Pros And Cons Of Impoverished In America

First, there is a huge number of poor people in America being affected by the government mistreating them. In the article, “How the Poor Are Made to Pay for Their Poverty,” Barbara Ehrenreich shows the difficulty of being poor in America. Ehrenreich states, “Being poor itself is not yet a crime, but in at least a third of the states, being in debt can now land you in jail” (381). The government makes it even harder for people struck by poverty. It seems law enforcement singles out poor people and fines them for ridiculous things such as, not being able to pay for their children education, having a messy yard, or littering. Also, Ehrenreich notes, “If we take an extremely low ball $200 per misdemeanor, and bear in mind that 80-90% of criminal offenses are committed by people who are officially indigent, them local governments are using law enforcement to

Throughout the riveting and eye-opening memoir, Just Mercy, by influential lawyer Bryan Stevenson readers are given a real insight on the predominance of racial minorities on crime sentencings. He opens up on the taboo topics of prejudice and sentencing the poor and weak simply because it’s convenient. This is re-affirmed through New York Times article by Shaila Dewan, “Court by Court, Lawyers Fight Policies that Fall Heavily on the Poor,” where she point blank states “[the justice system] is waging a guerilla campaign to reserve what they consider unconstitutional practices that penalize the poor.” In addition to both of these sources, the video “Keeping the Poor Out of Jail” by Kassie Bracken and Jessica Naudziunas, two Harvard law school students, upholds the same beliefs about inequality as they take on local justice systems and current policies targeting the poor. Although the fourteenth amendment states no state shall deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws poverty remains to be an exception to some degree. Those living in poverty lack the same equality as the rest of the US, not being given fair chances in trials or overly punished for their lack of resources. There needs to be an improvement in our justice system so we can eliminate the injustice on the impoverished, whether it be a more involved state-provided lawyer or an adequate, unbiased, and

Economic status is a relevant aspect in the experience of punishment. To an individual who sternly believes that the American justice system entitles every person to the same standard of due process, the previously mentioned idea is blasphemous. Unfortunately, the concept is false. The American justice system does not equally accommodate the needs of criminals placed on trial. Class is relevant in the experience of punishment only because economic inequality is barely recognized in the formulation and carrying out of prison sentences. The foundation of this unjust punishment is laid down at the trial, where disadvantaged individuals find themselves the victims of stereotypes, poor legal representation and haphazard verdicts. Once imprisoned, lower class criminals become immersed in an environment which mimics the troubled circumstances that originally led them to commit crime. Having received an ineffective sentence, convicts return to their poor communities and are expected to reintegrate into society without proper treatment.

Mass Incarceration is a growing dilemma in the United States that populates our prisons at an alarming rate. Michelle Alexander is a professor at Ohio State University and a graduate of Stanford law school. She states in her award winning book, The new Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness “In less than thirty years, the U.S. penal population exploded from around 300,000 to more than 2 million” (Alexander, 6). These young men and women are unable to afford a decent lawyer because they come from such a poverty-stricken background. Men and women are at a financial disadvantage in our justice system. Lawyers and attorneys cost a fortune and most people can just simply not afford them. Others plead to their charges because

In recent decades, low-income Americans have been facing the consequences of living in a country whose criminal justice system is greatly influenced by skewed prosecution dynamics, and whose structural discrepancies continue to encourage the mass incarceration phenomenon that affects millions of individuals today. At rates higher than Russia and China, the U.S is incarcerating an entire portion of its population based on irrelevant criteria such as affluence and race. The harsh reality that both, poverty-stricken individuals and prison inmates face today, indicate a dire need for systematic change, and should encourage citizens to become informed members of society. As citizens have come together, and government officials become involved, many reforms have been introduced and passed which are conducive to a more restorative approach to justice.

According to the United States Census Bureau, about 14% of the population lives in poverty. African Americans make up the majority of the population that suffer from poverty, the rate is 24.1%. The second highest percentage is made up of the Hispanic population, at about 21.4%. There is no doubt that the majority of the population living in poverty is made up of minorities. “Whites” make up only about 9.1% of the population. Being poor is caused because of the criminal justice system failing to acknowledge the lack of equality within the system. The book argues that the only ones that are being punished are the “poor and dangerous”.

