Racial Inequality in the Criminal Justice System

Assignment examining racial disparities in the legal system.

Ava Martinez
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RacialInequalityintheCriminalJusticeSystem1RacialInequalityintheCriminalJusticeSystemNameInstitutionHowdoesracialinequalitymanifestwithintheU.S.criminaljusticesystem,particularlyintermsofarrest,incarceration,andsentencingdisparitiesbetweenBlackAmericansandWhiteAmericans?Discussthefactorscontributingtothesedisparitiesandtheroleofracialprofiling,whilealsoaddressingpotentialsolutionsorreforms.WordCountRequirement:1,5002,000words

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RacialInequalityintheCriminalJusticeSystem2RacialinequalityinthecriminaljusticesystemThemostintriguingquestiontoaskiswhetherthereexistsastructuralinequalityinthecriminaljusticesystem.ItisevidentinthenewsorinthenewspapersthatmostofthecriminalsthatareportrayedaremainlyAfricanAmericanorarecomingfromtheHispanicorigin.Inaddition,beingafanofcriminologybooks,theyevendemonstratemoreblackmalecriminalsthanwhitemales.Therefore,themajorquestiontoaskiswhethermoreBlackscommitmorecrimesthantheWhitemales.Inaddition,itisimportanttoaskwhatfactorsareinvolvedfortheBlackAmericanstobeinvolvedinmorecriminalactivitiesthanthewhites.Ontheotherhand,itisimportanttoquestionhowBlackAmericansstereotypesplayarolewithpossibleracialprofilingfromthelawenforcers(DPIC.(2012).Inaddition,itisimportanttoquestionwhethertheBlacksaretreatedequallyorfairlyinthecriminaljusticesystem.Therefore,afterconsideringmorestudiesontheissue,itispossibletoprovideanswerstothesequestionsinordertodetermineiftheBlackAmericansaretheracewhichisreallycommittingmostofthecriminalactivitieswhencomparedtotheWhites,orifracismwithinthecriminaljusticesystemplaysamajorrolethanitisthought.Inaddition,muchprogresshasbeenmadeandiscurrentlybeingmadeoverhistoryforthelawsthatconcerntheequaltreatment,butthecivilrightscrisisseemslikethecriminaljusticesystemthatdoesnotadheretoitsownlaws.StatisticsshowthattherearemoreBlackswhoarearrestedandincarceratedthattheWhitesoftheHispanicmales.Inaddition,basedonthereportsbytheBureauofJusticeStatisticsin2010,therateoftheBlackAmericansimprisonmentwasapproximately3,000per1,000,000BlackAmericansintotal.Inaddition,theyareincarceratedmanytimeshigherthanthewhites,whichareawebsitethatprovidesreportsthatincasethecurrenttrendscontinue,almostonein

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RacialInequalityintheCriminalJusticeSystem3threeoftheBlackscanexpecttobeimprisonedandspendtimeinjailorinprison.Ontheotherhand,mostoftheprisonpopulationhasmoreBlackAmericansandtheHispanics.AccordingtoareportbyMichael(2011),mostofthecriminalactivitiesarenotcommittedbytheminorities,andthereportalsostatesthatmostoftheminoritiesarenotcriminals.Therefore,evenwhentheminoritiesarearrestedwithnoconviction,theystillundergotheconsequencesthatgoalongwiththeprocess.Theseconsequencescompriseofdifficultiesingettingjobs,issueswithacquiringeducation,properhousing,aswellas,anyotherbenefitfromthegovernmentincasetheyarepoorinthefirstplace.Ontheotherhand,therearealsoexcuses,whichareprovidedespeciallywhenlawmakersarefacedwithsuchdisparatereportswhichstatethatBlackAmericansarethemostdeviantraceandaretheoneswhotakepartincriminalbehavior.Ontheotherhand,themostprevalentformofracialdisparityisracialprofilingthatmostpeoplethinkisthemajorrootoftheproblem.Therearecaseswhenthereseemstobedrug-sentencingdisparitiesintheBlackAmericancommunities.American’sWaronDrugswhichiswaronminoritiesandthepoor.AccordingtoareportbyKain(2000)approximatelysixty-twopercentofBlackAmericanmalesaresentbehindbarsduetodrug-relatedchargesandalsoatahigherratethantheWhites.Ontheotherhand,basedonareportbytheNationalAssociationforAdvancementforColoredPeople(NAACP,2012)demonstratesthatapproximately14millionand2.6millionBlackAmericansuseillegaldrugs.However,mostoftheBlackAmericanmalesaresentbehindbarsforillegaldrug-relatedcrimestentimeshigherwhencomparedtotheWhitemales(NAACP,2012).Thus,theshockingtruthisthattheBlacksservemuchmoretimeinjailorinprisonondrug-relatedchargesthantheWhites,especiallyforviolentcrimes.
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