How Law Enforcement Affects Minorities

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.

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

There is a large racial disparity with unjust arrests in America. African Americans are discriminated and racially profiled more than any other race within the criminal justice system (Slate, 2015). The main goals of the criminal justice system are to prevent and control crime and to achieve justice (Crime&Justice International, 1997). However, according to the ‘American Progress’, “people of color, particularly African Americans and Latinos are unfairly targeted by the police and face harsher prison sentences compared to other races, particularly white Americans (American Progress, 2015). Although the criminal justice is to provide equal justice to all of its citizens, African Americans tend to not receive the same justice. Specifically, African

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

In this paper I will illustrate racial disparity in sentencing in the criminal justice system. The causes of racial disparity and the reasons it is on the rise, the research statistics, and the proposed solutions are discussed.

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.

Few in this country would argue with the fact that the United States criminal justice system possesses discrepancies which adversely affect Blacks in this country. Numerous studies and articles have been composed on the many facets in which discrimination, or at least disparity, is obvious. Even whites are forced to admit that statistics indicate that the Black community is disproportionately affected by the American legal system. Controversy arises when the issue of possible causes of, and also solutions to, these variations are discussed. It’s not just black versus white, it is white versus white, and white versus oriental, whatever the case may be, and it is not justice. If we see patterns then the judges should have the authority to say something. Jury nullifications cannot be overturned regardless of the cause. Exclusionary rule, according to CULS (2010) – Prevents the government from using most evidence gathered in violation of U.S. Constitution; like unreasonable search and seizure (Fourth Amendment).

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).

This research paper is on racial discrimination in our criminal justice system. Unfortunately racism does exist in our criminal justice system, with our police department, jails and court system. In the police department there's a lot of racial profiling blacks over whites. In our jails more African American are being treating worse than white inmates. Also in our court system blacks are giving more time to serve than whites.

The purpose of my project is to study and learn how race influences the legal justice system issues such as punitive crime policy, contact with law enforcement officers, etc. I intend to research some of the history of crime policy in the U.S. and whether or not racial discrimination bias within the legal justice system, and if racial neutrality is even possible. I will begin my research using the school library and academic sources, such as books and peer-reviewed scholarly journal articles, as well as educational web sources. I will specifically use sources that high point the racial and prejudice inequalities found within the legal justice system, and that suggest critical and sociological clarifications for those incongruences. My hypothesis is that I will discovery that racial bias in the legal justice system has produced some of the racial inequalities that exist and that racial neutrality within the legal system is unlikely.

Umsted, Zane A. "Deterring Racial Bias In Criminal Justice Through Sentencing." Iowa Law Review 100.1 (2014):

Race is a contributing factor especially when crime and the law are involved. Race plays a critical role in sentencing an individual and how much attention the individual will receive. Deborah Peagler was a black woman who was a victim of domestic violence and was incarcerated for the murder of her abuser. The district attorneys (DA) office nor the court or judge took into consideration that she was a battered woman looking for a way out. The DA’s office had evidence that would be instrumental in releasing and or giving Deborah a lesser sentence. They however never presented this information in court and prosecuted her with insufficient evidence. In the reading Defining Racism by Tatum (2008) I learned that the United States “system operates to the advantage of whites and to the disadvantage of people of color”(p.7). Prejudice is what the system is basing their decisions off of. White people are in advantage because of their social status and the amount of influence or power they can have over someone. On the contrary people of color become easy targets because of their limited resources. They institutionalize people of color with and by racial policies that have been a key factor in discovering how Deborah had been incarcerated for a crime

Although it may appear that systemic discrimination and racism have decreased in recent years, in reality, many minority individuals are negatively affected by the actions of the police, and the miscarriages of justice carried out in the Canadian court system even today. Even though stringent guidelines are in

In the United States, race has played a long and significant role in the criminal justice system. Whether on topics of criminality, mass incarceration, arrests, sentencing, or the death penalty, the impact of race is often discussed. Race is also a considerable factor in rape and sexual assault cases. The 2008