Racial Disparities Within The Criminal Justice System

Racial discrimination is where an employer commits race discrimination when it makes job decisions based on race or when it adopts seemingly neutral job policies that disproportionately affect members of a particular race. Federal and most state laws prohibit workplace race discrimination. Title VII -- the federal law that prohibits racial discrimination of the U.S. Constitution and the Civil Rights Act of 1964 work in concert to ensure that each resident’s chances in the pursuit of happiness are not damaged by their race. Although it is prohibited I believe that it is still an issue especially within the criminal justice system. I will support my answer with an ample amount of facts regarding racial discrimination within the criminal justice system.

Social issues are dealt with every day, everywhere in our society. Issues like immigration all the way to climate change. As our world evolves the number of social issues only continue to accumulate. Racial disparity is something that is in every aspect of our society. A repetitive social issue is minorities being targeted in the criminal justice system. Minorities, in specific African Americans receive unequal treatment and punishment in the criminal justice system this causes a split in our society, racist outburst, and million of unjustified incarcerations affecting the environment millennials grow in, and the economy as money is being spent where there should be no need for it.

In this article, Robert, April, and Jorge (2010) acknowledges previous research reports on this topic and reveals that race, and racial patterns have found their way in involvement of crime. However, Robert, April, and Jorge (2010) argue that there is no significant proof that there are meaningful racial disparities in the legal systems. Although some literatures provide research on the existence of racial profiling by police, in imprisonment, and sentencing, other researchers report no significant racial disparities in the legal systems (Black and Reiss, 1970; Pilivian and Briar, 1964). However, other researchers report on ample racial disparities based on race. These researches are controversial because the size of the differences in such reports tends to bring up the question of meaningfulness of the differences observed (Wilbanks, 1987).

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

Although saying the criminal justice system is racist is a controversial statement, there is evidence and statistics that prove it to be true. Research and evidence validate the issue of racism to be undeniable. Equality and justice are out of reach with the racism that takes place in our criminal justice system and our country. Racial discrimination is prevalent amongst the African American culture in issues regarding drug use, and incarceration which creates unfair inequality for this race. I will use peer reviewed articles to verify the racial disparity in the criminal justice system.

It is obvious that there are several race disparities within the criminal justice system. For decades minorities (black Americans to be specific) have been subject to higher drug related arrest rates than whites, even though there is no evidence to show that black American use or sell drugs more than whites (Spohn & Belenko, 2015, p. 143) . You made a great point about the prison race population versus the overall race population of the United States. I too agree that since a majority of the population is white, majority of the prison population should be white. However, as we all know, that is not the case. According to research, black Americans constitute for roughly twelve percent of the American population, however practically

I’m interested in this topic because it’s a topic we talk about but ignore., watching young Hispanic black and other racial minorities kid being gunned down because an officer "thought" he was armed is an absolute disgrace to this country. I like it because I sometimes ask myself will I a victim of not only racial profiling but encounter racial injustice. Will my brother get gunned down by an officer while walking to school? Or Be a static of racial disparity? I also liked because the majority of our population is ethnic or racial minority. informing the audience about racial disparities in our justice system will be an eye-opening topic. Research by Swaine, Jon. Black Americans killed by police twice as likely to be unarmed as white.. I’m

For hundreds of years’ race and crime in America has been an ongoing issue. Therefore, the criminal justice topic I am going to research throughout this paper will be regarding the different races and crimes that are most commonly committed and how each different race is treated in the criminal justice system also how they are each individually affected by the American justice system. I will discuss background information of each race as well as problems and issues they are currently facing today regarding the criminal justice system.

Race is used by law enforcement as a determinate of one’s potential criminality, therefore disregarding one’s behavior, but rather judging by ethnic or racial appearance. One’s race is at constant discrimination and without reforms to policy, minorities will remain targets for law enforcement and society around the world and the United States. The reduction of biased law enforcement will minimize racial profiling within the prison population, as well as at a state and local level. According to figure one a special estimation was used to identify a racial composition of drivers and was applied to traffic stop data in ninety-two Missouri municipalities. The estimation was conducted as a navigation to better understand racial disparity in traffic

Today, African Americans and other minorities are over-represented in the criminal justice system, but under-represented politically in the United States of America. Since well before its inception in 1776, the United States of America has been a nation characterized by white supremacy. In fact, modern day America may not exist if not for the taking of land from the Indigenous Peoples on this very premise. Today, many Americans believe they live in a post-racial nation, citing the abolition of slavery in the 1860s. While racism has certainly been reduced in modern America, it is still ever-present in society, and more alarmingly, the criminal justice system.

The issue of racial disparity in the criminal justice system has been a longstanding debate in this county. According to Tonry (as cited in Cole & Gertz, 2013) African Americans make up to 50% of the prison population but are only 12 % of the total United States population. Bobo and Thompson (2006) stated that Hispanics make up to 18 % of the prison population but are only 14 % of the total United States Population, while Caucasians make up to 75 % of the total population and are only 35 % of the prison population in American. (Coker,2003) supports Cole and Gertz and states that African Americans make up to half of the prison population while only accounting for 12 % of the population in the United States. According to NACP

Racial disparity is a problem that has always existed in South Texas and in the Criminal Justice System. There are different perspectives towards the existence of discrimination in this system that the debate of it remains unsolved. Some scholars state that race or ethnicity is not important in the treatment of inmates; nevertheless, most research shows the inequality of the race of inmates and the treatments they receive. In Texas’ prisons, seven out of ten inmates are Hispanics or African Americans, being imprisoned disproportionately thanks to the racist laws of the state. According to the statistics used for this article, Blacks in South Texas are more like to be arrested than any other race; being arrested two times more than Whites; meanwhile

According to our reading, it stated that male and minorities are largely overrepresented within the Criminal Justice System. The Bureau of Justice Statistics reports African American (Blacks) constituted about 13% of the United States population and 37% of that population are convicted of a felony. African American is 51% Caucasian (White) 45% of being convicted of felonious murder and 59% to 39% when it comes to robbery and 50% to 47% to weapon charges. Although these numbers are not a direct result of discrimination in the criminal court system or in the court system practices. It does generate a great debate on whether it is a possibility of differential treatment of groups especially minorities in the justice system. (Quote) Now, the

What do you think about when you hear the word, “criminal?” Maybe the words, “murder” or “stealing” comes to mind. The generalization of the crimes is always brought to mind when it appears on news, newspapers, or social media, but how about the identity of the criminal and their relation to the actual crime? A majority of the general public seems to assume that the word “criminal” is always relative to the racial minority of African Americans. Why? When showing crime suspects, news channels, informative websites, and social media tend to stereotype the African American race as the counterpart that is always at fault. Crimes involving both the Caucasian/Whites and African American race usually favor the Caucasian/Whites side, and disregard or blame the African American race instead of analyzing the crime that has taken place. The media has influenced the general public to automatically associate the word “criminal” with African Americans, whereas the Whites would be perceived as a victim even if they’re the perpetrator. Throughout the years, the news media has been able to shape our minds and make us believe that African Americans are the ones who have made our nation unsafe. Therefore, when investigating crimes and presenting it to the general public, the full background of the crime should always be taken accounted for instead of stereotyping the African American races involved.