurred, it is just now there are cameras taping the violence. Many people are waking up to what is occurring, but there are many others who are denial and who refuse to acknowledge the oppression and racism

Racial inequality is growing. Our criminal laws, while facially neutral, are enforced in a manner that is massively and pervasively biased. My research will examine the U.S. criminal justice policies and how it has the most adverse effect on minorities. According to the Justice Department’s Bureau of Justice Statistics, out of a total population of 1,976,019 incarcerated in adult facilities, 1,239,946 or 63 percent are

“The system is not fair. Institutional racism is alive and well in the juvenile justice system as it is in the criminal justice system, due to racial disparity and bias in the court room” (Jones, Bridgett). This is a statement that plagues many people involved in the justice systems. There are huge racial disparities throughout the world. Post-Slavery: the early development of the Race/Crime Connection, Profiling: Racializing possible cause, and differential bias involvement as well as institutional racism. We can work on having better policies and procedures driven into police practices and we need to make sure people of color are not excluded from juries to stop most of the disparity.

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.

At the prosecution stage, African Americans are subject to racially biased charges and plea agreements (TLC, 2011). African Americans are less likely to have their charges dismissed or reduced or to receive any kind of alternate sentencing than their white counterparts (TLC, 2011). In the last stage, the finding of guilt and sentencing, the decisions of jurors may be affected by race (Toth et al, 2008) African Americans receive racially discriminatory sentences from judges (TLC, 2011). A New York study from 1990 to 1992 revealed one-third of minorities would have receive a lesser sentence if they were treated the same as white and there would have been a 5 percent decrease in African Americans sent to prison during that time period if they had received the same probation privileges (TLC, 2011). African Americans receive death sentences more than whites who have committed similar crimes (Toth et al, 2008). Because of the unfair treatment from the beginning to the end of the justice system there is an over represented amount of African Americans in prison (Toth et al, 2008). Some of the problems faced by African Americans in prison are gangs, racial preferences given to whites, and unfair treatment by prison guards (Toth et al, 2008).

Armour and Hammond (2009) point to an assortment of explanations that have emerged for the disproportionate treatment of minorities including jurisdictional issues, certain police practices, punitive juvenile crime legislation of the 1990s, and perceived racial bias in the system. Often the outcome of criminal allegations can depend on the jurisdiction in which the youth is processed according to the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP). Research indicates cases adjudicated in urban areas are more likely to result in harsher results than similar cases adjudicated in non-urban areas. Another contributing factor may come from the geographic effect. Minority populations are concentrated in urban areas; this may work to over represent minorities in the juvenile justice system. Another contributing factor related to urbanization is the location and visibility of minority youth crimes.

Research shows that African Americans and Latinos have been the victims of racial profiling by the criminal justice system. African Americans and Latinos are at a higher risk of being arrested, prosecuted and sentenced that Whites. The main cause of racial disparities occurs because law enforcement agencies believe that African Americans and Latinos are at high risk of engaging in crime and violence. During prosecutions and court hearings, the jury and judges give harsher sentences to minority groups. As a result, minorities view the criminal justice system as unjust since it favors whites. This research paper reviews relevant literature to show white privileges and racial disparities in the criminal justice system. Additionally, the paper provides linkages between racial disparities in the United States criminal justice system and the law. In this regard, the main objective of the research paper is to give detailed insights on racial discriminations in the criminal justice system.

The Mass Incarceration in the United States is a major topic of discussion in our society and has raised many questions about our criminal justice system. There are few topics disputed as much in criminal justice as the relationship between race, ethnicity, and criminal outcomes. Specifically, the large disparities that minorities face regarding incarceration in our country. Minorities such as Hispanics and African Americans are sentenced at far higher rates than their white counterparts. There are multiple factors that influence this such as the judicial system, racial profiling by law enforcement, and historical biases (Kamula, Clark-Coulson, Kamula, 2010). Additionally, the defendants race was found to be highly associated with either a jail or prison sentence; with the “odds increasing 29 percent for black defendants, and 44 percent for Hispanic defendants” (King, Johnson, McGeever, 2010).

When thinking of reforming the juvenile justice system one has to think; what can we do to make this better for everyone involve? There are some programs that can be implemented when trying to make a change in the juvenile system. The main thing is getting parents or the guardian more involved in the child’s whereabouts. Secondly the community where the youth will have a place to go and have something more constructive to do to keep them out of trouble. Law enforcement can get involved in giving ride along and having visits to the local jails or prisons from the youth to talk to some of the inmates. Crime in life isn’t racist at all it has a no age limit, no certain gender and no social status for most of those whom decide to partake in a criminal activity. From the beginning juveniles have been an issue with law enforcement, the question has always arisen of whom will take control without cruel and unusual punishment and assist with the rehabilitation and prevention future crime actions.

This essay will explore whether there is equality in the criminal justice system. It aims to look at statistics, legislation and studies from the past 30-40 years to get a thorough analysis of the processes and experiences different races in particular black and ethnic minority youths have been through within the criminal justice system.

Minorities are being sentence to jail for harsher punishment more than whites in the United States. In this disparity of the justice system, young white males between the ages of 18-29 were 38% less likely to be sentences to prison than black men of the same age group (Kansal, 2005). According to Kansal (2005) “ Young uneducated or unemployed African American and Hispanic males are more likely to serve longer sentences and, have a