Institutional Racism In The Criminal Justice System

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

To make a good juror, you would need someone who is not racist, sexist, or biased, because it would make our Criminal Justice System a lot more fair.

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

The first article I am going to focus on, Foreword: Addressing the Real World of Racial Injustice in the Criminal Justice System, was written by Donna Coker . Primarily, the article talks about the statistical evidence of in justice regarding racial profiling in policing and imprisonment. Official incarceration data speaks for itself when it shows that although African Americans make up twelve percent of the U.S. population, they make up of almost half of the population incarcerated for crimes (Coker, 2003). Researchers with the Bureau of Justice Statistics estimate that twenty-eight percent of African Americans will be imprisoned at one point in their life (Coker, 2003). A study conducted by the Sentencing Project reports that nearly one in three African American men between the ages of twenty and twenty-nine are under the supervision of the criminal justice system on any given day (Coker

Criminal Justice system has been corrupted, due to the fact that there is high number of racism inside the system and how corrupted the system can be. Racism has been major issue for the citizens of colors, which affects their daily lives. Marc Mauer mentions story about two different teenage boys and their experience in Criminal Justice System, which explains the influence of racism, resources and judicial polices have on the juvenile cases to this day.

Structural racism also exists because of flaws in the Criminal and Justice System. Although the U.S government has been intensified its efforts of eradicating racism in the U.S. there is still a lot to be done. Cases such as Brown vs. Board education cases have had little impact on the racism in the U.S. Fulbright-Anderson, et al. (2005) provides a statistical overview of the relationship between structural racism and the CJS. This overview makes it clear that while CJS has developed immensely over the recent years, the burden of its expansion has been felt more by the communities of color. As a result, people of color have been more on the receiving end of injustices than the white counterparts. For example, “In many cities, about half of young African American men are under the control of the criminal justice system.

Although the majority of Americans preaches that the days of racism are far behind, it is clear that institutional racism still exists in this country. One way to look at this institutional racism is to examine at the United States prison system and the gap of incarceration rates among African Americans, Hispanics, and White males. According to a research by Prison Policy Initiative both African Americans and Hispanics are imprisoned at 5.1 times and 1.8 times higher than the rate of White Americans for every 100,000 incarcerations, respectively. Throughout the history of the United States, it is obvious that the reasons for the disparity of the incarceration rate are related to policies, irregularities, and implicit prejudices. Families and children of the incarcerated are adversely affected due to the discrimination. However, many white Americans don’t see how racism affects incarceration rates and they would argue that the economic situation and past arrest patterns are responsible for the sustainable increase in the incarceration rate for African Americans and Hispanics. While the economic opportunity can indeed play a role in decision making, this argument doesn’t fully explain the real reason of this occurrence. In order to fully understand the reason, there is a need to review the history of the United States. Through the review, it is clear that the past arrest patterns is more an indicator of institutional racism still exists in this country. The New Jim Crow: Mass

Throughout history the justice system has been used to maintain institutionalized racism, and has only continued if not intensified under the private prison system (Burris-Kitchen, Burris, 2011). As much as people want to believe that we are past racism in this country and that minorities are equal, there has never been a time in our nation where this was the case, even today (Burris-Kitchen, Burris, 2011). Though it is hard for those of us who have never experienced it to understand there are still a great many who still hold prejudice views but furthermore, there are still laws in place that unfairly target African Americans (Burris-Kitchen, Burris, 2011). The private prison industry through lobbying to maintain discriminatory laws has helped

The Criminal Justice system is racist. This topic is important to me because, no one should be treated different no matter their color or race. Everyone who has to deal with the Criminal Justice system should be treated fairly and everyone should have the freedom to express their rights. Overall the entire Criminal Justice system is racist because the vast majority of people getting stopped by U.S police officers are people of color; white people are allowed to make mistakes. At a presidential primary debate the past Martin Luther King day, for instance, President Barack Obama charged that blacks and whites, "are arrested at very different rules, are convicted at different rates, and receive very different sentences for the same crime." Also,

While systemic racism is observable in many institutions today, its presence in the criminal justice system is increasingly becoming a large concern. Various sources of statistical data indicate a strong correlation between race and a negative treatment in the criminal justice system, as outlined in Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehsisi Coates and Paul Butler in Chokehold. Although some continue to disregard the existence of systemic racism in the criminal justice system, those who have acknowledged its presence debate the best mechanism to dissolve this issue. Among the various theories which discusses the concept of group rights, Iris Marion Young’s politics of positional difference, which advocates for the implementation of policies that

Any Americans pretend that the days of racism are far behind; however it is clear that institutional racism still exists in this country. One way of viewing this institutional racism is looking at our nation’s prison system and how the incarceration rates are skewed towards African American men. The reasons for the incarceration rate disparity are argued and different between races, but history points out and starts to show the reason of why the disparity began. Families and children of the incarcerated are adversely affected due to the discrimination as well as the discrimination against African American students and their likelihood of going to prison compared to the white student. African American women are also affected by the discrimination in the incarceration rate. Many white Americans don’t see how racism affects incarceration rates, and that African Americans are more likely to face discrimination from the police as well as being falsely arrested. Many would argue that the reason why the incarceration rate for African Americans is sustainably higher compared to white American is because of economic situations, and because of past arrest patterns. While it is true that the economic opportunity someone has will affect their decisions, this argument doesn’t fully explain the real reason of why the rates are higher. To fully understand the reason why one must look back on America’s

The criminal Justice system has been accused of racism numerous of times. Since the time of Michael Brown’s death in August 9th 2014, the police have killed more than 102 black people in 2015. Unarmed black people were killed at 5 times the rate of unarmed whites in 2015. Only nine of those officers were arrested. 28 people have also been killed while in police custody, there could be more cases that have been underreported. . (www.Mintpressnews.com). The Criminal justice system is racist.

I like how Best brings up the past chapters to make things easier to understand. Best brings up the claimsmaking, media coverage, public reaction, and policymaking chapters on the first page of this chapter (Best 231). I also liked how best talked about how social problem workers need to somehow find a place between reality and the unreal expectations put onto them as I feel like many people do not think about that (Best 233). I noticed that chapter three of The New Jim Crow and chapter eight of Social Problems connect. Social Problems talks about how cases are constructed but The New Jim Crow talks about some social cases, like racism in the criminal justice field. So, after reading both chapters, you can see how the cases are made and how these cases can go.

The previous literature has indicated that there are biases within the Criminal Justice system by examining the correlation between an individual’s physical and social attributes to the treatment received through the contact with the system (as cited in Poole & Regoli, 1980). The usage of selective enforcement on inmates is based on the reinforcement of racial stereotypes that the officer upholds. Some inmates who violate the rules do not get categorized as deviant, whereas minorities who have not committed any rule-breaking are deemed deviant (as cited in Poole & Regoli, 1980). Black inmates are viewed as hostile and a threat to the white society, therefore they are placed under heavy surveillance for any slip-ups in their actions.

The american criminal justice system has been fueled by the racism for far too long in this country. As members of this society we need to take a stand for what's right and to review the laws of this nations to ensure correct practices of law is carried out in a fair fashion and for our elected officials to uphold the fairness in criminal procedures. Otherwise millions of americans will be incarcerated each day for injustice of our laws.