Racial Bias

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.

What are racial disparities in the criminal justice system? Racial disparities in the criminal justice system can be defined as “the proportion of a racial or ethnic group within the control of the system is greater than the proportion of such groups in the general population” (NCJRS, 2016.) There is an enormous racial disparity between African Americans and Whites in the United States criminal justice system. What are the racial disparities in the criminal justice system? This paper will show the racial disparities among African Americans and Whites through statistics of the criminal justice system.

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).

Undoubtedly, race defines nearly aspect of the criminal justice system, from police profiling/targeting, to crimes charged and sentencing, to rates of conviction and incarceration. Blacks and Latinos make up sixty-three percent of the prison population while only making up a quarter of the total population (Hunter & Wagner, 2011). According to Michelle Alexander (in The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness, “More black people are in prison or jail, on probation or on parole than were enslaved in 1850”, despite the fact that whites and blacks engage in criminal activities, especially drug offenses, at roughly comparable rates (2010). Historically, there has been a tendency to strip black and brown bodies of their humanity,

This learner was not surprised that racial biases exist within our court system when it comes down to sentencing. So, are we saying the judges are racist? This learner hopes not, but she cannot help but wonder if they are just based on the number of African American that is housed in our jails/prisons. There just seems to be an overwhelming amount of us incarcerated verses Caucasians. It is also amazing that some of the sentencing time that judges past down for the same type of criminal act (e.g., burglary, auto theft, etc.) seems to be worst for African Americans more than there Caucasian counterparts. Especially if they are both first time offenders. Now, there could be other reasons for this, like pleading out their case verse going to trial. So, why is that? There could be many reasons, but for this discussion this learner will examine ways that we could eradicate some of the bias and discretion in the sentencing process.

Racial disparity in the criminal justice system is widespread and it threatens to challenge the principle that our criminal justice system is fair, effective and

There has been major sources of racial discrimination in our nation's criminal justice system, the selective prosecution of African-Americans in particular. The American criminal justice system must recognize that the racial inequities have poisoned the criminal justice system. The American system of justice is a racially biased, two-tiered system; one for minorities and one for whites. In particular, African-Americans are disproportionately targeted, arrested, prosecuted, and sentenced to long mandatory prison terms and execution (www.crimenet.org). The U. S. has gone from prison and jail population of about 300,00 to more than 2 million, most assume that this surge in imprisonment was due to a surge in violent crime but when incarceration

The Unites States is the most diverse country in the world. In this very culturally diverse nation one would automatically think that equality would exist. Realistically it does not, particularly in the Criminal Justice System. Racial Inequality in the Criminal Justice System results from the disparate treatment of correspondingly situated people grounded on race. The history of racial inequality in the Criminal Justice System in the United States has been age-old. With this country 's dishonorable past of slavery, the Jim Crow laws, and plentiful other racially established injustices, it seems apparent that race plays a factor in many aspects of the criminal justice system, such as who is more probable to come in contact with it and who is more likely to be incarcerated.

African American sentences and Caucasians sentences can be exceedingly contradistinctive. According to The Editorial Board, “Decades of research have shown that the criminal courts sentence black defendants more harshly than whites” (1). The Editorial Board is saying that there is a difference between sentencing. An individual’s race could determine their length of sentencing in the court system. Criminals whom act in identical offenses, no matter of their race, should be given the same sentencing. King reports, “Black men are given prison sentences 20% longer than white men for the exact same crime” (1). King’s argument is that minorities are given longer sentences, and that there is no equality between races. The court system discriminates against minorities by giving them longer sentences from Caucasians individuals who did the same crime. In her book, Are Cops Racist, McDonald advocates that “People in prison are not black or white they’re criminals” (7). In making this avocation, McDonald urges us to understand that criminals are criminals nonetheless of their race.

Incarceration rates are a definite proof that racial discrimination occurs. “Incarceration rates in the United States have risen sharply since 1980”, stated Filip Spagnoli, “the racial distribution of inmates in the U.S. is highly negative for black Americans. Whereas they only make up 12% of the total U.S. population, they represent more than 40% of inmates”

Umsted, Zane A. "Deterring Racial Bias In Criminal Justice Through Sentencing." Iowa Law Review 100.1 (2014): 431-453. Academic Search Premier.

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).

Racism has a huge impact on society to this day. The greatest wrong doing in the U.S criminal justice system is that it is a race based organization where African Americans are specifically focused on and rebuffed in a considerably more forceful route than white individuals. Saying the Us criminal justice system is racist might be politically disputable in different ways. In any case, the actualities are debatable. Underneath I explain many cases of these issues. Information on race is available for each step of the criminal justice system – from the use of drugs, police stops, arrests, getting off on bail, legal representation, jury selection, trial, sentencing, prison, parole, and freedom.

Racial bias is still a very active issue in society today. This paper explores the understanding of racial bias in business hiring. This is critical because racial bias continually uniforms businesses in hiring decisions. The prevalence of racial bias in business hiring, potential interventions, and explanations of why this occurs will be explored. How prevalent is racial bias in business hiring today and how can it be mediated?

Do Americans feel like there is still racial discrimination in today's everyday life? Racial discrimination is treating someone differently because of the color of his or her skin. Racial discrimination has been around for a long time. There are laws that are supposed to protect non whites from being racially discriminated against but these laws are not applied to everyone equally. There are a lot of different types of discrimination such as gender and age but the main type is racial. Racial discrimination still exist in America based on discrimination at work, police brutality, and arrest rates.