In the New York Times article, “A Mockery of Justice for the Poor,” the author discusses how the poor are cheated in the criminal justice system. By law, it is mandatory that the government provides an attorney to any defendant facing possible prison time, even if he or she cannot afford one. However, there are underlying fees that must be paid despite these people being poor. John Pfaff mentions how 43 states are now requiring indigent defendants to pay at least a portion of their lawyers’ fees, even though they had to be appointed one in the first place. Those who do qualify as indignant may be able to be acquitted, however, they could be convicted for failing to pay for the legal services the Constitution requires the states to provide for the defendants. Not to mention, spending money on attorneys for the poor amounts to only $2.3 billion – barely even 1% of the $200 billion the government spends annually on the criminal justice system (Pfaff 2016). Not surprisingly, public defenders who are appointed to these cases are often stripped of resources while tackling multiple other assignments at the same time.

Imagine a day that you are feeling comfy in your pajamas so you start walking outside to the store and a police stopped you. How would you react when you realized the police suspected you to be poor and homeless? Well, this happens to several people in the United States especially those who are low income and struggle financially. It doesn’t end with a stop and frisk, but spending a day or more in jail, which can have the person be in debt to the state.

Lauter states that American attitudes toward the poor and skepticism about government's efforts to end poverty are varied among different races and social groups. According to an updated survey that The Times conducted 30 years ago, people's belief and perception about poverty have remained the same despite changes in society and economic status. The contrasting opinions about poverty problems and the impact of government programs are mainly divided into two groups. The first one is Donald Trump's supporters. Most of them are blue-collar, white Americans, who believe that there are many jobs available for the poor and that government antipoverty programs only make them become more dependent and want to stay on welfare. The second group is Hillary

This article convinces me that injustice such as this shouldn’t be tolerated just because you don’t have the wealth to pay for the proper channels that would help protect you in the court of law it doesn’t mean your case shouldn’t be investigated the same way. I wholeheartedly believe that the supreme court should give the poor a better chance to not face the death penalty and get a fair equip

How does poverty effect the justice system? The justice system is a way for people to get help for when they are in trouble but that is not always the truth. There are people out there being abused by the justice system and most of the people are in poverty. While this problem is being resolved, it will take time for it to be fixed. People all over the world are putting all of their effort into helping the poor overcome their difficulties. There is one man in particular that stands out to from everyone else and his name is Bryan Stephenson. His past experiences will help to prove how poverty and justice relate to each other. The discussion regarding poverty and the justice system will cover how does poverty affect justice? How poverty does or does not affect justice. Are there any examples of poverty and justice existing at the same time.

Individuals of all classes carry out crime. Be that as it may, higher rates of capture, criminal allegations, convictions, long jail sentences and dissent of parole are experienced by the poor. This filtered process guarantees that most rich hoodlums never see within a jail, while flooding them with poor people.

or the same criminal behavior, the poor are more likely to be arrested; if arrested, they are more likely to be charged; if charged, more likely to be convicted; if convicted, more likely to be sentenced to prison; and if sentenced, more likely to be given longer prison terms than members of the middle and upper classes.1 In other words, the image of the criminal population one sees in our nation’s jails and prisons is distorted by the shape of the criminal justice system itself. It is the face of evil reflected in a carnival mirror, but it is no laughing matter.

The logic of poor peoples purchases as they attempt to meet a wealth image they cannot obtain is obscene. It is impossible to provide for their families and live a rich lifestyle under little earnings. Stated by Isabel Sawhill, “None of this means that providing lower-income families with more money is necessarily a bad thing” (Sawhill). The political system works in a matter to benefit poor families with money they do not earn. Poor individuals complain about being poor while it is quite simple to overcome poverty and rely on a career. Pursuing a career and presenting a humble attitude can help with overcoming poverty and presenting a better reputation. Poor individuals need to visualize more than spending money on unnecessary items, work to flip their money without relying on the government, and be themselves not a false image.

We are still one of the poorest nations on earth.Poverty is a terrible thing. There are few things as demeaning to human beings as not having the means to fulfil their basic needs in life. India is one of the poverty havens of the world. We have all heard of India’s poverty-stricken millions, probably since childhood. While one could blame the British for all our mistakes pre-1947, it has been nearly seventy years since they left. We are still one of the poorest nations on earth. Many countries in Asia that started with similar poverty levels in the 1940s have progressed faster some of them dramatically. We, however, remain poor.